Porter didn’t “seize” the ship. He had orders from the President of the United States to assume command, Mercer recognized the legality of those orders and turned the command over to Porter. The afternoon, Powhatan sailed, Porter received new orders to join the Sumter expedition vice sailing for Pensacola. He refused to follow those orders because they were signed by Seward.
“He received no court marshal for this behavior, no disciplinary action of any kind,”
why should he have be court martialed?
A quibble over my choice of words. Yes, he legally seized the ship through secret orders from the President.
The afternoon, Powhatan sailed, Porter received new orders to join the Sumter expedition sailing for Pensacola. He refused to follow those orders because they were signed by Seward.
Odd that, isn't it?
why should he have be court martialed?
So long as he was following Lincoln's orders, he should not have been. My point here is that he was exactly following Lincoln's orders, and when he intended to fire on the Confederate batteries along the bar around Ft. Pickens, and was only prevented from doing so as a consequence of Captain Meigs deliberately placing his ship in Porter's path, the intent or authority to fire on those confederate batteries must also have been stipulated in his orders.
Porter did indeed fire on Confederate ships, with no prior knowledge of the events in Charleston. He believed at the time that his cannon shots were the first shots of the Civil War.
Now why would Porter make such an effort to fire his cannons at the confederates, unless this was clearly authorized if not encouraged by the man who's secret orders he was following?
I have told you that Porter was Lincoln's backup plan to start the war, and Porter's actions make this explanation the most probable.
I believe we have never seen those secret orders for Porter, precisely because they are inflammatory and likely prove that Lincoln tried to intentionally start the war.
For whatever reason, Porter never made them public. They were likely destroyed.