of the army, any statement of reasons for requesting the discharge which is desired.’
I beg leave to report to you, that the honor you paid to the memory of
General Lander, by causing his remains to be returned, under a suitable escort, to his native State, was rendered complete by the faithful and decorous manner in which the sad duty was fulfilled by
Captain Barstow, and the officers and soldiers accompanying him. The
Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and the city of
Salem, the place of
General Lander's nativity, have received with much sensibility the manifestation of grateful respect, on the part of the War Department, toward a soldier and gentleman whose fame, now a part of his country's history, is one of the precious possessions of those from whom he went forth to her service and defence.
His body now rests in silence beneath the soil on which his youth was spent, and to which it was committed with every demonstration of regard on the part of the executive and legislative branches of the government of the
Commonwealth, and on the part of the municipality of
Salem, in the presence of many thousands of his fellow-citizens, and with appropriate military honors.
With the fervent hope that we who survive him, and are charged with leadership in our patriotic army, will vindicate on the field an equal title with his to gratitude and admiration, and with sentiments of the utmost regard, I am, sir, ever
Your obedient and humble servant,
