The reception of this letter will be so unexpected that it will astound you--but really I cannot help writing. I have for some time intended it, and now hasten to carry out my intentions. The great agitation of our once glorious Union fills the heart of every lover of liberty with gloom and dismay on the one hand, and determination and sacrifice, if needed, to retain that principle which inhabits every Southern heart--independence--on the other. O, could we, my Cousin, for one moment crouch to Yankee tyranny? No, never! never! I for one, woman as I am, would willingly spend my last breath, if need be, in behalf of the Southern Confederacy. I have three sons, whom God knows I would bid farewell and cheer them on to the field of battle, should their services be required. And that is why I am writing. Only two days ago, battle was fought at Ft. Sumter. From what I have heard, it will only get worse unless we feel we have been heard. Cousin, you do not know how oppressive we feel, here in Virginia! It is sad to say that in this nation that was founded on liberties and freedom that we have had to resort to this. It is rumored that President Lincoln had something underhanded planned when he sent supplies to Ft. Sumter. The very thought that our own president could have done something to endanger a state sends chills down my spine. .
The nation is in turmoil, and has been for some time. There were already several states to secede from the Union early this year. In January, within days of each other, Mississippi seceded from the Union, with Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas following. What is my own native Virginia about? Why had she acted so tardily and shown such a lack of independence? As you know, several months ago, we started a new government since the one we are under is in such disorder. President Davis is trying desperately to hold us together, a people who are indignantly demanding our freedoms, rightly so! We have even made a Confederate Constitution.
