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bluffs. Some time since some of our boys wrote to Brown urging him to come back & in fact intimating that the Co. would like to see him with us again as Capt. Our commissions had not been issued & he went to Springfield & with these letters & his own influence he recd. a Capts Commission. He returned two or three days since & last eve. informed the Co. that he was here as their Comdg. officer if they so desired. But if there was any objection he would willingly leave the place to Patterson. I asked the Co. to make known their wishes by rassing their hands & they were nearly if [illegible] quite [unassuming?] for Brown & they then gave him three wild cheers. The co. love Brown & if Bushnell had not interfered he would have been elected Capt. & recommended for that position by the field officers. Of course it is [illegible] humilating for Patterson to have things take such a turn as they have. The co. regret that any such a state of things exist because they have Brown for his military skill & abilities & respect Patterson for his many manly qualities. He is a very good young man & is remarkably kind & benevolent but is not quite so well [illegible] for a military officer as many others. He is not