Bump, BUMP, BUMP! and BUMP!
You neo-confeds look like blithering idiots when you minimize the fact that the secessionists opened hostilities.
But they were warned:
"I therefore consider that, in view of the Constitution and the laws, the Union is unbroken; and to the extent of my ability I shall take care, as the Constitution itself expressly enjoins upon me, that the laws of the Union be faithfully executed in all the States. Doing this I deem to be only a simple duty on my part; and I shall perform it so far as practicable, unless my rightful masters, the American people, shall withhold the requisite means, or in some authoritative manner direct the contrary. I trust this will not be regarded as a menace, but only as the declared purpose of the Union that it WILL Constitutionally defend and maintain itself."
A. Lincoln 3/4/61
Walt
Gee Wally, if someone breaks thru my window, former best friend or not, I can defend my property. Especially since we had already attempted negotionations which Caeser Lincoln refused.
What's worse is you neo-yankees that bounce from thread to thread to disrupt us. We seek nothing other than to honor, and preserve the honor, of men who did nothing illegal, men who fought to defend the Constitution from those would would pervert it and destroy it.
But they were warned:
Who opened hostilities? Lincoln did, by blockading sea ports. This itself an act of war.
Who shot a gun first? Yes, the secessionists shot first at Ft. Sumter. Whoop de freakin' do -- the total death toll was one poor horse.
Who drew the first human blood? It was a Massachusetss regiment marching through Baltimore on April 19, 1861, firing on civilians and killing twelve. (Sheesh, what is it about that April 19th date?!)
You are correct -- the Confederates were warned. It was a member of Jefferson Davis' own cabinet, Robert Toombs, who sounded the alarm. He was ardently opposed to firing on Ft. Sumter. He correctly saw it as falling for Lincoln's bait to draw them into war:
The firing on that fort will inaugurate a civil war greater than any the world has ever seen, Mr. President. It is suicide, it is murder, and will lose us every friend at the North. You will wantonly strike a hornet's nest which extends from mountains to ocean; and legions, now quiet, will swarm out and sting us to death. It is unnecessary, it puts us in the wrong. It is fatal.
For all those around the world who would secede from a tyrannical government, please heed the words of Robert Toombs. Do not fall into the trap of war. Secede firmly, quietly, and peacefully.
The American secession from Britain in 1776 was bloody, yes, and it was one of those rare successes. At least in that secession the British fired first.
Too bad Robert Toombs had not been president of the Confederacy in 1861.