Uploaded November 2024 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
The history is almost forgotten, but a war between USA and Great Britain was only just averted and there is a surprising link to the Ribblehead Viaduct in Yorkshire, UK.
The viaduct’s builders lived in camps, including one named Sebastopol after a Crimean War siege. Some engineers had served there, returning on the RMS Trent, a ship that almost caused a U.S.-UK war during the American Civil War (1861–65). In 1861, two Confederate envoys, Mason and Slidell, boarded the RMS Trent for Europe. A Union warship intercepted them, illegally removing them from the neutral British ship. London, outraged, demanded their release and threatened military action. With Britain’s dominant navy and troops ready in Canada, Lincoln wisely freed the envoys—though he skipped the apology Britain sought. Crisis averted.
So, next time you admire the Ribblehead Viaduct, think of its builders and how their ship, the RMS Trent, nearly dragged Britain into America’s Civil War.
The history is almost forgotten, but a war between USA and Great Britain was only just averted and there is a surprising link to the Ribblehead Viaduct in Yorkshire, UK.
The viaduct’s builders lived in camps, including one named Sebastopol after a Crimean War siege. Some engineers had served there, returning on the RMS Trent, a ship that almost caused a U.S.-UK war during the American Civil War (1861–65). In 1861, two Confederate envoys, Mason and Slidell, boarded the RMS Trent for Europe. A Union warship intercepted them, illegally removing them from the neutral British ship. London, outraged, demanded their release and threatened military action. With Britain’s dominant navy and troops ready in Canada, Lincoln wisely freed the envoys—though he skipped the apology Britain sought. Crisis averted.
So, next time you admire the Ribblehead Viaduct, think of its builders and how their ship, the RMS Trent, nearly dragged Britain into America’s Civil War.










