l incoln’s s hadow 35
senior offi cers with southern backgrounds had resigned or would follow
their states out of the Union. General Winfi eld Scott, the army’s ven-
erable commanding offi cer, estimated it would take some six months
just to prepare a suffi cient force to relieve Fort Sumter. Lincoln would
also have to deal with a northern public sharply divided over the
question of slavery. War would provoke demands from abolitionists to
confront slavery head-on while northern conservatives (and some in
Lincoln’s own party) would repudiate any war that aimed to destroy
lawful property rights. Adding weight on the conservative side, the
Border States that Lincoln needed to keep in the Union fold all
embraced slavery.
On the day after his inauguration, Lincoln received word from the
commander at Fort Sumter that its supplies would be exhausted within
six weeks. Recognizing that war could not be avoided except at a cost
he would not pay, he instead sought to bring about confl ict on terms
that might check additional secession by wavering southern and Border
States. He began to maneuver events so as to force the South to com-
mence hostilities. (Eighty years later Franklin D. Roosevelt would take
a similar approach toward Japan—with the attack on Pearl Harbor as
the result.) Fully aware that any attempt to relieve or reinforce the
garrison would provoke a violent response from the surrounding
southern state troops, he ordered a supply ship to Charleston and so
informed the South Carolina government. The rebel commander,
General P. G. T. Beauregard, in turn ordered his guns to fi re on the fort
on April 12, 1861.
As with many of Lincoln’s decisions over the next four years, this
initial one yielded mixed results. Across the North, popular support for
military action against the rebellion was robust. Much of this refl ected
a burst of genuine patriotism, although there is reason to believe that
many young men were drawn to the colors by the poor economic con-
ditions. But the outbreak of hostilities pushed several additional
southern states (Arkansas, Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee)
over the edge, as they also voted to secede from the Union. Th e timing
of the Fort Sumter bombardment was particularly unfortunate in the
case of Virginia, where a convention to consider secession was in pro-
gress. Although a majority had opposed secession before the fi rst shots
were fired, the mood immediately shifted and the body voted for