1863 Mansucript Map of the HMS <i>Rinaldo</i> Voyage to Union and Confederate Ports

Manuscript record of the voyage that nearly transformed the American Civil War into a global conflict.

A unique c. 1863 manuscript map documenting one of the most consequential British naval voyages of the early American Civil War (1861 - 1865): the 1861-63 Atlantic cruise of HMS Rinaldo. Operating along the North American and West Indian Station, the British warship visited Union and Confederate ports, protected British commercial and diplomatic interests, and carried the released Confederate commissioners James Murray Mason and John Slidell- central figures in the Trent Affair - from Provincetown, Massachusetts, to St. Thomas in the Danish West Indies. This manuscript unites two important episodes in Anglo-American Civil War diplomacy: the resolution of the Trent Affair and the confrontation between General Butler and British acting consul George Coppell.

A Closer Look

Drawn in a skilled hand on waxed linen, the map embraces the Atlantic from Mexico to England and from Newfoundland to Demerara (Guyana), although its greatest detail is concentrated along the American coast between Halifax and the West Indies. The movements of HMS Rinaldo are traced through waters contested by Union blockaders, Confederate privateers, British merchant vessels, and the warships of several neutral powers. Flags identify important ports and their allegiances: the Union Jack at Halifax, the Stars and Stripes at New York, Confederate 'stars and bars' flags at Charleston, Mobile, and Galveston, and Louisiana's distinctive flag at New Orleans.

This flag was adopted AFTER Louisiana seceded, but BEFORE it joined the Confederacy. Its use here is a significant indication of British neutrality: when the HMS Rinaldo visited New Orleans, it was occupied by Union forces under the heavy-handed Major General Benjamin F. Butler, but Louisiana as a whole remained loyal to the Confederacy. The use of this flag here underscores the ambiguity that impregnated the early years of the Civil War.

Voyage of HMS Rinaldo, 1861-63

HMS Rinaldo was a 17-gun, wooden-hulled, screw-propelled sloop of the Royal Navy's Camelion class, launched at Portsmouth in 1860. Commissioned in May 1861 under Commander William Nathan Wrighte Hewett (1834 - 1888), a decorated veteran of the Crimean War, the vessel was assigned to the North America and West Indies Station just as the American Civil War transformed the western Atlantic into a diplomatic and military flashpoint. Her duties included observing the Union blockade, safeguarding British shipping, communicating with consular officials, and maintaining a visible British naval presence at ports controlled by both belligerents.

The route recorded here includes calls at Halifax, New York, Charleston, Mobile, New Orleans, Galveston, Havana, Bermuda, and ports in the West Indies. The Rinaldo was thus repeatedly at the intersection of British commerce, Union military authority, and Confederate efforts to secure European recognition. Although Britain was officially neutral, its dependence on Southern cotton, shipping interests, and tense relations with Washington made the Royal Navy's regional patrols politically sensitive. Every visit to a Confederate harbor risked appearing sympathetic to the Rebellion, while every accommodation of Union authority threatened British claims to neutral maritime rights.

The Trent Affair

The Rinaldo's best-known assignment arose from the Trent Affair, the diplomatic crisis that brought Britain and the United States perilously close to war. On November 8, 1861, Captain Charles Wilkes of the USS San Jacinto stopped the British mail packet RMS Trent in the Bahama Channel and removed Confederate commissioners James Murray Mason and John Slidell, who were traveling to Europe to negotiate diplomatic recognition of the Confederacy. The seizure was celebrated in the North but condemned in Britain as a violation of neutral maritime rights. London demanded the prisoners' release while bolstering British forces in Canada.

Recognizing the danger, President Abraham Lincoln's administration released Mason and Slidell, though without a formal apology. On January 1, 1862, the commissioners and their secretaries were transferred from Fort Warren in Boston Harbor to the Rinaldo at Provincetown. Hewett received them without ceremony and immediately put to sea, initially intending to call at Halifax. Severe weather conditions contributed to a change in course, and the Rinaldo ultimately delivered the party to St. Thomas, the principal Caribbean transfer point for British steamships bound for Europe. Mason and Slidell then continued to Britain, ending the immediate crisis without securing formal British recognition of the Confederacy.

The Rinaldo at New Orleans

The Rinaldo later played a second, less celebrated diplomatic role at Union-occupied New Orleans. After Federal forces captured the city in April 1862, Major General Benjamin F. Butler imposed an uncompromising military government that repeatedly clashed with locals, foreign consuls, and merchants. Among those affected was George Coppell (1838 - 1901), the young British acting consul, who protested Butler's General Order No. 41. The order imposed registration and loyalty requirements upon foreign residents that Coppell believed threatened their continued allegiance to Britain and could compel neutral subjects to serve as informants.

Butler refused to recognize Coppell's authority, citing delays in the formal confirmation of his consular credentials, and temporarily suspended official communication with the British consulate. Washington subsequently repudiated this position: Secretary of State William H. Seward instructed British diplomats that Coppell should resume his duties and requested that the War Department direct Butler accordingly. Lord Lyons, the British minister in Washington, dispatched the Rinaldo to New Orleans carrying instructions supporting Coppell's recognition.

Commander Hewett helped broker a personal reconciliation. He informed Coppell that Butler considered the language of the consul's protest insulting, prompting Coppell to withdraw any expressions that might have offended. Butler accepted the explanation on July 7, 1862, restoring communication with the British consulate. The episode illustrates the complex role of Hewett and the Rinaldo: more than simply patrolling American waters, they were charged to actively defend British interests while preventing local disputes from escalating into international confrontations.

Authorship

The map's composition on waxed linen and precise record of the Rinaldo's movements strongly suggest that it was prepared aboard the vessel by an officer, midshipman, or other member of her company. Waxed linen was durable, flexible, and resistant to the damp conditions encountered at sea, making it particularly suitable for a working chart.

Historical Significance

This manuscript unites two important episodes in Anglo-American Civil War diplomacy: the resolution of the Trent Affair and the confrontation between General Butler and British acting consul George Coppell. More broadly, it documents the precarious position of the Royal Navy in American waters, where British officers were expected to defend neutral commerce, protect diplomatic rights, observe the Union blockade, communicate with Confederate ports, and avoid actions that might draw Britain into the conflict.

Unlike a conventional printed chart, this map records the war as experienced from the deck of a neutral warship moving between opposing jurisdictions. Its flags, routes, and port calls define the Atlantic seaboard as a visual register of divided sovereignty and international tension. As a unique manuscript artifact associated with HMS Rinaldo, Commander Hewett, Mason and Slidell, the Trent Affair, and occupied New Orleans, it offers an exceptional cartographic perspective on the maritime and diplomatic history of the American Civil War.

Publication History and Census

This is a unique manuscript map, apparently compiled aboard HMS Rinaldo during or shortly after her 1861-63 service on the North America and West Indies Station. We are aware of no comparable cartographic manuscripts that similarly encapsulate these dramatic international events during the Civil War.

Condition

Good. Manuscript on waxed linen. Creases on old fold lines. Some soiling.

References

Regis, J., and A. Courtemanche, No Need of Glory: the British Navy in American Waters, 1860-1864.