James M.

McPherson, Tried by War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief pg 11-12

Lincolns trials began when he consulted General-in-Chief Scott about the bombshell letter from
Major Anderson stating that he could not hold out for more than six weeks. Scotts advice depressed the
president. I now see no alternative but a surrender, wrote the general, because we cannot send the third
of the men in several months, necessary to give them relief. . . . Evacuation seems almost inevitable . . . if
indeed the worn-out garrison be not assaulted and carried in the present week. Lincoln was reluctant to
accept this counsel. The next day John Hay, the presidents second private secretary, whose opinions often
reflected those of his boss, wrote an anonymous editorial in the New York World hinting that Lincoln
would refuse to evacuate any of the forts still held by the U.S. Army. The president convened his first
cabinet meeting on March 9, at which General Scott reportedly said that it would require twenty-five
thousand troops and six months or more of preparations to reinforce Fort Sumter. Lincoln asked Scott to
put that estimate in writing, which he did.
By this time Lincoln had begun to suspect that Scotts professional opinion was colored by his
political convictions. Although loyal, Scott was after all a Virginian who deplored the possibility of
fratricidal war in which his native state would become a battleground. He was willing to make large
concessions to avert such a calamity. Scott was also influenced by Seward, who had been one of his
advisers when the general ran for president (and lost) in 1852. Seward was working behind Lincolns
back leaking information to the press and assuring (through an intermediary) Confederate commissioners
that Fort Sumter would soon be evacuated. On March 11 Scott went so far as to draft, on his own
authority, an order to Major Anderson to engage suitable water transportation, & peacefully evacuate
Fort Sumter so long and gallantly held. Scott submitted the draft to Secretary of War Simon Cameron,
who placed it in Lincolns hands. The presidents reaction was not recorded but can be imagined.
Needless to say, the order was never issued.

McPherson, James M. Tried by War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief. New York:
Penguin, 2008. Print.