Sir:
In the year seventy-six in South Carolina I attended the Eighth Virginia Regiment with my own; though I need not pretend to
particularize, for I have almost, ever since I have been in the army, done the duty of three or four Surgeons & Mates, without pay, or even murmuring, and now I beg every indulgence in your power which I hope you will grant.The many just apologies I have made for not being in service will, I hope, appear in their true light, and will not, in your opinion, have the least colour of evading my duty.