A World on Fire_ Britain's Crucial Role in the American Civil War - Amanda Foreman [254]
TWENTY-ONE
The Eve of Battle
A message to the shipbuilders—British reaction to Jackson’s death—Henry Hotze resurgent—All eyes on Lee—Sir Percy Wyndham finds glory at Brandy Station—A lost boy
“My father heard about your going out to America to see me,” the Marquis of Hartington wrote to Skittles after his return to London in early spring. “He has been told all about the whole thing, which he had no notion of before [and] is in a terrible state about it.” He added disingenuously: “I told him you had given me up and he knows that I am very unhappy.” The truth, as they both knew, was that he was gently putting his mistress aside, or at least was trying to, with so far limited success.1 Yet Hartington would not have the luxury of dithering for much longer; he had received an invitation from Lord Palmerston to join the government, which would mean assuming greater responsibilities while enjoying fewer of life’s pleasures. “I think it would be a most horrible nuisance,” he wrote.2 On April 13, 1863, however, the decision was made for Hartington by the unexpected death of George Cornewall Lewis, the secretary for war.21.1 Earl de Grey was promoted from undersecretary to secretary, and Hartington was offered de Grey’s former position, an honor not even he could refuse.3
Ill.39 A certificate for the 7 Per Cent Cotton Loan, signed by Emile Erlanger and J. Henry Schroeder, and by Colin McRace and John Slidell for the Confederacy.
The Confederates in England had reviled Lewis ever since his speech against recognition the previous November. They were not sure what de Grey or Hartington might achieve for their cause, but the simple fact of there being two more known supporters in positions of power was enough to rescue the Confederates from their gloom. Nothing had gone right for them since the launch of the Erlanger-sponsored cotton bonds in March, and even these had ultimately proven to be a disappointment. Rumors spread by Federal agents that Jefferson Davis intended to default on the bonds had caused the price to plummet. Only secret buying on a massive scale by the Confederates was keeping them at a reasonable level.
The secret ship-construction program had also suffered a spate of reversals. A week after the Georgia’s escape on April 1, Matthew Fontaine Maury learned that John, his eldest son, was missing at Vicksburg and presumed dead. “Oh my dear, dear wife,” he wrote, “my heart is gone from me.”21.2 Maury’s only mementoes of his lost son John were a short letter and his old winter coat, which had been shortened to fit his twelve-year-old-son Brave; this at least “has its memories,” he wrote.4 Heartbroken, Maury abandoned London and went with Brave to live in Bowdon, on the outskirts of Manchester, refusing to see anyone except his closest friends. Almost simultaneously, the government impounded the Alexandra in Liverpool, which Fraser, Trenholm had intended to donate to the Confederate navy; and James Bulloch heard that the former paymaster of the Alabama, a man named Clarence Yonge, was exacting revenge for his dismissal by telling both the Federals and the British government everything he knew about the Confederates’ operations.
Bulloch tried to guess what his enemies would learn from Yonge. The Lairds rams currently under construction would be safe, he thought, since Yonge had left England the previous July: “I do not think he was ever in the Birkenhead works, or that he has any personal knowledge of what is going on there. He surely can have no knowledge of the Alexandra.”5 But the government’s evident willingness to use Yonge to build its case against the Alexandra made Bulloch fearful that the era of legal loopholes and fly-by-night escapes had passed. He became convinced of this toward the end of April, after Charles Francis Adams was allowed to commit a serious diplomatic blunder without incurring