5827. NELSON (Thomas), Governor of Virginia.—
[Governor Jefferson's] office was
now [June, 1781,] near expiring, the country
[Virginia] under invasion by a powerful army,
no services but military of any avail, unprepared
by his line of life and education for
the command of armies, he believed it right not
to stand in the way of talents better fitted than
his own to the circumstances under which the
country was placed. He, therefore, himself proposed
to his friends in the Legislature that General
Nelson, who commanded the militia of the
State, should be appointed Governor, as he was
sensible that the union of the civil and military
power in the same hands at this time, would
greatly facilitate military measures. This appointment
accordingly took place on the 12th
of June, 1781.—
Invasion of Va. Memorandum. Washington ed. ix, 223.
(M.
1781)
