A World on Fire: Britain's Crucial Role in the American Civil War

by Amanda Foreman

  Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) UNION—First Republican president of the United States, 1861–65.

  Stephen Russell Mallory (1813–73) CONFEDERATE—Confederate secretary of the navy, 1861–65.

  James Alexander Seddon (1815–80) CONFEDERATE—Confederate secretary of war, 1862–65.

  Frederick William Seward (1830–1915) UNION—U.S. assistant secretary of state, 1861–69 and 1877–79; son of William H. Seward.

  William Henry Seward (1801–72) UNION—U.S. secretary of state, 1861–69.

  Edwin Stanton (1814–69) UNION—U.S. secretary of war, 1862–65.

  Charles Sumner (1811–74) UNION—U.S. senator from Massachusetts, 1851–74.

  Robert Augustus Toombs (1810–85) CONFEDERATE—Confederate secretary of state, February–July 1861.

  George Alfred Trenholm (1807–76) CONFEDERATE—Confederate secretary of the treasury 1864–65; founder of Fraser, Trenholm and Co.

  Clement Laird Vallandigham (1820–71) UNION—U.S. House of Representatives, 3rd District Ohio, 1858–63; head of the Copperhead antiwar movement.

  LeRoy Pope Walker (1817–84) CONFEDERATE—Confederate secretary of war, February–September 1861.

  Gideon Welles (1802–78) UNION—U.S. secretary of the navy, 1861–69.

  Pro-Northern Supporters

  Edwin Thomas Booth (1833–93)—Actor; brother of John Wilkes Booth.

  Frederick Douglass (1818–95)—Former slave; social reformer and abolition campaigner.

  Horace Greeley (1811–72)—Editor of the New York Herald.

  Sarah Parker Remond (1826–94)—Campaigner for abolition.

  George Templeton Strong (1820–75)—Lawyer, co-founder, and treasurer of the U.S. Sanitary Commission.

  Pro-Southern Supporters

  Belle Boyd (1844–1900)—Confederate spy.

  Mary Boykin Chesnut (1823–86)—South Carolinian diarist.

  William Wilkins Glenn (1824–76)—Maryland journalist; conduit for British travelers entering the South.

  John B. Jones (1810–66)—Virginian diarist; clerk in the War Department, Richmond, Virginia.

  Charles Kuhn Prioleau (1827–87)—Head of Fraser, Trenholm and Co., Liverpool, England.

  John R. Thompson (1828–73)—Poet, editor of the Southern Literary Messenger, 1847–59; contributor to the Index.

  At Sea

  David Glasgow Farragut (1801–70) UNION—Admiral on USS Hartford, 1862–66.

  John Newland Maffitt (1819–86) CONFEDERATE—Captain of CSS Florida.

  Matthew Fontaine Maury (1806–73) CONFEDERATE—Oceanographer; Confederate purchasing agent in Britain.

  William Lewis Maury (1813–78) CONFEDERATE—Commander of CSS Georgia.

  James Morris Morgan (1845–1928) CONFEDERATE—Lieutenant on CSS Georgia.

  David Dixon Porter (1813–91) UNION—Commander of USS Powhatan; rear admiral of the Mississippi River Squadron.

  Raphael Semmes (1809–77) CONFEDERATE—Commander of CSS Sumter, 1861–62; Captain of CSS Alabama, 1862–64.

  Charles Wilkes (1798–1877) UNION—Captain of USS San Jacinto; instigator of the Trent affair.

  John Ancrum Winslow (1811–73) UNION—Captain of USS Kearsarge; sank CSS Alabama.

  BRITISH

  Diplomats

  Sir Edward Mortimer Archibald (1810–94)—British consul at New York, 1857–71.

  Robert Bunch—British consul at Charleston, South Carolina, 1853–64.

  Joseph Hume Burnley—Secretary of the British legation, Washington.

  Richard Bickerton Pemell Lyons, 2nd Lord Lyons (1817–87)—Minister at the British legation, Washington,1859–65.

