It would be interesting to know the historical process for an officer to resign his commission. Nowadays, it takes the better part of a year (9-12 months) to submit one’s resignation, have it be accepted, and then get out of the military. At least for the Navy.
But them I’m sure things weren’t different back then. Regardless, the fact remains that large portions of the US military went over to the confederate cause at the drop of a hat. It’s often said that schools like VMI and the Citadel were the West Point of the Confederacy, but as a graduate of one of those schools I would disagree: West Point was the West Point of the Confederacy.