Do you now grasp the situation?
Do you understand in a naval formation that the senior officer afloat is to Command? Mercer not being there means that the next senior officer assumes command of the formation and carries out the orders for the mission. Since Fox did not order the supply mission to start, the naval forces stood by.
Would Fox have seen his orders to administrate the resupply effort as carte blanche to attack? I doubt it. Mercer was chosen for that task, and then very quietly detached from service (by the President) while a little Lieutenant took command of his ship.
As the rest of the ships came up, the fort was already under attack. Wasn't going to be an attempted resupply under those conditions.
But here's the thing. If I go to the trouble of running down the orders and messages i've seen and demonstrate that the intent of the flotilla was to wait for Mercer to take charge and lead them, will this have any effect on your beliefs regarding who started this?
I'm thinking "no", and so it makes me wonder why I should go to the bother.
You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink.
If you know he isn't going to drink, why bother leading him to the water?
Right, Gustavus Fox was in command of the mission, nobody else.
Fox arrived on the SS Baltic early in the morning of April 12.
Fox attempted to accomplish his mission, which was to launch small boats from the Baltic with supplies for Fort Sumter, during the day of April 12, but his small boats were forced back to the Baltic by rough seas.
So Fox decided to wait for calmer seas, but before they came, Maj. Anderson surrendered Fort Sumter.
So, as it turned out, Capt. Mercer and the Powhattan had nothing to do with anything.
Their presence would have made no difference to Fox or Maj. Anderson in Fort Sumter.
This whole issue is just another Lost Cause red herring.