So they bought Mr. Ferdinand Fitzroy a cornetcy in the regiment of dragoons.

But my college career convinced my uncle that my forte did not lie in the classics, and Sir George succeeded in inducing him to yield to my wishes, and interested himself so strongly for me that I obtained a cornetcy in the 14th Light Dragoons a week before the regiment sailed for Portugal.

After the last college failure a private tutor was once more engaged, but a very few weeks served to give Washington "a thorough conviction that it was in vain to keep Washington Custis to any literary pursuits, either in a public Seminary or at home," and, as the next best thing, he procured him a cornetcy in the provisional army.

Luckily, they found me out before the ship sailed, and made the best of a bad bargain by purchasing me a cornetcy in a dragoon regiment.