Trae Cumbee

Background

Argument

Evidence

Diplomatic Consequence

Media Reaction

Jackson Region Support

Background

The American Civil War was the bloodiest war ever fought by the United States. What made this conflict worse was that the war was fought between the same country and as a result, each loss of life was one more American that died. As bad as the war was, the war could have not just been a civil war but a global conflict. It is often perceived by historians that there was never a large chance that the American Civil War could have drawn in the European superpowers. However, during the early stages of the American Civil War, there was a good chance for the Confederacy to bring in support from Britain to end the Union blockade of the Confederate coastline. With that support was the possibility to bring trained and experienced ground forces to defeat the Union.

During the early stages of the war, the Trent Affair brought diplomatic relations between Britain and the Union to a climax and set the stage for the likelihood of British entry into the war on the side of the Confederacy. Following the Trent Affair, Britain bolstered its Atlantic navy to be able to rival and if necessary defeat Union naval forces and transport more troops across the Atlantic. It also placed more troops within Canada and requested that Canada raise more militia in case Britain was brought into the war. Confederate diplomacy was able to make headway with British Parliament through the efforts of James Mason. He was able to gather support during early 1862, however all progress would soon falter and any true chance of British intervention through military action would be forever lost.

Argument

Evidence

After the news of the fall of Fort Donelson reached the Confederate ambassador in Great Britain, the work that James M. Mason had begun when he reached Britain after the Trent Affair began to fall apart. In a dispatch on March 11, 1862, Mason revealed that a discussion between the two houses of parliament proved that they would not be of assistance to the Confederacy in breaking the Union blockade and entering the war on the side of the Confederacy.^[1] Members of the British government believed that since a way was open for a Union army to advance into Central Tennessee and a new broader front in the West had opened up that any hope for control of the border states had failed. Within the dispatch, Mason claimed that the Confederate losses at Fort Donelson had an “unfortunate effect on the minds of our friends here as was naturally to be expected.”^[2] The British government had feared that the North had set a strategic pattern for further advances into the Confederacy in the West.^[3]

^[1] Virginia Mason, The public life and diplomatic correspondence of James M. Mason (The Stone Printing and Manufacturing Co, 1903) 265, https://books.google.com/books?id=1ysOAAAAIAAJ&printsec=toc&hl=en#v=onepage&q=Fort%20Donelson%20&f=false.

^[2] Virginia Mason, The public life and diplomatic correspondence of James M. Mason (The Stone Printing and Manufacturing Co, 1903) 266, https://books.google.com/books?id=1ysOAAAAIAAJ&printsec=toc&hl=en#v=onepage&q=Fort%20Donelson%20&f=false.

^[3] Stewart, W. Richard American Military History: The United States Army and Forging of a Nation, 1775-1917. Library of Congress Catalog, 2005. 242.

While historians believed that any chance for European intervention into the war by negotiating peace was lost following the Confederate defeat at the Battle of Antietam and the subsequent signing of the Emancipation Proclamation It is generally assumed that there was never any real chance that Britain would actually enter the war with force to force the Union to recognize the Confederacy. However, during the early stages of the American Civil War, Britain had legitimate reasons for and willingness to enter the war. But all changed once Grant began his military advance into the Jackson Purchase region of Kentucky and Tennessee. The Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers were important to be able to bypass stronger fortifications at Fort Columbus protecting the Mississippi River. This led the Union on a path to take control of Fort Henry and Donelson. Fort Donelson was the most important base in preventing a Union advance across the whole Western front and keeping their armies pend up in Kentucky. The outcome of the battle at Fort Donelson was the deciding factor in allowing the deep advance into Confederate territory and also the most important factor that ended the chance for British military intervention.

