Feb’y 10th 1864
Hd Qrs Cav Corps A.N.Va.
Dear Col;
Since I heard from you, we have had a little stir, here, and you
have lost Col. Wilcox. I was deeply pained to hear it. His
loss to his state, to the country, & to the House can not be easily
supplied. I see the House is hard at work so am I. My
reports are all up nearly to completion – Gen’l Lee’s
Pennsylvania report went in some time ago & mine with it. I
have been so fortunate as to hold a command properly belonging to a
higher grade. I have escaped providentially being hurt, and as
one consequence have not been promoted, when I lose my
head however I hope to be promoted.
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Apropo
of this subject of promotion I will quote part of what I endorsed on Mosby’s
last report of his operations – “while self consciousness of having done his
duty well is the patriot-soldier's best reward, yet the evidence of the
appreciation of his country, is a powerful incentive to renewed effort, which
should not be overlooked nor undervalued by those who have risen to the highest
point of military and civic eminence -- that evidence is promotion.”
That Col is the true doctrine. It is not always practicable to promote
the deserving; but when it is practicable it ought to be awarded graciously. A
military man without aspirations is like a vessel without sail - a compass
without the needle.
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I talk to you Col just the reflections that rise in my own mind, as to
a friend who will not misconstrue what I write, but listen to the story
with patience if not approval. Of course what I write on such
subjects is
private.
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