The Civil War was a precarious time in American History. America was extremely preoccupied with the many battles being fought on her soil, and as a result, sacrifices were made to maintenance of international relations. The Trent Affair marks a close encounter with a war with Great Britain. This perilous situation was caused by a Union naval officer who overlooked international laws to capture two Confederate diplomats.
During the American Civil War, the United States was experiencing conflicts on many different fronts. The most prominent struggle was between the Confederate states and the Union. The fighting that was occurring in America as a result of this put considerable amounts of stress on foreign relations, specifically with large European monarchies.
Throughout history, powerful monarchies have been fearful of foreign rebellions because of the possibility that information of the foreign rebellion could spark new domestic rebellions within their nations. During these times, foreign alliances have become considerably weaker, and nations are increasingly wary of any hostile advances made by other nations. During the Civil War, there was a great deal of this tension surrounding the battles in America.
In 1861, the Civil War was in its early stages. In October, the Confederate government appointed two commissioners to go to Europe and act as diplomats, John Slidell of Louisiana and James Mason of Virginia. Slidell was to go to Paris, France and Mason to London, England. Their goal was to convince Great Britain and France that the Confederate states were not in a course of rebellion. Their view was that Confederacy was fighting to defend itself from the Union’s attempt to take away the rights enjoyed by Confederate states. At the same time, they were to attempt to negotiate treaties with both nations, which would declare the Confederate government as an individual nation. It seemed probable that both nations would agree that the Confederacy should be recognized as a separate nation because it had a stable government. In addition, it had an abundance of territory and resources, as well as a large population.
The two diplomats left the South on the British blockade-runner Theodora, which was bound for Havana, Cuba. The voyage was completed uneventfully. In Cuba, they boarded another British merchant ship, the Trent, which was a regular liner between the West Indies and the United Kingdom. The boat was carrying British mail, as well as the two diplomats and their secretaries. On November 7, 1861, the steamer Trent departed from Havana, Cuba, bound for London.
At the same time, a Union warship, the U.S.S. San Jacinto, captained by Charles Wilkes, was waiting in the Bahama Channel for the arrival of the Trent. Wilkes and his crew had just returned from a routine voyage around Africa. At the time, Wilkes was in his early sixties, and was one of the best known men in the Navy. He had gained fame for an Antarctic exploration. Upon hearing that a ship carrying Confederate diplomats was sailing nearby, he concocted a plan to seize the commissioners and bring them with him to Boston. The San Jacinto, being a warship, was equipped with thirteen guns, and therefore more than capable of taking control of a merchant ship. Wilkes and his waited in the Bahama Channel on the lookout for the Trent.
Around noon the next day, the San Jacinto located and fired two shots at the Trent. Wilkes sent his executive officer and a crew of marines onto the Trent to demand the passenger list. Captain Moir of the Trent refused to surrender the list, but the crew of the San Jacinto forcibly seized it. After a brief struggle, Slidell and Mason were taken onto the San Jacinto as prisoners of the Union. The Trent was sent on its way, and the San Jacinto sailed to Boston Harbor.
Wilkes was very pleased with his accomplishment. This was the first time in the history of the war that the Union had seized important Confederate diplomats. Wilkes and the crew sailed to Hampton Roads to restock the ship’s coal supply and immediately went to the government to receive instructions. Wilkes was told to go to Boston and deliver the captives to Fort Warren.
When the San Jacinto docked in the Boston Harbor on November 24, Wilkes was received as a national hero. Banquets were held in his honor. He received letters of commendation from important governmental officials, including the House of Representatives and the Governor of Massachusetts. The Secretary of the Navy, Gideon Welles, wrote a letter to Wilkes, which stated “Your conduct in seizing these public enemies was marked by intelligence, ability, decision and firmness, and has the emphatic approval of this Department.� The press was also enthusiastic about Wilkes’ endeavor.
Meanwhile, on November 27, the Trent arrived in London, and the news about Wilkes’ action reached British authorities. In England, the British Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Lord Russel, regarded the event as “an act of violence...an affront to the British flag and a violation of international law.� If it turned out that Wilkes had acted on the command of the government, Britain was ready to declare war on America. Queen Victoria was advised to demand an immediate return of the two diplomats, as well as an apology from the United States. Lord Russel sent multiple proposals of a dispatch to send to Washington, and Prince Albert, who, at the time was nearing his deathbed, edited them in order to change the tone of the demands. The final dispatch was moderate, with the simple requirements that the two diplomats be returned safely to England and a formal apology to be made to Great Britain. Immediately, British troops stationed in Canada were put on alert. An additional eight thousand additional soldiers were sent to Canada to await further instructions. England was entirely prepared to wage war on America.