As a result of the loss, James Mason lost much of the support he had acquired in the British Parliament because the British government understood the importance of a broader front in the war. They knew the Confederates would never be able to fight a drawn out war across the West which would require a larger military force and greater amount of supplies. The Confederates also lost the favor of the London Times which would have been key in acquiring further British support among the common people. While the British government began to back away from their willingness to provide support to the Confederacy, the area which had become so vital in determining future diplomatic relations began to support growth in support of the Confederacy. The Jackson Purchase began to provide greater support to the Confederacy in both men and war materials. While the Union had to have a military occupation of the region, the people continued to be thorn in the Union’s backside and provide a bed for Confederate sympathizers that still exist to this day.

Diplomatic Consequence

After the news of the fall of Fort Donelson reached the Confederate ambassador in Great Britain, the work that James M. Mason had begun when he reached Britain after the Trent Affair began to fall apart. In a dispatch on March 11, 1862, Mason revealed that a discussion between the two houses of parliament proved that they would not be of assistance to the Confederacy in breaking the Union blockade and entering the war on the side of the Confederacy.^[1] Members of the British government believed that since a way was open for a Union army to advance into Central Tennessee and a new broader front in the West had opened up that any hope for control of the border states had failed. Within the dispatch, Mason claimed that the Confederate losses at Fort Donelson had an “unfortunate effect on the minds of our friends here as was naturally to be expected.”^[2] The British government had feared that the North had set a strategic pattern for further advances into the Confederacy in the West.^[3]

^[1] Virginia Mason, The public life and diplomatic correspondence of James M. Mason (The Stone Printing and Manufacturing Co, 1903) 265, https://books.google.com/books?id=1ysOAAAAIAAJ&printsec=toc&hl=en#v=onepage&q=Fort%20Donelson%20&f=false.

^[2] Virginia Mason, The public life and diplomatic correspondence of James M. Mason (The Stone Printing and Manufacturing Co, 1903) 266, https://books.google.com/books?id=1ysOAAAAIAAJ&printsec=toc&hl=en#v=onepage&q=Fort%20Donelson%20&f=false.

^[3] Richard W. Stewart, American Military History: The United States Army and Forging of a Nation, 1775-1917, Library of Congress Catalog, 2005. 242.

Media Reaction

After the news reached Great Britain that the Confederates had lost control of Fort Donelson and had to withdraw, the British media realized the importance of the battle on the course of the war. They reported that the loss at Fort Donelson brought about a large number of prisoners that were a vital source of troops in the area for the Confederacy and that they believed that the loss would bring about a far quicker end to the “rebellion”.^[1] They followed the reports of the Union correspondents with the New York Times special dispatch of the battle. This was the start of more accurately reported statistics and events in the London Times. The reports stated that the Union had captured more than 15,000 Confederate soldiers but that the Union army had suffered more casualties in the assault than the Confederates.^[2] They also began to report on the greater scale of the Union advance throughout the West.

It became clear that the loss of Fort Donelson would bring about the loss of Nashville, a vital industrial center for the Confederacy and the first rebel capital that would fall to the hands of the Union army. Even other Union advances began to be covered in the London Times such as the Union advance into Missouri which occured at roughly the same time with the Union attack in the Jackson Purchase region. Both of these began to turn the tide of the war for the long term in the favor of the Union.

^[1] American Civil War Report, London Times, March 6, 1862.

^[2] American Civil War Report, London Times, March 6, 1862.

Jackson Region Support

The Jackson Purchase region had closer connections to the South than the rest of Kentucky due the farming of cash crops and a larger number of slaves than the rest of the state. So as a result of the loss at Fort Donelson, those people who lived within the Jackson Purchase region during the American Civil War viewed the events in early 1862 and the increased presence of Union troops in the area as a danger to their way of life and their beliefs. Since the Confederates were defeated at Fort Donelson, there was less of a presence of the Confederate troops which allowed the Union to strengthen their position in the area. Instead of the general population following the standards set by the Union army and following their rules, many of the residents sought to rise up against and continue to support the Confederacy in a variety of ways. Instead of the loss of Fort Donelson demoralizing the support of the Confederacy in the area, it strengthened the belief that the citizens had that the Confederacy could win the war.

