he convention meets in January, as they will assuredly do,
and resolve to secede, or to elect members to a general convention
with instructions inconsistent with the nature of things, I must
quit this place, for it would be neither right for me to stay nor
would the governor be justified in placing me in this position of
trust; for the moment Louisiana assumes a position of hostility,
then this becomes an arsenal and fort. . . .

"Let me hear the moment you think dissolution is inevitable. What
Mississippi and Georgia do, this state will do likewise.

"Affectionately,
"W. T. Sherman."

On the 15th of December I wrote him:

"I am clearly of the opinion that you ought not to remain much
longer at your present post. You will, in all human probability,
be involved in complications from which you cannot escape with
honor. Separated from your family and all your kin, and an object
of suspicion, you will find your position unendurable. A fatal
infatuation seems to have seized the southern mind, during which
any act of madness may be committed. . . . If the sectional
dissensions only rested upon real or alleged grievances, they could
be readily settled, but I fear they are deeper and stronger. You
can now close your connection with the seminary with honor and
credit to yourself, for all who know you speak well of your conduct,
while be remaining you not only involve yourself, but bring trouble
upon those gentlemen who recommended you.

"It is a sad state of affairs, but it is nevertheless true, that
if the conventions of the southern states make anything more than
a paper secession, hostile collisions will occur, and probably a
separation between the free and the slave states. You can judge
whether it is at all probable that the possession of this capital,
the commerce of the Mississippi, the control of the territories,
and the natural rivalry of enraged sections, can be arranged without
war. In that event, you cannot serve in Louisiana against your
family and kin in Ohio. The bare possibility of such a contingency,
it seems to me, renders your duty plain, to make a frank statement
to all the gentlemen connected with you, and with good feeling
close your engagement. If the storm shall blow over, your course
will strengthen you with every man whose good opinion you desire;
if not, you will escape humiliation.

"When you return to Ohio, I will write you freely about your return
to the army, not so difficult