Hey everyone, thanks for downloading episode 41 of our Civil War podcast.

My name is Rich.

I'm Tracy. Hello y'all. Welcome to the podcast. Y'all will remember that we

use the last show to bring Robert E. Lee's life up to speed with the podcast

timeline. And we ended the episode with his resignation from the US Army on

April 20th, 1861. After his resignation from the army, Lee quickly applied

himself to the task of setting Virginia on a war footing. During his

supervision of his native states mobilization, Lee remained mostly

in Richmond. Also in Richmond at the time was Confederate Vice President

Alexander Stevens. Stevens was there to champion the establishing of close

relations between the Confederate government and Virginia, even though the old

dominion's secession wouldn't be official until it was ratified by the state's

voters on May 23rd. Stevens' mission was obviously a success, since as we

mentioned previously on the podcast, well before that may referendum. On April

27th, the Virginia legislature invited the Confederate government to select

Richmond as its new capital. But in April, Alexander Stevens was also concerned

to sound out Robert E. Lee and secure Lee's loyalty to the larger cause of the

Confederacy. Lee affirmed that he would not quibble or quarrel about matters of

rank and status in the new southern army, and that he would mobilize Virginia's

military forces and cooperate in any way he could with the Confederate

government. But Robert E. Lee's activities in Virginia were by no means unique.

Across the rest of the Confederacy, the other southern states were also busy

...