The Trent Affair

A fascinating international incident occurred on the Atlantic Ocean that nearly brought Great Britain into the Civil War. Two Confederate envoys had departed from Charleston, South Carolina toward Cuba, and then on toward England on a mail ship called the "Trent". The envoys used this circuitous route in order to sneak through the Union navy blockade and reach Britain. The envoys had been sent by Confederate President Jefferson Davis to obtain recognition by Britain and France of the independent sovereignty of the Confederacy. Up until this point Great Britain and France had maintained their diplomatic relations with the North (the United States) and viewed the Confederacy as in rebellion, not an independent nation. Davis hoped that early victories by the South against the North (the Union) would cause Britain and France to receive these envoys and recognize the Confederacy.

But on November 8, 1861, Charles Wilkes, a U.S. Navy Officer (on the side of the North), intercepted the Trent and ordered a search of this British ship, despite lacking permission from Washington or Britain for such a bold move. This search discovered the Confederate envoys, and the U.S. Navy took them prisoner along with their aides, and then released the ship so it could continue on to England.

The British were furious at the Union for this invasion of Britain's own sovereignty on the ship, and demanded both an apology and a release of the envoys. Britain even ordered troops to Canada (which was still a colony of Britain) and sent additional ships to the Western Atlantic. Britain at this time was still far more powerful than the United States.

But Britain's demands took nearly a month to reach Washington, D.C., due to a malfunction in the transatlantic cable for communications. Ultimately, President Lincoln did authorize an apology and released the envoys to freedom, and thereafter both the Union and the Confederacy attempted to persuade Britain to side with it. Instead, Britain continued to remain neutral.^[12]

Civil War - 1863-1865

On January 1, 1863, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. This historic document proclaimed all slaves in areas in rebellion to be "forever free."

Already Lincoln was planning for a post-War South. His plan for readmitting southern States to the Union (that is, readmitting their representatives to Congress) was issued in his Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction in 1863: don't prosecute Southerners, help reconstruct the South, and readmit states when 10% of the people take an oath of loyalty to the United States. Lincoln was more generous to the South than many in the North wanted to be. The North, after all, had substantially more casualties in the Civil War than the South did.

But the Civil War was far from over. The Union (North) had a lucky break when the Confederacy (South) lost its best general, perhaps the finest ever in American history: "Stonewall" Jackson. A brilliant teacher, General Jackson earned his nickname "Stonewall" in July 1861, when he led the famous "Stonewall Brigade" from the Shenandoah Valley region of Virginia against the Union at the Battle of 1st Manassas. There he and his unit withstood attack after attack by the Union Army, and emerged victorious against all odds. "Look, there stands Jackson like a stone wall" against the assaults, it was said. In May and June of 1862, Jackson led a brilliant military campaign in the Shenandoah Valley, winning at Front Royal, Winchester, Cross Keys and Port Republic. But tragedy struck him a year later at the Battle of Chancellorsville when, at 9pm on May 2, 1863, he was accidentally fired upon by his own soldiers who mistook him for the enemy as nighttime made it difficult to see. Known as "friendly fire," such incidents have caused a loss in life of many figures throughout history. He died soon thereafter, and the Confederacy lost its most brilliant and daring commander.^[13]

Meanwhile, the Union Army (the North) was under new command after the firing of McClellan in late 1862, and it began winning battles against the Confederacy in 1863.