Carefulness in Details

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General Hill, writing of Stonewall Jackson, says: “Invidious critics have attributed many of Jackson’s successes to lucky blunders, or at best to happy inspirations at the moment of striking. Never was there a greater mistake. He studied carefully (shall I add prayerfully?) all his own and his adversaries’ movements. He knew the situation perfectly, the geography and topography of the country, the character of the officers opposed to him, the number and material of his troops. He never joined battle without a thorough personal reconnaissance of the field. That duty he never trusted to any engineer officer.”

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