Ok, if the Harriet Lane fired on the Nashville because they thought she was a "rebel" ship, which the Confederacy at that time had none that I am aware of. And Fort Sumter was being fired upon at the time. Why did the Lane, or the Union Navy in general, for that matter, a navy that was standing off just outside the bar at the time, allow the Nashville to enter the harbor later, after Fort Sumter was evacuated?.

Why did they not turn the Nashville around and send it back to New York, or some other port of call loyal to the Union at the time? If the Nashville was a U.S. mail packet would she not come under the authority of the U.S. Government as repersented by the U.S. Navy? If she was a supposed threat enough to be fired upon to call for the Nashville to identify itself, why was she still allowed to enter the Harbor anyway?

I am like you think this incident, on the surface of the written accounts, doesn't make sence.