I had been a lieutenant in Captain Anderson's company, at Fort Moultrie, from 1843 to 1846, and he explained that he wanted me as his right hand.

He also indicated George H.
Thomas, D.C.Buell, and Burnside, as the other three.

Of course, I always wanted to go West, and was perfectly willing to go with Anderson, especially in a subordinate capacity: We agreed to call on the President on a subsequent day, to talk with him about it, and we did.

It hardly seems probable that Mr.Lincoln should have come to Willard's Hotel to meet us, but my impression is that he did, and that General Anderson had some difficulty in prevailing on him to appoint George H.Thomas, a native of Virginia, to be brigadier-general, because so many Southern officers, had already played false; but I was still more emphatic in my indorsement of him by reason of my talk with him at the time he crossed the Potomac with Patterson's army, when Mr.Lincoln promised to appoint him and to assign him to duty with General Anderson.

In this interview with Mr.Lincoln, I also explained to him my extreme desire to serve in a subordinate capacity, and in no event to be left in a superior command.