British seamen were at the center of a diplomatic and strategic struggle during the Civil War in the United States. Journal accounts of Commander James Dunwoody Bulloch of the Confederate Navy, U.S. Ambassador Charles Francis Adams, and Thomas H. Dudley, U.S. Consul in England, who sought alliance with the British fleet, shed light on the issues during this important time. The book also includes ship rosters as well as accounts of the British sailors who pirated Union vessels or penetrated port blockades.