became disillusioned. He saw that the international situation was
not so simple as it seemed; that while the South had powerful
friends abroad, it also had powerful foes; that the British
anti-slavery party was a more formidable enemy than he had
expected it to be; and that intervention was not a foregone
conclusion. The task of an unrecognized ambassador being too
annoying for him, Yancey was relieved at his own request and
Mason was sent out to take his place. A singular little incident
like a dismal prophecy occurred as Yancey was on his way home. He
passed through Havana early in 1862, when the news of the
surrender of Fort Donelson had begun to stagger the hopes and
impair the prestige of the Confederates. By the advice of the
Confederate agent in Cuba, Yancey did not call on the Spanish
Governor but sent him word that "delicacy alone prompted his
departure without the gratification of a personal interview." The
Governor expressed himself as "exceedingly grateful for the noble
sentiment which prevented" Yancey from causing international
complications at Havana.

The history of the first year of Confederate foreign affairs is
interwoven with the history of Confederate finance. During that
year the South became a great buyer in Europe. Arms, powder,
cloth, machinery, medicines, ships, a thousand things, had all to
be bought abroad. To establish the foreign credit of the new
Government was the arduous task of the Confederate Secretary of
the Treasury, Christopher G. Memminger. The first great campaign
of the war was not fought by armies. It was a commercial campaign
fought by agents of the Federal and Confederate governments and
having for its aim the cornering of the munitions market in
Europe. In this campaign the Federal agents had decisive