Editing Robert E. Lee (section)

===Texas===
In 1860, Lt. Col. Robert E. Lee relieved Major [[Samuel P. Heintzelman|Heintzelman]] at [[Fort Brown, Texas|Fort Brown]], and the Mexican authorities offered to restrain "their citizens from making predatory descents upon the territory and people of Texas&nbsp;... this was the last active operation of the [[Cortina War]]". [[Rip Ford]], a [[Texas Rangers Division|Texas Ranger]] at the time, described Lee as "dignified without hauteur, grand without pride&nbsp;... he evinced an imperturbable self-possession, and a complete control of his passions&nbsp;... possessing the capacity to accomplish great ends and the gift of controlling and leading men".<ref>{{cite book|last=Ford|first=John Salmon|title=Rip Ford's Texas|publisher=University of Texas Press|location=Austin|year=1963|pages=305–306}}</ref>

When Texas seceded from the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] in February 1861, General [[David E. Twiggs]] surrendered all the American forces (about 4,000 men, including Lee, and commander of the Department of Texas) to the Texans. Twiggs immediately resigned from the U.S. Army and was made a Confederate general. Lee went back to Washington and was appointed Colonel of the First Regiment of Cavalry in March 1861. Lee's colonelcy was signed by the new president, Abraham Lincoln. Three weeks after his promotion, Colonel Lee was offered a senior command (with the rank of Major General) in the expanding Army to fight the Southern States that had left the Union. [[Fort Mason (Texas)|Fort Mason, Texas]], was Lee's last command with the United States Army.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Texas Forts Trails|magazine=Texas Monthly|date=June 1991|page=72}}</ref>