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Despite being across the world from the conflict, Australia was affected by the American Civil War economically and by immigration. The Australian cotton crop became more important to England, who had lost its American sources, and it was serving as a supply base for American blockade runners. Immigrants seeking a better life also found Australia preferable to the war torn North American countries.

The Australian public was shocked by the revelation of a turncoat officer that a direct engagement was secretly threatened by Russia in case the Confederacy was recognized by Britain. The Russian navy had just paid Australia a visit in preparation for launching attacks. The shock of a possible military confrontation lead to a massive buildup of coastal defences and to the acquisation of an ironclad warship.

Australia became directly involved when the Confederate navy visited in order to repair one of their warships. This led to protests from the Union representative at Melbourne, while the citizenry of nearby Williamstown entertained the Confederates, while some Australians joined the crew. Accounts disagree as to whether Australians generally favored the Union or the Confederacy, because demonstrations were also held in Sydney when news arrived of Abraham Lincoln's assassination.

Economics

Together, Australia and New Zealand had 140 citizens, 100 of which were native-norn, who were veterans of the American Civil War. Some of these were originally Americans who came to Australia during the Victorian gold rush of the 1850s. Officers during the war included one who gave Tasmania its first telegraph service, and another officer who mined for gold in Ballarat.

Confederate blockade runners occasionally obtained supplies there, despite a historic fear of possible naval attack by Americans, a fear rooted in the actions of American privateers during the War of 1812.

The war also caused the Lancashire Cotton Famine. As a result, Queensland saw a rise in its cotton industry, while the National Colonial Emigration Society in Britain was founded, although it had little ongoing relevance. This came about as a result of so many individuals from northern England being affected by the inability of the Southern United States to ship cotton during the war. Once the war ended, little cotton from Southern Australia was imported to England. However, in the aftermath of the war some Australians were interested in acquiring the Fiji Islands and their cotton fields.

Another impact on immigration was the competition with Canada and New Zealand over the increased Irish immigration, seen as an economic boon for the three countries. The increase was due to many Irish deciding against emigrating to the warring nations of North America.

Imperial Russian Navy

During the Civil War, the Union and Russia were allies against what they saw as their potential enemy, Britain, which supported the Confederacy. The Russian blue-water navy was stationed in San Francisco and from 1863 in New York — with sealed orders to attack British naval targets in case war broke out between the United States and Britain. This was threatened if Britain gave diplomatic recognition to the Confederacy.

The flagship of the Russian Pacific squadron, Bogatyr under Rear Admiral Andrey Alexandrovich Popov, officially made a friendly visit to Melbourne in early 1863. According to information passed on to Australian authorities in June 1864, Rear Admiral A.A. Popov had in the first half of the year 1863 received orders and a plan of attack on the British naval ships positioned near the Australian shore. The plan also included shelling and destruction of the Melbourne, Sydney and Hobart coastal batteries. The information was attributed to the Polish lieutenant Władysław Zbyszewski of the Bogatyr, who had deserted from service in Shanghai soon after Bogatyr left Australia, and found his way to Paris to join the Polish January Uprising. This information about Popov's plans was forwarded by a fellow Pole, a certain S. Rakowsky. Similar attack orders were claimed to have been given to the Atlantic squadron under Rear Admiral Lessovsky, that was sent to New York at the same time.

CSS Shenandoah

The CSS Shenandoah arrived in Australian waters on January 17, 1865. Off the coast of Port Adelaide at 39°32'14"S and 122°16'52" E, her crew spotted an American-made sailing ship named the Nimrod and boarded it. Having ascertained it was an English ship, the Shenandoah left it alone.

On January 25, 1865 the Shenandoah made harbor at Williamstown, Victoria, near Melbourne, in order to repair damage received while capturing Union whaling ships. At seven o'clock in the evening, Waddell sent a Lieutenant Grimball to gain approval from local authorities to repair their ship, with Grimball returning three hours later saying they were granted permission. The United States consul William Blanchard insisted that the Victorian government arrest the Confederates as pirates, but his pleas were ignored by Victoria's governor, Sir Charles Henry Darling, who was satisfied with the Shenandoah’s pleading of neutrality when requesting to be allowed to do repairs. Aside from a few fist fights between Americans, there was no direct conflict between the two warring sides. However, there were eighteen desertions while ashore, and there were constant threats of Northern sympathizers joining the crew in order to capture the ship when it was at sea.

The local citizenry was very interested in the Confederate ship being in Port Phillip Bay. While at Williamstown, James Iredell Waddell, the captain of the Shenandoah and his men participated in several "official functions" the local citizens arranged in their honour, including a gala ball with the "cream of society" at Craig's Royal Hotel in Ballarat and at the Melbourne Club. Thousands of tourists came to see the ship every day, requiring special trains to accommodate them. After being treated as "little lions", the officers of the Shenandoah later reflected that the best time of their lives was given to them by the women of Melbourne.

