Spoiler alert: Abraham Lincoln never met Prince Albert or Queen Victoria….but….

The Protocol of Nations

In the earlier days of the country, long before “the hot line” existed, direct communication between heads of state was not considered proper. Written communication (and even most face-to-face conversation) pertaining to diplomatic situations went through the channels of designated intermediaries, i.e. the Secretary of State or ambassador or similar officialdom.

In addition to the proper channels, protocol was rigid. Who was presented first, who entered first, who sat where, right side vs. left side, etc. Lapses of these formalities could create an international incident.

Abraham Lincoln: New President

Abraham Lincoln’s first months as POTUS in 1861 were fraught with crises upon crises, and most historians (and his contemporaries) believe that AL was perhaps not at his most effective in those early days. Several months passed before he began to grow into his new challenges, which seemed to change daily.

When it came to foreign policy, he had little experience, spoke no foreign languages, and his knowledge of the ins-and-outs of diplomacy was still to be learned. For many months he relied on his Secretary of State, William Seward, who had far more expertise in those areas.

Prince Albert: Queen Victoria’s Consort

Albert, Prince Consort of England, was a German man, a decade younger than the US President, but he had been given a superb classical education and a background of European protocol. Only twenty when he married the Queen of Great Britain, he was obliged by their constitution to remain above all politics. He also grew into his position – that of advisor to the Queen, and counselor to a succession of Prime Ministers, Foreign Secretaries, and similar high ranking officials – of all parties. Most historians concur, that while Albert was not warmly regarded in his adopted country, the populace had come to respect his considered advice, which was usually excellent.

In personality, the Prince was far more like Jefferson Davis than like Abraham Lincoln. Both were formal in bearing, invariably polite but cool, and generally humorless, narrow and rigid in their ways and opinions.

But in the early days of the American Civil War, while the British people were very much opposed to slavery (which they had abolished decades earlier), they appreciated Southern manners, and most of all, the benefit of American cotton which had become a mainstay of their textile economy.

The Southern Plan

Jefferson Davis was not a stupid man, and realized from the outset that seceding from the Union to form a “new” country was fraught with problems on many levels: economic, transportation, manufacturing, manpower, etc.  Gaining diplomatic recognition would go a long way to alleviate many of those problems.

To initiate some of those plans, James Murray Mason and John Slidell were sent as envoys to Britain and France to press the Confederacy’s case for diplomatic recognition, and to lobby for financial and military support. Both men were widely respected in the South, with solid credentials in foreign affairs. They were also prepared to run the blockade that the Union had immediately put into effect from Maine through the Gulf of Mexico.

Cutting to the Chase

It was a complicated scheme, and Union intelligence was well aware of their intentions, as well as the potential diplomatic dangers. After a convoluted path of embarkation plans and vessels, Mason and Slidell finally boarded the RMS Trent, a British mail packet ship, in Havana. They were bound for St. Thomas, and then to England. Captain Charles Wilkes of the USS San Jacinto immediately gave chase.

According to Prince Albert’s diary on November 28, 1861 “An American warship holds up our mail packet Trent on the high seas and boards her, and removes by force four gentlemen from the Southern States, who were to have gone to London and Paris as envoys. They are carried off to New York. General indignation. The Law Officers declare the act as a breach of international law.”

Lord John Russell, British Foreign Secretary drafted a bellicose memorandum for the British ambassador in Washington, “threating to recall” our man in Washington.” It was tantamount to a declaration of war. A copy was sent to the Prince Consort.

On November 30, desperately ill with only two weeks to live, Prince Albert drafted an amended version for the Queen. It was firm, but lacking in the belligerence of the original. He noted that [the Queen] should have liked to have seen the expression of a hope, that the American captain, did not act under instructions, or, if he did that he misapprehended them, that the United States Government must be fully aware that the British Government could not allow its flag to be insulted, and the security of her mail communications to be placed in jeopardy; and Her Majesty’s Government are unwilling to believe that the United States Government intended wantonly to put an insult upon this country…”

Without knowing it was Prince Albert who suggested this form of response, Abraham Lincoln was like minded in sentiment. Although a relative novice in both foreign relations and maritime law (he would improve with time), he obviously knew it was a definite breach of international law.

Seward and Lincoln

Secretary of State Seward, who was far more knowledgeable in those matters that the President, saw a foreign incident as an opportunity to divert attention and possibly even reunite the country.

Lincoln disagreed, claiming “One war at a time.”

Both men agreed however, that the aggressive Captain of the San Jacinto had exceeded his authority, and in due time, quietly permitted Mason and Slidell to be released. No apology, no explanation. And the British government continued to maintain its neutrality.

Lincoln likely never knew that it was Prince Albert who suggested the “plausible out.”

It was the last memo the Prince ever wrote.

He died on December 16.

Sources:

Bough, Richard – Victoria and Albert – St. Martin’s Press, 1996

White, Ronald C. Jr. – Lincoln: A Biography – Random House, 2009

https://millercenter.org/president/abraham-lincoln/key-events

https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/trent-affair

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Albert-Prince-Consort