A World on Fire_ Britain's Crucial Role in the American Civil War - Amanda Foreman [472]
14. Anthony Trollope, North America (repr. London, 1968), p. 138.
15. PRO FO 519/178, Lord Clarendon to Lord Cowley, November 29, 1861, quoted in Crook, The North, the South, and the Powers, p. 131.
16. As the Duke of Argyll wrote from France: “If such an act as that committed by the San Jacinto be allowed, I see nothing which would prevent any European Government seizing on board of our ships any refugees from their revolted provinces, who might be coming to England (as many do) to excite popular sympathy with their cause.” George Douglas, Eighth Duke of Argyll (1823–1900): Autobiography and Memoirs, ed. the Dowager Duchess of Argyll, 2 vols. (London, 1906), p. 180, Duke of Argyll to Gladstone, December 7, 1861.
17. John Morely, The Life of William Ewart Gladstone: 1809–1872, 2 vols. (London, 1908), vol. 2, pp. 73–74, Gladstone to Argyll, December 3, 1861.
18. Sir Theodore Martin, The Life of his Royal Highness the Prince Consort, vol. 5 (New York, 1880), p. 349. Prince Albert continued: “We are therefore glad to believe that upon a full consideration of the circumstances, and of the undoubted breach of international law committed, they would spontaneously offer such redress as alone could satisfy this country, viz. the restoration of the unfortunate passengers and a suitable apology.”
19. “I think now the American Government,” he wrote, “under the inspiration of Seward will refuse us redress. The prospect is melancholy, but it is an obligation of honour which we cannot escape.” PRO, Cowley MSS, FO 519/199, Russell to Lord Cowley, December 7, 1861.
20. Brian Jenkins, Britain and the War for the Union, 2 vols. (Montreal, 1974, 1980), vol. 1, p. 212.
21. Nancy Mitford (ed.), The Stanleys of Alderley (London, 1968), p. 270, Lord Stanley to Lady Stanley, December 2, 1861.
22. For some reason, he has generally been misidentified as Seymour Conway, although W. H. Russell refers to him properly as Conway Seymour.
23. G. P. Gooch (ed.), The Later Correspondence of Lord John Russell, 1840–1878, 2 vols. (London, 1925), vol. 2, p. 321, Lord Russell to Lord Clarendon, December 6, 1861. In fact, Lord Clarendon thought that Russell was generally far too namby-pamby with Seward. “I don’t like the low tone taken by Johnny,” he told the Duchess of Manchester; “he is right not to be quarrelsome but humility is not the way to keep vulgarity & swagger in order & there is not a despatch from that beast Seward that does not contain some menace to us.” A. L. Kennedy (ed.), My Dear Duchess: Social and Political Letters to the Duchess of Manchester, 1858–1869 (London, 1956), p. 208, Clarendon to Duchess of Manchester, December 25, 1862.
24. Desmond McCarthy, Lady John Russell, p. 260, Lady John to Lady Dumferline, December 13, 1861.
25. Letters of Sir George Cornewall Lewis, ed. G. F. Lewis (London, 1870), pp. 405–6, Lewis to Twistleton, December 5, 1861.
26. The purchases were actually a coincidence. At the start of the war, the United States had 3 million pounds of saltpeter in reserve, which was all that had been left over from the Mexican–American War. The U.S. Navy commissioned Lammot Du Pont to replenish the country’s supply before the Trent incident took place. It just so happened that he began loading his prodigious cargo on November 28, the day after England received news of the seizure. Once the ban was in effect, Charles Francis Adams advised Du Pont to offload the saltpeter surreptitiously in limited amounts in order to avoid flooding the market.
27. Regis Courtmanche, No Need of Glory: The British Navy in American Waters (Annapolis, Md., 1977), p. 59.
28. Mitford (ed.), The Stanleys of Alderley, p. 271, Lord Stanley to Lady Stanley, December 4, 1861.
29. Ibid., p. 271, Lord Stanley to Lady Stanley, December 6, 1861.
30. Somerset RO, Somerset MSS, d/RA/A/2a/34/7/1, Admiral Milne to Duke of Somerset, January 24, 1861. Milne also feared the loss