Editor, Gazette-Journal:

I am writing to express my disappointment at the attitude and behavior of the Mathews County Board of Supervisors. I appeared before the Board on Oct. 28 representing the Captain Sally Tompkins Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. It is our wish to honor Captain Sally by adding a plaque to the existing sign welcoming visitors to Mathews County. This would be similar to the New Kent County sign proclaiming that area as the “home of the first First Lady.”

As many of you already know, Sally Tompkins, born to a well-established Mathews family, was the founder and administrator of Robertson’s Hospital in Richmond and was the only female commissioned officer in either army during the War Between the States. This making her the first female officer in the history of the United States! She funded the hospital with her own money and provided such excellent care that she achieved the highest recovery rate of any hospital North or South....