  Edward Baldwin Malet (1837–1908)—Attaché at the British legation, Washington, 1862–64.

  Charles Stanley Monck, 4th Viscount Monck (1819–94)—Governor-general of Canada, 1867–69.

  William Mure (1813–64)—British consul at New Orleans, Louisiana, 1843–57.

  Francis Napier, 10th Lord Napier (1819–98)—Minister at the British legation, Washington, 1857–59.

  Arthur H. Seymour—Third secretary of the British legation, Washington.

  George Sheffield—Attaché at the British legation, Washington, 1859–64.

  William Stuart (1824–96)—Secretary of the British legation, Washington, 1861–64.

  Henry Wellesley, 1st Earl Cowley (1804–84)—British ambassador to France, 1852–67.

  Journalists

  John Chandler Bancroft Davis (1822–1907)—Pro-Northern correspondent, The Times, 1861.

  Samuel Phillips Day—Pro-Southern correspondent, Morning Herald, 1861.

  John Thadeus Delane (1817–79)—Editor of The Times, 1841–77.

  Edward James Stephen Dicey (1832–1911)—Pro-Northern contributor, Spectator.

  The Hon. Francis Charles Lawley (1825–1901)—Pro-Southern contributor, The Times.

  Charles Mackay (1814–89)—Pro-Southern New York correspondent, The Times, 1862–65.

  Harriet Martineau (1802–76)—Writer, social theorist, and contributor to the Edinburgh Review and the Daily News, 1852–68.

  Mowbray Morris (1819–74)—Managing editor of The Times.

  William Howard Russell (1820–1907)—Celebrated war reporter for The Times.

  George Augustus Henry Sala (1828–95)—Novelist and pro-Southern contributor, Daily Telegraph; ghost writer for several pro-Southern memoirs.

  Tom Taylor (1817–80)—Journalist and contributor to Punch, playwright, author of Our American Cousin, 1858.

  Frank Vizetelly (1830–83)—War artist and correspondent, Illustrated London News.

  Observers

  Thomas Conolly (1823–76)—Member of Parliament for the County of Donegal.

  Griffith Evans (1835–1935)—Veterinarian officer, Royal Artillery, British Army.

  Arthur James Lyon Fremantle (1835–1901)—Lieutenant colonel, British Army; member of Her Majesty’s Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards; observer of the Battle of Gettysburg and the New York draft riots, April–July 1863.

  Spencer Compton Cavendish, 8th Duke of Devonshire, Marquess of Hartington (1833–1908)—Civil Lord of the Admiralty, 1863; British undersecretary for war, 1863–66.

  George Alfred Lawrence (1827–76)—British lawyer and novelist; author of Guy Livingstone, 1857.

  Edward Fitzgerald Turton Ross (1835–?)—Captain, Austrian Hussars; Confederate propagandist and observer, 1863–64.

  Lord Edward Percy St. Maur (1841–65)—Captain, volunteer cavalry, British Army; diplomat.

  Edward Lyulph Stanley, 4th Baron Sheffield, 4th Baron Stanley of Alderly, and 3rd Baron Eddisbury (1839–1925)—British peer and member of Parliament for Oldham, 1880–85.

  Leslie Stephen (1832–1904)—Author, literary critic, and editor of the Dictionary of National Biography, 1885–91.

  Henry Yates Thompson (1838–1928)—Owner of the Pall Mall Gazette, 1878–92; observer of General Grant’s victory at Chattanooga, 1863.

  Garnet Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley (1833–1913)—Field marshal, British Army; special service officer sent to Canada following the Trent affair, 1861; Pro-Southern observer, 1862–65.

  Politicians

  George John Douglas Campbell, 8th Duke of Argyll (1823–1900) LIBERAL—Lord Privy Seal, 1853–55, 1859–66, and 1880–81; postmaster general, 1855–58.

