What was the St. Albans Raid of 1864?

The St. Albans Raid of 1864 was essentially a breach in the neutrality agreement between the United States and England. The controversial aspect of this event was that it involved Confederate soldiers raiding a northern Union town through the Canadian border, which, at that time, was still a colony of England. Despite the many attempts of American individuals to violate the Neutrality Proclamation of 1861, the government of British North America was able to control the situation by limiting their involvement in the dispute and therefore, upholding the British neutrality agreement with the United States of America.

The Neutrality Proclamation of 1861 was issued by England to recognize the belligerence of the Confederate States of America . This simply meant that all the rules of war would apply, and therefore England was to take no part in the American Civil War. This neutrality applied not only to the colonies of Great Britain, but to France as well, for at that time the two nations were working cooperatively. St. Albans, a quiet town in Northern Vermont, was the target of the raid that occurred on October 19, 1864. A band of 20 Confederate soldiers crossed the border from British North America into the United States, robbed the

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If we do not we shall find ourselves dragged into the war for needless cause. Albans raid of 1864 and the 1861 Trent Affair were both controversial issues dealing with the neutrality agreement between England and the United States. Despite this ruling, the general attitude of British North America helped maintain British neutrality with the Americans. ”

While the American people assumed that they had the right to go into British North American territory without permission, the people of Canada firmly stood their ground in order to uphold the rules of neutrality. Albans raid, it was largely due to the fact that British North America upheld its own laws and stood its ground against the Americans. At that time, Washington had announced its plans to put military boats back on to the Great Lakes, and the threat of the expiration of the Reciprocity Treaty . Albans, wrote to the Montreal Evening Telegraph:

“…[he] hadn’t broken any Canadian laws while the Vermonters had insulted Canadians by chasing him across the border, arresting him, beating him, and threatening to kill him, all without respect to the fact that they were in another country…. In fact, the American commander of that area, General Dix, ordered his troops to follow the raiders and cross the Canadian border if necessary . While the damage was minimal and few people were injured, this event caused tension between the Union, England and British North America. Albans bank teller, “we are Confederate soldiers and you are my prisoner. MacDonald, who said of Coursol, “this wretched prig of a police magistrate, who was plainly out of his depth in the complexities of the affair. ” They were officials of the Confederate army acting for the Confederate in the raid, and because the United States of America and the Confederate States of America were in a state of war, to hand over the arrested raiders to the Union would be violating the neutrality agreement between the United States and England. While both cases were resolved quickly, they revealed the awkward relationships between the three parties. During the trial, Judge Charles Coursol dismissed the case and released the raiders rather quickly, under the condition that “having no warrant from the Governor General,” he “possess(es) no jurisdiction” As expected, many Northerners disagreed with Coursol’s decision, and believed that he was bribed by the raiders.

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