It was on April 8, 1861, that Lincoln, alone, started the war by a surprise attack on Charleston Harbor with a fleet of warships, led by the USS Harriet Lane, to occupy Fort Sumter, a Federal tax collection fort in the territorial waters of South Carolina and then invaded Virginia.
No, the South succeeded on 20 December 1860, demanded that Washington surrender the Fort (robbery), and commenced the bombardment on 12 April 1861 (act of war, or insurrection). The naval force was not intended to occupy Fort Sumter but to provision it with food and ammunition, as the troops there were running out of supplies. The Fort was already in federal hands...as it was from the beginning, a federal fort. I am at pains to understand how it is possible to invade Virginia from Charleston, South Carolina, when North Carolina is in the way.
The USRC Harriet Lane was a revenue cutter. The "fleet" retired after Major Robert Anderson surrendered the Fort on 13 April and evacuated to the ships.
It was on April 8, 1861, that Lincoln, alone, started the war by a surprise attack on Charleston Harbor with a fleet of warships, led by the USS Harriet Lane, to occupy Fort Sumter, a Federal tax collection fort in the territorial waters of South Carolina and then invaded Virginia.
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No, the South succeeded on 20 December 1860, demanded that Washington surrender the Fort (robbery), and commenced the bombardment on 12 April 1861 (act of war, or insurrection). The naval force was not intended to occupy Fort Sumter but to provision it with food and ammunition, as the troops there were running out of supplies. The Fort was already in federal hands...as it was from the beginning, a federal fort. I am at pains to understand how it is possible to invade Virginia from Charleston, South Carolina, when North Carolina is in the way.
The USRC Harriet Lane was a revenue cutter. The "fleet" retired after Major Robert Anderson surrendered the Fort on 13 April and evacuated to the ships.