Your comment brings up an interesting point. I have always wonder just how much Lee was "in the loop" about what was going on in the headquarters of General Winfield Scott. It has always seemed strange for the entire high command of the U.S. Army to resign (Samuel Cooper, P.T.G. Beauregard. Albert S. Johnson, Joe E. Johnston). All of these men were of higher rank in the US Army than Lee as only a Lt. Colonel.
The old mantra of "they were 'southerners' and 'state loyality'" just don't cut the butter for me as to why all of these able commanders resigned after so many years of faithful service to the United States. There was literally no place for Lee in the Confederate Army because there were so many seniors army person already there. All These high ranking commanders had to have had some inside knowledge of how the interworking of the politics of the Federal Government and Army were taking place.
These were a close knit group of associates in a small professional army that knew each other and that had worked and served together for many years. It would seem to suggest that Lee wasn't a close associate of these gentlemen, even thought Lee was supposedly a close confidant of General Scott.