[DiogenesLamp]

Inevitably, there were contests for the limited resources for these projects. Welles intended the navy’s most powerful steamer, the Powhatan, to be part of Fox’s fleet, but Seward wanted it for Meig’s expedition. Placing an order assigning the ship to the Pickens fleet before the President in a pile of other documents, he got Lincoln’s signature.

It's as if we aren't even speaking the same language. I just showed you conclusive proof that the reassigning of the Powhatan with secret orders was deliberate, because Lincoln hand wrote the orders relieving Captain Mercer of his duty, and what do you do? You come right back with that "accident" bullsh*t.

Why should I even bother trying when your willingness to believe something contradicted by facts is so overpowering for you?

[BroJoeK]

DiogenesLamp: "Inevitably, there were contests for the limited resources for these projects.
Welles intended the navy’s most powerful steamer, the Powhatan, to be part of Fox’s fleet, but Seward wanted it for Meig’s expedition.
Placing an order assigning the ship to the Pickens fleet before the President in a pile of other documents, he got Lincoln’s signature."

A careful reading of the history shows that orders for the Seward/Porter/Powhattan mission to Pensacola came before the Welles/Fox/Powhattan mission to Charleston.
It also shows that Navy Secretary Welles didn't know about the Pensacola mission when he assigned Powhattan to Charleston.
And when Lincoln first learned of the confused orders he himself accepted responsibility and revoked Powhattan's mission to Pensacola.
But the order revoking his Pensacola mission was ignored by Lt. Porter because, he said, they were from just Seward, not the President.

Regardless, as it all turned out:

1. Powhattan proved irrelevant to the success of the Pensacola/Fort Pickens mission -- it would have succeeded without Powhattan, much to Lt. Porter's chagrin.

2. Powhattan also had nothing to do with the failure of the Charleston/Fort Sumter mission -- it would have still failed, even with Powhattan on site.

DiogenesLamp: "It's as if we aren't even speaking the same language.
I just showed you conclusive proof that the reassigning of the Powhatan with secret orders was deliberate, because Lincoln hand wrote the orders relieving Captain Mercer of his duty, and what do you do?
You come right back with that "accident" bullsh*t. "

Lincoln's orders to Porter/Powhattan were indeed kept secret from Secretary of Navy Welles, but by Secretary of State Seward, whom Lincoln directed to coordinate with Welles.
Seward failed to do it and Lincoln failed to notice Powhattan in the orders Welles handed him to sign.
And from this typical bureaucratic SNAFU DiogenesLamp has concocted yet another cockamamie Lost Cause fantasy.

DiogenesLamp: "Why should I even bother trying when your willingness to believe something contradicted by facts is so overpowering for you?"

DiogenesLamp's legendary devotion to Lost Cause fantasies over mere historical facts is simply outside the realm of any credible explanation.