British ambassador to the United States,
were read at the meeting. Lyons warned
that American Secretary of State Seward
might provoke an incident and that the
United States then would have difficulty in
climbing down. He recommended a show
of force, including reinforcing the garrison
in Canada. Lord Somerset, the First Lord
of the Admiralty, was against Palmerston’s
wish to reinforce Rear Admiral Sir Alexan-
der Milne’s North American and West
Indies fleet, arguing that Milne already had
enough ships superior to those of the
United States and that there was no point
incurring unnecessary expense.
However, on land it was a different mat-
ter. Within a week of the Trentcrisis, Sec-
retary of War Sir George Lewis proposed
sending 30,000 men to Canada. Palmer-
ston told the Secretary of State for the
Colonies, the Duke of Newcastle, to advise
the Governor General of Canada to pre-
pare for war. “Such an insult to our flag
can only be atoned by the restoration of
the men who were seized,” said Palmer-ston, “and with Mister Seward at the helm
of the United States, and the mob and the
press manning the vessel, it is too proba-
ble that this atonement may be refused.”
This view had support in both the
Houses of Commons and Lords. The
country was clamoring for war. All con-
curred that the American seizure was
unlawful. However, at the November 19
cabinet meeting the ministers could not
agree on the response they should make to
the Americans. William Gladstone, Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer, argued that too
strong a response would leave the Ameri-
cans no room to maneuver. Palmerston
countered that too weak a response would
give the United States the wrong impres-
sion of Great Britain’s resolve. It was
decided to leave the drafting of the letter to
Foreign Secretary Lord Russell. Russell’sletter stated the facts of the case and
demanded the restoration of the Confed-
erate commissioners and a formal apology
within seven days of receiving the letter.
Failure to comply would mean the imme-
diate departure of Lord Lyons to Canada
and a de facto state of war between the
two nations.
The cabinet reconvened the next day to
examine Russell’s draft letter. Some felt the
meaning was unclear, and Russell became
defensive. Finally, it was agreed that Lord
Lyons would be sent two letters—the first
a basic outline of the case, the second con-
taining the threat of war within seven days.
Gladstone began backtracking, saying he
was not even sure the law was on their
side, even though there was no doubt that
Wilkes had violated international law.
After long hours of debate, the cabinet
officers agreed to send the letters to the
queen for her approval.
The letters arrived at Windsor Castle on
November 30. Prince Albert, the German-
born consort and husband of Queen Vic-Greatly upset, John Slidell’s wife and daugh-
ters, left, watch angrily as Lieutenant Fairfax
and his boarding party of Union sailors and
marines surround the Southern diplomat on
Trent’s top deck.CWQ-EW16 Trent Affair_Layout 1 10/22/15 1:19 PM Page 34