WI: Lincoln Attacks Fort Sumter With Force

What if instead of baiting Southern forces into firing on Fort Sumter in 1861, he orders Federal forces to reclaim it by force?
 
What's the point? It's still vulnerable to shore bombardment, so unless you include an amphibious assault...
 
The problem with Fort Sumter is that the fort was not yet complete on April 12, 1861 and fewer than half of the cannons that should have been available were in place, due to military downsizing by President James Buchanan.
This would not have idea and would have been a larger loss of lives to the Union side.
 

Cryostorm

Monthly Donor
The problem with Fort Sumter is that the fort was not yet complete on April 12, 1861 and fewer than half of the cannons that should have been available were in place, due to military downsizing by President James Buchanan.
This would not have idea and would have been a larger loss of lives to the Union side.

You know sometimes it makes you wonder if he truly was that incompetent as a President or if he tried to favor the South.
 
What if instead of baiting Southern forces into firing on Fort Sumter in 1861, he orders Federal forces to reclaim it by force?

Did Lincoln 'bait' Southern forces into firing?

Seems like they were inclined to do that on their own.

Anything less than obsequious surrender was going to get fire.
 
I mean, there was a military expedition being assembled for Sumter's relief, but its existence was why Sumter was fired upon in the first place-to take it and occupy it before further reinforcement and supplies could arrive.
 

Cryostorm

Monthly Donor
What if instead of baiting Southern forces into firing on Fort Sumter in 1861, he orders Federal forces to reclaim it by force?

My school, the Citadel, prides itself on being the first to fire on Fort Sumter and the Star of the West, the supply ship for the fort, so it was more that a bunch of hot-headed teenagers decided to fire on the fort and that got the war rolling and not the the President baiting a bunch of rebels to attack the government.
 
My school, the Citadel, prides itself on being the first to fire on Fort Sumter and the Star of the West, the supply ship for the fort, so it was more that a bunch of hot-headed teenagers decided to fire on the fort and that got the war rolling and not the the President baiting a bunch of rebels to attack the government.
Not quite. It was most definitely ordered by the Rebel government to prevent the re-supply or reinforcement of the Fort, ultimately resulting in Beauregard bombarding it into submission. This was after Lincoln informed Davis that he was sending supply ships to the Fort.
 
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You know sometimes it makes you wonder if he truly was that incompetent as a President or if he tried to favor the South.
Was he acting as an incompetent president to push through his personal agenda of making the South stronger? He definitely put his face to the insult -"doughface", (a Northerner with Southern sympathies)

If Lincoln started the war, would Buchanan, have made the south to be the "victims" of Tyranny?
 
Whenever a fight breaks out, people often look down on the one who threw the first punch. Said person can say the other person was insulting them but it doesn't change the fact that they made it a physical fight. If Lincoln launches an attack, the South gains a lot more sympathy.
 
Whenever a fight breaks out, people often look down on the one who threw the first punch. Said person can say the other person was insulting them but it doesn't change the fact that they made it a physical fight. If Lincoln launches an attack, the South gains a lot more sympathy.

True enough, although that's not what the OP specifies - actually, it's kind of vague what the OP is saying, since it says "Instead of letting the Southerners attack first, Lincoln reclaims it by force", which doesn't make any sense. If the South didn't attack, there'd be no need to reclaim it, so unless he meant allowing them to occupy it peacefully and then attacking later...yeah, no sensemaking here.
 
I can see from this possibly border states seceding and joining the Confederacy. Kentucky and Missouri join the rebellion as well. Maryland will be subdued by federal troops.
 
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