Trent Affair

The Trent Affair occurred in the early months of the US Civil War (1861–1865) when a Northern ship intercepted and boarded the British mail steamer Trent and captured two Confederate diplomats bound for England. The diplomats were on their way to England in November 1861 to negotiate with the British for diplomatic recognition of the Confederacy. The North believed they had halted an attempt by the South to make allies in Europe, while the incident outraged the British government, which felt its neutrality had been violated. The British demanded an apology and the release of the diplomats. They also began preparing for a possible war with the North by sending troops to Canada. After a month of negotiations, the situation calmed and the United States and Great Britain reached a diplomatic end to the crisis.

Background

Prior to the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, conflict between the Northern and Southern states simmered for decades, mainly over the issue of slavery. The North, which had a predominantly industrial economy, had outlawed slavery in the early nineteenth century. The South believed it was a necessary part of their agricultural economy and viewed efforts by the North to abolish slavery as an attempt to weaken Southern power.

With the 1860 election of Abraham Lincoln, a staunch anti-slavery advocate, eleven Southern states decided to secede from the Union, establishing the Confederate States of America. From the start, the South was at a considerable disadvantage in the impending armed conflict. The South needed to form its own government, create a currency, and raise and train an army. The industrialized North was better equipped to arm and mobilize a fighting force. The majority of the nation’s railroads and canal systems were in the North and Northern factories could make weapons, uniforms, and bullets much faster than the agricultural South.

Both sides in the conflict were initially concerned about how the powers of Europe would react. Great Britain or France throwing their support behind one side could certainly tip the balance of power in that side’s favor. However, when the war started on April 12, 1861, both Britain and France announced they would remain neutral in the conflict, although both nations expected a quick and decisive Union victory, which did not occur.

Overview

The first major battle of the Civil War occurred on July 12, 1861, near the city of Manassas, Virginia. Known as the First Battle of Bull Run, the battle turned into a surprising victory by the Confederates who routed the Union forces. Buoyed by the victory at Bull Run and several other strong showings on the battlefield, the Confederacy believed that it was in a better position to negotiate with the powers of Europe for aid. Britain and France had recognized the Confederacy as a belligerent power, but not as a sovereign nation. Confederate leaders believed that if Britain and France recognized the South as a legitimate nation, it would lead to future trade deals that would provide a much-needed infusion of funds to the war effort.

In October 1861, the Confederacy sent former US Senator James Mason and New Orleans lawyer John Slidell on a diplomatic mission to Great Britain and France. The pair passed unnoticed through the Northern blockade of the Southern coastline and managed to make it to Spanish-held Cuba. There, they booked passage for England on the British Royal Mail Steamer the Trent.

On November 8, 1861, the USS San Jacinto, under the command of Captain Charles Wilkes, intercepted the Trent and ordered a search of the ship. Wilkes was acting on his own volition and not under any orders from Washington. Mason and Slidell, along with their aides, were taken prisoner and the Trent was allowed to continue its voyage. To Wilkes, the Confederate envoys were considered “enemy contraband”—while, to the British, they were simply travelers who had paid for passage to England.

President Lincoln and Union officials saw the capture as a victory, as it prevented the Confederacy from an attempt to gain foreign allies. The British were furious, interpreting the boarding of the Trent as a diplomatic insult and a violation of their neutrality. Great Britain demanded the immediate release of Mason and Slidell as well as a formal apology from the United States.

The British did not move from their position of neutrality, but they sent more than eight thousand troops to Canada, which at the time was a British colony, to prepare for possible war with the United States. They also made plans to blockade Northern port cities and discussed breaking the Northern blockade of the Southern ports.

Due to a communication mishap, the initial angry British response took a month to reach Washington. By that time, tempers had cooled somewhat. Both the United States and Great Britain knew that a war between them would not serve either of their best interests. President Lincoln was advised to accept some of the British demands to ease the bad blood between the nations. According to Lincoln, it was better to “fight one war at a time.”

In the official US response issued by Secretary of State William Seward on December 26, 1861, the United States defended its rights to pursue enemy contraband but admitted that Captain Wilkes was outside of his rights to board the Trent. Seward agreed to let an international court determine the legal ramifications of seizing prisoners as contraband during wartime. He also agreed to release Mason and Slidell, but fell short of issuing an apology to Great Britain. The British accepted Seward’s proposal and the crisis was averted.

Mason and Slidell were released in January 1862 and resumed their journey to Europe. However, they were unable to convince either Britain or France to officially recognize the Confederacy or aid the war on their behalf.

Bibliography

“The Civil War: The Senate’s Story.” United States Senate, www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/civil‗war/TrentAffair‗FeaturedDoc.htm. Accessed 10 July 2023.

Gallagher, Gary W. “American Civil War: Northern Blockade and the ‘Trent’ Affair of 1861.” Wondrium Daily, 31 Dec. 2020, www.wondriumdaily.com/american-civil-war-northern-blockade-and-the-trent-affair-of-1861/. Accessed 10 July 2023.

Gallagher, Gary. “North vs. South: Prelude to the American Civil War.” Wondrium Daily, 9 Oct. 2019, www.wondriumdaily.com/north-vs-south-prelude-to-the-american-civil-war/. Accessed 10 July 2023.

“The Trent Affair.” The British Library, www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/uscivilwar/britain/trentaffair/trentaffair.html. Accessed 10 July 2023.

“Trent Affair.” History.com, 21 Aug. 2018, www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/trent-affair. Accessed 10 July 2023.

“The Trent Affair, 1861.” Office of the Historian, history.state.gov/milestones/1861-1865/trent-affair. Accessed 10 July 2023.

Winks, Robin W. “Trent Affair.” Canadian Encyclopedia, 11 May 2015, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/trent-affair. Accessed 10 July 2023.