The Trent Affair of 1861

by Major W.E. Campbell

        In his book, Canada's Soldiers, Lieutenant-Colonel George F.G. Stanley used the sub-title "The Military History of an Unmilitary People" to describe the general lack of interest in military affairs that is characteristic of most Canadians.  However, as he ably described in his book, military operations and considerations have shaped the very fabric of Canadian society.  Unfortunately, many of these facts have been virtually forgotten as the role of the military in the development of our country has been downplayed.  One of these "almost forgotten" episodes is the Trent Affair, which occurred during the first year of the American Civil War, and almost embroiled Canada in the American Civil War.  The military response to the Trent Affair was the mounting and deployment of a force of over 11,500 troops across the winter storm tossed North Atlantic.  A group of 6,818 of them was then moved 309 miles by sleigh, in sub-zero temperatures, across New Brunswick to the Saint Lawrence and then on by rail to Quebec and Montreal.  This feat deserves to be remembered and this article will attempt to do this.

        When the American Civil War broke out in 1861, the troop strength in British North America was at a low ebb.  While it had been increased somewhat from the record low that occurred when forces were stripped away for duty in the Crimea, it was still below the traditional level which was parity with the regular U.S. Army.  Using a "good fences = good neighbours" philosophy, Canada (present-day Ontario and Quebec) was reinforced by three battalions of infantry and a battery of field artillery during the summer of 1861.  A long-standing goal of some Northern U.S. politicians was to add Canada to the Union.  Thus there was a real concern that the Union Forces would move north after their anticipated quick victory over the Confederate States.  This led to the rapid expansion of the Volunteer movement within British North America. In September 1861, Canada asked the British Government to provide 100,000 stands of arms for these Volunteers.  It was not until late October that they agreed to send 25,000 stands but decided not to ship them until the Spring.  Winter was approaching and they could not be made ready in time to load as the last ship of the season was scheduled to sail on 5 November.  Prophetic words indeed!

        This period of cautious tension was abruptly broken on 8 November 1861 when the USS SAN JACINTO boarded the British mail steamer TRENT in the Bermuda passage and forcibly removed two Confederate Commissioners who were enroute to Britain and France.  This precipitated the "Trent Affair".  The British Government and people were enraged by this violation of the laws of the sea and British neutrality.  The situation was further inflamed by the obvious American glee in having twisted the lion's tail!  War was almost a certainty.  While demands for the release of the Commissioners were made and the dying Prince Consort, Albert, tried to achieve a peaceful solution to the crisis, the British War Office made plans for the immediate dispatch of reinforcements to British North America.  The plan was quickly implemented.  News of the "Trent Affair" did not reach London until 28 November, the decision to reinforce Canada was made on 6 December and the first troops had sailed by 7 December.

        The campaign plan was highly flexible.  If required, an invasion of the U.S. would be conducted using the two traditional routes, which were south from the Niagara Peninsula and from Montreal via Lake Champlain.  These forces, operating in conjunction with the Royal Navy which would blockade the Atlantic ports, would split the Northern States in half.  These efforts, combined with those of the Confederate States, would have likely resulted in a speedy victory.  Otherwise, the plan was to defend the border against possible Northern aggression.  The local militia forces would have been used to augment the British regulars as needed.

       The first group of forces to deploy was designed to bolster the defences of British North America pending the arrival of a larger force in the Spring, prior to the start of the campaigning season, and to guard against an early Spring offensive by the North.  The troops destined for Nova Scotia Command (present day New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island) could come directly by sea.  However, the majority of the force was to go to Canada and this presented the greatest problem.  The shipping season in the Saint Lawrence had closed in late November as had the lighthouses and other aides to navigation.  It was hoped that ships could get as far up the Saint Lawrence River as Rivière du Loup, which was the Eastern Terminus of the Grand Trunk Railway, or Bic which is about 54 miles below Rivière du Loup.  If this was not possible, the ships were to divert to Halifax.  The troops would then proceed to Saint John and, from there, go overland to Rivière du Loup where they would take the train to Quebec City, Montreal and points as far west as London, CW.  Although it was a quickly planned deployment, it was not poorly planned!  The War Office had learned the lessons from the Crimean War and the disastrous winter of 1854/55.  Officers with experience in Canada were extensively consulted, as was Florence Nightingale who gave valuable advice on the health and sanitation of the troops during a winter march.  A retired Commissariat officer, who had made the arrangements for the march of the 43rd, 85th and 34th Regiments during the winter of 1837/38, made many suggestions that were incorporated into the final plan.