After leaving Australia, the Shenandoah would capture twenty-five additional Union whaling ships before finally surrendering at Liverpool, England in November, 1865. Those surrendering included 42 Australians who had joined the crew at Williamstown; sources differ as to whether the Australians were stowaways or illegally recruited. Waddell did refuse Australian authorities to see if Australians were aboard the ship prior to sailing from Williamstown on February 18. Four Australians were arrested to prevent them from joining the Confederate ships, and Governor Darling allowed the Shenandoah to sail away, instead of firing upon it. Waddell's official report said that on February 18 they "found on board" the 42 men, and made 36 sailors and enlisted six as marines. One of the original Confederate crewman, midshipman John Thomson Mason, stated that they just happened to find the stowaways, of various nationalities, and enlisted them outside of Australian waters. He further said one of the stowaways was the captain of an English steamer that was at Melbourne at the time; the Englishman became the captain's clerk.

Aftermath

The news of the successful assassination of Abraham Lincoln caused demonstrations of sorrow in Sydney. There were many Australian sympathizers that wanted to put an end to slavery, a central issue with Lincoln and his Emancipation Proclamation. There were strong feelings of anger at public meetings against the killer of Lincoln, a person so dedicated to his country. They figured he was a genius who rose "from a log cabin to the White House." There was a letter of sympathy sent to Lincoln's wife from the mayor of the city of Sydney expressing their sorrow.

The residents of Melbourne, realizing they were vulnerable to attack by others, especially the Russians due to the events during the war, hurried to build coastal defense forts. This included the government of Victoria requesting an ironclad ship to be sent to protect the colony, after the values of ironclads were demonstrated during the American Civil War's Battle of Hampton Roads. The monitor HMVS Cerberus was constructed during the late 1860s, and duly arrived in Victoria in 1871.

In 1872 the British government paid the United States $3,875,000 as a result of the assistance provided to CSS Shenandoah and other Confederate ships in Victoria and other ports controlled by Great Britain, after an international jury ruled on the case in Geneva, Switzerland.

In 1972, the American Civil War Round Table of Australia was founded. Its secretary, Barry Crompton, has the largest library dedicated to the American Civil War outside the United States, with over 4,000 pieces as of 2005.

Self-government

When the six colonies of the Australian continent federated to form a self-governing nation in 1901, Australia favored the British model of government as they had misgivings about America's powerful postwar "monarchical" presidency. Australians also opposed the importation of "coloured labour", in part due to fears of a similar civil war breaking out in Australia. A further precautionary measure was evident in the addition of the word "indissoluble" to the Federal Constitution of 1897–1898 in Adelaide, to prevent the "political heresy" of secession as engaged in by the Confederacy.

See also

• History of Australia (1851-1900)

References

Footnotes

1. Crompton, Barry (September 2008). "CIVIL WAR PARTICIPANTS BORN IN AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND". Archer Memorial Civil War Library & ACWRTA, inc. Retrieved 2009-02-15.
2. ^ Crompton, Barry (May 2000). "CIVIL WAR LINKS WITH AUSTRALIA". American Civil War Round Table of Australia. Retrieved 2009-02-15.
3. Levi p.60
4. Jupp p.301
5. Dowling p.31
6. Levi p.58
7. Jupp p.451
8. ^ THE RUSSIAN CORVETTE "BOGATYR" IN MELBOURNE AND SYDNEY IN 1863
9. A. V. Efimov (А. В. Ефимов) (1958). "Гражданская война в США и Россия". Очерки истории США. 1492-1870 гг (in Template:Ru icon). Moscow: Учпедгиз. Retrieved 2009-02-24. {{cite book}}: External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
10. Thomsen pp.282,283
11. ^ Thomsen p.283
12. ^ Sinclair, Briar (February 1, 2005). "How we helped south in Civil War". Star News Group. Retrieved 2009-02-15.
13. ^ Mawbey, Vaughan (February 1, 2005). "When Civil War came to Willi". The Times. Retrieved 2009-02-15.
14. ^ Levi p.61
15. Stern p.251
16. ^ Stewart, Paul (January 9, 2005). "Last act of war". Sunday Herald Sun. Retrieved 2009-02-15.
17. ^ Mawbey, Vaughan (February 15, 2005). "Who said war's over?". The Times. Retrieved 2009-02-15.
18. Mason p.326
19. ^ Dowling p.24
20. Gale Cengage Learning, p. 348
21. Jupp p.168
22. "Group gets Round Table to discuss romance, war". The Times. February 1, 2005. Retrieved 2009-02-15.
23. Jupp p.844
24. Irving p.434
25. Dowling p.73
26. Irving p.329

Bibliography

• Baldwin, John (2007). Last Flag Down: The Epic Journey of the Last Confederate Warship. Crown Publishers. ISBN 5557760857.
• Dowling, Edward (2008). Australia and America in 1892: A Contrast. BiblioBazaar, LLC. ISBN 0559173075.
• Irving, Helen (1999). The Centenary Companion to Australian Federation. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521573149.
• Jupp, James (2001). The Australian People: An Encyclopedia of the Nation, Its People and Their Origins. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521807891.
• Levi, Werner (1999). American-Australian Relations. U of Minnesota Press. ISBN 0816600449.
• Mason, John Thomson (August 1898). The Last of the Confederate Cruisers. Century Magazine.
• Stern, Philip Van Doren (1992). The Confederate Navy: A Pictorial History. Da Capo Press. ISBN 0306804883.
• Thomsen, Brian (2004). Blue & Gray at Sea: Naval Memoirs of the Civil War. Macmillan. ISBN 0765308967.

Template:Foreign WNA

• 19th century in Australia
• American Civil War by location
• Foreign relations during the American Civil War
• History of Victoria (Australia)
• Military history of Australia