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Lincoln

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jwhouk:
Something that might surprise those of you in the UK is how close you are to a major battle of the Civil War.

In June of 1864, the Confederate Ship Alabama left the harbor of Cherbourg, France to face the USS Kearsarge, whom had been pursuing the former from North America. The CSS Alabama was involved in raiding at least five different ships (for the purposes of resupplying the CSS fleet) on its way to France, as the Kearsarge pursued.

Finally, on the 19th, the Alabama attempted to run the blockade of the harbor by the Kearsarge, with the French flagship Couronne on hand to enforce French Territorial limits. It was a pretty much one-sided battle, as the Kearsarge was a better shielded ship with more accurate guns.

The Alabama still rests off the coast of France in the English channel, about 8.5 km north of Urville-Nacqueville.

Kugai:
It very nearly became a war on two fronts for the Union in 1861 after the Trent Incident.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trent_Affair

Torlek:
The British government was also seriously considering recognizing the Confederacy in 1862 in order to force a peace and open the cotton trade back up. However Antietam happened that September and got rid of that thought. The UK also avoided possibly being drawn in when they seized two ironclad cruisers that were being fitted out in Liverpool for the Confederate Navy in late 1863. The US already had an axe to grind over the Alabama and had the North Carolina or Mississippi made it out a Union invasion of Canada would have been probable. Finally, the last Confederate ship actually surrendered to the Royal Navy in Liverpool a good 5 months after the war ended.

To be an internal American affair the British, and in a less direct manner the French, were surprisingly involved.

jwhouk:
Yeah, one of the reasons why the Confederacy went to grab Fort Sumter first was because they could then control a port where they could continue trade with the UK and others. The Union tried (rather unsuccessfully at most points) to blockade the CSA to keep them from doing so.

The CSA actually used Canada as a base for their spying operations on the Union.

What's rather strange when you read about the Alabama is that the ship never even made port anywhere in the South. It wouldn't surprise me if that was more the norm than the exception.

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