A MAN OF PERFECT COURAGE

"Such was the foundation of the courage of Jackson. He walked with God, in conscious integrity; and he embraced with all his heart 'the righteousness of God by the faith of Jesus Christ.' His soul, I believe, dwelt habitually in the full assurance that God was his God, and his portion forever. 

His manly and vigorous faith brought heaven so near, that death had slight terrors for him. While it would be unjust to charge him with rashness in exposure to danger, yet whenever his sense of duty prompted it, he seemed to risk his person with an absolute indifference to fear. 

The sense of his responsibility to his country, and the heat of his mighty spirit in the crises of battle, might sometimes agitate him vehemently; but never was the most imminent personal peril seen to disturb his equanimity for one moment. It is a striking trait of the impression which he has made upon his countrymen, that while no man could possibly be farther from boasting, it always became the first article of the belief of those subject to his command, that he was, of course, man of perfect courage."

R.L. Dabney
1863 Richmond, Va. 
Memorial sermon for Gen. T.J. (Stonewall) Jackson