England's acceptance of the Confederacy's status as a "belligerent" power did help the CSA to some degree, but was not a complete acknowledgment of independence. Confederate officials knew this, which caused them no small amount of concern. I noted in my previous post that Jefferson Davis admitted to the Confederate Congress that efforts to gain official recognition as an independent nation by European powers had not gone well. Further evidence that Confederate officials (and, of course, European nations) understood the limits of "belligerent" status may be found in Duncan Kenner's mission to England in December 1864. This event has become famous for what the Confederate government was supposedly willing to give up for foreign recognition and support---slavery.

In 1899, William Wirt Henry interviewed Duncan Kenner about the mission. Henry recalled that Kenner "said that on the fall of New Orleans, which he heard of on his way home form Richmond, he became convinced that the Southern Confederacy could not succeed if it held to slavery, as the prejudice of the civilized world was against it, and to succeed the South needed the countenance and support of England and France." Henry continued, "I would say here that Mr. Kenner was then very wealthy and probably owned more slaves than any man in the Southern Confederacy. He said that on his return to Richmond to attend Congress, he informed Mr. Davis of his conclusion, and of his determination to move in Congress that a commission be sent to Europe to propose to the courts of England and France that if they would acknowledge the Southern Confederacy it would abolish slavery." (William Wirt Henry, "Kenner's Mission to Europe," _The William and Mary Quarterly_ Vol. 25, No. 1 (Jul., 1916): 9)

Davis rejected the plan initially, and asked Kenner not to move on it, believing that such action was not yet necessary. After the war continued to turn against the Confederacy, Davis changed his mind. Kenner was thus authorized to make his way to Europe in late 1864---which he did in a harrowing journey through Union lines, under an alias, to board a ship sailing out of Baltimore.

Kenner arrived in France and briefed the Confederate diplomats there (Mason and Slidell), who at first objected to the plan but ultimately gave in when Kenner's authority was established.

Henry continues: "The French Emperor was communicated with through some one connected with Mr. Slidell, and he replied that he would recognize the Confederacy if England would do so, Mr. Kenner and Mr. Mason then returned to London, and the Prime Minister was indirectly sounded. He replied that under no circumstances would her Majesty's government recognize the Southern Confederacy. This of course put an end to all hope of Mr. Kenner's mission being successful, and in a few weeks he learned of General Lee's surrender." (12)

Kenner's mission was to establish official recognition of the Confederacy by England and France. Neither Napoleon III nor the British Crown nor Jefferson Davis and his fellow Confederate officials believed that the Confederacy stood on equal ground with the Union in international eyes. This is proven by the desperation of Kenner's plan and the fact that according to Kenner himself, France and England refused to "acknowledge" the Confederacy.

International recognition is a tricky matter to establish. Yet, what cannot be denied is that the people most involved in working on European recognition of the Confederacy (Davis, Kenner, Slidell, Mason, and European rulers and their subordinates) all believed (or understood) that no major European power recognized or acknowledged the Confederacy as an independent and equal nation on the international scene.