October 4, 1862 (Saturday): A Gesture to a Widow

General Phil Kearny

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA,
Camp near Winchester, Va., October 4, 1862.
(Received October 7, 1862.)
Honorable GEORGE W. RANDOLPH,
Secretary of War, Richmond, Va.:
    SIR: Mrs. Phil. Kearny has applied for the sword and horse of Major General Phil. Kearny, which was captured at the time that officer was killed, near Chantilly. The horse and saddle have been turned over to the quartermaster of the army, and the sword to the Chief of Ordnance. I would send them at once, as an evidence of the sympathy felt for her bereavement, and as a testimony of the appreciation of a gallant soldier, but I have looked upon such articles as public property, and that I had no right to dispose of them, except for the benefit of the service. In this case, however, I should like to depart from this rule, provided it is not considered improper by the Department, and I therefore refer the matter for your decision. An early reply is requested.
   I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,


   R. E. LEE,
   General.


   [Indorsement.]
 Official Records, Series I., Vol. 19, Part 2, Page 645.

It is a measure of Lee's sense of duty that the commander of the main Confederate army felt constrained by regulations to request permission (granted) to return a horse to the widow of a Union general.