And instead he stood up for what was right and insisted on holding on to a federal facility.
So a reckless head-first charge into a bloody war is standing up for "what is right" now? Curious.
Lincoln's cabinet warned him at length that Fort Sumter was a VERY volitile issue that had to be handled with extreme care so as to avoid unnecessary bloodshed. Not only did Lincoln launch a careless and sloppily organized naval expedition, he also sent it under the one set of directions that were sure, more than anything else, to provoke an immediate war there. Actions of this sort seem to be a recurring theme of the Lincoln presidency: of all the different courses he could have taken he picked the most reckless and extreme one.