OTD 165 YEARS AGO: General Winfield Scott writes a shocking letter to President Abraham Lincoln recommending the abandonment of not only Fort Sumter but Fort Pickens as well.
Category: Military
Fort Sumter: Evacuation or Reinforcement
OTD 165 YEARS AGO: President Abraham Lincoln convenes his cabinet to discuss what to do about Fort Sumter amidst differing opinions. Lincoln weighs the costs of abandonment versus holding the fort, and then decides to send someone there to assess the garrison’s condition.
Hostilities Imminent and Inevitable
OTD 165 YEARS AGO: Many of Abraham Lincoln’s advisors recommend abandoning Fort Sumter, but Lincoln considers a different course of action.
No Alternative But a Surrender
OTD 165 YEARS AGO: Abraham Lincoln begins his first full day as president by receiving an ominous message from Robert Anderson at Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor.
Fort Sumter Should be in Our Possession
Major Robert Anderson’s Federal garrison at Fort Sumter faces isolation while South Carolina officials seek its surrender. But the South Carolinians will need the new Confederate government to back them up.
The Texas Secession
Delegates to the Texas State Convention at Austin voted 166 to 7 to secede from the United States, and the Federal military commander in the state controversially turns over all property to the Texans.