means unfortunate for
the South, so imminent was the danger, that the strong brain was
incessantly occupied in forecasting the emergencies that might occur.

But not for a single moment did Jackson despair of ultimate success.
His faith in the justice of the Southern cause was as profound as his
trust in God's good providence. He had long since realised that the
overwhelming strength of the Federals was more apparent than real. He
recognised their difficulties; he knew that the size of an army is
limited to the number that can be subsisted, and he relied much on
the superior morale and the superior leading of the Confederate
troops. After long and mature deliberation he had come to a
conclusion as to the policy to be pursued. "We must make this
campaign," he said, in a moment of unusual expansion, "an exceedingly
active one. Only thus can a weaker country cope with a stronger; it
must make up in activity what it lacks in strength. A defensive
campaign can only be made successful by taking the aggressive at the
proper time. Napoleon never waited for his adversary to become fully
prepared, but struck him the first blow."

On these principles Jackson had good reason to believe General Lee
had determined to act;* (* "There is no better way of defending a
long line than by moving into the enemy's country." Lee to General
Jones, March 21, 1863; O.R. volume 25 part 2 page 680.) of their
efficacy he was convinced, and when his wife came to visit him at the
end of April, she found him in good heart and the highest spirits. He
not only anticipated a decisive result from the forthcoming
operations, but he had seen with peculiar satisfaction that a more
manly tone was pervading the Confederate army. Taught by their
leaders, by Lee, Jackson, Stuart, and many others, of whose worth and
valour they had received convincing proof, the Southern soldiers had
begun to practise the clean and wholesome virtue of self-control.
They had discovered that purity and temperance are by no means
incompatible with military prowess, and that a practical piety,
faithful in small things as in great, detracts in no degree from
skill and resolution in the field. The Stonewall Brigade set the
example. As soon as their own huts were finished, the men, of their
own volition, built a log church, where both officers and men,
without distinction of rank, were accustomed to assemble during the
winter evenings; and those rude walls, illuminated by pine torches