Lieutenant General Scott urges President Buchanan to Reinforce Fort Sumter



President James Buchanan
Lt. Gen. Scott here urges President Buchanan to reinforce Fort Sumter with men sufficient to hold it in the face of an attack.  This leads to the sending of the Star of the West.

Lt. Gen. Winfield Scott












WASHINGTON, December 30, 1860.

 

The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:

Lieutenant-General Scott begs the President of the United States to pardon the irregularity of this communication.

It is Sunday; the weather is bad, and General Scott is not well enough to go to church. But matters of the highest national importance seem to forbid a moment's delay, and if misled by zeal, he hopes for the President's forgiveness.

Will the President permit General Scott, without reference to the War Department and otherwise, as secretly as possible, to send two hundred and fifty recruits from New York Harbor to re-enforce Fort Sumter, together with some extra muskets or rifles, ammunition, and subsistence stores?

It is hoped that a sloop of war and cutter may be ordered for the same purpose as early as to-morrow.

General Scott will wait upon the President at any moment he may be called for.

The President's most obedient servant,

                                                                                           WINFIELD SCOTT.




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Source:  Official Records, Vol. 1, p. 114.

Date added to website:  January 10, 2025.