The Trent Affair

   Welcome to Friday with Chairman Joe.

   Ah, the Trent Affair, one of my favorite nuggets of history. It's a mostly forgotten incident in America's past that could have greatly changed our history. The affair also gave my home town of Boston a small part in the Civil War, other than sending her sons off to fight and die on the battlefield.
   On this day in 1861, the Union frigate San Jacinto removed two Confederate diplomats, James Mason and John Slidell from the British mail packet Trent. Mason and Slidell were hoping to convince the British and French governments to recognize the newly established Confederate States of America.
   The South was under a Union blockade of her ports and could not export her cotton nor import weapons needed for the war. If Britain and the other  European powers recognized the CSA, they could ignore the blockade and trade with the South. Mason and Slidell had both served in the U.S. Congress  before secession and both had experience in foreign affairs. It was felt they were the South's best bet to achieve recognition. The trick was getting them from Southern shores and across the Atlantic to England.
   Despite the blockade, fast ships often eluded the Unions ships that guarded the coast. There were fortunes to be made for success. Capture meant confiscation of the ship and its cargo. The Union government was aware that Mason and Slidell were planning to travel to England and intended to capture them. There were Union spies in the port of Charleston keeping an eye on the diplomats, but Mason and Slidell managed to slip out of town on a fast steamer bound for the Bahamas where they planned to board a British ship to England. But the British ship had left, so they sailed to Cuba where they had heard they could catch a British mail packet.
   While they were waiting for their ship in Havana, the U.S. frigate San Jacinto arrived in Havana. It's commander, Charles Wilkes learned of Mason and Slidell's plans from the local newspaper. Wilkes knew the route the mail packet Trent would take and he ambushed the British ship near the Bahamas. The crew of the Trent tried to prevent the removal of the diplomats, but Mason and Slidell agreed to go with the Union sailors to prevent a melée. The San Jacinto sailed to Boston and the captives were delivered to Fort Warren on George's Island in Boston Harbor. The fort served as a prison for Confederate officers throughout the war.
  The American press and populace were jubilant over the capture. A banquet for Captain Wilkes was held in Boston and a gold medal for was struck in his honor. Even Lincoln, usually able to view an event from all angles, was pleased. But as the days passed more sober judgements were heard. There was really no precedent for what Wilkes had done. It would have been ok to have taken the diplomats from a Confederate ship. The ship as well would have been taken. Legal scholars said that Wilkes should have taken the Trent to the nearest "prize" court for adjudication. Wilkes himself knew this.
   The British of course were livid. This was an insult to the British flag and could not stand. Sabers began rattling on both sides of the Atlantic.  It took about eight days for messages to travel across the ocean in those days. This gave excited feelings a chance to settle down. Also, neither side wanted war. Lincoln had his hands full with the rebels. Britain and the U.S. had had a good relationship, and although Britain would not have minded seeing the upstart Yankee nation split in two, encouraging rebellion would have given a bad example to their own restive Scottish and Irish populations.
  By Christmas it had been arranged to release the diplomats. Britain demanded an apology, but didn't insist when it wasn't forthcoming. Mason and Slidell were turned over to a British ship in the little fishing port of Provincetown on the tip of Cape Cod. It wouldn't do to have a British warship steaming into Boston Harbor. Once in England, the diplomats had no success getting the British government to recognize their new country. During the crisis, any enthusiasm in Britain for recognition had melted away.
   As I mentioned above, Fort Warren was a prison for captured Cofederate officers. There's a story, possibly true, that the wife of one of these officers made her way North dressed as a man. The island is only a mile from shore and she somehow managed to get to the island. She located her husband and as they planned their escape, they were confronted by guards. The wife fired her pepperbox pistol, but it exploded, killing her husband. She was sentenced to hang for her deeds. Her last request was to be hanged in a dress rather than men's' clothes. The commandant's wife provided a black dress. Over the years, sentinels on night duty would report seeing a woman dressed in black walking the ramparts. She has been little seen since the island became a state park. Perhaps she's been granted a pardon.

Confederate diplomats Mason and Slidell removed from the British ship Trent.