Fort Sumter: The Seward Intervention Military , Politics March 15, 2016 Comments: 4 March 15, 1861 – Secretary of State William H. Seward took it upon himself to discuss the Fort Sumter situation and other pertinent matters with Confederate envoys despite President Abraham Lincoln’s instruction not to do so. He is also remembered for the purchase of Alaska in 1867—referred to at that time as “Seward’s Folly.” Admitted to the New York Since the attempt would involve military action, it would "probably initiate a civil war." However, Secretary of State William H. Seward, who wished to give up Sumter for political reasons—as a gesture of good will—engaged in unauthorized and indirect negotiations that failed. Secretary of State William H. Seward eloquently argued for abandoning Sumter. William H. Seward, U.S. politician, an antislavery activist in the Whig and Republican parties before the American Civil War and secretary of state from 1861 to 1869. Seward based his case on the impossibility of peacefully provisioning the fort. Advice: William H. Seward William H. Seward.