The people of the Jackson Purchase area continued to provide support to the Confederacy, through the form of captured military war materials and trading supplies.^[1] The Confederate army was able to recruit many companies from the region during the occupation of the Union army. In 1862, after the fall of Fort Donelson, the Confederates continued to recruit companies from Calloway County which helped in many of the campaigns throughout the West.^[2] Attempts to control the illicit trade of supplies resulted in a persecution of Jewish traders through General Orders 11. The Jews were forced to leave the area and were not allowed to sell any possessions and business and had to migrate to Illinois.^[3] This led to many of the locals in the area to believe that the Union military was acting aggressively towards the native population of the Jackson Purchase and forced many of those who had remained neutral in the area to begin to support the Confederacy and provide a bed for further guerrilla warfare. Even when Nathan Bedford Forrest began his attack on Paducah in late March, the New York Times reported that some citizens had fled the town, not due to the advance of Confederates but because many feared reprisal by their own neighbors for Union support.^[4]

^[1] Dan Lee, The Civil War in the Jackson Purchase, 1861-182. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2014. 192.

^[2] J.H., W.H. Perrin and G.C. Kniffin, Battle; Kentucky: A History of the State Louisville, Chicago: F.A Battey Publishing Co., 1885. 83.

^[3] Dan Lee, The Civil War in the Jackson Purchase, 1861-182. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2014. 193.

^[4] Harold Hozler & Craig Sydmonds, The New York Times: Complete Civil War, Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, Inc. 2010. 316.

Conclusion

While the loss of Fort Donelson was devastating to the Confederates’ plans for the war, it also had diplomatic consequences that are often overlooked by many historians. While the resolution of the Trent Affair was greatly important in keeping Great Britain out of the American Civil War, it was not the sole reason that they chose to remain out of the war. Before the events of Fort Donelson but after the Trent Affair, there was hope among the Confederate government and the ambassador to Great Britain that the British would still come to the aid of the Confederacy. British newspapers such as the London Times had, up to the report of the loss at Fort Donelson, continued to report in a more positive aspect towards the Confederacy and made the Union advance into the Jackson Purchase area in the Western theater appear far less important than it actually was.

However, once the news broke that the Confederate’s had lost control of Fort Donelson and the way was open to the Union army to make deep advances into Tennessee, the British media began to use the New York Times and stopped any bias that it had previously shown towards the Confederacy. All the while, the residents in the area in which had caused such a turn of events on the diplomatic stage still supported the Confederacy and as a consequence of increased Union presence supported the Confederacy even further and provided a hot bed for guerrilla warfare that would last the entire length of the war. The Confederate loss at Fort Donelson had arguably been the turning point that kept the British from directly entering the war; however, hope remained for those in the Confederacy that at British could still be of use for them in mediating a peace between the North and the South. But the Confederates would never again be as close as they were before the loss to bring a world super power on their side and end the war decisively in favor of the Confederacy.

Bibliography

Primary

Mason, Virginia. The public life and diplomatic correspondence of James M. Mason The Stone Printing and Manufacturing Co, 1903. https://books.google.com/books?id=1ysOAAAAIAAJ&printsec=toc&hl=en#v=onepage&q=Fort%20Donelson%20&f=false.London Times. American Civil War Reports. 1862.J.H., W.H. Perrin and G.C. Kniffin. Battle; Kentucky: A History of the State. Louisville, Chicago: F.A Battey Publishing Co. 1885.Holzer, Harold & Sydmonds, Craig. The New York Times: Complete Civil War. Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, Inc. 2010.

Secondary

Lee, Dan. The Civil War in the Jackson Purchase, 1861-182. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2014. Stewart, Richard W. American Military History: The United States Army and Forging of a Nation. 1775-1917. Library of Congress Catalog, 2005.

About Author

I’m a senior at Murray State University majoring in Secondary Education. I plan to become a history teacher after graduation. I have lived close to the Jackson Purchase region all my life in Todd County, Kentucky. I always enjoyed going to Fort Donelson as a child and learning about the events that transpired there. As a hobby, I like to learn about the military and American Civil War.