Browse Items (13 total)

One of the last outstanding diploamtic issues of the  Civil War, the resolution of American damage claims over the actions of the British-built Confederate raider Alabama, and others of her kind, was a persistent issue throughout the aftermath of the…

An 1863 outing of foreign ambassadors to the Union under Secretary of State William Seward, visiting New York's Trenton Falls; Secretary Seward stands at the far right, marked (1). The British Minister, Lord Lyons, sits in the middle with a white top…

Serving as Prime Minister, Lord Palmerston guided Britain through, or better put, around the affairs of the American Civil War. The leader of the nation most likely to intervene in the conflict, and at times Palmerston faced the temptation to do so.…

Maintaining different levels of power throughout his career in Parliament, including as Prime Minister, John Russell, the 1st Earl Russell, served as Foreign Minister in the Liberal government under Lord Palmerston during the late 1850s and early…

From his position as the British envoy to Washington D.C., Lord Lyons served as a vital avenue of communication between the U.S. and U.K. Often meeting with Secretary of State Seward to discuss matters lying between their respective nations, it was…

Secretary Seward was a driving force behind much of the North's international messaging over the course of the Civil War. Known as one of the most outspoken and active members of Lincoln's cabinet, Seward was a staunch Unionist who regularly…

Captured by the Union alongside his fellow Confederate diplomat, James Mason, in the 1861 Trent Affair, John Slidell's intended post was making appeals on the South's behalf to the French government under Napoleon III. After being released, Slidell…

James M. Mason played an important role for Confederate activity in the United Kingdom, organizing funds and the purchase of supplies and ships. Following his arrest and release as part of the Trent Affair of 1861, Mason began his work in London,…

Following the diplomatic tensions caused by the Trent Affair in late 1861, American efforts in foreign policy concentrated on generating more amiable relations with nations interested in the effects of the Civil War. This direction pushed Secretary…

The son of President John Quincy Adams, Charles Francis Adams served as the primary Union diplomat in its interactions with Great Britain throughout the Civil War. A prominent statesman prior to the outbreak of war, Adams worked tirelessly to…