 | A history of Caroline county, Virginia |  |
GENERAL JO LANE STERN
General Jo Lane Stern, son of Levi Stern and Elizabeth Hall,
was born at Ruther Glen, in Caroline county, Va., on December
23, 1848. He received his preparatory education in the public
schools of his native county and served for a brief period as
telegrapher near General Lee's temporary headquarters on the
Virginia Central Railroad. He afterward entered Washington and
Lee University, from which he graduated in 1870 with the degree
of bachelor of law. Locating in Richmond soon after his graduation
he became active in the legal profession and prominent in
military affairs.
General Orders No. 13, in the Adjutant-General's office of
the Commonwealth of Virginia, dated March 16, 1922, sets forth
General Stern's military record as follows:
Private, Company "C," First Virginia Infantry, April 12,
1871; appointed Regimental Sergeant-Major, First Infanry,
1876; Captain and Adjutant, First Infantry, April 12, 1877;
Major, July 21, 1879; Lieut.-Colonel April 17, 1882; elected
Lieutenant-Colonel and Assistant Inspector-General, Virginia
of Virginia May 26, 1898, per General Orders No. 12, Adjutant
General's office, relieved as Acting Adjutant General of Virginia
December 1, 1898, per General Orders No. 18, Adjutant General's
office.
Detailed for duty as Inspector, State Mobilization Camp,
Richmond, Va., per General Orders No. 12, Adjutant General's
office, June 18, 1916, and served until abandonment of Camp,
October 31, 1916.
Detailed for duty as Assistant to Adjutant General in organizing
companies to replace State organizations drafted into
Federal service, and also as Inspector of troops on duty in aid
of civil authorities, per Special Orders No. 147, Adjutant General's
office, May 16, 1917.
Detailed as Acting Adjutant General of Virginia January
29, 1918, per General Orders No. 1, Adjutant General's office,
in addition to duties as Lieutenant-Colonel and Assistant Inspector-General;
appointed Brigadier General, Virginia Volunteers
and the Adjutant-General of Virginia, May 2, 1918, and directed
to perform duties of Inspector-General until further Orders,
per General Orders No. 12, May 2, 1918, Adjutant General's
office of Virginia. Commission vacated by tenure of office of
Governor Davis.
Re-appointed The Adjutant General of Virginia February 23,
1922, with rank of Brigadier-General, February 1, 1922.
Resigned March 15, 1922, per General Orders No. 11, Adjutant
General's office, March 15, 1922.
Early in 1922 General Stern retired from military service.
The story of his retirement is told in the records of the Adjutant
General's office of Virginia, in the following words:
Commonwealth of Virginia
Adjutant General's Office
Richmond, March 16, 1922.
General Orders No. 13
1. Upon his own application and satisfactory evidence he
has served the required number of years in the military service
of the Confederate States Army and the State of Virginia, Brigadier
General Jo Lane Stern, formerly the Adjutant-General of
with rank of Major General, as of this date.
Upon General Stern's retirement The News Leader of Richmond
commented editorially, under date of March 16, 1922, as
follows:
TOO YOUNG FOR A FAREWELL
"Arbitrary as a rule, classifications sometimes are absurd.
"Witness General Jo Lane Stern. Yesterday, with due
formality, he turned over his office to his successor and took his
place on the `retired' list of the National Guard of Virginia. He
will have the rank of Major-General and he will merit by the
character and the length of his service that exalted title. But
it is nonsensical to regard General Stern as `retired.' He will
not even be `inactive,' as the term is used, either in the army or
colloquially. As he transfers official duties to General Sale he
plunges into the vast detail of preparation for the reunion of the
United Confederate Veterans, of whose local committee he is
general chairman. `Retired?' He never was doing more public
service! `Inactive?' Never was he busier!
"For these reasons The News Leader cannot bring itself to
review a military record that runs back to the days when Jo
Lane Stern was a youthful telegrapher near General Lee's temporary
headquarters on the Virginia Central railroad. All that
can be said is that when the militia of the Commonwealth most
needed prestige in the eyes of indifferent youth, General Stern
did much to establish it. When the National Guard lacked
vigor, General Stern helped to infuse it. Soldier as well as telegrapher
in the War Between the States, student at Washington
College under General Lee, one of the few men now living that
ever rode `Traveler,' in the service of the Commonwealth during
the Spanish-American War, with the National Guard during the
whole period of reorganization, thrice Adjutant-General, kept from
the army in 1917-18 solely because he was indispensable to the
State, at one time in propria persona the National Guard of
Virginia because all the units had been mustered into the service—
with this remarkable career General Stern would be a tempting
subject of comment were it not certain that a man as young in
spirit as he is certainly will add more chapters to a picturesque
record."
Colonel H. L. Opie, President of The Leader Publishing
War, wrote to General Stern as follows:
Westmoreland Club,
Richmond, Va.
I cannot note your passing from the high office of Adjutant-General
of the State of Virginia, without feelings of the deepest
regret. In one capacity or another, I have looked to you for
military administration and guidance for upwards of twenty years.
I gained my first ideas and ideals of military thoroughness and
efficiency from you as inspector general when in the old days
you inspected my company with eyes that seemed to search out
every defect, but always with the spirit of kindliness and helpfulness.
And when you assumed command of the active military
affairs of the State as Adjutant-General, that same spirit prevailed,
with a determination to give to Virginia the best Guard
units it was possible to have. To your efforts is largely due the
spirit and determination which carried our old Guard units through
the war to their credit.
