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Riverside (near) Es till Springs, Tenn. October 1st 1872 My dear madam, Although I have never enjoyed the pleasure of personal intercour se with you, yet I feel that we are not altogether strangers, & that knowing the soft sympathies of endearing friendship that existed between Genl. A nderson & myself, you will not deem it an obtrusion that I desire to express to you my condolence and sympathy at the sad bereavement which his death has occasioned. Alas! My mind is utterly depressed an bewildered at its total immobility of expr ession, & I shrink from indulging in mere hackneyed commonplace generalizations to one w ho I feel is entitled to a preeminence in sorrow. Genl. Anderson was the dearest friend I had on earth. His inner life (pure & unsullied) lay open before me, & my highest aspirations Transcribed by Christopher A. Baker, University of Florida, 2008.