His
next communication to the commissioners shows that he was himself
again, sure that destiny owed him the control of the situation.
On the following day the commissioners had got wind of the relief
expedition and pressed him for information, recalling his
assurance that nothing would be done to their disadvantage. In
reply, still through a third person, Seward sent them the famous
message, over the precise meaning of which great debate has
raged: "Faith as to Sumter fully kept; wait and see." If this
infatuated dreamer still believed he could dominate Lincoln,
still hoped at the last moment to arrest the expedition to
Charleston, he was doomed to bitterest disappointment.
On the 9th of April, the expedition to Fort Sumter sailed, but
without, as we have seen, the assistance of the much needed
warship, the Powhatan. As all the world knows, the expedition
had been too long delayed and it accomplished nothing. Before it
arrived, the surrender of Sumter had been demanded and refused
--and war had begun. During the bombardment of Sumter, the
relief expedition appeared beyond the bar, but its commander had
no vessels of such a character as to enable him to carry aid to
the fortress. Furthermore, he had not been informed that the
Powhatan had been detached from his squadron, and he expected to
meet her at the mouth of the harbor.
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