a task as you imagine."

General Sherman then wrote me as follows:

"Alexandria, La., December, 1861.
"Events here seem hastening to a conclusion. Doubtless you know
more of the events in Louisiana than I do, as I am in an out-of-
the-way place. But the special session of the legislature was so
unanimous in arming the state and calling a convention that little
doubt remains that Louisiana will, on the 23rd of January, follow
the other seceding states. Governor Moore takes the plain stand
that the state must not submit to a 'black Republican President.'
Men here have ceased to reason; they seem to concede that slavery
is unsafe in a confederacy with northern states, and that now is
the time; no use of longer delay. All concessions, all attempts
to remonstrate, seem at an end.

"A rumor says that Major Anderson, my old captain (brother of
Charles Anderson, now of Texas, formerly of Dayton and Cincinnati,
Larz, William and John, all of Ohio), has spiked the guns of Fort
Moultrie, destroyed it, and taken refuge in Sumter. This is right.
Sumter is in mid-channel, approachable only in boats, whereas
Moultrie is old, weak, and easily approached under cover. If Major
Anderson can hold out till relieved and supported by steam frigates,
South Carolina will find herself unable to control her commerce,
and will feel, for the first time in her existence, that she can't
do as she pleases. . . .

"A telegraph dispatch, addressed to me at Alexandria, could be
mailed at New Orleans, and reach me in three days from Washington."

I wrote him the following letter on the 6th of January, 1861:

"Dear Brother:--. . . I see some signs of hope, but it is probably
a deceptive light. The very moment you feel uncomfortable in your
position in Louisiana, come away. Don't for God's sake subject
yourself to any slur, reproach, or indignity. I have spoken to
General Scott, and he heartily seconds your desire to return to
duty in the army. I am not at all sure but that, if you were here,
you could get a position that would suit you. I see many of your
friends of the army daily.

"As for my views of the present crisis, I could not state them more
fully than I have in the inclosed printed letter. It has been very
generally published and approved in the north, but may not have
reached you, and therefore I send it to you.

"Affectionately your brother,
"John Sherman."

Later he wrote me:

"Alexandria, January 16, 1861.
"