[nolu chan]

Capt. Adams was under orders to obey an armistice reached before Lincoln became President.

How do you justify an American warship committing an act of war while flying a British flag?

[capitan_refugio]

What was the "act of war"? How was an American warship entering an American port, held by rebels, an "act of war"? That they made the attempt with subterfuge only underscores the gravity of the situation. I think you may be working under the misconception that secession was actually legal and the Confederate States of America were actually a country, rather than a criminal enterprise based on the evil proposition that slavery was something to be perpetuated.