This brief note summoned the Secretary of the Navy to talk about the pressing problem of Fort Sumter. When Lincoln was sworn in as President on March 4, 1861, he thought that Fort Sumter was well supplied and that no intervention would be necessary to uphold the status quo. The next day (March 5) Lincoln saw a report from Fort Sumter, indicating that supplies would soon be exhausted and that it would require “twenty thousand good and well-disciplined men” to resupply the fort in the face of Confederate opposition. On March 9, Lincoln consulted with select cabinet and military officials (hence this note to Welles) and then convened a full cabinet meeting to consider the issue.
Transcript:
Executive Mansion
March 9, 1861
Will the Sec. of Navy please call on me at once.
Yours,
A. Lincoln
Citation: Abraham Lincoln, autograph letter signed to Gideon Welles. Washington, D.C., 9 March 1861.AMs 527/15.1