Two very ironic incidents occurred in Louisiana in 1861. Both of them took place between the time Louisiana seceded and the outbreak of the Civil War at Fort Sumter.
The first incident involved a senior officer in the United States Army who was on his way to Washington from a Western outpost.
Louisiana had just seceded from the Union and all United States Army officers and West Point students who were loyal to Louisiana had resigned their positions in the Federal Army. One thing that Louisiana did NOT want to see was a high-ranking federal officer in full uniform inside the State of Louisiana.
So a full colonel in the Federal Army caused a lot of trouble. He was threatened and cursed at on his way through the state.
The full colonel was on his way to resign his commission. His name was Robert E. Lee.
Meanwhile another former Federal officer had spent some years in Louisiana teaching in a military academy. All the military teachers in that academy were also officers of the Louisiana State Militia. Each of them wore the uniform of the Louisiana State Militia in their teaching duties.
The uniform was gray.
This particular officer in the Louisiana State Militia was a Northerner but he had not yet decided to resign his post because the term had not ended and there were no hostilities between the United States and Louisiana. As a Louisiana State militiaman, he was ordered to seize certain military supplies from a federal base. He followed orders.
At about the same time Colonel Lee was being threatened for wearing his blue uniform in the State of Louisiana, this man was in a gray uniform seizing Federal supplies in that state.
His name was William Tecumseh Sherman.
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