Bridgewater Review

Volume 14 | Issue 1 Article 4

Jun-1995 Contemporary English Perspectives on the American Civil War: Rare Documents Sylvia Larson

Recommended Citation Larson, Sylvia (1995). Contemporary English Perspectives on the American Civil War: Rare Documents. Bridgewater Review, 14(1), 3-6. Available at: http://vc.bridgew.edu/br_rev/vol14/iss1/4

This item is available as part of Virtual Commons, the open-access institutional repository of Bridgewater State University, Bridgewater, Massachusetts. coin also worried about our neighbor to the north. Canada, then consisting of four separate provinces (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Canada West and Canada East), was facing its own do­ mestic difficulties and coming to grips with the necessity of some kind of union. Canadians viewed the American CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH scene without compassion and with trepidation. Americans looked north PERSPECTIVES ON THE and saw a vivid manifestation of Eng­ lish outrage over the notorious Trent AMERICAN CIVIL WAR: affair-more than 10,000 red-coated troops were rushing into Canada. Eng­ Rare Documents land correctly considered the forced removal of two Confederate commis­ sioners from the British ship Trent by Sylvia Larson Captain Charles Wilks of the United States Navy as a provocative breach of neutral rights. It was not the friendli­ n May of 1861, Abraham Lincoln's est of times along the border. Secretary of State William H. ISeward wrote to the United States Recently, the University of North Minister to the Court of St. James that Carolina Press published a study by "war may ensue between the United Howard Jones of this international di­ States and one, two, or even more Eu­ mension of the American Civil War. ropean nations .... But if it comes, it will The author's bibliography includes be fully seen that it results from the such American and British sources as actions of Great Britain, not our own." the diaries of Charles Francis Adams and the papers of Lord John Russell, Seward was expressing one of Presi­ William Gladstone, and Prime Minis­ dent Lincoln's most troublesome prob­ ter Henry John Palmerston. lems, that of preventing Great Britain from intervening in the American Civil Coincidentally, and most fortu­ War. Minister Charles Francis Adams nately, the Lincoln Collection at had the task of conveying the Bridgewater State College recently re­ President's concern to British Foreign ceived a collection of seventeen Civil Secretary Lord John Russell, in tones War documents, many published dur­ less blunt than those of Secretary ing the war years and dealing directly Seward. Adams, son and grandson of with the focus of Professor Jones' book American presidents, was well Union in Peril: The Crisis over British equipped for diplomacy, as he handled Intervention in the Civil War. the complexities of this fascinating as­ Walter Morrison of Lawrencetown, pect of our Civil War: the inter-rela­ Nova Scotia, Bridgewater class of 1950, tionship ofEngland (with its European gave the collection to the college as alliances), the Union (the Northern part of his contribution to the class states), and the Confederacy (the re­ fund. Mr. Morrison was born in Mas­ bellious Southern states). President sachusetts. In 1961, he moved to Lincoln's troublesome problem can Canada where he had family. He taught also be viewed as the "old" world deal­ cartography at the Nova Scotia Land ing with a republic of the "new" world. Survey Institute, now the College of And, because Great Britain's Canadian Geographic Survey and part of the colony bordered the republic, Mr. Lin- Technical University of Nova Scotia,

