His severity as regards the more serious offences did not, however, alienate in the smallest degree the confidence and affection of his soldiers.  They had full faith in his justice.  They were well aware that to order the execution of some unfortunate wretch gave him intense pain.  But they recognised, as clearly as he did himself, that it was sometimes expedient that individuals should suffer.  They knew that not all men, nor even the greater part, are heroes, and that if the worthless element had once reason to believe that they might escape the legitimate consequences of their crimes, desertion and insubordination would destroy the army.  By some of the senior officers, however, his rigorous ideas of discipline were less favourably considered.  They were by no means disposed to quarrel with the fact that the sentences of courts-martial in the Second Army Corps were almost invariably confirmed; but they objected strongly to the same measure which they meted out to the men being consistently applied to themselves.  They could not be brought to see that neglect of duty, however trivial, on the part of a colonel or brigadier was just as serious a fault as desertion or insubordination on the part of the men; and the conflict of opinion, in certain cases, had unfortunate results.

To those whose conduct he approved he was more than considerate.  General Lane, who was under him as a cadet at Lexington, writes as follows:—­

“When in camp at Bunker Hill, after the battle of Sharpsburg, where the gallant Branch was killed, I, as colonel commanding the brigade, was directed by General A.P.  Hill to hold my command in readiness, with three days’ rations, for detached service, and to report to General Jackson for further orders.  That was all the information that Hill could give me.  I had been in Jackson’s corps since the battles round Richmond, and had been very derelict in not paying my respects to my old professor.  As I rode to his headquarters I wondered if he would recognise me.  I certainly expected to receive his orders in a few terse sentences, and to be promptly dismissed with a military salute.  He knew me as soon as I entered his tent, though we had not met for years.  He rose quickly, with a smile on his face, took my hand in both of his in the warmest manner, expressed his pleasure at seeing me, chided me for not having been to see him, and bade me be seated.  His kind words, the tones of his voice, his familiarly calling me Lane, whereas it had always been Mr. Lane at the Institute, put me completely at my ease.  Then, for the first time, I began to love that reserved man whom I had always honoured and respected as my professor, and whom I greatly admired as my general.