  John Bright (1811–89) LIBERAL—Manufacturer; member of Parliament, and co-founder, with Richard Cobden, MP, of the Anti–Corn Law League, 1836.

  George William Frederick Villiers, 4th Earl of Clarendon (1800–70) LIBERAL—Secretary of state for foreign affairs, 1853–58, 1865–66, and 1868–70.

  Richard Cobden (1804–65) LIBERAL—Businessman, member of Parliament, and co-founder, with John Bright, of the Anti-Corn Law League, 1836; he and John Bright were known derisively in the House of Commons as “members for the United States.”

  Edward Smith Geoffrey Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby (1799–1869) CONSERVATIVE—Prime minister, February–December 1852, 1858–59, and
1866–68.

  Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield (1804–81) CONSERVATIVE—Leader of the opposition in the House of Commons, 1851–52, 1852–58, 1859–66; chancellor of the exchequer, 1852, 1858–59, 1866–68; prime minister, 1868, 1874–80.

  William Edward Forster (1818–86) LIBERAL—Industrialist; member of Parliament for Bradford, Yorkshire, 1861–85.

  William Ewart Gladstone (1809–98) LIBERAL—chancellor of the exchequer, 1852–55, 1859–66; prime minister, 1868–74, 1880–85.

  William Henry Gregory (1817–92) CONSERVATIVE—Pro-Southern member of Parliament for Dublin City, 1842–47, and County Galway, 1857–72.

  Edmund Hammond, 1st and last Baron Hammond of Kirkella (1802–90) LIBERAL—Permanent undersecretary of Foreign Affairs, 1854–73.

  John Laird (1805–74) CONSERVATIVE—Pro-Southern member of Parliament for Birkenhead, 1861–74; founder of John Laird, Sons and Co.

  Sir Austen Henry Layard (1817–94) LIBERAL—Undersecretary of state for Foreign Affairs, January–February 1852, 1861–66.

  Sir George Cornewall Lewis, 2nd Baronet (1806–63) LIBERAL—Chancellor of the exchequer, 1855–58; home secretary, 1859–61; secretary of state for war, 1861–63.

  William Schaw Lindsay (1816–77) LIBERAL—Pro-Southern Scottish shipping magnate; founder and owner of W. S. Lindsay and Co., 1849–64; member of Parliament for Tynemouth and North Shields, 1854–59; member of Parliament for Sunderland, 1859–65.

  Richard Monckton Milnes, 1st Baron Houghton (1809–85) CONSERVATIVE—Poet; member of Parliament for Pontefract, 1837–63; pro-Northern.

  Henry Pelham-Clinton, 5th Duke of Newcastle (1811–64) LIBERAL—Secretary of state for war and the colonies, 1852–54; secretary of state for war, 1854–55; secretary of state for the colonies, 1859–64.

  Roundell Palmer, 1st Earl of Selborne (1812–95) LIBERAL—Pro-Northern solicitor general, 1861–63; attorney general, 1863–66; Lord Chancellor, 1872–74 and 1880–85.

  Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, known as Lord Palmerston (1784–1865) LIBERAL—Secretary of state for foreign affairs, 1830–34, 1835–41, and 1846–51; home secretary, 1852–55; prime minister, 1855–58 and 1859–65.

  John Arthur Roebuck (1802–79) LIBERAL—Member of Parliament for Bath, 1832–37 and 1841–47; member of Parliament for Sheffield, 1849–68 and 1874–79; pro-Southern.

  John Russell, 1st Earl Russell (1792–1878) LIBERAL—Secretary of state for foreign affairs, 1852–53 and 1859–65; leader of the opposition, February–December 1852 and 1866–68; prime minister, 1846–52 and 1865–66.

  Edward Adolphus Seymour (later St. Maur), 12th Duke of Somerset (1804 or 1805–85) LIBERAL—First commissioner of woods and forests, 1849–51; first commissioner of works, 1851–52; First Lord of the Admiralty, 1859–66.

