Wabash fireball
From Indiana???
From the Richmond Daily Dispatch February 10, 1863:
Stonewall Jackson’s Popularity.
A few days since a lady who came through the lines at Fredericksburg under flag of truce, brought a message from Hon. D. W. Voorhees, of Indiana, to Gen. Jackson, to the effect that he (Stonewall) was the only man living who could beat him (Voorhees) in his Congressional district, so great is the admiration of the distinguished chieftain in the Northwest.
Daniel Wolsey Voorhees was a Copperhead Democrat representative in the U.S. House throughout the Civil War. Wikipedia quotes from Kenneth M. Stampp, Indiana Politics during the Civil War (1949):
There was an earthy quality in Voorhees, “the tall sycamore of the Wabash.” On the stump his hot temper, passionate partisanship, and stirring eloquence made an irresistible appeal to the western Democracy. His bitter cries against protective tariffs and national banks, his intense race prejudice, his suspicion of the eastern Yankee, his devotion to personal liberty, his defense of the Constitution and state rights faithfully reflected the views of his constituents. Like other Jacksonian agrarians he resented the political and economic revolution then in progress. Voorhees idealized a way of life which he thought was being destroyed by the current rulers of his country. His bold protests against these dangerous trends made him the idol of the Democracy of the Wabash Valley. (p. 211)
Union side of the Rappahannock, January 25, 1863
