Description:

Lincoln Abraham 1809 - 1865 Abraham Lincoln invites Secretary of the Navy Gideon Wells to a state dinner held in honor of the visit of Prince Napoleon to the United States

Partly-engraved document, 1 page, 5.5" x 3.75" (visible), [Washington, July-August 1861] requesting the presence of Secretary of the Navy Gideon Wells for a dinner at the Executive Mansion on Saturday, August 3, 1861. Fine condition.

The "dinner" held on August 3, 1861 was actually a state dinner held in honor of the visit of Prince Napoleon Joseph Charles Paul Bonaparte (1822-1891). Prince Napoleon (also known by the sobriquet, "Plon Plon"), was the son of Napoleon Bonaparte's youngest brother J’ér’‚ome Bonaparte (1784-1860).

The Prince's visit to Washington began inauspiciously when he arrived at the White House at noon to find no one to answer the door. According to the Prince's aide, an unknown employee, who happened to be passing by, showed the Prince into the Executive Mansion. The short meeting between Bonaparte and Lincoln was not a pleasant one. The Prince, insulted by his initial reception, "took a cruel pleasure in remaining silent." (Camille Ferri-Pisani, Prince Napoleon in America, 1861, 1959, 41, 100)

Conversely, the state dinner held that evening in the Prince's honor, proved a resounding success. The newspapers reported that "Prince Napoleon was seated at the right of Mrs. Lincoln and opposite General [Winfield] Scott, who was at the President's left. Gen. McClellan was at the right of [the]Prince." The success of the evening was largely due to Mary Lincoln, "in so grouping the guests as to bring parties together likely to enjoy each other's society and conversation." (Evening Star, Washington, August 5, 1861, 2: 1; National Republican, Washington 5 August 1861, 3:2; Pisani,103-114)

Secretary Wells, together with most of Lincoln's cabinet, accepted the invitation and attended the dinner (Evening Star, Ibid). McClellan recalled that he and the Prince "enjoyed some long talks," complimenting him on his command of English "very much as the Frenchmen do in the old English comedies. He is an intelligent man." (McClellan, McClellan's Own Story, 1887, 84) The Prince was a veteran of the Crimean War, and McClellan, who was at the time pushing the idea of a grand Napoleonic campaign against Richmond, must have found the Prince's conversation enlightening.

Although Prince Napoleon was travelling as a private citizen, the dinner was a critical diplomatic affair for the United States. At this early stage, the question whether Great Britain and France would recognize the Confederate States of America was an open questionŠ—”especially as the Union blockade cut off the cotton supply to Europe doubling its price. Both the French and British Ambassadors attended, as well as other members of the French legation. (Evening Star, Ibid)

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