The DuPont Company of Wilmington, Delaware, makers of better things for better living through chemistry, presents the cavalcade of America. Tonight's star, John Hodiac, will be seen with Clark Gable and Ricardo Montalban in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Technicolor production across the wide Missouri. Tonight's cavalcade, called There Stands Jackson, is a dramatic portrait of the great southern military hero Thomas Jonathan Stonewall Jackson, whose birthday falls on next Sunday. And men will tell their children, when all other memories fade, how they fought with Stonewall Jackson in the old Stonewall Brigade. Time quite a good many years ago when the century was young. Place, the shaded banks of a quiet stream somewhere in Virginia, anywhere in Virginia. A man and a boy have been fishing, they are resting now in the shade of the trees. The man we can see is quite elderly, but of distinguished appearance. Despite a battered old gray hat full of feathered fish hooks, he might be a judge or perhaps a clergyman. The boy is young and very eager. But Granddad, do you mean to say old Stonewall was a better soldier than Teddy Roosevelt even? Why boy, there's just no comparison. Teddy's still an amateur. Old Jack was the greatest professional soldier that ever lived. All the other great generals say so. You still planning to go to VMI, son? You bet I am. Well, when you get there, you'll study Jackson's campaign just as they do up at West Point. In military schools all over the world for that matter. How he fooled the Yankees over in the Shenandoah Valley? That was his masterpiece, the great Valley campaign. That and his flank and march at Chancellorsville. Over in the Valley, boy, Jackson whipped four federal armies, fought five battles in 30 days, won them all, marched 400 miles between fights, and he left those Yankee generals some mixed up that didn't know their headquarters from the hindquarters. Guess he must have moved mighty fast. Oh, like lightning, son. Foot cavalry, they called us, because we covered so much ground. Well, if he marched around so much like that, why'd they call him Stonewall? Oh, now son, I've told you that story 20 times if I've told it once. Oh, I never get tired of it. Sure. I don't. Well, then, as you very well know, it happened at First Manassas. Our brigade, the First Virginia, was formed along the crest of Henry House Hill near Bull Run. General Jackson was sitting on his horse, little Sorrell, talking with his age. Looks bad, General. Very bad. The S.E. Honda Peace Brigade is broken. They're running back from the ravine. The Mississippi troops are running, sir. Yes, I can see that, Lieutenant. We'll stand fast here. Look, sir, that horseman, it's General B himself. General Jackson, we're beaten back, sir. We're defeated, crushed. Very well, General. May I suggest that you rally your men behind our lines? Well, how do you expect to stop them? Well, give them the bayonet, Lieutenant. Yes, sir. Tell the colonels of this brigade that the enemy's almost upon us. When their heads are seen above the hill, let the whole line rise. Move forward with a shout and trust to the bayonet. I'm tired of this. I'm tired of this. I'm tired of this. I'm tired of this. I'm tired of this. I'm tired of this. I'm tired of this. I'm tired of this. I'm tired of this. I'm tired of this. I'm tired of this. I'm tired of this. I'm tired of this. I'm tired of this. A moment later, son, General B fell to the ground, mortally wounded. But he had given an immortal name to a great leader of men. The next night, in Bayouac on the victorious field of First Manassas, General Stonewall Jackson wrote to his wife, My dear Marianna, yesterday we fought a great battle and gained a great victory, for which all the glory is due to God alone. Whilst great credit is due to other parts of our Gallaudami, God made my brigade more instrumental than any other in repulsing the main attack. This is for your information only, say nothing about it. Let others speak praise, not myself. You see, son, old Jack was a strongly religious man. And I want you to keep that in mind. Yes, sir. What did old Jack look like, Granddad? Oh, he didn't look like much, lad. Sort of a brown, all over man, you might say. Scotch Irish, like your mother's folks. You'd never take him for a great soldier unless you saw his eyes in battle. They were blue eyes, and I swear they could flash fire. Old blue light, the men called him sometimes. He was