Lincoln's Role in the Firing on Fort Sumter

April is a pivotal month in America’s past and Ft. Sumter holds an important place in that history. Named after General Thomas Sumter, a hero of the American Revolution, the fort is located just off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina. It was built for coastal defense and as a tax collection point.

South Carolina left the Union on December 20, 1860. Less than a week later, U.S. Army Major Robert Anderson moved his troops from Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter. Before leaving, he spiked the guns at Moultrie to temporarily render them useless. Over the next few months the South Carolina government made multiple futile pleas for Fort Sumter to be abandoned. In January 1861, during James Buchanan’s Administration, an attempt was made to reinforce Fort Sumter when the Star of the West was sent, carrying troops below the deck. A shot across the bow from the defending South Carolinians turned the ship back north.

The citizens of Charleston provided food for the troops at Fort Sumter but that was a finite arrangement. Lincoln preferred capitulation, not negotiation; however, he sought the advice of Winfield Scott, a respected veteran with over fifty years of military service. Lincoln read Scott’s opinion to his cabinet on March 11, 1861. Scott recommended conciliation and removal of troops from Forts Sumter and Pickens, feeling that Anderson (Fort Sumter) could survive for a short time but any lengthy holdout would require 25,000 troops and a fleet of warships. Lincoln disagreed.

Postmaster General Montgomery Blair was optimistic the fort could be held, based on a plan devised by his brother-in-law, Gustavus V. Fox, an eighteen-year navy veteran. This stratagem (rejected by President Buchanan) would make the South appear as the aggressor and save face for the Union. Fox’ plan was to send a naval expedition consisting of a fleet of ships with an announced intention of taking only food and supplies to Anderson and his men. Sailing under a “humanitarian” pretense lessened the chance of an attack on the fort. The ruse was that the ships would secretly carry armed soldiers and sailors.

Lincoln met with Fox on March 14, 1861, and presented the plan to his cabinet the next day. He asked each cabinet member to provide a written response stating whether or not they thought resupplying Fort Sumter was the right course. Since Lincoln preferred reinforcement, the decision had essentially been made.

Lincoln sent Ward Hill Lamon and S.A. Hurlbut, an Illinois politician and diplomat, to Charleston to monitor Union support—it was virtually nonexistent. Lamon met with South Carolina Governor Pickens, who explained an attempt to resupply the fort would be considered an act of war that would evoke a military response. Upon their return, Hurlbut and Lamon reported their findings.

On March 29, Lincoln interviewed army engineer Montgomery Meigs about the possibility of reinforcing both Fort Sumter and Fort Pickens. Meigs told Lincoln enough volunteers could be found to accomplish reinforcement, but higher-ranking officers should make the final decision. Navy Secretary Gideon Welles agreed with Lincoln and the decision was made to reinforce.

One factor either overlooked or ignored was the December 6, 1860, armistice between the U.S. government and the State of South Carolina. There was also a January 29, 1861, armistice between the U.S. government and authorities from the State of Florida. Under these armistices (from Buchanan’s presidency), reinforcement of Sumter or Pickens was considered an act of war. These agreements did not go unnoticed in the South. Confederate General Braxton Bragg commented: “They have placed an engineer officer at Fort Pickens to violate, as I consider, our agreement not to reinforce. I do not believe that we are entirely absolved from all agreement of January 29.” Lincoln had no intention of honoring any armistice. The decision was made, the plan was executed, and things unfolded as Lincoln had suspected.

Lincoln, the embodiment of crony capitalism, was determined to protect the interests of those who had gotten him elected—corporate interests in New England and the Upper Midwest (steel manufacturers, railroads, etc.) and the banking institutions that financed their operations. A free trade South would not be allowed.

By creating the illusion that the South started the war, Lincoln claimed a propaganda victory. Although the South reacted to an act of war “court historians” accuse the South of starting it. That is one reason “educators” in the North felt it imperative to seize the narrative and “re-educate” Southerners. This effort and the slavery myth were so successful that many Southerners have belittled their own flesh and blood ancestors for daring to seek independence, believing the dubious “saving the Union” narrative. The real question is--how can you save a Union by completely destroying the voluntary basis of it?

Sources: Union At All Costs: From Confederation to Consolidation, by John M. Taylor; “Fort Sumter - April 12-14, 1861,” US CivilWar.com, http://www.us-civilwar.com/sumter.htm; War Between The States—Why?, by Charles T. Pace, (Published by C. T. Pace); Lincoln Provoked the War, Reflections (referencing Davis, Stephens, and Ramsdell) at: http://www.tulane.edu/~sumter/Reflections/LinWar.html; Truths of History (Harrisonburg, Virginia: Old South Institute Press, 2009), by Mildred Lewis Rutherford, Original source: O.R.I., 457; Southern By The Grace Of God (Gretna, Louisiana: Pelican Publishing Company, 1990), by Michael Andrew Grissom; The Lincoln No One Knows (Nashville, Tennessee: Rutledge Hill Press, 1993), by Webb Garrison; and Truth of the War Conspiracy of 1861 (Wake Forest, North Carolina: The Scuppernong Press, 2012), by H.W. Johnstone. Note: Modern court historians, e.g., McPherson, Brinkley, Richardson, Levin, Guelzo, etc., have done their jobs by keeping the “Righteous Cause Myth” alive. Also, guns can be “de-spiked” but it is typically a laborious and time-consuming task.

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