In late 1861, the Confederacy still looked strong and the Union had yet to mobilise fully. The Confederate victory at First Bull Run remained the most conspicuous recent battlefield result, while George McClellan was still regarded as a promising Union commander. The U.S. Navy was expanding quickly and sending officers abroad to learn what it needed. David Dixon Porter warned Assistant Secretary Gustavus Fox that HMS Jason’s single Armstrong gun outranged American weapons. Porter’s reaction shows that American officers already worried about modern British firepower.
Chapter · 2:48-6:22
A Union navy still trying to modernise
The United States faces the Trent crisis only eight months into the Civil War, while its navy is still measuring itself against British ships and guns.