[218] At the time of his death he was twenty-six years and two months old. His career as a soldier was every way creditable to him, as the following extract from a letter from Major Joseph Hayes of the Eighteenth Regiment will testify. Major Hayes says:—
His conduct in the late engagement, in which he fell, is mentioned in the highest praise by all the officers who were engaged with him. He fell right in the very front, while bravely cheering on his men under a most galling fire, and displayed to the last a spirit of intrepidity and gallantry surpassed by no one. Lieutenant Almy was always prompt, faithful, and zealous, and cheerful too, in the performance of his duty as a soldier.Almy's cheerful performance of his duty was especially noteworthy. His letters to his friends were always written in good spirits, no matter what the circumstances in which he was placed. He was a young man of excellent abilities, more distinguished, however, by the general balance of his faculties than by extraordinary pre-eminence in any special department. He possessed good judgment, the best common sense, and great tact in all practical matters. He had much kindness of heart and was always good-natured and cheerful. His qualities as a friend and companion cannot be spoken of too highly. He enlisted in the military service of his country from motives of the purest patriotism, and in dying he ended generously a life which he had generously lived.
