Replies

FLT-bird: "I see we have the usual PC Revisionist lies repeated once again."

Hmmmmmmm......

FLT-bird: "USS Pawnee"
Arrived near Charleston after Confederate bombardment of Fort Sumter began, remained 10 miles off-shore.
"USS Powhatan"
Never came anywhere near Charleston Harbor or Fort Sumter.
"USS Pocahontas"
Was nowhere near Charleston Harbor during the Battle of Fort Sumter.
"Revenue Cutter USS Harriet Lane"
The smallest ship of the alleged "war fleet", USRC Harriet Lane arrived near Charleston Harbor the evening of April 11 and remained well offshore for the entire battle, attacked no Confederate forces.
"steamer Baltic"
An unarmed civilian transport ship with supplies for Fort Sumter, plus troops if necessary.
SS Baltic arrived near Charleston Harbor after bombardment had already begun against Fort Sumter.
SS Baltic threatened or attacked nobody.
"three hired tug boats with added protection against small arms fire to be used to tow troop and supply barges directly to Fort Sumter "
None of the three were anywhere near Charleston Harbor during the Battle of Fort Sumter.
Only one arrived in time for the surrender.

FLT-bird: ""Lincoln and the First Shot" (in Reassessing the Presidency, edited by John Denson), John Denson painstakingly shows how Lincoln maneuvered the Confederates into firing the first shot at Fort Sumter. "

If your author does not acknowledge what Jefferson Davis himself confessed -- that Davis didn't need a provocation at Fort Sumter to start Civil War -- then it's all just another pack of Lost Cause lies.

FLT-bird: "as Shelby Foote wrote in The Civil War, "Lincoln had maneuvered [the Confederates] into the position of having either to back down on their threats or else to fire the first shot of the war.""

That's nonsense, since by his own confession, Davis was going to start war at Forts Sumter and Pickens, regardless of what Lincoln did or didn't do:

"There would be to us an advantage in so placing them

that an attack by them

would be a necessity, but when we are ready to relieve our territory and jurisdiction of the presence of a foreign garrison

that advantage is overbalanced by other considerations.

The case of Pensacola [Ft. Pickens] then is reduced [to] the more palpable elements of a military problem and your measures may without disturbing views be directed to the capture of Fort Pickens and the defence of the harbor.
You will soon have I hope a force sufficient to occupy all the points necessary for that end.
As many additional troops as may be required can be promptly furnished.'
[Jefferson Davis to Braxton Bragg, 3 Apr 1861]

Hmmmmmmm...... FLT-bird: "USS Pawnee" Arrived near Charleston after Confederate bombardment of Fort Sumter began, remained 10 miles off-shore. "USS Powhatan" Never came anywhere near Charleston Harbor or Fort Sumter. "USS Pocahontas" Was nowhere near Charleston Harbor during the Battle of Fort Sumter. "Revenue Cutter USS Harriet Lane" The smallest ship of the alleged "war fleet", USRC Harriet Lane arrived near Charleston Harbor the evening of April 11 and remained well offshore for the entire battle, attacked no Confederate forces. "steamer Baltic" An unarmed civilian transport ship with supplies for Fort Sumter, plus troops if necessary. SS Baltic arrived near Charleston Harbor after bombardment had already begun against Fort Sumter. SS Baltic threatened or attacked nobody. "three hired tug boats with added protection against small arms fire to be used to tow troop and supply barges directly to Fort Sumter " None of the three were anywhere near Charleston Harbor during the Battle of Fort Sumter. Only one arrived in time for the surrender.

Lincoln sent ships which repeated invaded South Carolina's sovereign territory. He then sent a heavily armed fleet which was to threaten Charleston. This forced the Confederates to open fire to evict the illegal squatters.

If you don't acknowledge that Lincoln deliberately started the war according to his own letter to his naval commander and according to both of his personal secretaries, then it is just another PC Revisionist lie.

That's nonsense, since by his own confession, Davis was going to start war at Forts Sumter and Pickens, regardless of what Lincoln did or didn't do:

No its not. Lincoln sent federal forces which invaded the sovereign territory of the CSA. They did this before the Confederates opened fire to drive them away. But for the invasion of their territory, they wouldn't have opened fire.

Never came anywhere near Charleston Harbor or Fort Sumter.

Doesn't matter what they did. What matters is the fact that because of their official orders, the Confederates saw them as an attacking force, and this is exactly what Lincoln wanted them to believe was happening.

Lincoln was a clever manipulating bastard. He was good at it.

Look up how he won the nomination. Chicago mafia tactics. In fact, I have lately been wondering if *HE* made Chicago the organized crime center it became, or did it make him corrupt?

Seems like everything coming out of Chicago is corrupt, like Barack Obama.