DiogenesLamp: “Lincoln sent an armed force to Ft. Sumter.
He said he wasn’t going to do that, but he lied.
He did not send them to play patty cake, he sent them there to fight. “
All of Lincoln’s troops were under orders not to fight unless attacked.
And that is exactly what Lincoln telegraphed to South Carolina’s governor.
Lincoln’s mission to resupply Fort Sumter was just that — resupply — unless attacked, at which point it was to become to reinforce Sumter.
As such, it was no more an “act of war” than, for examples: any resupply/reinforce mission to British forts on US territory after 1781, or today’s resupply & reinforcement missions to disputed Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
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It was definitely an act of war because SEWARD had promised that Ft. Sumpter would be closed. This promise was not made once, but several times. When Lincoln sent the troops under the guise of “resupply” it was CLEARLY a RUSE DE GUERRE. That is an act of war. Literally a “Trick” of war.
Again, Seward did not discuss anything with Jefferson Davis' emissaries, only with intermediaries who may, or may not, have relayed his words accurately.
Lincoln at that same time was offering to trade Sumter -- "a fort for a state", Virginia -- and Seward obviously believed that would happen.
When Lincoln's offer to Virginia was refused, Lincoln returned to old President Buchanan's "plan B" which was resupply Union troops in Fort Sumter.
And that is just what Lincoln formally notified South Carolina's governor of, so there was no act of war by Lincoln, period.
The choice for war was Jefferson Davis' to make and carry the responsibility for.