Since the election, Secretary of War John Buchanan Floyd, a Virginian, had fallen under suspicion over his loyalties, especially concerning arms shipments to Southern states. He was also under a cloud over questionable involvements with defense contractors, including embezzlement. When Buchanan refused to evacuate Fort Sumter, Floyd submitted his resignation. Swiftly, this was accepted, Floyd's last shipment of heavy guns south cancelled, and Postmaster-General Joseph Holt appointed in his place. (By John Osborne)
Source Citation
Eugene M. Wait, Opening of the Civil War (Commack, New York: Nova Science Publishers, Inc., 1999), 41.
Record Data
Date Certainty
Exact
Type
Lawmaking/Litigating
