n amongst the
Arabs. When he came to me he was dressed in an English staff blue coat,
and he had a red cavalry forage-cap, which latter, General Polk told me,
he always wore in action, so making himself more conspicuous. He talked
to me much about John Morgan, whose marriage he had tried to avert, and
of which he spoke with much sorrow. He declared that Morgan was
enervated by matrimony, and would never be the same man as he was. He
said that in one of the celebrated telegraph tappings in Kentucky,
Morgan, the operator, and himself, were seated for twelve hours on a
clay-bank during a violent storm, but the interest was so intense, that
the time passed like three hours.[41]

General Polk's son, a young artillery lieutenant, told me this evening
that "Stonewall Jackson" was a professor at the military school at
Lexington, in which he was a cadet. "Old Jack" was considered a
persevering but rather dull master, and was often made a butt of by
cheeky cadets, whose great ambition it was to irritate him, but, however
insolent they were, he never took the slightest notice of their
impertinence at the time, although he always had them punished for it
afterwards. At the outbreak of the war, he was called upon by the cadets
to make a speech, and these were his words: "Soldiers make short
speeches: _be slow to draw the sword in civil strife, but when you draw
it, throw away the scabbard._" Young Polk says that the enthusiasm
created by this speech of old Jack's was beyond description.

[40] Called Pittsburg Landing and Corinth.

[41] This was the occasion when they telegraphed such a quantity of
nonsense to the Yankee general, receiving valuable information in
return, and such necessary stores by train as Morgan was in need of.

* * * * *

_31st May_ (Sunday).--The Bishop of Georgia preached to-day to a very
large congregation in the Presbyterian church. He is a most eloquent
preacher; and he afterwards confirmed about twenty people,--amongst
others, Colonel Gale (over forty years old), and young Polk. After
church, I called again on General Bragg, who talked to me a long time
about the battle of Murfreesborough (in which he commanded). He said
that he retained possession of the ground he had won for three days and
a half, and only retired on account of the exhaustion of his troops, and
after carrying off over 6000 prisoners, much cannon, and other trophies.
He allowed that Rosecrans had display