Trent case

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Trent case, 1861. In November 1861, soon after the start of the American Civil War, a Federal warship, the San Jacinto, stopped the British packet Trent and took off two Confederate envoys, Mason and Slidell. Palmerston suspended export of arms to the North and sent reinforcements to Canada. War seemed likely but the prince consort, a dying man, softened the cabinet's protest. The Federal government apologized, disavowed the captain, and liberated the envoys. But relations between Britain and the North were further strained by the Alabama incident.

J. A. Cannon

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