The Trent Affair
What Happened?
In 1861, the Confederacy’s hopes for victory were running
high. The Confederates had won a stunning victory at Bull Run and routed the Union
army. The Confederacy quickly realized that ministers had to be sent to Europe,
especially England and France, in order to get diplomatic recognition and
military assistance. Jefferson Davis dispatched James Mason of Virginia to
England and John Slidell of Louisiana to France. In mid October of 1861 Mason
and Slidell left Charleston, past the Union blockade to Havana. In Havana they
boarded a British steamship, the Trent, were they were to go to St.
Thomas and board another ship to Europe. However, on November 8, the U.S.S
San Jacinto, acting without orders from Washington, fired two warning shots
across the Trent’s bow, boarded the ship and arrested the two
Confederate diplomats as contraband. The San Jacinto retuned to a port
in Virginia and sent the two diplomats to captivity in Boston among massive
fanfare. Northerner’s believed that this action had help avenge the loss at
Bull Run and righted a long succession of British actions at sea. Wilkes, the
captain of the San Jacinto, was a hero, despite violating international
law. However, never had men been declared contraband and the vessel was not
heading for an enemy port. Also, if Wilkes would have searched the ship, he
would have discovered a mail bag hidden by the Trent’s captain, which
would have erased the ship’s neutral status and allowed it to be captured. When
word reached England, public outrage was severe. The British believed that it
was a direct violation of national honor. The stock market in England plunged
as they prepared for possible war. The stage was now set for a diplomatic
crisis that would change the American Civil War and the world (Jones, 197-198).
Chad Kinsella