OTD 165 YEARS AGO: Many of Abraham Lincoln’s advisors recommend abandoning Fort Sumter, but Lincoln considers a different course of action.
Exploring the most important 55 months in American history
OTD 165 YEARS AGO: Many of Abraham Lincoln’s advisors recommend abandoning Fort Sumter, but Lincoln considers a different course of action.
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.
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.
Tensions in South Carolina escalate as Robert Anderson’s Federal garrison remains at Fort Sumter. Despite requests for withdrawal, President Buchanan upholds the garrison’s position. The South Carolina militia takes defensive actions, leading to a standoff. Both sides avoid engagement while preparing for potential conflict, maintaining an uneasy truce in Charleston Harbor.
The merchant vessel Star of the West arrives at Charleston Harbor to relieve the Federal garrison at Fort Sumter. But the South Carolinians have other ideas.
The new year opens with South Carolina commissioners responding to President James Buchanan’s refusal to withdraw the Federal troops from Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor.