Speech at Galveston Regarding the Confederacy - 1861
Some of you laugh to scorn the idea of bloodshed as a result of the secession but let me tell you what is coming.
After the sacrifice of countless millions of treasure and hundreds of thousands of lives, you may win southern independence, but I doubt it. The north is determined to preserve this union. They are not a fiery, impulsive people as you are, for they live in colder climates, but when they begin to move in a given direction, they move with move with the steady momentum and perseverance of a mighty avalanche.