May in
New York, and at the encomiums he passed upon your soldiership,
zeal, and devotion to your duty. But I was more pleased at the
report of your conduct. I always thought and said there was stuff
in you for a good soldier, and I trust you will prove it.
Resigning his commission in the Army, he came home to be married to his
cousin, a Miss Wickham, and settled down as a farmer at the "White
House" (where Washington met Martha Custis and was married), a large
estate on the Pamunkey River, left him by his maternal grandfather, G.W.
Park Custis, of Arlington.
When that irrepressible conflict of 1861 was upon us, and Virginia
called upon her sons to defend her soil, he, sharing the faith of his
fathers, in the belief that his allegiance was due to his State, quickly
raised a company of cavalry, and was attached to the Army of Northern
Virginia. Serving in every grade successively from captain to
major-general of cavalry, he led his regiment in the famous raid around
McClellan's army, and was an active participant in all those brilliant
achievements which made the cavalry service so proficient.
In that terrific fight which occurred at Brandy Station, in June, 1863,
he was most severely wounded, and taken to the residence of Gen.
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