Affairs at Arlington were so encouraging that autumn, that Lee expected soon to rejoin his regiment in Texas. Therefore, he arranged to have his son, Custis, who was now in the Corps of Engineers, transferred to Washington where he could supervise the estate. Unlike many army officers, Lee had never been away long from his native State, and his months of hard work at Arlington had given him a sympathetic understanding of the problems faced by his kinsmen and fellow-planters and reaffirmed his belief that his first loyalty was to Virginia. These were his views when he went to Texas in February 1860, and they remained unchanged as the discord between the North and South grew more intense. Uneasily, he observed the recklessness of the extremists on both sides, hoping always that the Union he loved would be preserved. Texas seceded in February 1861, and Lee, who had been ordered to report to Washington, arrived home at Arlington a month later. “I met Col. Robert E. Lee at Gen. Scott’s office,” one of his army friends wrote in his diary, March 5th. “He feels badly at the prospect.” Probably all that Lee could tell his old friend was that if Virginia seceded he must follow her, and that all he could do was to await developments. LEE RESIGNS FROM THE UNITED STATES ARMY. While Lee watched, helpless, events moved rapidly. Fort Sumter was bombarded in April, and in a few days Lee heard that his own beloved Virginia had seceded. Great as was his pride in the Union, he did not believe that it should be preserved by force; moreover, he felt his first allegiance was to his State. Though his career be sacrificed and the lives and property of his children endangered, he believed he must do his duty as he saw it. Arlington blazed with lights Friday night, April 19,1861, and was filled with relations and friends anxiously discussing the recent events. Finding it impossible to think about his problem amid the excitement, Colonel Lee went outside and paced back and forth under the trees while he pondered his future course. Still undecided, he returned to the house and went up to his bedroom. Downstairs, Mrs. Lee and the others waited anxiously. Overhead, they could hear Lee’s footsteps as he paced the floor, stopping only when he knelt to pray. It was after midnight when he finally arrived at a decision and sat down to write his resignation from the United States Army. That done, he came down with it in his hand to where his wife was waiting. “Well, Mary,” he said quietly, “the question is settled. Here is my letter of resignation, and a letter I have written to General Scott.” [Illustration: _“Arlington House” as it appeared a few years before the Civil War._ From a sketch by Benson J. Lossing.]