Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston

Henry Temple Palmerston (1824-1865) was Prime Minister of Britain almost continuously from 1855 until his death in 1865. He led Britain during the War of Secession. Though he was an opponent of slavery, Palmerston was deeply hostile to the United States and was eager to see it embarassed and weakened by defeat. Following the fall of Philadelphia to the Army of Northern Virginia in the fall of 1862, Palmerston instructed his Foreign Secretary, John Russell, to extend diplomatic recognition to the Confederate States and to "offer" to mediate a peace between the US and CS. Had President Abraham Lincoln refused his "generous" offer, Palmerston would have dispatched the Royal Navy to assist the C.S. Navy in lifting the U.S. Navy's blockade of its ports. Recognizing the threat, Lincoln agreed to Palmerston's offered mediation, granting the CS diplomatic recognition in the process.