150 Years Ago: September 28, 1863: England Backing Off?

SEPTEMBER 28TH

Secretary Welles wrote in his diary that chances of European intervention on the Confederate side were dimming.

He wrote: "The last arrivals [newspapers] indicate a better tone and temper in England, and I think France also. From the articles in their papers ... I think our monitors and heavy ordnance have had a peaceful tendency, a tranquillizing effect. The guns of the Weehawken have knocked the breath out of the British statesmen as well as the crew of the Atlanta."

The monitor USS Weehawken had captured the CSS Atlanta June 17, 1863. However, the Weehawken itself sank in a freak accident just two and a half months later.

--Old B-Runner