[nolu chan]

[Non-Seq] Buchanan knew this, and made sure that the agreement he made with the South Carolina congressmen did not prohibit moving troops around Charleston. It just prevented reinforcing them.

"He seemed satisfied, and said it was not his intention to send reinforcements, or make any change. We explained to him what we meant by the words "relative military status," as applied to the forts; mentioned the difference between Major Anderson's occupying his then position at Fort Moultrie, and throwing himself into Fort Sumter. We stated that the latter step would be equivalent to reinforcing the garrison, and would just as certainly as the sending of fresh troops, lead to the result which we both desired to avoid."

When we rose to go, the President said in substance, "After all, this is a matter of honor among gentlemen."

- SC reps Miles and Keitt

[WhiskeyPapa]

n we rose to go, the President said in substance, "After all, this is a matter of honor among gentlemen."

- SC reps Miles and Keitt

"These gentlemen claim to be ambassadors," he said. "It is preposterous! They cannot be ambassadors; they are lawbreakers, traitors. They should be arrested. You cannot negotiate with them; and yet it seems by this paper that you have been led into that very thing. With all respect to you, Mr. President, I must say that the Attorney General, under his oath of office, dares not to be cognizant of the pending proceedings. Your reply to these so-called ambassadors must not be transmitted as the reply of the president. It is wholly unlawful, and improper; its language is unguarded and to send it as an official document will bring the presidency to the point of usurpation."

-- The Coming Fury, p. 165 by Bruce Catton

Walt

[Non-Sequitur]

And as I pointed out before you are going on Miles' and Keitt's recollections alone. There was no written agreement, nothing signed by President Buchanan. It appears that Buchanan didn't agree that the agreement prevented the garrison in Charleston from moving to Sumter, just that additional troops couldn't be sent. The fact that the administration approved of Major Anderson's actions seems to indicate that the misunderstanding was on the part of the South Carolina delegation.