Posted on 04/06/2021 6:57:12 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
Free Republic University, Department of History presents U.S. History, 1855-1860: Seminar and Discussion Forum
Bleeding Kansas, Dred Scott, Lincoln-Douglas, Harper’s Ferry, the election of 1860, secession – all the events leading up to the Civil War, as seen through news reports of the time and later historical accounts
First session: November 21, 2015. Last date to add: Sometime in the future.
Reading: Self-assigned. Recommendations made and welcomed.
Posting history, in reverse order
https://www.freerepublic.com/tag/by:homerjsimpson/index?tab=articles
To add this class to or drop it from your schedule notify Admissions and Records (Attn: Homer_J_Simpson) by reply or freepmail.
Link to previous Harper’s Weekly thread
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3946351/posts
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3946351/posts#32
Bruce Catton, The Coming Fury
Continued from April 1 (reply #16).
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3946351/posts#16
Doris Kearns Goodwin, Team of Rivals
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_photographs_of_Abraham_Lincoln
Continued from March 29 (reply #29).
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3944470/posts#29
William J. Cooper, Jr., Jefferson Davis, American
William H. Seward to Lieutenant David D. Porter, April 6, 1861 (Secretary of State directly orders change of command of a navy vessel. What could go wrong?)
https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2020/03/william-h-seward-to-lieutenant-david-d.html
Commander Andrew H. Foote to Gideon Welles, April 6, 1861 (Confusion about orders, part 3)
https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2018/06/commander-andrew-h-foote-to-gideon.html
Commander Andrew H. Foote to Gideon Welles, April 6, 1861 (Confusion about orders, part 4)
https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2018/06/commander-andrew-h-foote-to-gideon_8.html
Lieutenant Francis Asbury Roe to Commander Andrew H. Foote, Saturday, April 6, 1861 – 5 p.m. (Confusion about orders, part 5)
https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2018/07/lieutenant-francis-asbury-roe-to.html
Lieutenant David D. Porter to William H. Seward, April 6, 1861 (Navy lieutenant declines order from Secretary of state)
https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2020/03/david-d-porter-to-william-h-seward.html
Commander Andrew H. Foote to Gideon Welles, April 6, 1861 – 6 p.m. (Confusion about orders, part 6)
https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2018/06/commander-andrew-h-foote-to-gideon_27.html
Gustavus V. Fox to Virginia Woodbury Fox, April 6, 1861 (Capt. Fox aboard S.S. Bath, ready to sail on a secret mission)
https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2018/05/gustavus-v-fox-to-virginia-woodbury-fox.html
Andrew G. Magrath to Leroy Pope Walker, April 6, 1861 (SC Convention Delegate informs Southern Commissioner in Washington that the Feds are planning not to evacuate Sumter but to resupply it)
https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2017/02/andrew-g-magrath-to-leroy-pope-walker.html
James E. Harvey to Andrew G. Magrath, James L. Petigru, B. F. Dunkin & Miss S. C. Harvey, April 6, 1861 (Newly appointed Minister to Portugal attempts to aid and abet secessionists)
https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2017/02/james-e-harvey-to-andrew-g-magrath.html
Diary of William Howard Russell: April 6, 1861 (Russell on Winfield Scott, William Seward, attitudes north and south)
https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/05/diary-of-william-howard-russell-april-6.html
Today’s posts:
“The Coming Fury,” reply #3
“Team of Rivals,” #4
Simon Cameron to Robert S. Chew, #5
Mathew Brady photo of Lincoln, #6
“Jefferson Davis, American,” #7
Mary B. Chesnut, #8
George Templeton Strong, #9
Ten items from Civil War Notebook, #10
That is all.
With Lincoln in the White House: Letters, Memoranda, and Other Writings of John G. Nicolay, 1860-1865, edited by Michael Burlingame
Raining all day, cold and wet. I am tired and weary of this perpetual jabber about Fort Sumter. Men here who know nothing at all of what is passing send letters to the New York papers, which are eagerly read by the people in Washington as soon as the journals reach the city, and then all these vague surmises are taken as gospel, and argued upon as if they were facts. The “Herald” keeps up the courage and spirit of its Southern friends by giving the most florid accounts of their prospects, and making continual attacks on Mr. Lincoln and his government; but the majority of the New York papers are inclined to resist Secession and aid the Government. I dined with Lord Lyons in the evening, and met Mr. Sumner, Mr. Blackwell, the manager of the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada, his wife, and the members of the Legation. After dinner I visited M. de Stoeckl, the Russian Minister, and M. Tassara, the Minister of Spain, who had small receptions. There were few Americans present. As a rule, the diplomatic circle, which has, by-the-by, no particular centre, radii, or circumference, keeps its members pretty much within itself. The great people here are mostly the representatives of the South American powers, who are on more intimate relations with the native families in Washington than are the transatlantic ministers.
