And from the North, too. Mail would be deliverd in the South, and in the North, too. Offices would be filled and facilities retained in all parts of the country. The only reason that would be seen as threatening was if the South was looking for an excuse. Which, of course, it was.
- Lincoln ignores the offer of the Confederate Commissioners to negotiate on all and any issues.
There was no offer to negotiate from Davis. There was a demand for recognition, an ultimatum. Only if Lincoln surrendered to this demand was there a vague offer to talk, but only if the matter was of interest to the South.
- Lincoln cabinet member Seward keeps reassuring the Southern Commissioners that Sumter would be evacuated.
Was Seward delivering Lincoln's words? Or acting on his own. I believe the evidence supports the later.
- Lincoln sends Lamon down to Charleston to tell the governer that Sumter would be evacuated.
There is absolutely no evidence supporting the idea that Lincoln told Lamon to tell Pickens the fort would be evacuated. Lamon was a bit of a loose cannon and his partner on the trip, Stephen Hurlburt, abandoned him soon after arriving in Charleston.
- Lincoln's cabinet and military advisers tell him Fox's plan to send a relief fleet down to Charleston will result in a shooting war.
Lincoln's cabinet and military advisors approved the sending of the resupply mission before it left port. And I would also point out that a member of Davis' cabinet also warned him what would happen if he fired on Sumter as well.
- Lincoln does not provide nearly enough force to relieve Sumter if force is necessary. And in secret even from Gustavus Fox who heads the Sumter expedition, Lincoln, perhaps in error, diverts the largest warship, the Powhatan, away from the Sumter fleet, leaving the Sumter expedition even more likely to fail to force supplies/men into Sumter.
Lincoln's goal was resupply, not war.
- Lincoln springs the Sumter relief expedition of the South Carolina governor a few days before the armed fleet arrives.
Lincoln's messenger met with Governor Pickens on April 8, six days before the resupply effort would arrive. How much time was needed?
- The Confederate Commissioners learn that the Lincoln Administration has been lying to them about the evacuation of Fort Sumter and call it gross perfidy.
And?
Colonel Lamon's remark convinced me that the idea, merely hinted at to me by Captain Fox, would not be carried out.
Obviously Lamon was misleading everyone.
From Recollections of Abraham Lincoln by Ward Hill Lamon:
After saying to him what President Lincoln had directed me to say, a general discussion took place touching the critical state of public affairs.
From Klein (page 343 paperback):
Having been graciously received by Pickens, he [Lamon] had presented himself as a confidential agent of the president's to arrange the garrison's transfer to another post.
I'll do some more research on it (got a book ordered), and let you know if I learn anything else about Lamon.
Lamon was a bit of a loose cannon and his partner on the trip, Stephen Hurlburt, abandoned him soon after arriving in Charleston.
Translation: You don't like what Lamon had to say about this or Lincoln's arrest warrant for Chief Justice Taney.
Hurlburt was a native Charlestonian. His job was to go visit his prominent Charleston friends and find out what they thought. It would have been hard to get their candid opinion if Hurlburt had dragged Lamon around with him.
Hurlburt and his wife got on the same train headed back north as Lamon. Hurlburt then sent Lamon a note via the conductor that said: "Don't recognize us until this train gets out of South Carolina. There is danger ahead, and a damned sight of it."
Lincoln's goal was resupply, not war.
If resupply were his goal, why did he tell Fox the cause of the country was advanced by the failure of the expedition. The outcome of the failed expedition was war. Lincoln saw war as advancing the cause of the nation? War is Peace? Wasn't that a slogan from George Orwell's "1984"?
Lincoln's messenger met with Governor Pickens on April 8, six days before the resupply effort would arrive. How much time was needed?
I thought the Harriet Lane arrived April 11. What kind of calendar are you using? AM and PM are not separate days.