One fine day an uncompromising woman appeared at the White House and requested an audience with President Abraham Lincoln. She was finally introduced to him and said:

“Mr. President, you must give me a colonel’s commission for my son. I demand of you, sir, not as a favor but as a right. My grandfathers fought at Lexington; my uncle was the only man who did not run at Bladensburg; my father fought at New Orleans and my husband was killed at Monterey.”

President Lincoln solemnly replied: “I guess, madam, that your family has done enough for our country. It’s time to give somebody else a chance.”

The record isn’t clear on whether she received a colonel’s commission.