dence between
General Hatch and his former command will partly vindicate, if it does
not fully justify, his course:

SECOND CAVALRY BRIGADE, THIRD ARMY CORPS,
Near Fort Scott, Va., ---- 1862.

_To Brigadier-General John P. Hatch_:

GENERAL: The accompanying sabre is presented to you by the
officers of the First Vermont and Fifth New York Cavalry.

We have served under you while you commanded the cavalry in
Virginia--a period of active operations and military
enterprise--during which your courage and judgment inspired
us with confidence, while your zeal and integrity have left
us an example easier to be admired than imitated.

We, who have passed with you beyond the Rapidan and through
Swift Run Gap, are best able to recognize your qualities as
a commander.

Accept, therefore, General, this testimonial of esteem
offered long after we were removed from your command,--when
the external glitter of an ordinary man ceases to affect the
mind, but when real worth begins to be appreciated.

On behalf of the officers of the Fifth New York,

ROBERT JOHNSTONE,
_Lieutenant-Colonel, Fifth New York Cavalry_.

_To the Officers of the Fifth New York and First Vermont
Regiments of Cavalry_:

OSWEGO, N. Y., ---- 1862.

GENTLEMEN: A very beautiful sabre, your present to myself,
has been received. I shall wear it with pride, and will never
draw it but in an honorable cause.

The very kind letter accompanying the sabre has caused
emotions of the deepest nature. The assurance it gives of
the confidence you feel in myself, and your approval of my
course when in command of Banks' Cavalry, is particularly
gratifying. You, actors with myself in those stirring
scenes, are competent judges as to the propriety of my
course, when it unfortunately did not meet with the approval
of my superior; and your testimony, so handsomely expressed,
after time has allowed opportunity for reflection, more than
compensates for the mortification of that moment.

I have watched with pride the movements of your regiments
since my separation from you. When a telegram has announced
that "in a cavalry fight _the edge of the sabre_ was
successfully used, and the enemy routed," the further
announcement that the F