example was not without effect.  The conventions came to nothing; and when the companies were organised in battalions, and some of the deposed officers were reappointed to command, the men went willingly to work.  Their previous knowledge, even of drill, was of the scantiest.  Officers and men had to begin as recruits, and Jackson was not the man to cut short essential preliminaries.  Seven hours’ drill daily was a heavy tax upon enthusiasm; but it was severely enforced, and the garrison of the frontier post soon learned the elements of manoeuvre.  Discipline was a lesson more difficult than drill.  The military code, in all its rigour, could not be at once applied to a body of high-spirited and inexperienced civilians.  Undue severity might have produced the very worst results.  The observance, therefore, of those regulations which were not in themselves essential to efficiency or health was not insisted on.  Lapses in military etiquette were suffered to pass unnoticed; no attempt was made to draw a hard and fast line between officers and men; and many things which in a regular army would be considered grossly irregular were tacitly permitted.  Jackson was well aware that volunteers of the type he commanded needed most delicate and tactful handling.  The chief use of minute regulations and exacting routine is the creation of the instinct of obedience.  Time was wanting to instil such instinct into the Confederate troops; and the intelligence and patriotism of the men, largely of high class and good position, who filled the ranks, might be relied upon to prevent serious misconduct.  Had they been burdened with the constant acknowledgment of superior authority which becomes a second nature to the regular soldier, disgust and discontent might have taken the place of high spirit and good-will.  But at the same time wilful misbehaviour was severely checked.  Neglect of duty and insubordination were crimes which Jackson never forgave, and deliberate disobedience was in his eyes as unmanly an offence as cowardice.  He knew when to be firm as well as when to relax, and it was not only in the administration of discipline that he showed his tact.  He was the most patient of instructors.  So long as those under him were trying to do their best, no one could have been kinder or more forbearing; and he constantly urged his officers to come to his tent when they required explanation as to the details of their duty.

Besides discipline and instruction, Jackson had the entire administration of his command upon his hands.  Ammunition was exceedingly scarce, and he had to provide for the manufacture of ball-cartridges.  Transport there was none, but the great waggons of the Valley farmers supplied the deficiency.  The equipment of the artillery left much to be desired, and ammunition carts (or caissons) were constructed by fixing roughly made chests on the running gear of waggons.  The supply and medical services were non-existent, and everything had to be organised de novo.  Thus the officer in command at Harper’s Ferry had his hands full; and in addition to his administrative labours there was the enemy to be watched, information to be obtained, and measures of defence to be considered.  A glance at the map will show the responsibilities of Jackson’s position.