Unfortunately, the aftermath of Wilkes’ actions overshadowed the praise he received from his fellow Americans from the North. Wilkes had acted without authority of his government, and had been too shortsighted to foresee the effects that his actions would have on relations with Great Britain. Wilkes had ignored the fact that the Trent was a British ship. It seemed that Wilkes had violated international law by seizing the two diplomats from a neutral ship without taking the ship into port for adjudication. Unknowingly, Wilkes had involved his government in a pivotal situation with Great Britain.
In America, news of the controversy surrounding Wilkes’ actions had spread quickly. The south looked upon Wilkes’ activities with optimism. If the Union were to make enemies of England, it seemed possible that England would back the Confederate states in fighting the Union. At the very least, the Union would be occupied in dealing with the British crisis and become careless in managing the war at home.
As soon as the British dispatch arrived in Washington, Wilkes denied any violation of international law. It was generally agreed that a nation at war was allowed to stop and search any neutral ship if there was reason to suspect that ship was carrying enemy dispatches. Wilkes had interpreted this concept of enemy dispatches to include the diplomats themselves, as they had extensive knowledge of military secrets and plans. Wilkes therefore concluded that he had simply seized enemy dispatches. This was an extremely logical pattern of reasoning, and most Americans adopted Wilkes’ view.
On Christmas day, 1861, President Lincoln called a meeting with the cabinet to discuss British demands. The demands were simple and would be easy to carry out; however, by complying with the British, Lincoln would be acting without the support of the public. America regarded Wilkes as a national hero. Returning the prisoners would be stating that Wilkes had acted wrongly.
Lincoln wanted to avoid war at any cost. The Secretary of State Seaward, however, wanted to defy the British and support Wilkes’ actions. Seward had consulted McClellan, the General in Chief at the time, and had been told that it would not be possible to fight Britain and the South at the same time. The conclusion of the meeting was that the easiest way to avoid war was to return the prisoners and make an apology. However, Seaward devised a way to word the apology so that America did not admit to any wrongdoing. Instead, the dispatch stated that the prisoners would be released, as the British had requested. The dispatch was sent to London, and the British sent the H.M.S. Rinaldo to Provincetown, Massachusetts to come and collect Slidell and Mason.
War with Great Britain was avoided and national honor was maintained. If there had been a war with Great Britain at the time, it is possible that the outcome of the American Civil War would have been altered. The Trent affair was important because it heightened American awareness of the sensetive nature of diplomatic relations. Following the Trent affair, Americans exercised more caution in interacting with foreign vessels.
Footnotes
Richard M. Ketchum, editor, The American Heritage Picture History of the Civil War, (New York, American Heritage Publishing Co., Inc., 1960), p. 249.
Dick Weeks, “The Trent Affair,� Shotgun’s Home of the American Civil War, January, 1997, on-line, Internet, October 20, 2001.
http://www.civilwarhome.com/trent.htm
Bruce Catton, Terrible Swift Sword, (Garden City, New York, Doubleday & Co., Inc., 1963), p. 109.
Catton, Terrible Swift Sword, p. 108.
Weeks, “The Trent Affair.�
Paul M. Angle, A Pictorial History of the Civil War, (Garden City, New York, Doubleday & Co., Inc., 1967), p. 52.
Catton, Terrible Swift Sword, p. 109.
Shelby Foote, The Civil War, A Narrative, (New York, Random House, Inc., 1986), pp.156-157.
Shelby Foote, The Civil War, A Narrative, (New York, Random House, Inc., 1986), p.157.
Patricia L. Fausl, editor, Historical Times Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Civil War, (New York, Harper Perennial, 1986) pp. 762-763; Bruce Catton, Terrible Swift Sword, (Garden City, New York, Doubleday & Co., Inc., 1963), pp. 109-110.
Catton, Terrible Swift Sword, p. 110.
Catton, Terrible Swift Sword, pp. 112-114.
Catton, Terrible Swift Sword, p. 110; Angle, A Pictorial History of the Civil War, p. 250.
Catton, Terrible Swift Sword, p.113.
Ketchum, The American Heritage Picture History of the Civil War, pp. 250-251.
Catton, Terrible Swift Sword, p. 116.
Catton, Terrible Swift Sword, p. 116.
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