No, it was not in the morning of April 12, it was in the evening of April 11, before the "festivities" at Fort Sumter had kicked off, so to speak.
And little revenue cutter Harriet Lane was the only Federal ship near Charleston Harbor at that time -- it wasn't "Lincoln's war fleet", it was one small ship.
I think you are right. The attack on Sumter began in the morning. The shots from the Harriet Lane were earlier.
And little revenue cutter Harriet Lane was the only Federal ship near Charleston Harbor at that time -- it wasn't "Lincoln's war fleet", it was one small ship.
I don't believe that is true. I think the Baltic was already there, but I don't remember for certain. I know the rest of the ships got there and waited for Captain Mercer in the Powhatan, but he was never coming.
Some sort of mistake or screwup on Lincoln's part that accidentally paralyzed the entire mission without letting the Confederates know that the ships were not going to do anything because the command ship would not arrive.
Amazing how clever Lincoln is all through his career, but he screws up on something as critically important as the Charleston mission by detaching the command ship and sending it to Pensacola under secret orders of which the other ships were not told.
Of course he made certain none of the secret orders ever went through the Navy's command structure. Just those orders to attack them went through official Navy channels.
Why do you suppose that is?
Why announce to the word that you are sending a battle fleet, and then quietly paralyze it by stopping the command ship from arriving?
Must have been a "mistake."