PeaBrain attempting to pass off more lies as true:
"Absolute BS.
From the Official Records: On April 12, 1861, at 3am the Baltic arrived at the rendezvous point ten miles out of Charleston Harbor with civilian Gustavus Vasa Fox, the planner and leader of the expedition aboard.
The armed revenue cutter Harriett Lane had arrived several hours earlier, and had fired on civilian shipping attempting to enter the harbor.
The Pawnee arrived at 6am." As previously posted:
- Revenue cutter USS Harriet Lane (note spelling) was 180 feet long, 730 tons and crewed by 95 officers & men -- hardly the most fearsome warship of its day.
- Unarmed civilian steamer SS Baltic was not a warship at all.
It carried a cargo of supplies for Fort Sumter along with about 200 US Army troops with orders not to land if there was no Confederate resistance.
- The sloop of war USS Pawnee was 221 feet long, 1,533 tons and crewed by 181 officers & men.
It was indeed a substantial warship, however, Pawnee had orders to stay well out to sea pending arrival of the even larger warship, USS Pocahontas, which had already been diverted to Fort Pickens and would never arrive in Charleston harbor.
So, bottom line: at 4:30 AM, as Confederates began their 4,000 gun bombardment of 85 Union troops in Union Fort Sumter there was within sight, one small warship Harriet Lane plus one unarmed civilian steamer SS Baltic.
Brojoke, I don't think there is any better example of your endless exaggerations and canards than this statement of yours: "
So, bottom line: at 4:30 AM, as Confederates began their 4,000 gun bombardment
Fort Moultrie had three 8-inch Columbiads, two 8-inch howitzers, five 32-pound smoothbores, and four 24-pounders. Outside of Moultrie were five 10-inch mortars, two 32-pounders, two 24-pounders, and a 9-inch Dahlgren smoothbore. The floating battery next to Fort Moultrie had two 42-pounders and two 32-pounders on a raft protected by iron shielding. Fort Johnson on James Island had one 24-pounder and four 10-inch mortars. At Cummings Point on Morris Island, the Confederates had emplaced seven 10-inch mortars, two 42-pounders, an English Blakely rifled cannon, and three 8-inch Columbiads.
That was a grand total of 46 guns.
BJK on various ships in Lincoln's mission to Fort Sumter:
"3.The sloop of war USS Pawnee was 221 feet long, 1,533 tons and crewed by 181 officers & men.
It was indeed a substantial warship, however, Pawnee had orders to stay well out to sea pending arrival of the even larger warship, USS Pocahontas, which had already been diverted to Fort Pickens and would never arrive in Charleston harbor."
Sorry, my mistake, the steam frigate USS Powhatan was the ship diverted from Sumter to Fort Pickens, not Pocahontas.
Navy steamer USS Pocahontas did arrive at Fort Sumter but late, in time to see the Fort's surrender on April 13.