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                   To General Wist[e]r
                                        Virginia
                                    Williamsburg
                                          March 1864

General,

          We earnestly, tearfully

prayerfully entreat, that you will remove from us, the requirement of taking the oath of allegiance to the United States government.

   It is not the treasure which "moth

& rust doth corrupt," that our a= gonized hearts rebel at leaving, for in the sense, all that was most valuable, has long since been taken away. But we cannot without bit= terest, deepest anguish, leave the homes of our childhood, the scenes of our youth, those grassy mounds, and oh Holy Dust, how can we give Thee up! - all that is left Page 1

to some bereaved hearts, of what made life precious.

    In your dying hours that 

hour, which must come, alike to all, the Good, the Wise, the Great, as well as to the lowly, this thought will come, & will help to light the dark valley through which we all must pass; - that you exercised the noblest gift & perogative of a soldier, clemency.

  Taking the oath may be to

us, a temptation to assist the Confederates, for Satan is a= ware of the weak points in human nature, & like an ex= perienced general, is skill= ful in knowing when & where to attck; & it is a truth well known to all, that when im= peratively forbidden to pursue

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sue a line of conduct that path, we are most eager to follow.

    Now General please

grant our request, & when the present has become the past, the record of the war is written, & your name en= twined with the history of your country; that name will go down to the latest of time, in all lands, all languages; inseperably uni= ted with a kind act. A ge= nerous deed is surely the most grateful tribute, we can offer to Heaven.

    The Precious Saviour

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who died fo us all has given unto us, the Divine Evangel, contained in the fifth Beatitude "Blessed are the merciful, for they, shall obtain mercy.

         Sally M. Galt

From General Wistar Let Miss Galt remain at home without taking the oath, & all others like her