3 and he retired in 1986. At Bridgewater, question. But he soon began to admire Walter Morrison had been a math-sci­ the gallant determination of the South­ ence major and an active photogra­ erners and feel "complete revulsion" pher. His interest in antiquarian maps BATTLE for the bullying of Northerners. led him to collecting documents like He had come to America to witness those in his gift to the college. Some ALABAU. AN D T.ITE KEARSARGE. "the wonderful struggle." Once here, of his documents were extras or dis­ he was impressed by the unanimity of cards from the Dennis Collection of the t'.IO .Jt\t'•"' ~l , o:>trl t' Ill ..... l ~OUtf !;lla,>...... <# fPO'Ht', tnlll lM* the Southern people and the heroism 1* .._ >JO;r..;llU O ~ ~~;4 'l' """hn. U''llll' - Hi story of Nova Scotia; some were W ~'ii-•,.-,. W•U· • It noo• 'l'•lt ~-....,.. °""" .,...... "'''""' .,, ~y-· _,._...... of the Confederacy, and closed his di­ ·~u.uin. u• , •• • >:tb_.... u.- given to him by friends; others he pur­ .._..,. _. . , hi• «IJ>..,-U. ary by saying he could not believe that, chased at antique shops and book sales. in the nineteenth century, the civilized Mr. Morrison contacted Dr. Jean '" world would be a witness to the "de­ Prendergast, also of the class of 1950 struction of such a gallant race." and a member of the class finance com­ Michael Shaara, in his novel The Killer mittee, about giving his collection of Angels, on which Gettysburg was documents. Dr. Prendergast, of the Xel. nit ll: ll(l .\lHV A Y. based, has Freemantle express his feel­ Department of Mathematics and Com­ l "6 G·t. ings this way: "And perhaps they will puter Science, contacted Mrs. S. Mabell rejoin the Queen and it will be as it was, Bates, Special Collections Librarian, Professor Tom Turner selected a as it always should have been." who accepted the Civil War documents pamphlet written by Freemantle as a for the Maxwell Library - an excep­ particularly interesting document in AN ENGLISHMAN'S VIEW OF tional gift "which will add much pres­ the collection, and explains: ti ge to our Lincoln Collection." "Freemantle was a member of the THE BATTLE BETWEEN THE ALABAMA AND THE KEARSAGE This essay considers selections from Coldstream Guards and was on leave Mr. Morrison's gift, as they reflect spe­ of absence when he spent three months A major irritant in British-American cific contemporary insights into Presi­ with the Confederate Army. He was on relations began in English shipyards dent Lincoln's foreign policy problem. intimate terms with both Lee and and spread to the high seas. Ship build­ Longstreet, and the diary which he pro­ ers constructed "commerce-raiders" duced has been quoted by many for the Confederacy which, according THREE MONTHS IN THE historians .... He donned his bright red to British law, were not technically SOUTHERN STATES uniform during Pickett's charge. This "warships." The Alabama was a par­ If you saw the movie Gettysburg, must have made him stand out promi­ ticularly notorious "commerce­ perhaps your curiosity was piqued by nently, as well as having been ex­ raider." When it left the Liverpool ship­ the fascinating character of Lieuten­ tremely uncomfortable during the very yard, it was the Enrica on a trial run. ant Colonel Arthur Freemantle, the hot weather of early July 1863." At an appointed rendezvous in the Englishman who felt so at home Freemantle's 158-page diary was Azores, this English-built vessel took among the Southerners - they were, written during the months when Eng­ on English sailors and English-sup­ to him, not Americans but trans­ land began to realize that the North plied arms, coal and provisions. As the planted Englishmen. They are English, would eventually win the war, and the Alabama, it then proceeded to disrupt he mused; and the great experiment Union would be the Union. News of the Union commerce and destroy over sixty - democracy and the equality of the North's victory at Gettysburg reached vessels. Finally, challenged by the rabble - in just over a generation they Adams in London at a critical time. It Union cruiser Kearsage off the French have come back to class: they are all reinforced his assertion that interven­ coast near Cherbourg, it was destroyed the same - one religion basically, one tion on the Confederacy's behalf was a in 1864. A picture of the naval battle way of life. These were profound policy not to be further entertained. circulated throughout the North with thoughts to take back to England! But as Freemantle sailed back to this caption: "Built of English oak in Why was he at Gettysburg, riding England just after Gettysburg, he re­ an English yard, armed with English beside General Longstreet in the early mained infatuated with Southerners. guns, manned by an English crew, and hours of the second day of the battle? In the preface of his diary, he admits sunk in the English Channel." to originally feeling a slight inclination The author of this pamphlet went toward the North, due to the slavery to Cherbourg right after the battle. He

4 wished to set straight misrepresenta­ Preparation for the bazaar began by tions of the truth, spread by individu­ compiling a list of Lady Patronesses who als as well as the French and English had the "appropriate" credentials. Not all press. Captain John Winslow of the qualified ladies agreed to help because Kearsage welcomed Frederick Edge to stepping forward publicly could cause his ship, anchored since the battle just some embarrassment. Some ladies, on outside Cherbourg harbor. The captain the other hand, were relieved to have an showed his visitor the ship's logbook. outlet for their sympathy, to be able to Mr. Edge spent six days detailing the do something, especially since the gov­ ship's measurements, construction ernment seemed paralyzed with inac­ and armaments, the damages it had tion. The list oflady patronesses included received in battle, and the names and a princess, three marchionesses, three nationalities of the crew and officers. countesses, and several ladies. A commit­ He compared these statistics with tee arranged a stall for each of the Con­ those of the destroyed Alabama; and federate states. Stalls were attended by he described the military engagement, Southern representatives of the states or noting it was the first decisive battle English ladies, if a given state had no rep­ between ships propelled by steam, and resentative in England. "This contributed the first test of modern naval artillery. greatly to the originality and character Professor Jean Stonehouse of the De­ He praised the advanced armaments of of the bazaar." partment of History spent several hours the Kearsage and the number of The report describes St. George's in Special Collections, looking over the ironclads in the Union navy, seventy­ Hall - red, white and blue decorations valuable new Civil War documents. She three out of over six hundred. Mr. Edge over each stall and above everything commented on the generosity of the concluded his report by noting, grate­ - the Confederate flag. There are de­ donor, and later she wrote, "I left mus­ fully, that this large United States fleet tails on the stalls and the people attend­ ing over the Southern women who would be used to defend the "demo­ ing them, items for sale, and musical presided over booths at a public fair in cratic principle." Edge donated the pro­ entertainment. A beautiful Shetland England to raise money for the Confed­ ceeds of his publication to the United pony was raffled off for 320 pounds; the erate cause. I hadn't known about them. States Sanitary Commission. pony was named Varina Davis, after the How did they come to be there? Did the First Lady of the Confederacy. The experience change them?" Professor Great Bazaar brought in over 22,000 THE SOUTHERN BAZAAR HELD Stonehouse returned to use two other pounds, an amount which the organiz­ IN ST. GEORGE'S HALL, items in the collection for an article she ers felt worthy of the heroic South. LIVERPOOL, OCTOBER 1864 is writing on the St. Albans Raid. Sympathy for the Confederacy was not limited to the shipbuilders in Liverpool, THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA but was widespread among the upper As Professor John Myers succinctly classes, who organized a great bazaar to puts it, "the British waffled about their raise money for Southern soldiers in role with the South." Should they Northern prisons and hospitals. Letters recognize the Confederacy, declare telling of terrible suffering, in such places neutrality, remain aloof? Or should as Boston's Fort Warren, compelled the they initiate a European-style media­ organizers of this bazaar to match their tion, an idea particularly insulting to concern with substantive help. (Unhap­ the Lincoln administration. pily, mistreatment of prisoners occurred on both sides. This collection also in­ William H. Russell was a special cor­ cludes aNarrative ofPrivations and Suf­ respondent for the London Times, in­ ferings ofthe United States Officers and ternationally respected for his cover­ Soldiers While Prisoners of War in the age of the Crimean War. Between Hands of Rebel Authorities, printed for March and June of 1861, he traveled the United States Sanitary Commission.) throughout the South. The informa­ tion he sent back to readers of the

