[from the dispatch book of General Alfred Pleasonton]
Hd. Qrs. Cav. Brigade
Purcellville, Oct 30. 4.45 P.M.
To General R. B. Marcy
chief of staff
General-
Your dispatch of
10 a.m.is re’c’d–not knowing
the exact whereabouts of General
Bayard at this time, I have sent
an aid-de-camp with the con=
tents of your dispatch to the General
requesting to know where I shall
meet him & to save time, I
have given him my views in
advance viz that it would
be unsafe to leave Snicker
Gap occupied by the enemy
to prevent further [?]
Whatever he may decide
upon I shall use my best
efforts to render successful=
I would be doing myself
an injustice, General, in not
expressing to you my mortification
at receiving your instructions
placing me under the orders
of an officer who is so
[page 2]
much my junior in the
regular service–& who does not
belong to the Army of the Potomac
While I am the senior officer
serving with the Cavalry in
that Army–
My personal relations
with General Bayard are most
friendly & I shall not mortify
him by exposing my own–
Must there not be some=thing in error in the servicethat mortifies
MSS 495