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Martial Music, War for Southern Independence: Ston LbNA #65004

Owner:Connfederate
Plant date:Jun 26, 2013
Location: Hop River Rail Trail
City:Coventry
County:Tolland
State:Connecticut
Boxes:1
Found by: mamooshatoots (now Stamper)
Last found:Sep 16, 2023
Status:FFFFFFFFFFaFFF
Last edited:Jun 26, 2013
Martial Music, War for Southern Independence:
Stonewall Jackson’s Way

(One in an occasionally expanding series…)


“Stonewall Jackson’s Way”

Lyrics: Anonymous Confederate Sergeant, circa 25th.May 1862
Music: John Williamson Palmer, 16th.September 1862

Come, stack arms, men. Pile on the rails,
Stir up the campfire bright;
No matter if the canteen fails,
We'll make a roaring night.
Here Shenandoah brawls along,
There burly Blue Ridge echoes strong
To swell the brigade's rousing song
Of "Stonewall Jackson's way."

We see him now, the old slouched hat
Cocked o'er his eye askew,
The shrewd, dry smile, the speech so pat,
So calm, so blunt, so true.
That "Blue-Light Elder" knows 'em well
Says he, "That's Banks; he's fond of shell
Lord save his soul! We'll give him"...well,
That's "Stonewall Jackson's way."

Silence! Ground arms! Kneel all! Caps off!
Old Blue Light's going to pray;
Strangle the fool that dares to scoff;
Attention; it's his way!
Appealing from his native sod,
In forma pauperis to God--
"Lay bare thine arm; stretch forth thy rod;
Amen." That's "Stonewall's way."

He's in the saddle now! Fall in!
Steady, the whole brigade!
Hill's at the ford, cut off! He'll win
His way out, ball and blade.
What matter if our shoes are worn?
What matter if our feet are torn?
"Quick step--we're with him ere the dawn!"
That's "Stonewall Jackson's way."

The sun's bright glances rout the mists
Of morning, and, by George!
There's Longstreet struggling in the lists,
Hemmed in an ugly gorge--
Pope and his Yankees whipped before
"Bayonet and grape!" hear Stonewall roar,
"Charge, Stuart! Pay off Ashby's score
In Stonewall Jackson's way."

Ah, maiden! wait and watch and yearn
For news of Stonewall's band!
Ah, widow! read with eyes that burn
That ring upon thy hand!
Ah, wife! sew on, pray on, hope on,
Thy life shall not be all forlorn!
The foe had better ne'er been born,
That gets in Stonewall's way.

From Maxi Lyrics: http://www.maxilyrics.com/bobby-horton-stonewall-jackson's-way-lyrics-3e5c.html
____________________________________________________________
"STONEWALL" was a nickname given to Thomas
J. Jackson, a lieutenant-general in the Confederate
army, who was one of the ablest and bravest com-
manders who took part in the Civil War. Early in
the war he was ordered to reinforce the army of Gen-
eral Beauregard, who was fighting at Manassas. He
did so, and in the battle that followed the Union army
came very near routing the Southern troops by a des-
perate charge. Jackson and his brigade stood firm,
and General Lee, seeing him, called out to his own
wavering men, " Look at Jackson, there he stands
like a stone wall; rally behind the Virginians!" The
other brigades obeyed the order, and eventually the
Confederates carried the day. It was in this way that
[T] J Jackson and his men won the nickname of "Stonewall
Jackson" and the "Stonewall Brigade" that came to
be a badge of honor in later campaigns.

"Stonewall Jackson" was a strict Presbyterian and
a man of unusual religious feeling. He had graduated
at West Point, fought in the Mexican War, and then
taught in the Virginia Military Institute at Lexington.
There he had been called "The Blue-Light Elder" by
his pupils, who were very fond of him, and the name
was sometimes used by his soldiers after the Civil War
began. [Editorial comment: probably not within his hearing
distance!]

The general was a dashing leader, and his men
would follow him anywhere. He rose rapidly in rank,
and in a short time had become General Lee's chief
mainstay. Many a Confederate victory was due to his
personal courage in leading his troops at a decisive
moment in battle, and time and again his "Stonewall
Brigade" turned a seeming rout into victory.

