Again, Fairfax was appalled, but he relayed the order to Canty, the gun captain.

A second later, a cannon boomed. It impacted directly in front of the Trent and exploded. It was enough. The Trent surrendered.

Fairfax was chosen to cross to the British vessel. He took an armed party with him. Their purpose was to prevent trouble.

As he stepped onto the Trent’s deck, her captain approached him angrily. “You have no right to fire on us. This is piracy.”

Fairfax was uncomfortable. The Confederates weren't the only ones taking passage on the Trent, A small crowd of civilians had gathered near the bow and virtually all glared at him with undisguised contempt and hate. “I have my orders, sir; you are to surrender the so-called Confederate delegation.”

“Find them yourselves,” Moir snarled.

After quickly determining that neither Mason nor Slidell were in the crowd on the deck, he sent his men below to find them. It did not take long. A few moments later, both Confederates were brought into the sunlight. When it became apparent that they were going to be removed forcibly, several of the civilians appeared to be groping for pistols.

“Steady,” Fairfax told them. “I wish no harm to anyone. But we will shoot if we see a weapon.”

“lt^’ll be all right,” said Slidell. “We will be treated honorably and then released. Do not let blood be shed over us.”

Actually, Fairfax thought. Captain Wilkes planned to treat them as traitors and not particularly honorably. But he kept his counsel so as not to incite violence.

Captain Moir stepped up to Fairfax and glared at him, his face only a few inches from the American's.

“This is not some foul South American merchant, Lieutenant, or a stinking dhow from an Arab slave master. This is a British government ship, part of the government of the most powerful nation on earth. I accept that you are following orders. I can see the distaste on your face. However, your captain is a lunatic. He may have just caused a war between Great Britain and the Union.”