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> 5. Britain nearly declared war on the Union (Trent affair), to the point that Royal Navy was just waiting for the go-signal to commence hostilities & Britai
by corrral 4y ago
> 5. Britain nearly declared war on the Union (Trent affair), to the point that Royal Navy was just waiting for the go-signal to commence hostilities & Britain sent thousands of additional troops to Canada.
I wonder how much the Union's need to hedge against British intervention—so, to divert resources away from the war against the South, affecting troop placement, artillery availability, fortification building/maintenance/garrisoning, and fleet positioning—prolonged the war.
- Hayvok 4y agoThat's a good question, and I don't know the answer. However, whatever that need was (to hedge against the British) should have been completely necessary, and really goes to show you just how valuable a strong diplomatic corps can be to a country. The British wanted to be pro-Union. They wanted slavery gone. They didn't want to have to station huge numbers of troops in Canada, or large numbers of ships in the Atlantic. Silly, unforced errors by Seward & Charles Francis Adams (the American ambassador) antagonized Britain throughout the war & made them unsure of their North American holdings. Ridiculous. Union diplomats should have been talking peace & partnership with Britain from day 1 of the conflict.
- notahacker 4y ago> The British wanted to be pro-Union. They wanted slavery gone. tbf, we had moral reasons for wanting slavery gone but practical reasons for thinking we were better off with a divided America and an independent Confederacy as a useful source of cheap cotton. Some would say our political positions haven't got more realistic since. :)