[DiogenesLamp]

You have no quotes from Lincoln saying anything remotely like that.

He would hardly say so now would he?

We know he gave secret orders to Lieutenant Porter, because Porter seized the flagship of the Sumter expedition and took it to Pensacola where he tried his best to provoke the Confederates into fighting with him, up to and including firing on their ships.

He received no court marshal for this behavior, no disciplinary action of any kind, and was indeed promoted to Admiral within the span of the war. He says Lincoln gave him secret orders, and his behavior along with the fact that he got away with it pretty much confirms that Lincoln did in fact give him secret orders.

And those orders have never seen the light of day among the greater public, and one can only wonder why?

"Incriminating" is the only answer that comes to my mind.

[robowombat]

Where does D D Porter report this? True question. He wrote or more likely edited a huge history of the US Navy in the WBTS. He also wrote a much shorter memoir of his life. I recall he did remark on his great satisfaction with bombarding Vicksburg several times as he had been drugged, beaten and robbed by wharf rats there when he was a young officer in transit to the west coast to meet his assigned warship.

[Bull Snipe]

Porter didn’t “seize” the ship. He had orders from the President of the United States to assume command, Mercer recognized the legality of those orders and turned the command over to Porter. The afternoon, Powhatan sailed, Porter received new orders to join the Sumter expedition vice sailing for Pensacola. He refused to follow those orders because they were signed by Seward.

“He received no court marshal for this behavior, no disciplinary action of any kind,”
why should he have be court martialed?

[BroJoeK]

Diogeneslamp: ***”He [Lincoln] would hardly say so now would he?”***

Well.. of course if you are allowed to put words in Lincoln’s mouth he never said and motives in his heart he never expressed, then,,, then I can put all kinds of juicy words & motives on, let’s say, Jefferson Davis, how would you like that?

Diogeneslamp: ***”We know he gave secret orders to Lieutenant Porter, because Porter seized the flagship of the Sumter expedition and took it to Pensacola...”***

Those orders originated with Seward and Lincoln said it was a screwup.

Regardless, we have Jefferson Davis’ own words saying he intended to start war at Fort Sumter or Pickens or both, and yet Diogeneslamp still yammers on about Lincoln’s resupply mission as the “real cause”.

Why?