Editing Abraham Lincoln (section)

====Commander-in-Chief====
{{Main|American Civil War|Battle of Fort Sumter}}
[[File:Abraham Lincoln - NARA - 528325.jpg|thumb|alt=President Abraham Lincoln in 1862|Portrait of Lincoln {{circa}} 1862]]

In early April 1861, [[Robert Anderson (Union officer)|Major Robert Anderson]], commander of [[Fort Sumter]] in Charleston, South Carolina, advised that he was nearly out of food. After considerable debate, Lincoln decided to send provisions; he "could not be sure that his decision would precipitate a war, though he had good reason to believe that it might".{{sfn|Burlingame|2008|loc=v. 2 pp. 100&ndash;124}} On April 12, 1861, Confederate forces [[Battle of Fort Sumter|fired on Union troops at Fort Sumter]].{{sfn|McClintock|2008|pp=246&ndash;250}} Donald concludes: <blockquote>His repeated efforts to avoid collision in the months between inauguration and the firing on Fort Sumter showed he adhered to his vow not to be the first to shed fraternal blood. But he had also vowed not to surrender the forts.... The only resolution of these contradictory positions was for the Confederates to fire the first shot.{{sfn|Donald|1996|p=293}}</blockquote>

On April 15, [[Proclamation 80|Lincoln called for 75,000 militiamen]] to recapture forts, protect Washington, and "preserve the Union". This call forced states to choose whether to secede or to support the Union. North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, and Arkansas seceded; Kentucky remained neutral. The Fort Sumter attack rallied the North to defend the nation.{{sfn|Burlingame|2008|loc=v. 2 pp. 134&ndash;138, 154&ndash;155}} As states sent regiments south, on April 19 Baltimore mobs in control of the rail links [[Baltimore riot of 1861|attacked Union troops]] who were changing trains. Local leaders' groups later burned critical rail bridges to the capital and the Army responded by [[Maryland in the American Civil War#Imposition of martial law|arresting local Maryland officials]]. Lincoln suspended the writ of ''[[Habeas corpus in the United States#Suspension during the Civil War|habeas corpus]]'', allowing arrests without charges.{{sfnm|1a1=Heidler|1a2=Heidler|1a3=Coles|1y=2002|1p=174|2a1=Burlingame|2y=2008|2loc=v. 2 pp. 141, 146&ndash;151}}

[[John Merryman]], a Maryland officer arrested for hindering U.S. troop movements, petitioned Supreme Court Chief Justice [[Roger B. Taney]] to issue [[Habeas corpus in the United States|a writ of ''habeas corpus'']]. In June, in ''[[Ex parte Merryman]]'', Taney, not ruling on behalf of the Supreme Court,{{efn|"One significant point of disagreement among historians and political scientists is whether Roger Taney heard ''Ex parte Merryman'' as a U.S. circuit judge or as a Supreme Court justice in chambers."<ref>{{harvnb|White|2011 |pp=38–39}}</ref>}} issued the writ, believing that the Constitution authorized only Congress and not the president to suspend it.{{efn|Article I, section 9, clause 2 provides that the writ of habeas corpus may be suspended in cases of rebellion, but it does not state who may suspend it.}} But Lincoln engaged in [[nonacquiescence]] and persisted with the policy of suspension in select areas.{{sfn|Harris|2011|pp=59–71}}<ref>{{cite journal|last=Neely|first=Mark E. Jr.|author-link=Mark E. Neely Jr.|year=2004|title=Was the Civil War a total war?|journal=Civil War History|volume=50 |issue=4|pages=434–458|doi=10.1353/cwh.2004.0073}}</ref> Under the suspension, 15,000 civilians were detained without trial; several, including the [[Copperhead (politics)|Copperhead]] leader [[Clement L. Vallandigham]], were tried in military courts for "treasonable" actions, an approach which was highly criticized.<ref name=anb/>