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Report from Montgomery: "News has been received here, apparently from a reliable source, that five United States war vessels left New-York on Tuesday night, well armed, and with a large number of marines and ample provisions on board, believed to be destined to some southern port."

Now, wasn't it just yesterday we learned from Charleston of hundreds of Union troops being carried incognito on Union merchant ships to Charleston to reinforce Fort Sumter?
"Today" (March 14, 1861) we hear of a whole war fleet being launched by President Lincoln against "some southern port".
And yet the news says Lincoln is planning to abandon Fort Sumter... ?

DiogenesLamp has often told us that the "real cause" of civil war were Lincoln's orders to launch a "war fleet" to "attack Confederates" in Charleston.
Those orders, DiogenesLamp tells us, explain & justify Jefferson Davis' military assault on Maj. Anderson's troops in Fort Sumter.

And yet... and yet... as of March 14, 1861 we learn from news reports of the time, that there were already two "war fleets" in route to "attack Confederates".
But somehow these alleged "war fleets" did not trigger Jefferson Davis to order Fort Sumter be "reduced" if not surrendered immediately.

" There would be to us an advantage in so placing them that an attack by them would be a necessity, but when we are ready to relieve our territory and jurisdiction of the presence of a foreign garrison that advantage is overbalanced by other considerations."

The fleet at fort Pickens instituted a truce with the locals, and it held just fine until it was threatened by Lieutenant Porter showing up with the Powhatan and trying to engage in a fire fight with the confederate shore batteries. He was only stopped by captain Meigs, and only then by Meigs interposing his ship in front of the Powhatan's path.

Porter said he felt like ramming him, but hove to instead.

The second fleet was the one going to Charleston, and for which the Powhatan was supposed to be the command ship. The other ships were ordered to take no action until captain Mercer arrived to coordinate the confrontation.

Lincoln's secret orders detached that ship unbeknownst to the other ships of the fleet. The Charleston operation was effectively paralyzed, but neither the Confederates or the other members of the fleet were aware of this.

The Confederates had to act on the belief that the Powhatan would shortly arrive and commence the attack upon them.