Replies

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.

The plan came from Lincoln's military adviser, former navy Captain Gustavus Fox.

Yeah, but a lot of other military officials considered it Bollocks, among them the man who would most know; Major Anderson.

I had the honor to receive by yesterday's mail the letter of the honorable Secretary of War, dated April 4, and confess that what he there states surprises me very greatly, following as it does and contradicting so positively the assurance Mr. Crawford telegraphed he was authorized to make. I trust that this matter w ill be at once put in a correct light, as a movement made now, when the South has been erroneously informed that none such will be attempted, would produce most disastrous results throughout our country.
It is, of course, now too late for me to give any advice in reference to the proposed scheme of Captain Fox. I fear that its result cannot fail to be disastrous to all concerned. Even with his boat at our walls the loss of life (as I think I mentioned to Mr. Fox) in unloading her will more than pay for the good to be accomplished by the expedition, which keeps us, if I can maintain possession of this work, out of position, surrounded by strong works, which must be carried to make this fort of the least value to the United States Government.

Anderson fixes the blame for starting the war on the dishonesty of his own Government.