I have a good friend whom i've known for 33 years. We went to High school together. He happens to be black, and he has always had an extreme interest in History, especially regarding Slavery and the Civil war.
One day he told me that he had learned a very interesting thing that day. Lincoln was a genius because he single handedly engineered the Civil War in a manner such as Patton bragged he would do to the Russians.
Lincoln was aware that the Federal troops at Fort Sumter were being blockaded by the Confederates. South Carolina wanted Federal troops removed from Charleston Harbor because they regarded the property as theirs, and the Federals as an illegal occupying force which was not respecting their sovereignty. Lincoln's officers had come to him with a plan to provide supplies to the fort from the sea, without having to confront the confederate troops blocking land access.
According to my friend, Lincoln was having none of this. He sent a letter to the Confederate leadership informing them that on a certain date, he was sending a supply train to re-supply the fort. My friend said that Lincoln knew that this would be regarded as a provocative act by the confederates, and would likely induce them to attack the contingent at Fort Sumter. My friend said that at this same time, Lincoln dispatched a letter to the commander of Fort Sumter informing him that he would soon be attacked by the Confederates, and that he was to take all steps to reduce loss of life, hold the Fort for one day, and then surrender it, which is exactly what happened.
The Confederates did attack the Fort with cannon fire, yet no one was killed as a result of it. (Were they really aiming to kill anyone, or just making noise?) The only Union casualties were the result of a surrender ceremony in which Union forces were firing a cannon that oddly enough blew up and killed three of them. (If I remember correctly.)
Lincoln knew that the newspapers of the Northern states would be behind him only if the South could be induced to attack first. Had Lincoln initiated the aggression, he would have been roundly denounced by the states he needed to wage a conflict. By maneuvering the confederates into initiating the hostilities, he got them to look like the bad guys for the Entire Northern press. (A group still causing us problems today.)
Lincoln thought the Confederates were just playing at government, and thought that a quick force sent down to chastise them would put an end to the succession nonsense. Lincoln underestimated their determination to be independent, and unknowingly triggered a conflict which exceeded anything that anyone at the time would have thought plausible. Everyone thought it would be a quick and easy little jaunt, but it escalated into the most horrific calamity in American History.
If it is true that Lincoln intentionally induced the attack on Fort Sumter, than he was just too clever by half.
Early on, Lincoln had unilaterally decided to arrange hostile events at the forts. He had communicated this intention to the military several months before his inauguration.
After taking office, he introduced to his cabinet the idea of armed reinforcement of Ft. Sumter, and asked for suggestions. All were opposed to a greater or lesser degree except his Postmaster General, who brought in a retired naval lieutenant familiar with Ft. Sumter to help Lincoln formulate a way to provoke hostilities.
His cabinet was against the action, but Lincoln persisted and finally got tepid approval from some of the cabinet members.
Lincoln wanted the naval expedition to be a secret. He had no funds to pay for the outfitting or rental of civilian ships for part of the action, so he sent Seward to take money ($10,000) from the State Department safe to give to the civilian naval officer to pay New York outfitters and ship owners.
Early in April, Lincoln ordered the fleet to sail South, some with the names of the ships painted black.
In your description, you used the term “supply train”. There was no such proposal or act.
Also, you mentioned a letter to Anderson asking him to hold out for one day. That is also not true. There is no such item in either the Confederate or Union historical papers or accounts.
The bottom line is that Lincoln, without Congressional authority, arranged and initiated a secret military invasion of Charleston harbor, designed to evoke a military response. In the process of attacking the area, without permission, and causing a blockade of an open port, he started a war that proved to be the worst event in this country's history.
Perhaps your friend, because of his cultural values, saw this as genius, but only in the sense of a political leader that falsely believed in his supreme right to carry out efforts of one section of the country to invade, destroy, and kill the other.
I think your friend is mistaken. Lincoln did send a letter to the governor of South Carolina informing him that he was sending supplies by ship but he didn't specify a date.
My friend said that at this same time, Lincoln dispatched a letter to the commander of Fort Sumter informing him that he would soon be attacked by the Confederates, and that he was to take all steps to reduce loss of life, hold the Fort for one day, and then surrender it, which is exactly what happened.
On April 4th Lincoln sent a letter to Major Anderson telling him that the resupply effort was underway and that he hoped Anderson could hold out till the 11th or 12th. Lincoln also stated:
"It is not, however, the intention of the President to subject your command to any danger or hardship beyond what, in your judgment, would be usual in military life; and he has entire confidence that you will act as becomes a patriot and a soldier under all circumstances.
Whenever, if at all, in your judgment, to save yourself and command, a capitulation becomes a necessity, you are authorized to make it."
Lincoln at no time specified how long he wanted Anderson to hold out should an attack by the Confederates occur.
The Confederates did attack the Fort with cannon fire, yet no one was killed as a result of it. (Were they really aiming to kill anyone, or just making noise?)
Pictures taken of Sumter following the Confederate attack show quite a bit of damage. I have no doubt that the intent of the attack was to cause casualties, and it is only good fortune that nobody was killed during the bombardment.