#4-278
To Captain Clifton S. Brown
March 3, 1944 Washington, D.C.
Dear Clifton -
Two letters from Allen came yesterday, written in early February, the last on the 8th. He seemed to be getting along all right, but had a great deal to say about the food and wet ground for sleeping purposes, though he admitted that he slept better than he ever had on a cot. I am off tomorrow on a trip.1 I think your mother is going down to Leesburg for the day to look into some spring planting. She has told you that we spent last weekend with Baruch at Hobcaw Plantation, about five miles from Hasty Point. Weather was perfect. I hunted for two hours Saturday and got eleven quail. Flowers in bloom and country very lovely. It has been cold here with recent snow but weather is moderating and snow has disappeared. Jimmie is very active, particularly on his velocipede. Kitty is just about ready to walk alone and gets along very well with a hand to guide her. Sahra, one of the Mexican maids, had to go home, by air, as she was expecting a baby. Anna is still here and very efficient.2 My work seems to increase in pressure and I suppose will continue so until the end. I imagine your mother told you all about Kitty's birthday party where we had them of all ages from one year up to Sir John Dill, including Mr. and Mrs. Shedden.3 No babies cried and none of the older children became difficult or destructive. Altogether it was quite a success. I think there were fifteen children and twenty-six grownups.
Your mother represents me tomorrow morning at a White House commemorative service. She is then going down to Leesburg for the afternoon. If it is not very cold she will probably take Molly and Jimmy with her. Old James has had one bad flu attack this winter but seems to be coming through all right, back on his feet now and very partial to the cough syrup we have gotten for him. Victor has been going down on his off days to work around the place.4 He seems to be crazy about Leesburg and Dodona. I think he has been painting the kitchen, having gotten in about all the timber there was to be chopped. We cut down quite a few trees that separated the two back lots bordering on the garage so that the whole can be used for a vegetable garden if we so desire. Your mother and I have been walking some 2½ to 5 miles each evening; however, the five was only on one evening. She is getting back into good shape again after her bronchitis. I imagine the weather will be changing or has already changed with you to springlike. The hot weather of the summer is not so good but believe you have more breeze there than we have here in Washington. Good luck to you. My love and affectionate regards.
Document Copy Text Source: Research File, Family Folder, George C. Marshall Research Library, Lexington, Virginia.
Document Format: Typed letter.
1. General Marshall departed Washington on Saturday, March 4, for an inspection trip to the South and Southwest, and he returned Wednesday, March 8. The schedule included tours of Eglin Field, Florida, Camp Shelby, Mississippi, the Louisiana Maneuver Area, and a stop at San Antonio, Texas, for a visit to Randolph Field. The chief of staff then went to Camp Hood, Texas, Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and Camp Campbell, Kentucky. (Dasco Memorandum for the Chief of Staff, March I, 1944, GCMRL/G. C. Marshall Papers [Pentagon Office, Selected].) See Marshall to Brown, March 11, 1944, Papers of George Catlett Marshall, #4-285 [4: 335–36].
2. See Marshall to Brown, March 1, 1944, Papers of George Catlett Marshall, #4-272 [4: 319–21].
3. Mr. and Mrs. John S. Shedden were Margaret S. (Madge) Brown's parents from New York. For Mrs. Marshall's account of the birthday party, see K. T. Marshall, Together, p. 216.
4. James was the caretaker for the Marshalls' Leesburg home Dodona Manor. Sergeant Victor P. Aguirre served in the Orderly Detachment of the Chief of Staff. (Marshall to Aguirre, September 5, 1945, GCMRL/G. C. Marshall Papers [Pentagon Office, General].)
Recommended Citation: The Papers of George Catlett Marshall, ed. Larry I. Bland and Sharon Ritenour Stevens (Lexington, Va.: The George C. Marshall Foundation, 1981– ). Electronic version based on The Papers of George Catlett Marshall, vol. 4, “Aggressive and Determined Leadership,” June 1, 1943–December 31, 1944 (Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996), pp. 328–329.