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The supply ships were sent to provide a secure, nearly unassailable base at Ft. Sumpter.

The mobilization of troops from Ft. Marcie to Ft. Sumpter was an act of war that could not remain unaddressed.

Federal ships had been in place before that time to ensure that "smugglers" paid tariffs that were collected at the Ft. Marcie "customs house" after they had seceded.

Moreover, there is documentation IN the Library of Congress admitting that Ft. Sumpter was a unignorable provocation of Southern forces. South Carolina wasn't sued for breach of contract. Virginia was, instead, attacked.

There are several points to be made:

1) S. Carolina wasn't Licoln's to bring back into the fold, they were gone before he was in.

2) The mobilization of troops at Ft. Sumpter was the renegging of a promise made by Bucchanan.

3) Lincoln treated the South alternately as a foreign power and as rebellious states to satisfy various arguments as it suited the strength of his argument...and so do most people today.

IF mobilization to Ft. Sumpter was not an act of war, S. Carolina simply waits them out and provisions do not attempt to break the seige.

IF mobilization to Ft. Sumpter was not an act of war, provisions are sent to them through S. Carolina, not in attempt reach them directly.

IF mobilization to Ft. Sumpter was not an act of war, the men therein surrender when fired upon when they have no means (yet) of responding to such fire.

IF mobilization to Ft. Sumpter was not an act of war, firing upon them does not provoke an act of war (See Florida).

Mobilization to Ft. Sumpter required a response. It is a commendation of the patience possessed by Southern forces that it was not bombarded the morning a ship arrived capable of doing so.

First off Fort Moultrie and Sumter were garrisoned by Federal forces for years and had been unmolested. Just because South Carolina decided it would secede, didn't mean the Federal government automatically had to concede and turn over Federal property including forts (if Kentucky left the Union tomorrow, would we just let them have Fort Knox ? I don't think so.). South Carolina's demand could be construed as an act of war itself (demanding the surrender of federal installations).

The Union commander (Anderson) made the decision to move concentrate his force at Sumter on December 26, 1860. The first shots were fired at the Star of the West in January 1861. Buchanan was still President not Lincoln (Lincoln took office on March 4, 1861). Southern authorities were aware that if they flagged down the Star of the West and demanded that it not enter the harbor, it would turn around and leave. They purposefully didn't hail the ship and instead ambushed it and fired upon it. That is an undenaible act of war, yet the Federal Government still tried to negotiate.

That wasn't good enough however and Fort Sumter was bombarded on April 12, 1861.

You can try to justify the firing on the Star of the West and Fort Sumter all you want but the fact remains that Southern forces fired the first shots on 2 seperate occassions.

There was a peaceful way and a violent way. In 1861 Charleston, some wrong headed people took the violent way, eventually costing half a million American lives and accomplished nothing for themselves in the end.

That's nothing to be proud of.