John Slidell

John Slidell (1793-1871), American politician and diplomat, born in New York City, and educated at Columbia College (now Columbia University). In 1819 he moved to New Orleans, Louisiana, where he practiced law and embarked on a political career. In 1853 he became a U.S. senator but resigned in February 1861, after Louisiana seceded from the Union. Later that year, following the outbreak of the American Civil War, he was appointed commissioner to France for the Confederate States of America. Slidell sailed for Paris on the British mail steamer Trent, together with the Confederate commissioner to Britain James Murray Mason, who was en route to London. Their ship was stopped at sea on November 8, 1861, by the U.S. warship San Jacinto, commanded by the Union naval captain Charles Wilkes. The Confederate envoys were arrested and confined in Fort Warren, Boston. When Britain threatened to declare war over the incident, the commissioners were allowed to sail for England on January 1, 1862 (see Trent Affair). Slidell's mission, which was to gain French recognition of the Confederacy, failed. After the war, he remained in Europe.