U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward unilaterally declines an offer by French Emperor Napoleon III to mediate the conflict between the U.S. and the Confederacy.

Exploring the most important 55 months in American history
U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward unilaterally declines an offer by French Emperor Napoleon III to mediate the conflict between the U.S. and the Confederacy.
President Abraham Lincoln meets with the secret Senate Republican caucus committee and shrewdly arranges for the committee members and his cabinet to explain their differences face to face.
Republican senators gather in an extraordinary caucus to determine how to better manage the war effort after the terrible defeat at Fredericksburg.
Northerners learn of the true disaster at Fredericksburg, which sparks enough outrage to make this the greatest crisis of the Lincoln presidency to date.
Confederates try to curry favor with France, and Great Britain suffers a severe economic downturn due to the lack of southern cotton.
Abraham Lincoln surprises his cabinet by reading a draft of an executive order freeing all slaves in Confederate states.