Nelson's term as Governor was shortened by ill health. In November, 1781, he was compelled to resign.
But he was not permitted to rest. Attacks were made on him for certain courses taken during his term as Governor. When he asked and was given permission to defend himself before the State delegates, he was triumphantly acquitted of all blame. On December 31, 1781, this action was recorded:
"An act to indemnify Thomas Nelson, Junior, Esquire, late governor of this commonwealth, and to legalize certain acts of his administration. Whereas, upon examination, it appears that previous to and during the siege of York, Thomas Nelson, Esquire, late governor of this commonwealth, was compelled by the peculiar circumstances of the state and army, to perform many acts of government without the advice of the council of state, for the purpose of procuring subsistence for the allied army under the command of his excellency general Washington; be it enacted that all such acts of government, evidently productive of general good, and warranted by necessity, be judged and held of the same validity, and the like proceedings be had on them as if they had been executed by and with the advice of the council, and with all the formality prescribed by law. And be it enacted that the said Thomas Nelson, jr., Esquire, be and he hereby is in the fullest manner indemnified and exonerated from all penalties and dangers which might have accrued to him from the same."
Nelson lived more than seven years after this act approving his emergency actions. But three years were spent in comparative poverty. Most of his property was sold to satisfy the debts incurred by paying two regiments out of his own pocket, and by going security, with the State, for two million dollars needed to carry on the war. Sanderson says of these acts of generosity:
"He had spent a princely fortune in his country's service; his horses had been taken from the plough, and sent to drag the munitions of war; his granaries had been thrown open to a starving soldiery, and his ample purse had been drained to its last dollar, when the credit of Virginia could not bring a sixpence into her treasury. Yet it was the widow of this man who, beyond eighty years of age, blind, infirm, and poor, had yet to learn whether republics can be grateful."
On the simple gravestone in Yorktown, erected to the memory of the patriot, is this eloquent inscription:
Thomas Nelson,
Governor of Virginia.
He Gave All for Liberty.
Not far from the grave is another historic house that should be named with the Nelson house. This is the Moore house, on Temple farm, then less than a mile from Yorktown. In this house, which was built in 1713, the terms of the surrender of Cornwallis were drawn up. It was once the summer home of the colonial governor, Alexander Spottswood.
LX