He didn’t have to mention the secessionists’ attack on Ft Sumter, it was huge news, and was the event that made the call-up both possible and necessary. That the attack wasn’t too bright goes without saying — it was a Democratic Party idea.
“That the attack wasn’t too bright goes without saying — it was a Democratic Party idea.”
The man who ordered the firing on Ft Sumter, General PGT Beauregard, had run for mayor of New Orleans in 1858. He was promoted by both the Whig and the Democratic Parties. The Whigs were Lincoln’s old party.