Fitzhugh Lee, General Lee

[98] wife: “You may be aware that the Confederate Government is established here. Yesterday I turned over to it the command of the military and naval forces of the State, in accordance with the proclamation of the Governor, under an agreement between the State and the Confederate States. I do not know what my position will be. I should like to retire to private life, so that I could be with you and the children, but if I can be of service to the State or her cause, I must continue. Mr. Davis and all his Cabinet are here.” And two days afterward he tells her: “I am sorry to learn that you are anxious and uneasy about passing events. We can not change or hinder them, and it is not the part of wisdom to be annoyed by them. In this time of great suffering to the State and country, our private distresses we must bear with resignation, and not aggravate them by repining, trusting to a kind and merciful God to overrule them for our good.”

Preparations were now being rapidly made for war, which could be no longer prevented or postponed. The firing upon and capture of Fort Sumter, the hostile reception given the Massachusetts troops in Baltimore on April 19th, the great excitement all through the country, caused every one to speedily join the side he desired to unite with. In the North every arsenal was put to work on the manufacture of arms for their troops. It was the first duty of the Federal Government to make Washington, the capital, secure. Then an army of invasion must be organized and a plan of campaign mapped out, whose objective point was the capture of Richmond, the capital of the Southern Confederacy.