       Hectic preparations took place in the United Kingdom as troops were warned for duty, ships were chartered and supplies of warlike stores such as weapons, ammunition, camp stores and uniforms for both the British troops and the militia of British North America were readied for shipment.  The winter voyage across the storm tossed North Atlantic was fraught with danger.  Troop ships and their escorts were separated by the bad weather.  Most of the ships chartered were side-paddle steamers which limited their ability to navigate the ice which they would encounter in the approaches to the Saint Lawrence River and their engines were prone to storm damage.  The newspapers of the day reported the PARANA, with a thousand troops on board, overdue and feared lost but fortunately this was not true.  Besides having a slow passage, she had run aground on a sandbank during a snow squall, subsequently floated free on the next tide and eventually reached Halifax.  Only one ship, the PERSIA, actually made it up the Saint Lawrence as far as Bic.  As the men of the 1st Battalion of the 16th Regiment were being disembarking, a rush of ice came down river and she quickly had to put to sea.  A company of infantry was left on board and a portion of the crew was left on shore!  The soldiers helped to man the ship until she could reach Halifax.  The ship carrying the bulk of the 96^th Regiment had to put back to England after two attempts due to damage.  The Regiment was commended by the Admiralty for its efforts in helping to save the ship!  A total of sixteen ships were chartered, some of which made more than one voyage.

       By the end of December 1861, the harbour of Halifax was filling up with troop ships.  The next problem was the onwards movement of those troops which were destined for Canada.  At Halifax, the military staff under the Commander, Major General Sir Hastings Doyle, had been working on this.  The normal winter route to Canada was by the railway from Maine to Montreal.  Given the pending war, this was not an acceptable option.  While the basic plan was that the troops would be conveyed to Saint John, there were two options for their onward movement.  The first choice was the tried and true one up the Saint John River to present day Edmundston and then overland to Rivière du Loup.  An alternate route, which used the rail link from Saint John to Shediac and then went by road to Campbellton and overland to Métis on the Saint Lawrence, was investigated but discarded.  So, while the troops were crossing the Atlantic, the military staff was busy arranging for transportation, lodgings and food along the Saint John River route.

       The desire to use modern methods of transportation was quite evident.  A portion of the Saint Andrews and Quebec Railway had been built from Saint Andrews to Canterbury and it was initially thought that this would be the best way to move the troops as far as Woodstock.  However, this did not work out as the railway proved to be unequal to the task due to the cold weather and the quantity of snow on the tracks.  The route, as finally used, ran overland from Saint John to Fredericton, then along the West Bank to Grand Falls where it crossed over the suspension bridge to the East Bank, and onwards to Little Falls (Edmundston) before going North to Fort Ingall and then over the "Grand Portage" to Rivière du Loup.  Baring weather delays, it took ten days to complete the journey by sleigh.  Nine overnight stops were arranged and these were manned by detachments of the Military Train, Army Hospital Corps and the Commissariat Staff Corps.  Food was purchased locally although the Commissary set up bakeries at Grand Falls and Fort Ingall.  An advanced headquarters was established at Saint John to control the movement of the troops.

        The 1st Bn Military Train was charged with the management of the transportation.  The contract for this had been arranged by Assistant Commissary General Mahon at Fredericton and was awarded to three contractors who divided the route into three stages (Saint John to Fredericton, Fredericton to Little Falls and Little Falls to Rivière du Loup).  These contractors provided roughly constructed two-horsed sleighs, which were capable of holding eight men facing each other.  The Guards, being larger men, could only put six in each one.  Each sleigh was provided with a small repair kit consisting of a saw, hammer, nails, clasp knife and cord for repairs or emergencies on the road plus an allocation of snow shovels and snowshoes.  Many of the drivers and horses were normally employed in the lumber trade, or were local farmers, and so were familiar with the winter conditions that would be encountered.  Similar sleighs were provided for the carriage of the eighteen Armstrong guns of the three Field Batteries.

        The troops were divided into packets of approximately 160 men for movement. A typical packet consisted of a sleigh with half of the officers, baggage sleighs with an escort, sleighs with the main body of troops and the last sleigh with the remaining half of the officers. Prior to departing England, each soldier was provided with cold weather clothing consisting of: furcaps with ear lappets, woollen comforters, chamois waistcoats, a flannel shirt and drawers, warm gloves, a pair of long boots and thick woollen stockings. The men of the Military Train were also issued a pea jacket. In addition to this, the men were issued moccasins at Saint John and the contractors provided straw and buffalo robes for use in the sleighs. For further warmth, the men were provided with hot meals at breakfast, midday and supper. They were also encouraged to run alongside the sleighs in shifts to maintain circulation. Medical officers travelled with most groups and others were located at each of the halts.

       The route had improved considerably since the previous deployments over it.  It now followed an established road.  The part through New Brunswick was not good as it was in poor repair whilst the portion in Canada was well kept.  Snow ploughs and rollers were used to keep it open during the bad weather.  Where possible the troops were billeted in existing buildings such as houses, hotels, warehouses or barns. They were fortunate to be able to use the barracks in Saint John and Fredericton and the abandoned post at Fort Ingall was refurbished.  It was only at Petersville and St. Francis that temporary long, low log buildings called "cabanos" had to be build for shelter.  The officers stayed in nearby hotels or private homes.  During the march of the 104th Regiment in the winter of 1813, a company had been storm delayed in the area between Fort Ingall and Rivière du Loup, and so reserve stores of food were made to guard against this possibility.  All told, the force had a much easier trip than the 104th had in 1813 when they had to march on foot pulling toboggans!

       The following table shows the details of the route and the overnight stopping places that were set up:

(Edmundston)