(April 15, 2024 at 12:05 pm)ShinyCrystals Wrote: I do wonder if he really wanted to defend the United States like he swore to? Doubtful, at least to me.
I don't. He graduated near the top of his West Point class. He served honorably for over three decades, including combat in Mexican-American War. The fact that he resigned his commission in order to fight for the Confederacy speaks to a feeling that the right to own another human being was more important to him than the honorable three decades' of service.
.