In the spring of 1863 the Union and Confederate
armies prepared to renew the struggle that the winter
had partly interrupted. The Union General Hooker
crossed the Rappahannock River on April 28th, for the
purpose of attacking the Confederates who were near
Fredericksburg. The entire Union Army of the
Potomac had crossed the river and bivouacked at
Chancellorsville by the night of April 30th. The Con-
federate General Lee at once prepared to attack
Hooker, and early on May [fir]st he sent "Stonewall
Jackson," in command of thirty-three thousand men,
towards Chancellorsville.

The two armies made ready on that day, some fight-
ing occurring, but the real battle of Chancellorsville did
not begin until May 2d. Late on that afternoon Jack-
son, who had made a flank movement, burst from the
woods and routed the Union right wing. At this point
General Pleasanton hurled the Eighth Pennsylvania
Cavalry under Major Keenan, on the Confederate
flank. Keenan charged again and again, losing most
of his men, but giving the Union artillery time to get
into position and fire.

The Confederates were checked by this firing, and
Jackson and his star! [sic, staff?] rode forward to look at the field.
As he was riding back to his own lines the general and
his companions were mistaken for Union horsemen by
his own soldiers and were fired at. Jackson was shot,
and died on May l0th. The Confederates won the
fighting at Chancellorsville after several days of battle,
but the victory was largely offset by the loss of one of
their very greatest generals.

The poem, "Stonewall Jackson's Way," is said to
have been written within hearing of the battle of
Antietam, September 17, 1862, and was found in the
coat of a dead soldier of the "Stonewall Brigade,"
after one of Jackson's battles in the Shenandoah Val-
ley. It became very popular, but its authorship was
unknown until almost twenty-five years later.

From: “Historic Poems and Ballads” Pp. 256-259,
Described by: Rupert S. Holland. Published at Phila. by: George W. Jacobs & Co., c. 1912
Link courtesy of the Internet Archive: http://www.archive.org/stream/historicpoemsbal00holl/historicpoemsbal00holl_djvu.txt.


In Songs of the Civil War, Irwin Silber opined:
“A number of musical tributes to Jackson appeared shortly after his death, although the best of these, “Stonewall Jackson’s Way,” was written before the fatal engagement. The inscription on the sheet music claims that the lyric was “found on a Confederate sergeant of the old Stonewall brigade taken at Winchester, Virginia,”-an occurrence so frequent as to immediately raise the direst suspicions concerning the song’s origin. Subsequent research has shown that the poem was written by John Williamson Palmer, a Confederate war correspondent for some New York newspapers…
While the composer of the tune remains anonymous, Brander Mathews indicates that the song may have originally been sung to the tune of “Camptown Races,” and indeed, the lyrics fit the melody, if not the mood, of Foster’s classic minstrel tune.”

From: Songs of the Civil War, P. 57, by Irwin Silber, Columbia University Press 1960
___________________________________________________________
Letterbox Difficulty Rating:
Difficulty Rating = 1
Terrain Rating = 2.25
Thanx to Silent Doug; see: www.letterboxing.info/rating/

All directions are magnetic, and a pace equals two (2) steps.
___________________________________________________________
Clues:

From US Rte. 6 in Columbia, turn onto Hop River Rd. Park along the road near the yellow gates guarding the entrance to the Hop River Rail Trail; please do not block the gates.

Head East on the trail. You will soon pass by a long field on the left. At the end of the field you will come to a small cut, the land will rise steeply on the left. Count about 60 paces and look right for the remains of an old telegraph pole. You may find Stonewall under a SPOS near the broken end of a pine tree alongside the trail.


Please stamp in away from the hiding place, and carefully avoid making or at least try to conceal social trails to the letterbox--especially in mud or snow! Kindly reseal the Lock-n-Lock type box, and re-hide the letterbox exactly where it was placed, covering it well and contact the placer if you find any problems.

Thank you, Connfederate