Does it not harken back the days when sailors lined the side of the ship and fired muskets at enemy ships? But then, the Union was not expecting an enemy fleet to engage.
After deep and prolonged thought, I have determined that the Union thought the ocean was seceding and they declared the Atlantic Ocean and inland waterways to be Enemy Belligerents and traitors and the arms were for the men on the ship to shoot the Atlantic Ocean until it submitted to the will of superior force.
Does it not harken back the days when sailors lined the side of the ship and fired muskets at enemy ships? But then, the Union was not expecting an enemy fleet to engage. After deep and prolonged thought, I have determined that the Union thought the ocean was seceding and they declared the Atlantic Ocean and inland waterways to be Enemy Belligerents and traitors and the arms were for the men on the ship to shoot the Atlantic Ocean until it submitted to the will of superior force.
Confederates opened hostilities by firing on the "Star of the West" (is that the name?) so hostilities towards ships were to be expected.