June 1861 - Los Angeles

I have just left the Hancock party and am sitting here 
looking back on this evening.  I still have tears in my 
eyes...so many friends being torn apart by this terrible war.

Among those in attendance were Albert Sidney Johnston and Dick 
Garnett.  Both they and I were in civilian clothes since our 
resignations had taken effect and we were no longer members of 
the US Army. 

Almira was as beautiful as always.  She even went to the trouble 
of baking my favorite cookies, something she never forgets to do 
when I’m around.  She was the perfect hostess.  Winnie was such 
a lucky man to have found her when we were in the St. Louis area.  
A finer woman he never could have expected to have found.

We spent the evening talking about the old days - our times 
together west of the Mississippi River.  The good times...the 
bad times...the close calls with death during the Mexican War.  
It is a wonder we all survived it.

I even gave Win a new Majors uniform which I had...and joked 
about how maybe he’ll get promoted now that all of us were 
leaving.

Things really got emotional when Mira sat down at the piano and 
started to play towards the end of the evening.  Especially when 
she started to play Kathleen Mavourneen.  "It may be for years...
it may be forever....why art thou silent" Very sad, moving words 
for this occasion.  It was at this point that I started to fall 
apart.  Tears flowing down my cheeks. - I went over to Winnie, 
put my arm around him and said, "Win...goodbye. You can never 
know what this has cost me, and I hope God will strike me dead if 
I am ever induced to leave my native soil, should worse come to 
worse."  

I then went to Mira and gave her my prayer book...having previously 
inscribed on the fly-leaf - 'Lewis A. Armistead...Trust in God and 
Fear Nothing.’

In the morning we leave for Richmond.