The Alabama

Wars and Battles, Naval and Diplomatic Issues

A few weeks following the outbreak of the Civil War, Britain formally proclaimed her neutrality. As a neutral nation, belligerent ships were not to be constructed or outfitted in British ports. Nevertheless, private Confederate supporters arranged for the building of a number of ships, including the Shenandoah, the Florida and the Alabama. Despite government efforts to prevent these vessels from going to sea, they did in 1862 and successfully preyed upon Union merchant shipping.

The cruiser Alabama was by far the most successful, destroying or capturing more than 60 Union vessels before being sunk by the U.S.S. Kearsarge off the coast of France in June 1864.

The losses of ships, cargoes and lives were deeply resented in the North, where feeling was widespread that Britain bore responsibility. Efforts were made as early as 1863 to collect damages, but Lincoln's minister to Britain, Charles Francis Adams, failed with his negotiations. The bitterness continued after the war, accompanied by loose talk of invading Canada in retaliation.

The so-called "Alabama claims" would not be settled until the Grant administration.

See neutral rights.