only 37 at Manassas, but they always called him old something or other. I bet you men were real scared of General Jackson, I'll bet. Oh, no, no. We loved him, boy, and that's God's honest truth. Oh, he was stern and he was secretive. He could be cold and harsh as a winter gale, and the next minute as gentle as a woman in love. The officers on his staff soon learned to expect him to act kind of contrary wise. For instance, he always liked to march at what he called early dawn. I remember one spring morning with the first touch of day hardly visible. Captain Douglas! Where's Captain Douglas? Pendleton! Daphne! Dr. McGuire, Lieutenant Smith! Hmm. Jim, you Jim. Yes, sir. You called me, General? Certainly I called you. Perhaps you could tell me what the gentlemen of my staff are doing. Well, I reckon they're still asleep, sir, except Captain Douglas. He's over with General A.P. Hill's folks like you told him. Here he comes now. Good morning, Captain Douglas. Good morning, sir. You have a report from General Hill. He's ready to march. His staff is at breakfast, sir, but the general, well, sir, he's not awake yet. Not awake? He was ordered to move his division out at four, leading our column. You have a watch, Captain Douglas? Of course, sir. What time is it, Captain? Three minutes past four o'clock, sir. Here. You will kindly examine my own watch. What time does it indicate? The same, sir. Plus ten seconds. Captain Douglas, you will return to the headquarters of General A.P. Hill's division. Awaken him if necessary. Ask on my authority to see his watch. If it agrees with my own and yours, you will instruct General Hill to turn over his command to Brigadier General Branch at once. Yes, sir. Very well, sir. Morning, General. Well, Major Dabney at last. Where's Captain Pendleton? Where's Young Smith? Sandy and Smith will be here any minute, sir. Hot breakfast? Yes, sir. Sure is. Ah, Jim, you're a wonder. Major Dabney. Yes, sir. You slept well, I trust? Excellently well, General. I'm feeling quite refreshed. Then you'll require no breakfast. Neither shall I, nor will the other officers of my staff. We're five minutes late right now. Jim. But General, sir, she's all ready. Nice and hot. Sweep that stuff off the stove, Jim. Dump it. On the ground with it, Jim. Oh, yes, sir. My, oh my. Come along, Major. We've much to do. Orderly. Orderly, where are the horses? You, Sergeant Shortley. My, oh my. Ain't that a shame. Oh, my. Good morning, Jim. Breakfast ready? No breakfast, Captain Pendleton. No breakfast? Not an area bit, no how. General's orders, sir. Oh, up on his ear again, huh? Well, I must say you're cheerful about it, boy. I had my breakfast, sir. Oh, Captain. What is it, Jim? I'm sorry, sir. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. What is it, Jim? Action ahead, Captain. Real action. Show is shootin'. If you know that, you know more than I do. How do you know, Jim? The general, sir. He's been praying in his tent nearly all night. Just praying and a praying. You and your금 고린개 Moving. ― My, oh my. And so, gentlemen, a little fasting now and then is good for active, healthy men. Am I not right, Dr. McGuire? I'm a staff surgeon, General. I know nothing about diets. Hungry, McGuire? I could eat General Hooker, Yankee boots and all. We'll see what we can do for you at the next halt. General Jackson, if you please, sir. Yes, Captain Douglas. I'm from the branch, sir. He, um... Well, he asked me to inquire where we're going. We're moving toward Hooker's Union Army. Our route is known to General Lee and to myself and to no one else, save God. Gentlemen, if this old coat of mine knew the roads we're taking, I would burn it with fire. Captain, Captain, please, sir. Please. Ma'am, you will kindly get out of the road. This is General Jackson. General Jackson, please, sir. Ma'am, I must ask you to let us pass. Now, Douglas, don't bully the woman. You gentlemen ride on. I'll see what she wants. Dr. McGuire, please stay with me. Now, ma'am, what can I do for you? My Johnny. Will he pass this way? I've got to see my Johnny. Your son, ma'am? Yes, sir. And he's in the Army? Yes, for two years now. What regiment? Fifth Virginia, sir. I'm part of my old brigade, McGuire, General Colston's now. That's right, sir. Ma'am, unless I'm much mistaken, Colston's infantry will begin to pass this fork in five minutes. Dear God. The Fifth Virginia should reach here in less than ten minutes. You'll see your Johnny then, I trust. Thank