House of REPRESENTATIVES, WASHINGTON, D.C., March 12,
1856.
DEAR SIR: I have the pleasure of indorsing a notice signed
by the Secretary of War, informing you that the President has conditionally
appointed you a cadet in the military service of the United States. I selected
you for the place because, from representations made by your friends concerning
you, and from my slight acquaintance with you, I believed that you possessed
sufficient talent and ability, honesty and integrity, industry, energy, and
perseverance to enable you to pass the ordeal at West Point creditably. Should
you fail, it will be mortifying to me and to your other friends, but I trust
there will be no failure. You will enter the academy under favorable
circumstances, and you must make every reasonable effort to attain and maintain
a high standing in your class, and if possible carry off the first honors. You
can hardly imagine the interest that I feel and shall continue to feel for your
success. By doing well for yourself, you will honor me. The place to which you
are appointed has been sought by many and supported by influential friends, but
I thought best to choose you, and you must prove to the world that I have made
a good choice.
[Benjamin Pringle.]
SOURCE: Peter Smith Michie, The Life and Letters of Emory Upton, p. 7-8
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