5 and Jefferson Davis discussed Eng­ ting cemetery. Gary Wills in Lincoln at land's relationship with the Confed­ Gettysburg: The Words that Re-made eracy, and they touched on the tricky America (1992), leads us toward an under- question of whether England's need for standing of the overall picture; Boston City cotton might be stronger than its dis­ Document, Number 106 provides a "case taste for slavery. In Charleston, he lis­ study" in detail of how one city and state tened to arrogant assumptions of En­ carefully performed the task of taking-up glish recognition and military assis­ and reburying its dead soldiers. tance - "as if England were a sort of This document includes a list of the appanage to their cotton kingdom." Massachusetts dead, complete accord­ In Boston, in 1861, Gardner A. Fuller ing to information at that time. Edward began publishing a series of pamphlets. Everett's lengthy oration is included, Number 1 in the series, Fuller's Modem as is the President's brief address. The Age, was a 189 page document contain­ comment accompanying Lincoln's talk ing William H. Russell's letters to the contrasts with general contemporary London Times. Fuller chose this for press reactions: "Perhaps nothing in Number 1 because Russell was the most the whole proceedings made so deep "interesting" correspondent with the an impression on the vast assemblage, most "influential" newspaper, and Fuller or has conveyed to the country in so Times and to the British government felt the subject of utmost importance, concise a form, the lesson of the hour, was generally considered accurate and deserving of wide circulation. as the remarks of the President." unbiased. His letters covered the issues of the day: slavery, the blockade of Lincoln's worries about English­ American relations could not have Southern ports, the question of BURIAL OF MASSACHUSETTS been far from his mind as he composed England's recognition of the Confed­ DEAD AT GETTYSBURG eracy, military strength, communica­ the address. Great Britain could take For Abraham Lincoln, the dedication tions lines, agriculture and crop poten­ note of the lesson of the hour: the na­ of the Gettysburg Cemetery presented an tial - especially, of course, cotton. And tion being tested was the whole nation, opportunity to transcend the terrible he described the Southern countryside. North and South; the locale in democ­ battle and vindicate the loss of life, to el­ racy must not perish from the earth. The correspondent spoke with im­ evate the Civil War to an ideological and portant people in Charleston, Mont­ moral plane, thus giving the Union re­ gomery, Mobile, New Orleans, Nachez, newed purpose and rekindled faith. He The author thanks Professors Myers, and Cairo. Also, Mr. Russell met with accomplished this with the 272 words of Stonehouse, and Turner for looking at Secretary Seward, who allowed Russell the Gettysburg Address. the documents and sharing their to read one of his angry dispatches (on thoughts; Mrs. S. Mabel! Bates, for help For each of the states, the impor­ the belief that England really would in so many ways; Dr. Jean Prendergast tance of the Gettysburg ceremony was prefer a divided United States) to for making all this happen; and Melissa to honor its own among the 50,000 Charles Francis Adams in London. Turner who, as part of a high school casualties. The states accomplished During a July 4th conversation, the English project, researched the authors this with remarkable speed. An inter­ Secretary told the correspondent that ofsome of the documents. state commission assessed each state, the United States would not shrink according to its representation in Con­ from a war provoked by a European gress, for funds to clean up the bloody power, but "a contest between Great battlefield. William Saunders was hired Britain and the United States would as the architect to lay out the cemetery. Sylvia Larson is a wrap the world in fire." The correspon­ Only four months after the battle, the Visiting Lecturer in dent was impressed with the Secretary. dedication took place. the Library Media Russell witnessed the Union army's program and also However frequently we ponder the works with the humiliating retreat after the first battle event of November 19, 1863, it is impos­ Lincoln Collection at Bull Run and was one of the few who sible to imagine the enormity of the lo­ at the Maxwell predicted the North would recover. He Library, Special gistics in clearing the huge battlefield, Collections placing the bodies, and preparing a fit- Department.

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