1. Contra Jim Epperson, Lincoln did not ask "permission" to reprovision
Sumter. He simply notified Governor Pickens that he was going to do it.
Had there not been a confrontation at Sumter proper, there surely would
have been one around the fort.
Recall that Davis had made plans to assault Pickens long before the
Sumter crisis reached a climax.
Jefferson Davis might have wanted God on his side, but HE had to have
Virginia and Tennessee--and by firing on Sumter, and forcing Lincoln to
submit or call for troops, he got them. Davis did not feel cornered--that's
an argument offered in hindsight. Neither president could have achieved
what he desired without the cooperation of the other.
As for Elizabeth Arroyo's persistence in proposing a non-military
alternative--I guess the answer is no, or at least not without the North's
cooperation. It was Northern politicos, headed by Seward, who advocated
prolonging the peace process in hopes of cooling things down. I think that
it would have been difficult in light of Confederate cultural assumptions
about manhood, valor, courage, et al. (to say nothing of honor) for white
Southerners to have stood by passively as white Northerners enforced the
law.
Brooks D. Simpson ATBDS@ASUACAD
Department of History 602-965-5778
Arizona State University