Keenan himself fell, pierced by bayonets, and the charge was
repulsed at once; but a few priceless moments had been saved, and
Pleasanton had been given time to post twenty-two guns, loaded
with double canister, where they would bear upon the enemy.

The Confederates advanced in a dense mass, yelling and cheering,
and the discharge of the guns fairly blew them back across the
work's they had just taken. Again they charged, and again were
driven back; and when the battle once more began the Union
reinforcements had arrived.

It was about this time that Jackson himself was mortally wounded.
He had been leading and urging on the advance of his men,
cheering them with voice and gesture, his pale face flushed with
joy and excitement, while from time to time as he sat on his
horse he took off his hat and, looking upward, thanked heaven for
the victory it had vouchsafed him. As darkness drew near he was
in the front, where friend and foe were mingled in almost
inextricable confusion. He and his staff were fired at, at close
range, by the Union troops, and, as they turned, were fired at
again, through a mistake, by the Confederates behind them.
Jackson fell, struck in several places. He was put in a litter
and carried back; but he never lost consciousness, and when one
of his generals complained of the terrible effect of the Union
cannonade he answered:

"You must hold your ground."

For several days he lingered, hearing how Lee beat Hooker, in
detail, and forced him back across the river. Then the old