Washington, D. C.
May 1, 1861
Capt. G. V. Fox,
My dear Sir,
I sincerely regret that the failure of the late attempt to
provision Fort Sumpter should be the source of any annoyance to you. The
practicability of your plan was not, in fact, brought to a test. By reason of a
gale, well known in advance to be possible, and not improbable, the tugs, an
essential part of the plan, never reached the ground; while, by an accident,
for which you were in no wise responsible, and possibly I to some extent was,
you were deprived of a war vessel, with her men, which you deemed of great
importance to the enterprize.
I most cheerfully and truly declare that the failure of the
undertaking has not lowered you a particle, while the qualities you developed
in the effort have greatly heightened you in my estimation. For a daring and
dangerous enterprize, of a similar character you would to-day be the man, of
all my acquaintances, whom I would select.
You and I both anticipated that the cause of the country
would be advanced by making the attempt to provision Fort Sumpter, even if it
should fail; and it is no small consolation now to feel that our anticipation
is justified by the result.
Very truly your
friend
A. LINCOLN
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. 43-4; Samuel Wylie Crawford, The Genesis of the Civil War:
The Story of Sumter, 1860-1861, p. 420; Roy P. Basler, Editor, Collected
Works of Abraham Lincoln, Volume 4, p. 350-1.
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