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| Monday April 1, 1861 |
On Monday, April 1, 1861, U.S. President Lincoln hurriedly signed a
series of orders to outfit a secret expedition to reinforce Fort
Pickens, Florida. The orders were drawn up by a small group that
included Meigs, a young and energetic navy lieutenant named David
D. Porter, General Scott, and Secretary of State Seward. The
expedition "to reenforce and hold Fort Pickens" was to "proceed with
the least possible delay . . . ." (This was in deliberate violation of a
truce between the United States and the Confederacy executed by
President James Buchanan).
Meigs's plan called for a transport vessel to land troops and stores
at Fort Pickens, while a ship of war simultaneously steamed into
Pensacola Harbor to block Confederate forces. The expedition
would be placed under the command of Colonel Harvey Brown.
Lincoln's orders gave Porter command of the war steamer U.S.S.
Powhatan, then in the New York (Brooklyn) Navy Yard, or any other
steamer he chose for entering Pensacola Harbor.
Captain Rufus Ingalls was be ordered to Fort Pickens, Florida along
with several units by General Winfield Scott on April 1, 1861. The
secret orders to Colonel Harvey Brown were to reinforce Fort
Pickens which is on an island across from Pensacola, Florida. The
order was approved by Abraham Lincoln.