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.
Oh it's not me, at least not entirely. According to Wikipedia your source of choice, Maury Klein, had this to say about Lamon's account in your book of choice, "Days of Defiance": "Lamon's own account in his Recollections, [pp.] 69-79, is so inflated in his own favor and contradictory to Hurlbut's contemporary account to Lincoln as to be virtually useless as a source for his mission." Not a ringing endorsement of ol' Ward.
And as for the Taney arrest warrant, I had the opportunity to communicate with James F. Simon, author of "Lincoln and Chief Justice Taney: Slavery, Secession, and the President's War Powers" and I specifically asked him what support for the Taney arrest warrant story he had found during the course of his research. His answer was, "None". Nothing supports Lamon's claim. So believe me, while I'd like to take credit for being skeptical of Lamon and his stories a lot of people far more knowledgeable on the subject than I have beaten me to it.
I thought the Harriet Lane arrived April 11. What kind of calendar are you using? AM and PM are not separate days.
The resupply arrived a day or so later.