[CIVIL WAR - NAVY]. FAIRFAX, Lt. Donald McNeill (1818-1894). Autograph letter signed ("D.M. Fairfax"), in which Fairfax discusses his role in the Trent Affair, with full-length CDV portrait of Fairfax in uniform.

Autograph letter signed to "My Dear Wise." Navy Yard, Philadelphia, 15 January [1862]. 2 pp., 8vo, on stationery blindstamped “Holyoke Co.” Comments by the principal Union participant in an important historical event that triggered an international crisis.

The letter first addresses the arming of two Union ships, the Hartford and the Miammi [sic] with muskets, carbines, and cannons. The latter was being outfitted to participate in the crucial Battle of New Orleans. Secondly, Fairfax discusses his very recent and important role in the Trent Affair, which could have led to war with Britain. He writes: "Your friend Williams (mine I shld say) seems to have taken in Punch & other Stupid Editorials—poor Miss Slidell—will you not in writing across the waters defend her from such assaults—have you no “big man” to write to over in the land of John Bull to quiet such excessive fellows as Williams?—say Fairfax endorses all that Misses Slidell did as lady like & proper and that she merely pushed Fairfax as he attempted to move the younger Miss Slidell’s hand from door post of fathers [sic] state room—Yrs. D.M. Fairfax."

[With:] Full-length portrait CDV on cardstock mount of Fairfax. Newport: J.D. Fowler & Co., n.d. Fairfax poses in uniform, with one star and four stripes on his sleeves, signifying the rank of Commander, to which he was promoted effective 16 July 1862, a promotion probably reflecting his conduct aboard the Trent. Strong image in good condition.

On his own initiative, on 8 November 1861, Captain Charles Wilkes of the USS San Jacinto instructed Lt. Fairfax, his second in command, to board the British ship Trent, capture the two Confederate Commissioners, John Slidell and James Mason, and their secretaries James MacFarland and George Eustis, and take control of the ship. Mason and Slidell had been appointed to seek formal recognition of the Confederacy by Great Britain and France and were en route, along with Slidell’s family, to assume their duties. Wilkes’s legal theory for justifying the capture was that the Confederate emissaries were contraband.

Fairfax exercised better judgment. In order to minimize the backlash, he captured the Confederates but declined to take control of the ship. In so doing, he helped to avoid a war between the Union and Great Britain. Both sides soon began to prepare for conflict, but the affair was brought to a peaceful conclusion on January 1, 1862, when the prisoners were released and an apology extended to Great Britain. Flying the flag of Great Britain, a neutral nation, the Trent should not have been subject to a hostile boarding or what followed.

Accounts vary as to what actually happened during the boarding, and they differ pointedly on how Slidell behaved. Probably, after being granted permission to bid farewell to his family, he struggled against being taken and had to be restrained and removed by force. One historian indicates that “Slidell’s furious wife and daughters heaped abuse on the Union sailors, even after Fairfax grabbed one of the daughters and saved her from falling overboard after a sudden wave” (Mark Simmons, “The Trent Affair: When the Union and Great Britain Nearly Went to War,” 21 March 2017 posting, www.warfarehistorynetwork.com). Fairfax’s comments can be seen to lend some support to this account, though as a cooler head in the wake of the incident’s resolution, he apparently wanted to smooth things over, or perhaps just to set the record straight. The British press seems to have enjoyed making light of the unladylike conduct of Slidell’s family. In response, Fairfax asks his correspondent to use his connections with British journalists to exonerate Slidell’s family.

During the Civil War, Fairfax commanded the Cayuga and the Nantucket. He retired as a Rear Admiral in 1881.

The Richard B. Cohen Civil War Collection