President Lincoln’s call for volunteers is enthusiastically answered but getting them to Washington is another matter. This leads to chaos in the capital, where fears of a Confederate attack heighten.
Tag: Winfield Scott
The Very Best Soldier Goes South
OTD 165 YEARS AGO: U.S. Colonel Robert E. Lee meets with influential statesmen and receives an offer to command the Federal army.
An Electric Shock Throughout the Land
OTD 165 YEARS AGO: The fall of Fort Sumter and Abraham Lincoln’s militia proclamation sparks a surge of patriotism and mass mobilizations in both North and South.
When the King Commands All Things Are Possible
OTD 165 YEARS AGO: President Abraham Lincoln overrides General Winfield Scott’s recommendation by ordering the reinforcement of Fort Pickens at Pensacola, Florida. Lincoln sees this as essential to maintaining a Federal presence in the South.
Rendering Adherence to This Union Perpetual
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.
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.