74/83 It was his sense of personal fidelity to the Southern men who had been faithful to him, that blinded him to the higher obligation of fidelity to country, and to the higher appreciation of self-interest which is inseparably bound up with duty. He embittered and shortened a life originally devoted to noble aims, and in its darkest shadows filled with generous impulses. The Confederates were the first to violate it, by occupying that section of the State bordering upon the Mississippi River with a considerable force under the command of General Polk, the Episcopal Bishop of Louisiana. This was on the 4th of September. |