War Department
Washington, April 4,
1861
Sir,
It having been determined to succor Fort Sumter, you have
been selected for this important duty. Accordingly you will take charge of the
transports provided in New York, having the troops and supplies on board, to
the entrance of Charleston Harbor, and endeavor, in the first instance, to
deliver the subsistence. If you are opposed in this you are directed to report
the fact to the Senior Naval officer off the harbor, who will be instructed by
the Secretary of the Navy to use his entire force to open a passage, when you
will, if possible, effect an entrance and place both the troops and supplies in
Fort Sumter.
I am sir,
Very Respectfully
Your obt. servt.
Simon Cameron
Sec'y of War.
Capt. G. V. Fox
Washington D. C.
SOURCES: Robert Means Thompson & Richard Wainwright,
Editors, Publications of the Naval Historical Society, Volume 9: Confidential
Correspondence of Gustavus Vasa Fox, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, 1861-1865,
Volume 1, p. 20-1
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