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And exactly what was Lincoln's military experience in April, 1861?

You think sending a war fleet with orders to attack (if impeded) but paralyzing it so it would just sit there in a menacing fashion, was a military exercise?

Lincoln was a master at politics. He was a master at employing verbal jujitsu in the Court room too. You should read up on him.

Besides, he had a lot of military experts telling him that it was impossible to succor Sumter, so his idea didn't make any military sense anyway.

And your suggestion that Confederates may even have tried to block Union ships with row-boats is absurd and I'm sure you know it.

It wasn't my suggestion, it was your attempt to say silly things and attribute them to me. They had three steamers which they had contemplated using for this purpose, and they had already sunk obstacles in the various alternative channels. Only ships with drafts of less than 7 feet could reach Sumter, and they could only come up through the channel closest to the cannons on the one side.

Boats moving under cover of darkness, or even fog. Good chance of success.

They had barges loaded with firewood that would be lit on fire in the approach. Did you even seriously look at what they had ready to deal with those ships?

Go look up and find America's best sniper, a Chris Kyle class shooter who can hit a small target using a scope from a mile away.

When you have timed fuses on your mortars, it will throw enough shrapnel on every thing below it such that you don't have to worry about hitting a small target. They had a lot of mortars, and they had had lots of time to get their range and elevation.

DiogenesLamp: "You think sending a war fleet with orders to attack (if impeded) but paralyzing it so it would just sit there in a menacing fashion, was a military exercise? "

The plan came from Lincoln's military adviser, former navy Captain Gustavus Fox.
It was to land supplies in boats under cover of darkness.
The plan did not require a large naval force, far from it.
If it went off as planned, the navy ships would sit well out of range and only become engaged if the resupply boats met serious resistance.
The orders were, in effect: no first use of force, and for that the Powhatten was irrelevant.
It could easily be sent on another task with Fox's mission not jeopardized.

The only thing Lincoln's mission really required was for Anderson to hold out until weather conditions were right for Fox.
But it turned out that Anderson did not think honor required him to hold out even one more day.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

DiogenesLamp: "Besides, he had a lot of military experts telling him that it was impossible to succor Sumter, so his idea didn't make any military sense anyway."

They said an invasion of Charleston didn't make military sense, but as you well know, Lincoln did not intend to invade only to resupply Union troops in Fort Sumter.
The plan was proposed by Fox and Lincoln bought it.

DiogenesLamp: "Only ships with drafts of less than 7 feet could reach Sumter, and they could only come up through the channel closest to the cannons on the one side. "

The Fox plan was shallow draft ships' boats which could go wherever they wanted, not restricted to main channels.

DiogenesLamp: "They had barges loaded with firewood that would be lit on fire in the approach.
Did you even seriously look at what they had ready to deal with those ships?"

Boats, row boats under cover of darkness and, ideally, fog.
The distance from shore batteries at, say, Cummings Point is about a mile, very long range for canons of that era.

DiogenesLamp: "They had a lot of mortars, and they had had lots of time to get their range and elevation."

Still very long range to hit many small moving targets at night.
Furthermore:

"Under orders from Beauregard, the

guns fired in a counterclockwise sequence around the harbor, with 2 minutes between each shot; Beauregard wanted to conserve ammunition, which he calculated would last for only 48 hours."

So Anderson needed only hold out for 48 hours and Fox could sail in with impunity.
But Anderson's honor was satisfied after just 34 hours so Fox was left only to remove the Union troops after their surrender.