BATTLES OF CROSS KEYS AND PORT REPUBLIC.

VIRGINIA AND MARYLAND.
%

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STONEWALL JACKSON AND THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR.

VOLUME 1.


CHAPTER 1.1. WEST POINT.

In the first quarter of the century, on the hills which stand above
the Ohio River, but in different States of the Union, were born two
children, destined, to all appearance, to lives of narrow interests
and thankless toil. They were the sons of poor parents, without
influence or expectations; their native villages, deep in the
solitudes of the West, and remote from the promise and possibilities
of great cities, offered no road to fortune. In the days before the
railway, escape from the wilderness, except for those with long
purses, was very difficult; and for those who remained, if their
means were small, the farm and the store were the only occupations.
But a farmer without capital was little better than a hired hand;
trade was confined to the petty dealings of a country market; and
although thrift and energy, even under such depressing conditions,