The success of the Union cause was constantly menaced by the hostility of the British Government. The English Prime Minister unquestionably desired to recognize the Southern Confederacy. The commercial interests of Great Britain were greatly injured by the war. At that time she was the principal manufacturing nation of the world, and one of her principal industries was in cotton. The spinners of Manchester clamored for raw material. The American blockade closed the ports of the Confederacy. The cotton was locked up. The success of the Union also meant the abolition of slavery in the South. It was believed that without slave labor cheap cotton could not be produced to supply English mills. Furthermore, British investors bought millions of dollars' worth of bonds of the Southern Confederacy, furnishing the Davis government in return quantities of ammunition, which found its way into the Southern States through the blockade at Wilmington; thus, for example, Lee's army left on the battlefield of Gettysburg thousands of boxes of musket-cartridges and shells in British cases. All this embittered the North toward England, and after the war was over the people of the South were likewise displeased because the British Premier had not done what we feared he would do, that is, lead the way toward a European recognition of the Southern Confederacy, and the establishment of the independence of the Richmond Government.
Our ancient friend, France, was an empire under Louis Napoleon, and hostile, having designs for the extension of French conquests on the Western Hemisphere.
Previous article Next article
From General Nelson A. Miles
Thrilling Stories of The Russian-Japanese War, 1904
