Was the civil war truly inevitable? When Abraham Lincoln took the oath of office, secessionists had created an independent republic in the deep South, but there was no war. Then, eight weeks later, came the explosion at Fort Sumter. The public reactions to that clash and to Lincoln's response sealed the nation's fate. But what if Lincoln had shown restraint over Fort Sumter and had delayed his proclamation calling for troops? Or what if Jefferson Davis had allowed Lincoln to resupply the garrison there? Cry Havoc! recounts in riveting detail the small quirks of timing, character, and place that influenced the huge trajectory of events-a chain of indecisions and miscalculations, influenced by swollen vanity and wishful thinking-that gave shape to the dreadful conflict to come. Book jacket.