You have always shown a realization of the difficulties confronting
the various unit commanders and have helped them
overcome these in the spirit of true co-operation.
The ending of the late war found Virginia without any National
Guard troops whatever, by reason of the fact that the war
destroyed the Guard in toto. But hardly had the first troops been
mustered out when you set about reorganizing the Guard from
the veteran officers and men. In this you were eminently successful
and the present Virginia Infantry brigade and auxiliary units
must stand as the highest testimonial of your services rendered
the Commonwealth.
In bidding God-speed to your passing into civilian life, may
I bespeak new activities for your indomitable spirit.
Brigadier-General Samuel G. Waller, of the Virginia National
Guard, writing to General Stern from Front Royal, Va., under
date of March 20, 1922, says in part:
"I am delighted that the Brigade was completed before the
expiration of your service, and join with you in the pleasure and
gratification that so much was accomplished during your unusually
fine administration. Personally I am very grateful to
you for your constant courtesies to me and your unfailing help
at all times. Yours has always been a strong and safe arm to
lean upon, and I shall miss your wise counsel and intimate friendship.
I sincerely trust that there may be much yet to bring us
together in companionship and effort and that you may never
fail to realize that as one of your old friends I shall always be with
you."
R. L. Purdon, Major, C. A. C., Virginia National Guard,
writing from Chatham, Va., under date of April 13, 1922, says
in part:
"Congratulations on the signal token of esteem and affection
conferred on you recently in naming our C. A. C. regiment the
`Jo Lane Stern Artillery.' This makes me prouder than ever
of my association with it. I don't know whether or not I am
letting a secret our when I tell you that all the officers in the
State are joining in the purchase of a suitable token of our esteem
and gratitude for your services to the Virginia National Guard.
If I am, please keep `mum' and endeavor to register joyful surprise
when the presentation committee calls on you."
LeRoy Hodges, Major Ordance Department, Virginia
National Guards, and Aide to Governor Westmoreland Davis,
wrote under date of March 22, 1922, as follows:
Dear General Stern:
"I wish to express my deep appreciation of your many
courtesies to me since my appointment as State Ordnance Officer
in September, 1920, which I owe very largely to you. I regret
very much, as I am going on in the State service, that I shall not
have the pleasant association with you during the new administration
that I had during the four years of the administration of
Governor Davis.
The Virginia National Guard owes you a great debt of gratitude
for your untiring efforts in reorganizing the various units,
creating a new interest and developing the splendid morale now
found among the officers and men."
The Index-Appeal of Petersburg carried the following editorial
concerning the resignation of General Stern:
"The retirement of General Jo Lane Stern from the military
service of the State is an incident in Virginia history of more
than passing interest. General Stern has been a Virginia military
officer since 1871. In 1870 he graduated from Washington and
Lee University, just a few months prior to the death of the
immortal head of that institution. General Stern has served
three years in the Confederate army under General Lee, although
but a boy. It was not long after he left college and entered upon
the practice of his profession of the law that he entered the
volunteer service, seeing in it an opportunity to serve the State
in the time of peace. For many years he was Assistant Inspector
General of volunteers, and for several years was Adjutant-General,
a position which he now gives up to go on the retired list.
It is probable that General Stern is the most accomplished
military man in the State. Officers of the regular establishment
have frequently paid tribute to the extent and accuracy of his
knowledge of military subjects. He has done a great work
for the Virginia Military and he deserves the honor conferred
upon him by Governor Trinkle in placing him on the retired
list with the rank of major general. In addition to the high
position which General Stern has had in the Virginia military
for many years, he has long been known as a lawyer of great
ability, enjoying a lucrative position. Socially, General Stern
is delightful and advancing years have accomplished nothing in
the way of subduing his spirits or dimming his savoir faire.
We salute the retired veteran and wish for him many years of
life which he has the knack of enjoying so thoroughly."
The Daily Press of Newport News, Va., carried an editorial
under the caption "General Stern's Service," which reads as
follows:
"The announcement that Major General Jo Lane Stern is
about to retire from the military service of the Nation and State
after a distinguished career of fifty-one years, is of more than
passing interest. It is no disparagement to others to say that
General Stern has done more for the militia of Virginia than any
other man in the service, and with him it has been a labor of love
and duty; not of emolument. For many years General Stern has
had a lucrative practice at the law in Richmond, and ample
income for all his needs. So with him military service was not an
something for the public safety and the public welfare. Right
well does he deserve the honors that have been bestowed upon
him; and he deserves, also, the gratitude of the public."
Many other Virginia newspapers carried editorials and articles
concerning General Stern's retirement, indicating the esteem in
which he was held by the entire State, and expressing profound
gratitude for his untiring services.
In a letter to the author, dated November 16, 1923, General
Stern says: "My mother's great grandfather was David Ussery,
a Revolutionary soldier of Virginia, and his wife was Eunice
Barrett, daughter of Dominick Barrett, of Ireland. I think I
must have gotten my liking for military life from these old fighters."
General Stern is a member of Centenary Methodist Church,
of Richmond; is connected with his brother, Cary Ellis Stern,
in the practice of law; is a bachelor and resides at the Westmoreland
Club. He is also a member of the Commonwealth and
University Clubs of Richmond and of the Country Club of
Virginia.
| A history of Caroline county, Virginia | |