d of that corps in which we
have so long served under you. The happiness we have enjoyed, and the
honor we have acquired, together with the mutual regard which has always
subsisted between you and your officers, have implanted so sensible an
affection in the minds of us all, that we cannot be silent on this
critical occasion.

"In our earliest infancy you took us under your tuition, trained us up
in the practice of that discipline which alone can constitute good
troops, from the punctual observation of which you never suffered the
least deviation.

"Your steady adherence to impartial justice, your quick discernment, and
invariable regard to merit, wisely intended to inculcate these genuine
sentiments of true honor and passion for glory, from which the greatest
military achievements have been derived, first heightened our natural
emulation and our desire to excel. How much we improved by those
regulations and your own example, with what alacrity we have hitherto
discharged our duty, with what cheerfulness we have encountered the
severest toil, especially while under your particular directions, we
submit to yourself, and flatter ourselves that we have, in a great
measure, answered your expectations.

"Judge, then, how sensibly we must be affected by the loss of such an
excellent commander, such a sincere friend, and so affable a
companion.... It gives us additional sorrow, when we reflect, to find
our unhappy country will receive a loss no less irreparable than our
own. Where will it meet a man so experienced in military affairs--one so
renowned for patriotism, conduct, and courage? Who has so great a
knowledge of the enemy we have to deal with?... Who, in short, so
able to support the military character of Virginia?

"Your approved love to your king and country, and your uncommon
perseverance in promoting the honor and true interest of the service,
convince us that the most cogent reasons only could induce you to quit
it; yet we, with the greatest deference, presume to entreat you to
suspend those thoughts for another year, and to lead us on to assist in
the glorious work of extirpating our enemies, towards which so
considerable advances have been already made. In you we place the most
implicit confidence. Your presence only will cause a steady firmness and
vigor to actuate in every breast, despising the greatest dangers, and
thinking light of toils and hardships, while led on by the man we know
and love."

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