SOURCE: William Howard Russell, My Diary North and South, p. 68
https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/05/diary-of-william-howard-russell-april-7.html
This page holds many of the Lost Causer arguments we've seen posted on CW threads all these years.
Davis thought it would be a good idea to let the Union fire the first shots, but there were "other considerations" which prevented that.
Those "other considerations" most especially included Virginia flipping from Union to Confederate:
Many, many years later:
From Robert S. Chew to Abraham Lincoln, April 8, 1861 (Lincoln’s messenger reports back that he delivered the message to Gov. Pickens that an attempt will be made to resupply Fort Sumter.)
https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2014/02/from-robert-s-chew-to-abraham-lincoln.html
Major Robert Anderson to Colonel Lorenzo Thomas, April 8, 1861 (Major Anderson sends No. 96 to the Army Adjutant-General. I don’t know what No. 96 was.)
https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2016/10/major-robert-anderson-to-colonel_29.html
Major Robert Anderson to Colonel Lorenzo Thomas, April 8, 1861 (Major Anderson tells the Army Adjutant-General that it would be a bad idea to try resupplying Fort Sumter.)
https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2016/10/major-robert-anderson-to-colonel_18.html
Captain John G. Foster to Brevet Brigadier-General Joseph G. Totten, April 8, 1861 (Major Anderson’s engineering officer updates the Army Chief Engineer about the state of affairs at Fort Sumter. It is a grim picture.)
https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2016/10/captain-john-g-foster-to-brevet.html
Edwin M. Stanton to Major-General John A. Dix, April 8, 1861 (Former Attorney General tells former Treasury Secretary that he is in the dark as to the actions of the Lincoln administration.)
https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/07/edwin-m-stanton-to-major-general-john.html
Diary of William Howard Russell: April 8, 1861 (The London Times correspondent visited the Smithsonian, where he got some strange ideas about U.S. geography, and has a remarkable interview with State Secretary Seward over cards and cigars.)
https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2015/05/diary-of-william-howard-russell-april-8.html
BURLINGTON, NEW JERSEY.—The expedition sails to-day from New York. Its purpose is to reduce Fort Moultrie, Charleston harbor, and relieve Fort Sumter, invested by the Confederate forces. Southern born, and editor of the Southern Monitor, there seems to be no alternative but to depart immediately. For years the Southern Monitor, Philadelphia, whose motto was “The Union as it was, the Constitution as it is,” has foreseen and foretold the resistance of the Southern States, in the event of the success of a sectional party inimical to the institution of African slavery, upon which the welfare and existence of the Southern people seem to depend. And I must depart immediately; for I well know that the first gun fired at Fort Sumter will be the signal for an outburst of ungovernable fury, and I should be seized and thrown into prison.
I must leave my family — my property — everything. My family cannot go with me — but they may follow. The storm will not break in its fury for a month or so. Only the most obnoxious persons, deemed dangerous, will be molested immediately.
8 O'CLOCK P.M. — My wife and children have been busy packing my trunk, and making other preparations for my departure. They are cheerful. They deem the rupture of the States a >i>fait accompli, but reck not of the horrors of war. They have contrived to pack up, with other things, my fine old portrait of Calhoun, by Jarvis. But I must leave my papers, the accumulation of twenty-five years, comprising thousands of letters from predestined rebels. My wife opposes my suggestion that they be burned. Among them are some of the veto messages of President Tyler, and many letters from him, Governor Wise, etc. With the latter I had a correspondence in 1856, showing that this blow would probably have been struck then, if Fremont had been elected.
SOURCE: John Beauchamp Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital, Volume 1, p. 13-4
https://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2014/11/diary-of-john-beauchamp-jones-april-8.html
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.