  Pro-Northern Supporters

  Elizabeth Blackwell (1821–1910)—British-born doctor; first woman to earn a medical degree in the United States; first woman to be placed on the British Medical Register; founder of the New York Infirmary for Indigent Women and Children, 1857.

  John Elliott Cairnes (1823–75)—Irish economist; Whatley Professor, Trinity College, Dublin, 1856–61; professor of jurisprudence and political economy at Queen’s College Galway, 1859–70; author of The Slave Power, 1862.

  Lord Frederick Charles Cavendish (1836–82)—Progressive politician; private secretary to Lord Granville, 1859–64; private secretary to Prime Minister Gladstone, 1872–73.

  Thomas Hughes (1822–96)—Author of Tom Brown’s Schooldays, 1857.

  Fanny Kemble (1809–93)—Actress; author of Journal of a Residence on a Georgian Plantation in 1838–1839, 1863.

  Peter Sinclair—Social reformer; author of Freedom or Slavery in the United States: Being Fact and Testimonies for the Consideration of the British People, 1863.

  Goldwin Smith (1823–1910)—British Canadian historian and journalist; Regius Professor of Modern History at Oxford University, 1858–66.

  Harriet Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of Sutherland (1806–68)—Granddaughter of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire; a champion of the American antislavery movement.

  Pro-Southern Supporters

  Mary Sophia Hill (1819–1902)—Sister of Sam Hill, 6th Louisiana Volunteers; regimental nurse in the 6th Louisiana Volunteers; Federal prisoner of war, 1864.

  Thomas Kershaw—British peace campaigner on behalf of the South.

  James Spence (1816–1905)—Author of The American Union, 1862; Liverpool businessman; pro-Southern propagandist and lobbyist.

  Francis William Tremlett (1821–1913)—Vicar of St. Peter’s Church, Belsize Park; unofficial chaplain to the Confederate navy in England.

  Edward Montagu Stuart Granville Montagu-Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie, 3rd Baron Wharncliffe (1827–99)—President of the Manchester Southern Independence Association.

  The War at Sea

  Sir William Nathan Wrighte Hewett (1834–88)—Commander of HMS Rinaldo, 1861–62, and HMS Basilisk, 1865–69; commander of the ill-fated Condor, 1864.

  The Hon. Augustus Charles Hobart-Hampden (1822–86)—Under the pseudonym “Captain Roberts” commanded the blockade runners Don and Falcon during the Civil War.

  Sir Alexander Milne, 1st Baronet (1806–96)—Royal Navy commander-in-chief, North America and West Indies, 1860–64; First Naval Lord, 1866–68 and 1872–76.

  Thomas Taylor (1841–?)—Supercargo on the blockade runners Banshee, Will o’ the Wisp, Wild Dayrell, Stormy Petrel, and Wild Rover; author of Running the Blockade, 1896.

  Volunteers

  Bennet Graham Burley [also spelled Burleigh] (c. 1844–1914) CONFEDERATE—Scottish volunteer, Confederate navy; Federal prisoner of war, 1864; went on to become a notable war correspondent.

  Charles Culverwell (1837–1919) UNION—Actor (stage name: Charles Wyndham); brigade surgeon in the Union army, 1862–64.

  Leonard Douglas Hay Currie (1832–1907) UNION—Assistant adjutant general to Brigadier General W. F. Smith; colonel in the 133rd New York Volunteer Infantry.

  Francis Warrington Dawson [né Austin John Reeks] (1840–89) CONFEDERATE— Common sailor, CSS Nashville, 1861; master’s mate, CSS Louisiana, 1862; 1st lieutenant of artillery in the “Purcell Artillery” battalion, under the command of Captain William “Willy” Johnson Pegram.

  John Fitzroy De Courcy, 31st Baron Kingsale (1821–90) UNION—Stipendiary magistrate of San Juan Island; colonel of the 16th Ohio Volunteer Infantry.

