The article was published in Polish. Below is an English translation of its opening. Wersja polska
The ship at the centre of this article changed hands many times during her turbulent career and bore no fewer than six names. Ordered by the Confederate States of America, after many vicissitudes she did manage to take part in the war – but too late to affect its course…
The origins of Stonewall go back to October 1862. During an audience with Emperor Napoleon III, the Confederate envoy to France, John Slidell, heard words from the monarch that he could only take as encouragement to make use of the country’s shipbuilding industry. Although the conversation was mostly diplomatic, at one point the Emperor asked why the South did not try to break the blockade of its ports by strengthening its fleet with ships built in Europe. Slidell mentioned the efforts of Confederate agents in Britain to build an armoured frigate and two armoured turret ships (rams), and added that a similar initiative in France would require a guarantee that the ships would not be detained. Napoleon suggested creating the appearance of an order for the Italian navy, promised to consult his Minister of Marine and expressed his conviction that this would pose no problem. The Confederate commissioner reported this encouraging statement to his superior in Richmond, Navy Secretary Stephen R. Mallory, and to his chief agent in Britain, Commander James D. Bulloch.
