the State determines to secede, for on no earthly account will I
do any act or think any thought hostile to, or in defiance of,
the old Government of the United States."

Then, to the lasting credit of all concerned, the future
political enemies parted as the best of personal friends. Sherman
left everything in perfect order, accounted for every cent of the
funds, and received the heartiest thanks and best wishes of all
the governing officials, who embodied the following sentence in
their final resolution of April 1, 1861: "They cannot fail to
appreciate the manliness of character which has always marked the
actions of Colonel Sherman." Long before this Louisiana had
seceded, and Sherman had gone north to Lancaster, Ohio, where he
arrived about the time of Lincoln's inauguration.

Meanwhile, on the eighteenth of February, the greatest of all
surrenders had taken place in Texas, where nineteen army posts
were handed over to the State by General Twiggs. San Antonio was
swarming with Secessionist rangers. Unionist companies were
marching up and down. The Federal garrison was leaving the town
on parole, with the band playing Union airs and Union colors
flying. The whole place was at sixes and sevens, and anything
might have happened.

In the midst of this confusion the colonel commanding the Second
Regiment of United States Cavalry arrived from Fort Mason. He was
on his way to Washington, where Winfield Scott, the veteran
General-in-Chief, was anxiously waiting to see him; for this
colonel was no ordinary man. He had been Scott's Chief of Staff
in Mexico, where he had twice won promotion for service in the