(07-09-2024, 07:36 PM)Ninurta Wrote: The British government of the time was reluctant to formally recognize the Confederacy as an independent nation, but they were more than happy to sell the Confederacy arms and ammunition to support the war effort, which was seen here as a tacit, though not formal, recognition of Southern Independence. A lot of British weapons and ammunition crossed blockades and found it's way into the American South - Ely Brothers percussion caps, powder, "London Colt" revolvers, Kerr revolvers, 1853 Enfield Pattern Rifle Musket, etc. all found their way from Britain to U.S. Civil War battle fields.
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You were kind enough not to mention the embarassment of the "Alabama". I think the twentieth-century Anglo-American relationship has its roots in Gladstone's willingness to settle the Alabama claims. A good investment.