Library of Formatting Examples:Correspondence/03A

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military skill and heroic endeavor.

A week after his resignation was written Jackson,
overwhelmed by appeals to remain in the service,
wrote to Governor Letcher as follows:

/#

/*
February 6, 1862
*/

Governor:--Your letter of the 4th inst. was received
this morning. If my retiring from the army would produce
the effect upon our country that you have named in your
letter, I, of course, could not desire to leave the service, and
if, upon receipt of this note, your opinion remains unchanged,
you are authorized to withdraw my resignation unless the
Secretary of War desires that it should be accepted. My
reasons for resigning were set forth in my letter of the
31st ult. and my views remain unchanged; and <i>if the Secretary
persists in the ruinous policy complained of I feel that
no officer can serve his country better than by making his
strongest possible protest against it, which, in my opinion,
is done by tendering his resignation, rather than be a willing
instrument in prosecuting the war upon a ruinous principle</i>.
#/

This then was the situation. Stonewall Jackson,
with a miserably inferior force, was holding the Valley
throughout a long winter, and detaining there a

Letters as block quotes

This letter is preceded and followed by extra white space (blank lines), so it must be enclosed in Block Quotes. Sometimes, a letter may be printed across 2 or more pages, and the "extra white space" on one of those pages (usually the one where the letter begins) may not be obvious. In general, letters in the middle of other text need to be enclosed in Block Quotes, especially when they begin with dates and/or end with signatures. If the situation is questionable, looking at the "other" page may be helpful.

Complete and incomplete sentences

The text in italics at the end of the letter is not a complete sentence, so period goes outside.