[GOPcapitalist]

What hostile and threatening gestures did the Fort Sumter garrison make?

Anderson made the first hostile move of the war by spiking the guns at Moultrie and mobilizing his garrison in the mothballed Fort Sumter, all of it without any orders to do so. That was on December 26th.

[Non-Sequitur]

Nonsense. Anderson's move was precipitated by the hostile actions of South Carolina that had been going on for some time. This included mobilizing the militia in the city, preparing ladders for the attack, scouting out the positions, and warnings from men like James Pettigru that the attack was imminent. What choice did Anderson have?