"Today at dinner there was no allusion to things as they stand in Charleston Harbor....In addition to our usual quartet (Judge Withers, Langdon Cheves, and Trescot) our two governors dined with us, Means and Manning.
These men all talked so delightfully. For once in my life I listened.
That over, business began. In earnest, Governor Means rummaged a sword and red sash from somewhere and brought it for Colonel Chesnut, who has gone to demand the surrender of Fort Sumter."
