Wow, you guys have solved the enigma! Lincoln was secretly working for the Rebel Alliance and on a mission to disrupt the evil forces of the Empire.
*SMH*
All we've done is point out what they did. What is your explanation of why Federal ships were painting out ship names, burning foreign coal, and flying colors of another nation? Sounds like various "false flag" measures to mislead the opposition. And some of this was on a so-called "peaceful mission."
As I've said many times over the years, I believe it was Lincoln's intention to provoke a war. Lincoln sending the fleet down with the stated intention to force their way into South Carolina's waters if resisted was an act of war. The US government and the South (Florida at the time) had agreed to a truce that the North wouldn't reinforce Fort Pickens if the South didn't attack it. Lincoln's orders to break the truce at Fort Pickens by reinforcing it with troops and ammunition without telling the other side of the truce was also an act of war. From USLegal.com, my emphasis below:
An act of war is an action by one country against another with an intention to provoke a war or an action that occurs during a declared war or armed conflict between military forces of any origin. The loss or damage caused due to such conflicts are excluded from insurance coverage except for life assurances.
Lincoln's cabinet had told him that Fox's Fort Sumter expedition would result in a shooting war. Anderson (at Fort Sumter) and Meigs and Adams (both at Fort Pickens) had recognized that Lincoln's actions would result in war [Post 54].
Lincoln’s two wartime secretaries, Nicolay and Hay, put it this way after the war in their book about Lincoln:
President Lincoln in deciding the Sumter question had adopted a simple but effective policy. To use his own words, he determined to "send bread to Anderson"; if the rebels fired on that, they would not be able to convince the world that he had begun the civil war.
Some of us can see through Lincoln's ruse. Others on this thread cannot.
With war, Lincoln would become commander-in-chief and could do things he otherwise wouldn't have the constitutional power to do, such as blockading Southern ports to stop their lower tariff from ruining the Northern economy, invading the South. arresting Maryland legislators, overthrowing the elected government of Missouri, and issuing the Emancipation Proclamation. Lincoln's War cost over 600,000 lives and almost as much money as it would have taken to buy all of the slaves and set them free.
Next, the reinforcement of Fort Pickens actually began on April 11th before the bombardment of Fort Sumter began on the 12th. As I remember, the guy in command of those reinforcing troops said that he was in command of Fort Pickens as of April 11, and one of the Federal ship's log book said the troops began the reinforcement on the 11th.
Once adequate men and munitions were in Fort Pickens to withstand an attack by the Confederates, it turned out that the Confederate forces had only one day's worth of ammunition with which to attack the fort. So, the Confederates did not attack at that point, although there were later Confederate raids onto Santa Rosa Island, the island where Fort Pickens is located.
Like I said, the Jar-Jar Binks of this discussion. Nothing of any interest or merit emanates from your direction.