,,/' /,',/, //,/, . I /////, ry. 113
this battle inactive and waiting, as many hundreds of his old brigade still living ran t< ->tilv. The whole rivili/ed world, so far as it could n-. id the English language, knew the story soon after the battle of Manassas, in one form or another. Publicity was given to it, no doubt, by the newspapers published in Richmond, Va. Having recently heard, incidentally, from Colonel Thomas L. Preston, a gentleman who lives near Charlottesville, Va. , that he was with Gen- eral Bee for a while at this battle, when Bee was rallying some of his troops, the writer asked him about this incident, and called attention to what was said in this article of General Hill's, and asked that he would give, in writing, a statement of what occurred. Colonel Pres- ton was a relative of General Joseph E. Johnston, and was at the time a member of his staff, with the rank of captain. He writes on the 1 5th of February, 1894, and after describing General Bee's approach to General Johnston, and relating the fact that General Bee was greatly distressed at the recent repulse of his command, he says:
"General Johnston, then pointing to some soldiers lying along a fence, now asked, ' What are these ? ' General Bee turned to look, and replied, ' They are South Carolinians. ' ' Rally them and lead them back to the fight,' said General Johnston. To the same duty I was assigned, and, with General Bee, I rode forward and heard him appeal to the men, as South Carolinians, to sustain the reputa- tion of their State; and pointing toward General Jackson's Brigade (a part of which could be seen), exclaimed, ' Look, there is Jack- son, with his Virginians, standing like a stonewall against the enemy.' I turned toward the direction indicated, and saw what, for a moment, I supposed was a stonewall. It was a part of the company on the extreme right, which was in grey uniforms, and was lying on the slope of the opposite ridge. * * * These were the circumstances under which the gallant South Carolinian characterized and named the First brigade at the First Battle of Manassas, on the 2ist of July, 1861; and this brigade and its commander will, on the pages of history, go down to posterity as the ' Stonewall Brigade ' of 'Stonewall Jackson.' You will not fail to observe that my version of this historic incident differs from all others which have been pub- lished in some of its details. I adhere to my version, however, be- cause I gave a written account of it a few days after the battle, in my semi-official report to General Johnston, and have since had frequent occasion to repeat it, orally and in writing."
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