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00000174-b11b-ddc3-a1fc-bfdbb1a20000The Schreiner University Department of History is honoring the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War with a series of short vignettes focusing on events from 1861 through 1865. The Civil War was the most destructive conflict in American history, but it was also one of our most defining moments as a people and as a nation. Let us know what you think about "This Week in the Civil War." E-mail your comments to Dr. John Huddleston at jhuddles@schreiner.edu.Airs: Weekdays at 5:19 a.m., 8:19 a.m., 4:19 p.m. on KTXI and 4:49 a.m., 9:29 p.m. on KSTX.

This Week in the Civil War - 651

On Saturday, September 5, 1863 troops entered the Laird Shipyards in England and seized two ironclads nearing completion which rumors had destined for sale to the Confederate States of America.  For months both the American minister to England Charles Francis Adams and Washington had expressed concerns over the construction of these vessels. 

Adams had even warned Lord Russell of the British Foreign Office that release of the rams to the Confederacy would precipitate war between the United States and England.  But even before Adams’ threat, on September 3 Lord Russell decided to detain the two rams.  The ships were not turned over to the Confederacy, and a major stumbling block in U.S.-English relations was narrowly avoided, keeping England neutral and out of the American Civil War.