Governor Letcher's Office,
Friday, Dec. 27th.
Dear Maggie, —
I expect to leave to-morrow for Winchester. I have got through my business, and
must hurry back to save Sunday travel. Jackson sent me down on a forlorn hope,
and I have nothing to blame myself for, that I did not accomplish what could
not be done. I am sure that I did all that mortal man could do in the premises.
The Secretary of War received me very kindly, and so did President Davis. The
latter said, when I was introduced to him, that he had expected to see a
Colonel Preston that he had met before, but, said he, so many of your name have
entered the service, that it is no wonder I was mistaken. So much for your
name, Mrs. Preston!
Well, I can't come home at New Year. I got leave of absence
from the Secretary of War1, and will remain with Jackson if he makes
the movement he contemplates. If he should be obliged to go into winter
quarters, I will hurry home. You believe me, dearest, this does not answer the
demands of my heart. There is nothing in any mode of life that compensates me
for the loss of your society and the delights of home. But I am glad to believe
that my services are of value to my country in this her hour of need, and if in
the Providence of God, my life is to be laid upon her altar, most freely the
offering shall be made.
But I know what I am best suited for; it is to make your
happiness in securing mine. I claim not to be equal to many men for military
talents — I find and acknowledge many superiors in business, in oratory, in
scholarship and in many other things, but that man who knows better than I do
how to appreciate and return the love of a noble woman, I never expect to see! . . . But you would not love me if I could
forget duty.
I am writing this in the governor's office, so surrounded
with men in whose conversation I am compelled to take part, that I cannot fix
my thoughts long enough to say many things that I proposed. . . .
Your Husband.
_______________
1 From service at the V. M. I.
SOURCE: Elizabeth Preston Allan, The Life and
Letters of Margaret Junkin Preston, p. 127-8
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