"Fort Sumter: Warning the South" Topic

Prior to the final attempt to resupply Fort Sumter, the Lincoln administration had to decide whether to inform the South that the attempt would be made.

The Secretary of the Navy argued that the resupply mission required stealth, and to notify the Confederates would risk the mission.

However, the Secretary of State had previously assured the Southern states that no attempt to reinforce Sumter would be made without advance warning.

The Secretary of the Navy countered that the Secretary of State had never been authorized to make such a pledge.

What should Lincoln have done?

* say nothing about the resupply expedition
* inform the South with sufficient notice
* inform the South at short notice

(Sufficient notice is enough time for the South to formulate a measured response; short notice is to inform the South with little warning.)

* inform the South with sufficient notice

Lincoln, himself, should have done nothing wrt 'the
South'. He should, as Kyote says, have fired the
SecState – why ?

Well, the SecState was engaging in diplomacy with a
group of insurrectionsists. Much could be made,
internationally, of that, towards legitimizing the
rebellion, thus the Confederacy.

OTOH, the SecNav should have shut up, even if it was
his contracted transport(s) at risk. Cameron (then
SecWar) probably should have led the Cabinet discussion
but unless there was a bribe involved, he'd have passed
the buck (no pun intended !)

He should have shut up because the North had no right to that fort. It was in the territory of another sovereign country. If you look at the Constitution and civics / law / and history books used at "The Point" prior to the war you will see that secession was taught as a perfectly legal recourse for the individual states, and was also constitutionaly legal. That being said, I think they should have snuck in under cover of darkness.

OMG, you are NOT serious about the Constitutionality of secession?
Lincoln did the right thing. The right side won for ALL the right reasons.
BTW, the states did not form the government of the United States of America. According to the Constitution (the document to which Lost Causers like to refer), the government of the United States was created by the people. Not the states.
Hmmm, any more and I have to go Blue Fez.

I think Lincoln played it just right. The onus of firing the first shot, and thus starting the war, fell on Jeff Davis, not on him.

Love southern revisionists. It was all the results of Northern aggresion. In hindsight the North would have been alot better off over the last 150 years without the dead weight of the South.

Lincolns whole strategy was to get the South to appear to be the aggressor in the war. He was not about to fire the first shot. Let it appear in the world press that the South had started the war with firing first and then make it appear that the South wanted the war to keep slavery alive and growing.

With South Carolina being full of hotheads and secessionists it was only a matter of time before they opened fire on something. Most of the South would have been happy to sit on their hands for another 20 years with doing nothing. It was the South Carolina delegation at the Nashville Convention in the early 50s who were even allowed to vote for secession.

So Lincolns only choice was to tell the South that a supply ship was coming and stopping it from resuppling Fort Sumter was an illegal act.

Fire the Secretary of State.

Split the cabinet and drive the moderates in the upper south to seceed. It would also likely have been seen as an act of war by many in the north, meaning lukewarm support for the war effort rather than a sudden burst of patriotism as actually happened after the Confederates fired on Sumter.

Also it is unclear at this point just how much of what Seward did was actually unauthorized, and how much was simply unofficial.

It would have been correct to let the South know the supplies were going in. Then if the ship is fired on, i's a plain act of aggression.

Though of course the North was acting against what is now widely recognised as a basic human right – self determination.

Though obviously the South has issues with that itself.. :)

Always a tough choice: self-determination on one side and self-defense on the other. Both can be viewed as basic rights.

I wonder if the soldiers of the Union could see the direction our country is taking if they would have lifted a gun to defend the Union.

Interestingly, the whole thing actually played out with near everyone in the South knowing the Star of the West was coming, the route, and the date. However, Anderson and the garrison only found out when they saw the ship being fired on from a hidden battery beyond Ft. Moultrie. He did see it in the Charleston Mercury, but he thought it wasn't true as no official information reached him from Washington.

Given how it played out, I think I would have done everything Lincoln did.

Pat

Sorry!!!! I thought Lincoln called for 75,000 armed volunteers….was this not really the first act of agression. Should the south have let these 75,000 march all the way to Montgomery and Richmond?

Being an outsider with no blinkered views….I think Lincoln got it wrong, look at the way he treated the Indian tribes out west. Lincoln was a hard man just look at his eyes.

I thought Lincoln called for 75,000 armed volunteers….was this not really the first act of agression.

If he had done it three days BEFORE Sumter fell, rather than 3 days after, maybe.

Lincoln was a hard man just look at his eyes

Where to begin?

Never mind.

Pat

There were two attempts to resupply Ft Sumter using the Star of the West. The first in January was authorized by President James Buchanan while he was still president. The Star reached Charleston but turned away when South Carolinian batteries armed by Citadel cadets opened up on her. Major Anderson made no attempt to fire back. Please note Buchanan is viewed as a Southern sympathizer by some and his actions shocked many in the South. This does suggest that a US president other then Lincoln was opposed to secession.

The second attempt in March was authorized by Lincoln and again was unsuccessful. Federal naval vessels were in the vicinity and were preparing to enter the harbor when Ft Sumter was fired on.

There is an interesting side point to this . Three weeks prior to the firing on Ft Sumter Lincoln wanted to reenforce Ft Pickens. off the Florida coast. but naval staff delayed and had not done so by April. There has been some thinking that a successful reinforcement of Ft Pickens would show that the North could reinforce federal forts. Ft Sumter might then have been evacuated without any firing.

Lincoln waited three weeks after his inauguration until making a second attempt to supply Ft Sumter. Everyone knew that this was coming. South Carolina ordered Anderson to evacuate the fort and Anderson agreed to do so "if no relief ship came" However a relief force was sent and South Carolina opened fire.

During the three week delay South Carolina commissioners were in Washington trying to negotiate but Lincoln asserted the Federal right to keep possession of federal forts. Ft Pickers remained in Union hands throughout the war.

The events leading up to Ft Sumter, IMO. has been neglected by many historians, in their attempts to get to the battles. A careful study of these early days can show us a lot about the politics and people involved.

Lincoln was a hard man just look at his eyes

Here is how Grant describes Lincoln's way of doing things in his memoirs:

"Mr. Lincoln gained influence over men by making them feel that it was a pleasure to serve him. He preferred yielding his own wish to gratify others, rather than to insist upon having his own way. It distressed him to disappoint others. In matters of public duty, however, he had what he wished, but in the least offensive way."

Love southern revisionists. It was all the results of Northern aggresion. In hindsight the North would have been alot better off over the last 150 years without the dead weight of the South.

Amen to that

Having studied more than just the five years of the ACW, I find it hard to believe we would have been better off in the last 150 years if the South weren't part of a united country.

It would have really screwed up the NFL and college football.

Well, the SecState was engaging in diplomacy with a
group of insurrectionsists.

Only idiots don't have negotiation lines open with their enemies