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. A state for a fort is no bad business, he said.3This deal was never finalized, and Lincoln continued toseek the advice of his cabinet on the question of the fort.Most felt that the fort should not be relieved.Some, includingSeward, argued that the fort was too close to Washington.Theysaid that if a stand was going to be taken over any fort it shouldbe Fort Pickens in Florida. 76 The Outbreak of the Civil WarOn April 1, Justice Campbell returned to Seward to askhim what had happened to the plans to evacuate Fort Sum-ter.Seward replied that, if Lincoln did decide to send supplyreinforcements to the fort, he would certainly notify SouthCarolina s governor first.This was, of course, quite differentfrom Seward s previous message.When word of this change inposition reached the Confederacy, the blame for this apparentdeception was placed not on Seward but on Lincoln, since itwas believed that Seward was speaking on behalf of Lincoln sadministration.UNDER SIEGEThere was tremendous sympathy in the North for the help-less soldiers at Fort Sumter as their fate was decided.The NewYork Times urged, The Administration must have a policy ofaction.Better almost anything than additional suspense.Thepeople want something to be decided on [to] serve as a rallyingpoint for the abundant but discouraged loyalty of the Ameri-can heart. 4The man in charge of the fort, Major Anderson, was acareer soldier from Kentucky.He had once owned slaves him-self, and was sympathetic to the Southern cause, but he hadtaken an oath to faithfully serve his country and he intended tohonor that oath to the best of his ability.By April 6, Lincoln had made his final decision.He hadsworn to protect and preserve the Union, and Fort Sumterwould be where his efforts would begin.He contacted thegovernor of South Carolina and told him that he would sendsupplies to Fort Sumter but would not attempt to reinforce itwith more soldiers or weapons, provided that neither the fortnor the fleet carrying the supplies was attacked.When word ofLincoln s decision reached the Confederate government, Jef-ferson Davis was confronted with a difficult choice: They couldeither back down from their threats, or fire the first shot in Fort Sumter 77what was certain to be war (and that first shot would be firedto prevent hungry men from getting food).Davis consulted his cabinet.One member strongly warnedthat firing on Fort Sumter would launch a civil war. Mr.President, at this time it is suicide, murder, and you will lose usevery friend at the North, he said. You will wantonly strike ahornets nest which extends from mountains to ocean.Legionsnow quiet will swarm out and sting us to death.It is unneces-sary; it puts us in the wrong; it is fatal. 5As the presidents made their decisions, the men inside andoutside Fort Sumter maintained their positions, following theprocedures of their commanders.These were men who, in somecases, had served together in military units.Many of their lead-ers had trained together at the U.S.Military Academy at WestPoint.Until recently they had all been Americans.Now theyfound themselves facing the possibility of killing each other.When mistakes were made when guns accidentally wentoff or were fired in the wrong direction the commandersexchanged polite notes of apology, notes which were respondedto with equally polite replies.The requests from Major Ander-son to officials in Charleston to allow his men access to foodwere formal and gracious.The Confederate officials politerefusals echoed this courteous tone.At one point Major Ander-son s wife arrived from New York and persuaded the governorof South Carolina to allow her to visit her husband.A Confed-erate boat carried her to the fort, where she was able to spenda brief visit with her husband before safely being carried awayby the Confederate boat.FINAL DECISIONThere were many who advised Davis not to respond with hos-tility to Lincoln s effort to supply Fort Sumter, but Davis ulti-mately believed that Lincoln had deceived him, and that the(continues on page 80) 78 The Outbreak of the Civil WarFORT SUMTER IS OCCUPIEDIn his Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government, Jefferson Davisincludes many documents outlining the Confederacy s position in thetime leading up to the Civil War.One of these is the following let-ter, sent on December 28, 1860, from the commissioners of SouthCarolina to President James Buchanan
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