Following the American Civil War Sesquicentennial with day by day writings of the time, currently 1863.

Post image for Impressions produced in America by the English Press on the affair of the Trent.—William Howard Russell’s Diary.

Impressions produced in America by the English Press on the affair of the Trent.—William Howard Russell’s Diary.

December 15, 2011

My Diary North and South - William Howard Russell,The American Civil War

December 15th.—The first echo of the San Jacinto’s guns in England reverberated to the United States, and produced a profound sensation. The people had made up their minds John Bull would acquiesce in the seizure, and not say a word about it; or they affected to think so; and the cry of anger which has resounded through the land, and the unmistakable tone of the British press, at once surprise, and irritate, and disappoint them. The American journals, nevertheless, pretend to think it is a mere vulgar excitement, and that the press is “only indulging in its habitual bluster.”

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