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134 GEORGE H. HIMES

and our glorious banner, with its thirty-four stars, proudly wave on every housetop from Maine to Texas, and from the Atlantic to our own loved Pacific shore.

The entire people in this country are for the Union. There may be some diversity of opinion as to the best mode of settling the difficulty, but all agree that it must be preserved.

If we, of the army, remain in this country, it is not probable that we shall be called upon for very active service. But seeing so many of their brother officers who happen to be in the East, promoted to high rank, it begins to arouse the spirit of the young military aspirants for distinction.

I was made a Colonel on the bloody field of Molino Sept. 8, 1847, but it was only a Brevet until March, 1855. But I have not rested very tranquil, under certain Brevets of my juniors, over me, and I shall not do so. Had I hailed from south of Mason and Dixon's line, I might have obtained a Brevet in 1858 ; but unfortunately, I was born in the frozen regions of the North. I cannot, however, now consent to be brought into active service without advancement; not that I could for a moment abandon my flag or country in this, her hour of peril, but I would prefer fighting in the ranks, to occupying a position without looking forward to preferment.

With great regard, very truly your friend,

G. WRIGHT. Gen. Nesmith, U. S. Senate,

Washington, D. C.

General George Wright was born in Vermont in 1803 and graduated from West Point in 1822. During the next nine years he served on the then Western frontier, largely among the Indians. In 1831 he was sent to Louisiana, remaining until 1836, when he took part in the Florida Indian war. He served with distinction in the Mexican war, and in 1852 came to the Pacific coast as a major in the Fifth infantry. He won great praise for his vigorous and effective campaign against the Indians of eastern Washington in 1858, and in 1860 suc- ceeded General William S. Harney in the command of the Military District of Oregon. In September, 1861, he was promoted to a brigadier general, and soon afterwards was ordered to relieve General Edwin V. Sumner at San Francisco.