Page 11 - Abraham Lincoln Hearse Narrative

The President of the United States and the Archbishop
of the Diocese of New York*

Events large and small contribute to the fabric of history, and many small-scale but
important events become lost in the larger story. Such is the case in regard to a special mission
to the United Kingdom and France during the early years of the American Civil War.
In 1861, President Abraham Lincoln faced three challenges: most Southern states were
leaving the Union; a civil war broke out; and the newly established Confederate States of America
(CSA) tried to obtain trade and financial support from powerful foreign nations. To win neutral
stances from the U.K. and France, he secretly assembled an influential group of men to transmit
his views. The envoys he chose were New York State political powerbroker and publisher
Thurlow Weed; recently retired Lt. General Winfield Scott; Roman Catholic Archbishop John
Joseph Hughes of New York; and Protestant Episcopal Bishop Charles Pettit McIlvaine of Ohio.
By selecting these individuals, Lincoln was able to represent American political, military, and
religious interests.
As the delegation prepared to sail on November 8, the group and its mission were exposed.
Yet they proceeded, still prepared to state the Lincoln Administration’s case for neutrality.
Coincidentally, the CSA had just dispatched envoys John Slidell of Louisiana and James Murray
Mason of Virginia to Europe for financial support and to order warships. On November 16, a
U.S. Navy vessel, while enforcing a Union blockade of ships, stopped the British mail steamer
Trent. Slidell and Mason were found on board and sent to prison as enemies of the United States,
an act that further strained diplomatic relations between the nations.
Lincoln’s selection of Archbishop John Hughes was carefully calculated to represent
American Roman Catholics in direct negotiation with Emperor Napoleon III, who ruled
predominantly Roman Catholic France. The Emperor’s furor had been fueled early in the
War when Union General George B. McClellan named three princes from the rival House of
Bourbon-Orleans to his staff. The capture of Confederate envoy Slidell, the loss of commerce
resulting from the blockade, and the threatened loss of orders for shipbuilders, all combined
to undermine fragile relations. In addition, rumors circulated that Lincoln intended to appoint
Italian revolutionary Giuseppe Garibaldi as commander of the Union armies, which would
insult Italian King Victor Emmanuel, who was under the protection of Napoleon III. Many
feared that Garibaldi intended to invade the Catholic Papal States, thereby threatening Italy at
large. Compounding these dangers, in late 1861 Spain, France, and Great Britain deployed their
naval forces in an attempt to overthrow the republican government of Mexico and replace it
with a new emperor, who would be sympathetic to the neighboring Confederate government.
Facing many obstacles, Archbishop Hughes and U.S. Minister to Paris William L. Dayton
persuaded Napoleon III to adopt a neutral policy regarding affairs in North America. Their
success also included redirecting the sale of six French warships not to the CSA but to neutral
nations, thus undermining the South’s plans to develop a strong navy. They also achieved an
agreement that France would take a position regarding the CSA only in concert with England.
Simultaneously, the Trent affair was settled peacefully, and diplomatic tensions eased. As a
leading cleric sent by Lincoln, Archbishop Hughes received respect and played an important role
in persuading the leaders and people of France, England, and other nations that the American
Civil War was being fought over the moral issue of slavery and its termination in America.
*The Lincoln-Hughes relationship is commemorated in a 30’ tall stained glass window
in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Springfield, IL.. ~ James M. Cornelius, ALPLM

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