you, sir. How can I thank you? Been more than a year since... Ma'am, ma'am, give your thanks to God. Dr. McGuire, stay here with her. If you please, see that she finds her boy. Oh, God bless. And, doctor, you may report for breakfast up ahead in fifteen minutes. Well, boy, he was like that. Hard as granite and soft as that fine morning in May so long ago when we rode toward death. Reticent he was and aloof, but courteous always. Modest, shy, but totally fearless. Sure of himself always in the field and sure of his God in a humble way. That night we camped before Chancellorsville. Some sixty thousand of us under Lee and Jackson against one hundred and twenty-five thousand Union troops under Hooker and Sagewink. Captain Douglas, you will ride with a message to General Lee. Tell him that upon further reconnaissance I withdraw my opinion of this morning. The general is right. We must concentrate upon Hooker rather than upon Sagewink's corps. Await his reply. Yes, sir. General Jackson, sir. Yes, Douglas? It's grown colder, sir. Shouldn't you wear your cape? Shall I get it for you from the baggage? Oh, the general didn't give that old cape away, Captain. He threw it over Lieutenant Smith under your... Hush up, you, Jim. Young Smith gave me the cloak. I've given it back, that's all. Get along to Lee, Captain. You have a hard ride ahead. Yes, sir. Good night, sir. Jim. Yes, sir. Where's my Bible? Right here, General. I had it all ready. You may open to the book of Joshua, chapter ten, verse eight. Read what has been written, Jim. So Joshua ascended from Gilgal. He and all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of valor. And the Lord said unto Joshua, Fear them not, for I have delivered them unto thine hand. There shall not a man of them stand before thee. Joshua therefore came unto them suddenly, and the Lord discomforted them before Israel, and slew them with a great slaughter. Joshua therefore came unto them suddenly. Let it be so once more, O Lord. Let it be so with me once more upon the morrow. As it was in the valley, O Lord God of hosts, so let it come about again, if it be thy will. If it be thy holy will. Amen. Amen to that. You are listening to the Cavalcade of America, starring John Hodiac and sponsored by the DuPont Company, makers of better things for better living through chemistry. And so we return to our dramatic portrait of Stonewall Jackson, as painted in the words of an elderly Confederate officer many years ago. Seated on the bank of a fishing stream in Virginia, the old man tries to make his grandson see the greatness of that immortal Southern leader. Did General Lee always do what General Jackson said, Granddad? Oh, no, no. Hardly that. But he did trust Jackson's judgment more than his other generals. Later, on the night before the Battle of Chancellorsville, General Lee and General Jackson held a council of war. Well, we are agreed then to attack Hooker. The question is where? General Lee, sir? Yes, General Stewart. What says the cavalry? I just had a report from Fitzhugh Lee scouting so on our left flank. He tells me that Hooker's right is in the air, almost completely unprotected. His best wakes face south and south only. For General Stewart, are there roads? Roads by which we could send out a flanking force all across the Union front and unobserved? I doubt it. There is a road, sir. There is, General Jackson? Yes, sir. I sent Hotchkiss earlier today to find out. There is a forest road, well hidden, used only to cart iron ore from Welford's furnace. I have a map, and I have Mr. Welford himself to serve as guide if need be. Excellent. Let's take a look at the map, General. Yes, sir. Good. Good. General Jackson, what do you propose to do? I would go around here, sir. Here's the westward limit of Hooker's fortification. Right. And then one road comes out here, beyond his line. I see. I could turn him, sir. I could swallow him up. If you are not observed, General Jackson. I shall come unto him suddenly. Yes, you usually do. But if they catch your second corps extended along that road before you can wheel into front, they'll crush both of us completely, finally. It's that or retreat again, sir. Very well then. So be it. When can you make a start? My troops will move out at 4 a.m. Good. General Stewart will cover your movement with his cavalry. Now gentlemen, perhaps we can get a little sleep. Boy, boy, do you see the terrible beauty of it? The audacity, the controlled tearing, the quick brain