According to military orders, the ship was on a military expedition, with over 200 ARMED men and munitions, with MILITARY orders to put TROOPS into Sumter. From the Official Records:
CHARLES R. WOODS,
First Lieutenant, Ninth Infantry.FORT COLUMBUS, N. Y. H.,
January 13, 1861.Col. L. THOMAS,
Assistant Adjutant-General, U.S.A., Washington. D.C.COLONEL: Pursuant to instructions, dated Headquarters of the Army, January 5, 1861, I embarked on the evening of Saturday, 5th instant, from Governor's Island, at 6 o'clock p.m., on a steam-tug, which transferred us to the steamer Star of the West.
My command consisted of two hundred men, recruits from the depot, fifty of whom were of the permanent party. My officers were First Lieut. W. A. Webb, Fifth Infantry; Second Lieut. C. W. Thomas, First Infantry, and Assist. Surg. P. G. S. Ten Broeck, Medical Department.
On Tuesday afternoon, 8th instant, arms and ammunition were issued to all the men...
Reports of Lieut. Charles R. Woods, Ninth U. S. Infantry, of first expedition for relief of Fort Sumter.
Secondly, by your own admission, the Federal government resumed control of Sumter (along with Moultrie) after 1842. South Carolina never formally took ownership of Sumter nor garrisoned it or made any improvements. Federal work on the fort was still underway in 1860 as per a recent Congressional appropriation which was voted in the affirmative by SC Congressional delegation. Thus the fort and it's armament were still legally Federal property just as they are to this day.
Nope. The terms of the cession, both in 1805: (referenced in the 1836 cession) for the construction of Ft. Sumter:
That, if the United States shall not, within three years from the passing of this act, and notification thereof by the Governor of this State to the Executive of the United States, repair the fortifications now existing thereon or build such other forts or fortifications as may be deemed most expedient by the Executive of the United States on the same, and keep a garrison or garrisons therein; in such case this grant or cession shall be void and of no effect.It was up to the federal governemnt to complete the Fort & garrisoon it, not the state. The government accepted the tendered offer, and then failed to abide by the terms or meet it's contractual obligation. SC might have gave them a few more years to try to fulfill it's bargain, but even then it failed. Anderson spiked his guns & took over Sumter.
Finally, in the Election of 1864. Lincoln won by an electoral landslide (Lincoln 212, McClellan 21). The only states he didn't carry were Deleware, Kentucky & New Jersey. The only large electoral states that were even close for McClellan were Pennsylvania, New York & Connecticut.
The popular vote was much closer 55%-45%. And Butler admitted to using the miltary to supress the votes by non-unionists - especially in New York.