"I had disguised the ship, so that she deceived those who had known her, and was standing in (unnoticed), when the Wyandotte commenced making signals, which I did not answer, but stood on."
"The steamer then put herself in my way and Captain Meigs, who was aboard, hailed me and I stopped."
"In twenty minutes more I should have been inside (Pensacola harbor) or sunk."
Signed: D.D. Porter
Had DD Porter not been interdicted by Captain Meigs, would his "sinking" have initiated the war?
Why would he think he might be sunk?
None here, but if DiogenesLamp had even an ounce of intellectual honesty, then "cognitive dissonance" would be screaming inside your head.
The fact is that none of the "agreements" -- zero, zip, nada "agreements" -- dictated by Confederates to Union troops in Forts Sumter & Pickens, none of those were legitimate or valid.
Rather such "agreements" represented Confederate acts of rebellion & war on the United States and simply temporarily delayed the moment Confederates would initiate violence.
Jefferson Davis' decision to start war at Sumter rather than Pickens was doubtless based on tactical & strategic factors, but it was his own decision, nobody else's.