behind the strong will. The joyous heart. Gee, Willikus, sure. It's like I read in a book. He was risking all. He was proposing to order nearly 30,000 men, 15 brigades, to move out of a battle front already formed and fortified into a long thin column. Then to march some 10 miles to the west along a narrow wilderness road under the eyes of an alert enemy not three miles away. And he succeeded, boy, he succeeded. On the next afternoon, he was deployed right spang across the federal flank, every man in position. Over the way, the Union troops were at ease, their arms stacked, preparing an evening meal. Washing them from a hill with his division commanders, Jackson took out his watch. Gentlemen, it's 5.15 o'clock. Two hours of daylight left at the most. Are you ready, General Rhodes? Yes, sir. You can go forward then. We signal Major Blackford to sound the charge. They were brave men, son, but he had come onto them suddenly. They ran, they had to run. They were overwhelmed, rolled up, surprised, discomfited before Israel. But their numbers were very great and they were brave and they rallied. Then darkness fell in the forest and then boy. Yes, Granddad, I know. I know what happened. Stonewall was shot down. By his own men, by his own men. A North Carolina company firing in the dark. He was hit in the left arm badly. In the right hand, a tree branch struck his head. He fell, fainting from little sorrows back. It was when he was being carried on a litter that three men, officers of his staff, sheltered him against a stream of fire with their own bodies. I was one of them, boy. I, James Smith, I was one of those three men. You mustn't remember so hard, Granddad Smith. Yes, I know, son. I'm an old fool, not so long ago. Well, somehow we got him to a dressing station. Sandy Pendleton found Dr. McGuire somewhere on that hellish night. McGuire did his best. He amputated the general's arm. Jackson rallied. We thought Jackson would live. While Hooker retreated beaten. They took him back to the Chandler farm at Guinea Station. And then seven days after the battle. How is he, Doctor? I'm very sorry, Mrs. Jackson. Everything we could do has been done. But the pneumonia, well, it's worse, very much worse. Doctor, he's going to die? Yes, Mrs. Jackson, very soon. You may go to him once more. Anna. Anna. Oh, Tom. Oh, Tom. Would you? Could you read for me? The Psalms. Is there a Bible, Doctor? It's here by his pillow. I can't see it. I just can't see it. The 23rd Psalm, ma'am. You know it. You must be a soldier now, too. The Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name sake. Let us cross. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. Let us. The shadow of death. Listen. Listen, ma'am. Let us cross over the river and rest under the shadow of the trees. Gosh, Granddad. Sorry he died. Truly I am. Why did he have to die, boy? Why did it have to happen that way? I don't know, sir. Nor do I. But I know this. I threw myself between Jackson and death in that wilderness grove as the gun spat flame in the night. But still he died. It was I, Lieutenant James Powersmith, staff of the Second Corps. It was I over whom he threw that great cape as I lay sleeping in the cold on the night before Chancellor's will. But he died. But Granddad, it was so very long ago. Yes, so very long ago. We must let him rest with all the pests in the cemetery at Lexington. As it was said of another hero, there through the common ages when his sword is rust and his deeds in classic pages, mindful of our trust, shall Virginia bend and lowly still a ceaseless vigil wholly keep above his dust. Our thanks to John Hodiac and the Cavalcade players for tonight's story, There Stands Jackson. Next week, the star of the DuPont Cavalcade will be Montgomery Clift. Our story, Metal of the Moon, tells of a young man who unlocked a door that defied the men of science for many years and brought us a new magic metal. Be sure to listen. Tonight's DuPont Cavalcade was written by George H. Faulkner. In the cast with John Hodiac, you heard Charles Dingle as Granddad Smith. Music was composed by Arden Cornwell and conducted by Donald Vorhees. The program is directed by John Zoller. Don't forget, next week, Montgomery Clift. The DuPont Cavalcade of America comes to you from the stage of the Belasco Theater in New York and is sponsored by the DuPont Company of Wilmington, Delaware, makers of better things for better living through chemistry. entering your church theater.
