The Trent Affair. A view from the Dpet. of State

[Buffalo-Guard]

As much as I liked “The Civil War (Ken Burns), he seemed to simplify the matter and left me with the feeling that Lincoln was very apprehensive and was confronted with the possibility of fighting two wars with England mounting of forces on the Canadian border.

The following is The Trent Affair” as presented by the Department of State. This story in stead of leaving you wondering as I felt after ‘The Civil War” actuality between United States and England, leaves you with the understanding that the problems were resolved between the two nations without the threat of war.

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/time/cw/17612.htm
The Trent Affair was the diplomatic crisis that potentially brought Great Britain and the United States closest to war during the first year of the American Civil War. Although war seemed possible, both sides managed to avoid an armed conflict, and in the process gained greater confidence in one another.
Confederate President Jefferson Davis, seeking support against the North, sent diplomats James Mason of Virginia as minister to Britain and John Slidell of Louisiana as minister to France. Eluding the Union blockade, the Southerners reached Cuba, where they boarded a British mail steamer, the Trent, for passage across the Atlantic Ocean. On November 8, 1861, Captain James of the USS San Jacinto, halted the Trent 300 miles east of Havana with two shots across the bow. A boarding party from the San Jacinto seized the Confederate diplomats and their secretaries, but then allowed the Trent to resume its voyage. This decision became a source of controversy, with the British many claiming that the San Jacinto had violated international law by removing persons from a ship without taking the ship to a prize court for adjudication.
The San Jacinto met with acclaim when it landed in Boston on November 23 to deposit the Confederate prisoners at Fort Warren. The war had been going badly for the Union, and this was a bright spot in an otherwise dismal year. Northern newspapers vied with one another to praise Wilkes’ conduct. The U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution to honor him. Reaction to the news in Great Britain, although equally passionate, could hardly have been more different. News of the capture arrived in London on November 27, where many perceived it as an outrageous insult to British honor. Lord Palmerston, Britain’s cantankerous Prime Minister, commenced an emergency cabinet meeting by throwing his hat on the table and declaring, “I don’t know whether you are going to stand this, but I’ll be ****ed if I do.” The British Government composed an ultimatum that demanded an apology and the return of the Confederate diplomats. Prince Albert, the consort of Britain’s Queen Victoria, although deathly ill with typhoid, intervened from his sickbed to soften the ultimatum, which he felt was too belligerent. This was his last official act, as he died a couple of weeks later. The revised message was sent to Lord Lyons, the British minister in Washington. Lyons presented it to Secretary of State Seward on December 19. Meanwhile, the Government of France declared its willingness to support Britain in a conflict against the United States.
Capitulation to Britain’s demands was difficult for the U.S. Government, due to the popularity in the North of Wilkes’ action. Nonetheless, President Lincoln and Secretary of State Seward had given themselves room for maneuver by waiting to hear the British reply before they decided the fate of the Confederate prisoners. After heated meetings with his cabinet, Lincoln decided upon a policy of “One war at a time.” The question remained how to accept British demands while maintaining U.S. popular support. Seward resolved this conundrum by presenting to Lyons a brilliantly crafted reply of December 27 to the British note. Seward conceded the substance at issue by announcing that the Confederates would be freed but he salvaged American pride by forcefully asserting that Britain had finally adopted the American conception of neutral rights over which the two nations had fought a war in 1812. On January 1, 1862, Mason and Slidell were released. Reaching Europe at last, their mission proved a failure, as they found themselves unable to entice the European powers to intervene in the American Civil War on behalf of the Confederacy.
The Trent affair built confidence between the Governments of Britain and the United States. Before the crisis many English officials, whose sympathies lay with the Confederacy, had seen U.S. Secretary of State Seward as an aggressive demagogue who sought a war with Britain. Seward’s generally moderate and sensible behavior during the Trent affair gave them greater confidence that they could work effectively with him.
The successful resolution of this crisis produced a sense that continued peace with the United States was possible, and this perception became a self-fulfilling prophecy despite subsequent strains in the Anglo-American relationship.
Additional Reading:

• Gordon H. Warren, Fountain of Discontent: The Trent Affair and Freedom of the Seas (Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1981).
• Norman B. Ferris, the Trent Affair: A Diplomatic Crisis (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1977).

[ole]

My goodness, John, you are a fount of information this morning, aren't you.

Appreciated your description of the Trent affair very much. Just enough information to understand it.

Ole

[Capt Coxetter]

The Trent affair was a fascinating incident: almost embroiled the US in war with the UK.

I'm turning in for the night, but plan to read this post again, and comment furtherl thanks for posting it!

Capt. Coxetter

[samgrant]

Was a masterpiece of diplomacy.

[MobileBoy]

Weren't some letters changed without the powers that be in the two countries who signed them being aware that the contents were altered? Lincoln was too smart to let the situation lead to war:however, didn't his secretary of state have the silly opinion that war with Britain would somehow bring the rebellious states rushing back into the Union to defend it?Someone will know who changed the contents of what letter to make it less offensive, but I can't remember for sure now.What's ironic is Britain did this frequently and worse taking poeple off US ships and making them sailors in their military against their will leading to the war of 1812.

[whitworth]

Her Majesty's government was quite happy to resolve the Trent Affair diplomatically. The British government had far greater interests to avoid war, than to save the Confederate States and its cotton.

Too much bourbon passed the lips of the Southern aristocracy to ever think Great Britain would save their slave empire.