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"The framers of our Constitution never exhausted so much labor, wisdom and forebearance in its formation, and surrounded it with so many guards and securities, if it was to be broken by every member of the Confederacy at will. It was intended for 'perpetual union' so expressed in the preamble, and for the establishment of a government, not a compact, which can only be dissolved by revolution, or the consent of all the people in convention assembled. It is idle to talk of secession." --R.E. Lee January 23, 1861

THAT IS BEAUTIFUL!

I believe this would have been Marse Robert's last review with the great J.E.B. Stuart, the last cavalier. Here are words of General Stuart to his bride:

"What a mockery would such liberty be with submission - I for one - though I stood alone in the Confederacy, without countenance or aid, would uphold the banner of Southern Independence as long as I had a hand left to grasp the staff - and then die before submitting." – J.E.B. Stuart to his wife, 2 March 1862

"Tell my boy when I am gone how I felt & wrote. Tell him never to do anything which his father would be ashamed of - never forget the principles for which his father struggled." – J.E.B. Stuart to his wife, 19 March 1863

"I wish an assurance on your part in the event of your surviving me - that you will make the land for which I have given my life your home and keep my offspring on Southern soil." – J.E.B. Stuart to his wife, 19 March 1863

James Ewell Brown Stuart, February 6, 1833 - May 12, 1864