“As an American citizen, I take great pride in my country, her prosperity annd institutions, and would defend any State if her rights were invaded. But I can anticipiate no greater calamity for the country than a dissolution of the Union. It would be an accumulation of all the evils we complain of, and I am willing to sacrifice everything but honor for its preservation.”Robert E. Lee, January 23, 1861 (in a letter to his son Custis)
When Lee wrote this, six southern States had already seceded.