he Trent was a British mail ship that was captured by a United States naval officer. The reason that this occurence was so important was not because of the ship itself, but because of who was captured from the ship itself. Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate states had sent two envoys to England to try and establish foreign recognition of the Confederacy. These two envoys were James Mason and John Slidell. One October night in 1861, these two slipped past the United States naval blockade and made their way to Cuba. From Cuba these men loaded on to the Trent, and were making their way slowly but surely to England. However, on November 8 1861, U.S. naval officer Captain Charles Wilkes intercepted the mail ship and climbed aboard without official authorization from Washington. Captain…show more content… Great Britain was very alarmed by this course of action from the United States. Britain considered this capture an illegal act, and claimed that the capture violated the British neutrality. Neither the United States nor Great Britain wanted war, but this single act put Great Britain on high alert. Britain felt forced to order troops to Canada and to send additional ships to the Western Atlantic Ocean. The conflict seemed to have pushed Great Britain and the United States toward potential armed conflict. Great Britain attempted to communicate the reactions of the British officials and the demands of the country, but there was a malfunction in the cable. The message reached Washington D.C. almost a month later, and although it was an inconvenience, the delay gave
