Western Hemisphere 43
MID#207
Dispute Number: 207
Date(s): February 1858 to June 8, 1858
Participants: 200 United Kingdom/2 United States of America
Outcome (and Settlement): Yield by side A (None)
Fatalities: None
Narrative: British officers in West Indian waters began searching American merchant
ships suspected of carrying slaves. The British fired on American ships in several
instances when American ships had refused to show their colors. The United States
sent warships into the Gulf of Mexico with orders to resist British actions, and, after
an American protest, the British foreign secretary disclaimed the British right to
search during peacetime.
Coding changes: Start Date changed from January 1858.
MID#1631
Dispute Number: 1631
Date(s): December 20, 1860
Participants: 2 United States of America/200 United Kingdom, 220 France, 230
Spain
Outcome (and Settlement): Unclear (None)
Fatalities: None
Narrative: England, France, and Spain wanted to intervene during a civil war in
Mexico in order to force a settlement. Henry Roy de la Reintre, special agent of the US
legation in Mexico, in a note to Jose Ramon Pacheco, Spanish ambassador to Mexico,
threatened armed action if any country intervened or tried to establish a European
presence in Mexico.
MID#225
Dispute Number: 225
Date(s): November 7, 1861 to December 27, 1861
Participants: 2 United States of America/200 United Kingdom
Outcome (and Settlement): Released (Negotiated)
Fatalities: None
Narrative: This dispute describes the Trent Affair. The crew of the USS San Jacinto,
commanded by Charles Wilkes, had learned that Confederate diplomats were in Cuba
en route to Europe to try to secure diplomatic recognition for the American Confed-
eracy. Those diplomats were to be picked up by the British packet ship Trent. Having
identified the Trent later at sea, the San Jacinto fired two shots across the Trent’s
bow, which was enough to force the ship to stop. The Trent was quickly boarded and
the two Confederate diplomats—James Murray Mason and John Slidell—were taken
from the Trent. The seizure was celebrated in both the Union and the Confederacy,
albeit for separate reasons. Northerners lauded the move as an outfoxing of the Con-
federacy, but the Confederates hoped the blunder was enough to cause a break in