Jackson’s rules for marching have been preserved.  “He never broke down his men by long-continued movement.  He rested the whole column very often, but only for a few minutes at a time.  He liked to see the men lie flat on the ground to rest, and would say, “A man rests all over when he lies down.""* (* Battles and Leaders volume 2 pages 297, 298.) Nor did he often call upon his troops for extraordinary exertions.  In the period between his departure from Elk Run Mountain to the battle of Port Republic there were only four series of forced marches.* (* From April 17 to April 19, when he moved to Elk Run Valley; May 6 to May 8, when he moved against Milroy; May 18 to May 25, when he moved against Banks; and May 29 to June 1, when he passed south between Fremont and Shields.) “The hardships of forced marches,” he said, “are often more painful than the dangers of battle.”  It was only, in short, when he intended a surprise, or when a rapid retreat was imperative, that he sacrificed everything to speed.  The troops marched light, carrying only rifles, blankets, haversacks, and ammunition.  When long distances were to be covered, those men who still retained their knapsacks were ordered to leave them behind.  No heavy trains accompanied the army.  The ambulances and ammunition waggons were always present; but the supply waggons were often far in rear.  In their haversacks the men carried several days’ rations; and when these were consumed they lived either on the farmers, or on the stores they had captured from the enemy.

It is not to be supposed, however, that the ranks remained full.  “I had rather,” said Jackson, “lose one man in marching than five in fighting,” and to this rule he rigorously adhered.  He never gave the enemy warning by a deliberate approach along the main roads; and if there was a chance of effecting a surprise, or if the enemy was already flying, it mattered little how many men fell out.  And fall out they did, in large numbers.  Between May 17 and the battle of Cross Keys the army was reduced from 16,500 men to 18,000.  Not more than 500 had been killed or wounded, so there were no less than 3000 absentees.  Many were footsore and found no place in the ambulances.  Many were sick; others on detachment; but a large proportion had absented themselves without asking leave.  Two days after Winchester, in a letter to Ewell, Jackson writes that “the evil of straggling has become enormous.”

Such severe exertion as the march against Kenly, the pursuit of Banks, and the retreat from the Potomac, would have told their tale upon the hardiest veterans.  When the German armies, suddenly changing direction from west to north, pushed on to Sedan by forced marches, large numbers of the infantry succumbed to pure exhaustion.  When the Light Division, in 1818, pressing forward after Sauroren to intercept the French retreat, marched nineteen consecutive hours in very sultry weather, and over forty miles of mountain roads, “many men fell and died convulsed and frothing at the mouth, while others, whose spirit and strength had never before been quelled, leant on their muskets and muttered in sullen tones that they yielded for the first time."* (* The War in the Peninsula, Napier volume 5 page 244.)