The bombardment order came directly from Jefferson Davis, endorsed by most of the Confederate cabinet.
The bombardment was a response to Lincoln's decision to resupply the fort's garrison.
The Confederate Secretary of State, Robert Toombs, argued against bombarding the fort.
It is suicide, murder, and will lose us every friend in the North. You will wantonly strike a hornet's nest which extends from mountain to ocean, and legions now quiet will swarm out and sting us to death. It is unnecessary, it puts us in the wrong, it is fatal.
The bombardment order came directly from Jefferson Davis, endorsed by most of the Confederate cabinet.
The bombardment was a response to Lincoln's decision to resupply the fort's garrison.
The Confederate Secretary of State, Robert Toombs, argued against bombarding the fort.
It is suicide, murder, and will lose us every friend in the North. You will wantonly strike a hornet's nest which extends from mountain to ocean, and legions now quiet will swarm out and sting us to death. It is unnecessary, it puts us in the wrong, it is fatal.