WINCHESTER, February
6, 1862.
His Excellency JOHN LETCHER, Governor of Virginia:
GOVERNOR: Your letter of the 4th instant was received this
morning.*
If my retiring from the Army would produce that effect upon
our country that you have named in your letter, I of course would not desire to
leave the service, and if, upon the receipt of this note, your opinion remains
unchanged, you are authorized to withdraw my resignation, unless the Secretary
of War desires that it should be accepted. My reasons for resigning were set
forth in my letter
of the 31st ultimo and my views remain unchanged, and if the Secretary
persists in the ruinous policy complained of, I feel that no officer can serve
his country better than by making his strongest possible protest against it,
which, in my opinion, is done by tendering his resignation, rather than be a
willful instrument in prosecuting the war upon a ruinous principle.
I am much obliged to you for requesting that I should be
ordered to the Institute.
Very truly, your
friend,
T. J. JACKSON.
_______________
* Not Found.
SOURCES: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of
the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume
5 (Serial No. 5), p. 1062-3; Mary Anna Jackson, Life and Letters
of General Thomas J. Jackson (Stonewall Jackson), p. 234-5
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