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Sadly, Prince Albert would never know that he had averted what very well could have been a tragic confrontation He had died on the fourteenth of the same month

But consider for a ed the fatal dispatch

What if Lincoln had been forced by the strong language to ignore the ultimatum?

What if the British invasion of the United States had gone forward?

What if there had been war?

NOVEMBER 8, 1861

The USS San Jacinto rocked gently in the calm seas of the South Atlantic; blue water below, blue sky above The fire in her boiler was banked and only a trickle of sh funnel The Bahama Channel was only fifteen hthouse, a bottleneck through which all the island traffic funneled Captain Charles D Wilkes stood on the bridge of the Arimly toward the west

“Sht,” the lookout stationed in the crow’s nest called out “East southeast”

The captain did notThe ship that he aiting for would be co soon if his calculations were correct If the reports from the Union spies in Cuba could be believed, theshould be on board The chase so far had been a frustrating one; all about the Caribbean The wanted men had been one step ahead of him ever since he had sailed from Florida This would be his last chance to apprehend thee between the islands, she would now be safely on her way back to England and the pair would have escaped

The decision he had made to station his ship here in the Old Bahama Channel was based completely on speculation If the two men had indeed boarded the Trent, and if the steam packet had left Havana as scheduled — and if she took this course to St Thomas, why then she should be here by noon at the latest He started to reach for his watch, then stopped, not wanting to reveal eagerness or doubt before the crew Instead he squinted up at the sun; surely it was close to the hter behind his back and the scowl deepened on his face

Five minutes went by — they could have been five hours — before the lookout called out again

“Steamer ahoy! Just off the port bow”