O'Connor. I am glad that it
came from another source, for I do not suppose that we should have got all
the facts from you, even by cross-questioning. You may think, and I have
no doubt that you do think, that you received more credit than you
deserved for what you consider were merely ideas that struck you at the
moment; but such is not my opinion, nor that, I am sure, of the other
officers present. The story which we have just heard of you, and the
account that you have given of the campaign, afford great promise, I may
almost say a certainty, of your attaining, if you are spared, high
eminence in your profession.
"Your narrative showed that you are painstaking, accurate, and
intelligent. The facts that we have just heard prove you to be
exceptionally quick in conceiving ideas, cool in action, and able to think
of the right thing at the right time--all qualities that are requisite for
a great commander. I warmly congratulate you, that at the very
commencement of your career you should have had the opportunity afforded
you for showing that you possess these qualities, and of gaining the warm
approbation of men very much older than yourself, and all of wide
experience in their profession. I am sorry now that you are starting
to-morrow on what I cannot but consider a useless, as well as a somewhat
dangerous, undertaking.
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