Captain Charles Wilkes, commanding the USS San Jacinto, forcibly boards the RMS Trent—in international waters—and arrests James M. Mason, Confederate Commissioner to the United Kingdom, and John Slidell, Confederate Commissioner to the Empire of France. The diplomats were instructed by nonpartisan (constitutionalist) President Davis to negotiate for foreign recognition and military assistance.
[updated 2/8/2025]
Subsequent Events:
References:
Bruce Catton, The Civil War, (New York: American Heritage, 1960; Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, 1987), 286.
Calvin D. Linton, ed. The Bicentennial Almanac: 200 Years of America, 1776-1976, (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, 1975), 167.
Chronology Of The American Civil War
civilwarhome.com/timeline.htm
Current U.s. National Debt:
