(1861) An incident between the USA and Britain in which the USS San Jacinto removed two officials of the Confederate States from the British ship Trent. The issue provoked considerable British anger until the Confederate officials were released by the American secretary of state.
The Trent Affair, also known as the Mason and Slidell Affair, was an international diplomatic incident that occurred during the American Civil War. The United States and the United Kingdom came dangerously close to war as a result of it.
Background
In an attempt to gain support for the Confederate States of America from European nations during the war, the Confederacy dispatched two diplomats, James M. Mason of Virginia as minister to Britain and John Slidell of Louisiana as minister to France on board RMS Trent, a British mail steamer.
The San Jacinto met with acclaim when she landed in Boston on November 23 to deliver the prisoners to Fort Warren. The war had been going badly for the Union, and this was a bright spot in an otherwise dismal year. News of the affair arrived in London on November 27, where many perceived it as an outrageous insult to British honour, and a flagrant violation of maritime law. The British Government issued an ultimatum demanding an apology and the release of the Confederate diplomats. The revised message was sent to Lord Lyons, British minister in Washington, who, in turn, presented it to Secretary of State William H. Meanwhile, the Government of France declared its willingness to support Britain in a war with the United States.
The British colony of Canada felt directly threatened by the affair. The Canadian militia grew substantially as the Canadian and Maritime colonies were called on by the colonial Minister of Militia and Defence, John A.
Britain and the Southern states had close economic links because of their mutual involvement in the cotton trade (cotton diplomacy). British military preparations were swift. 13 crew transports were chartered to carry British troops to the Americas, each capable of embarking over a thousand troops with a round-trip time of about six weeks. These would have made approximately three runs each by the time campaigning season started in March, and would thus have raised British fighting strength in the Americas to approximately 50,000 (there were approximately 100,000 troops available for deployment to the Americas). Both the U.S. and British governments estimated that the maximum number of Union troops available for service against Canada was 50,000.
Admiral Milnes's North America and West Indies Squadron already had 9 steam battleships, seven large cruisers and the ironclad HMS Terror. The British Channel Fleet concentrated at Lisbon, Portugal, with the massive ironclads Warrior, Black Prince, Defence, and Resistance, in addition to many wooden steamships, including the flagship, HMS Queen.
Yielding to British demands was difficult for the Union Government, since Wilkes' action was popular in the North. 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 to the British note on December 27. Seward conceded the issue at hand by announcing that the Confederates would be freed, but he salvaged American pride by forcefully and ironically asserting that Britain had finally adopted the American conception of neutral rights over which the two nations had fought the War of 1812.
Many consider the Trent Affair one of the great "what ifs" of the American Civil War. Some contend that, had Britain and the United States gone to war, it is possible that the Union war effort would have failed and the Confederacy would have become an independent nation. Others maintain that a British invasion might have unified North and South in defiance against American submission to an Old World power.
The Trent affair had the unexpected effect of building confidence between the governments of Britain and the U.S. Before the crisis most British officials, whose sympathies lay with the Confederacy, had seen Seward as an aggressive Abolitionist who sought a war with Britain.
British plans for war with the Union
The British had a fairly detailed plan for the defence of Canada and war with the Union.
Lieutenant General William Fenwick Williams planned on destroying the bridges across the St. Lawrence River and defending the cities of Montreal, Quebec and Kingston. To accompish this he had 12,000 British regulars and about 35,000 Canadian volunteers and militia.
The Beauharnois Canal was a major concern, since it ran south of the St. Lawrence.
Additionally, since it was assessed that the main US invasion would come by the traditional Hudson Valley – Lake Champlain route, the British intended a preemptive strike at the incomplete Fort Montgomery at Rouses Point, dislocating the Union advance.
Reinforcements in the form of a 50,000-man expeditionary force were prepared in the UK, to be transported if needed. Notably, suggestions were being made in Britain that 10,000 Volunteers could be raised to garrison the fortifications and free the regular army and militia for offensive action.
In the Maritimes, matters were complicated by the fact that Maine seemed close to secession herself. The British had around 5,000 regulars and a similar number of volunteer militia available to campaign in the area.
At sea, Rear Admiral Alexander Milne had a three part plan.
Once this was done, Milne would institute a close blockade of the United States.
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