  Frederick Farr (1844–64) UNION—Private, Company F, 7th Maine Infantry, 1863–64.

  Henry Wemyss Feilden (1838–1921) CONFEDERATE—Private, 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment of the Foot (also known as the Black Watch), 1857–60; assistant adjutant general in Charleston, Confederate army.

  George St. Leger Grenfell (1808–68) CONFEDERATE—Assistant inspector general of the corps of cavalry of the Army of Tennessee, 1862; assistant inspector general of the corps of cavalry of the Army of Northern Virginia, 1863.

  George Henry Herbert UNION—Lieutenant, 9th New York Volunteer Infantry (“Hawkins’s Zouaves”).

  Henry George Hore (d. 1887) UNION—Aide-de-camp to Major General John Sedgwick.

  James Horrocks UNION—Private, 5th Battery, New Jersey Volunteers.

  Robert Moffat Livingstone (1846–64) UNION—3rd New Hampshire Infantry; son of the explorer Dr. David Livingstone.

  Henry Ronald Douglas MacIver (1841–1907) CONFEDERATE—Lieutenant, variously as aide to Generals “Stonewall” Jackson, Jeb Stuart, and Edmund Kirby-Smith.

  Charles Mayo (1837–77) UNION—Staff surgeon-major and medical inspector of the XIII Army Corps.

  Robert Neve (1831–79) UNION—5th Kentucky Volunteers.

  James Pendlebury (1841–97) UNION—Private, 69th New York Infantry.

  Alfred Rubery CONFEDERATE—Would-be privateer.

  Llewellyn Traherne Bassett Saunderson (1841–1913) CONFEDERATE—Staff officer to General Fitzhugh Lee.

  Henry Morton Stanley [né John Rowlands] (
1841–1904) CONFEDERATE—and Union “Dixie Grays,” Company E, 6th Arkansas Regiment of Volunteers, Confederate army.

  William Watson (1826–?) CONFEDERATE—Scottish businessman living in Louisiana; enlisted in the Confederate army in 1861 with the 3rd Louisiana Infantry; author of Life in the Confederate Army.

  Ebenezer Wells UNION—Wagon master, 79th New York Highlanders.

  Stephen Winthrop (1839–79) CONFEDERATE—Staff officer to General Alexander.

  Sir Percy Wyndham (1833–79) UNION—Colonel of 1st New Jersey Cavaliers.

  Map.1 The United States of America and the Confederate States of America

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  Map.2 Virginia and the Washington area

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  Map.3 Mississippi River to Virginia

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  Map.4 The Carolinas

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  Prologue

  Farewell to Lord Napier—Lord Lyons puzzles Washington society—Rocky relations between Britain and America

  Washington society adored the Napiers. From the moment they had arrived at the British legation in 1857, Lord Napier was hailed as the friendliest and most sensible diplomat ever to set foot in the capital. For her part, Lady Napier soon won her own following as a hostess of unparalleled warmth and grace. “Her cozy at-homes were remarkable for their informality,” recalled a Southerner after the war. Their presence was considered essential at any fashionable gathering. The legation was neutral territory and “one met there the talented and distinguished; heard good music, listened to the flow of wholesome wit; and enjoyed delectable repasts.… A feeling of universal regret spread over the capital when it became known that the Napiers were to return to England.”1

  Senator William Henry Seward of New York, Lord Napier’s closest friend in Washington and the heir apparent to the Republican leadership, invited a small group of senators to join him in organizing a farewell ball. The committee had hoped to control the number of guests by charging $10 per person,pr.1 but the heady combination of popularity and power resulted in no fewer than 1,800 subscriptions for the gala. Only one venue other than the White House could accommodate so large a gathering: Willard’s Hotel on the corner of E and Fourteenth streets. The New York Times joked that a ticket to the Napier ball was harder to come by than a front row seat at the current Broadway hit comedy Our American Cousin by the British playwright Tom Taylor.2