Louis Napoleon, then the despotic ruler of France, was unfriendly to the United States, and did his utmost to persuade the English Government to unite with him in a scheme of intervention that would probably have secured the division of the country. How far his plans went beyond that result, can only be conjectured; but while the war was still in progress (1864) he threw a French force into Mexico, and established there an ephemeral empire with an Austrian archduke at its head. That the possession of Mexico alone was not his object, is suggested by the fact that, when the rebellion was subdued and the secession cause extinct, he withdrew his troops from Mexico and left the archduke to the fate of other filibusters. The Russian Government was friendly to the United States throughout the struggle. The imperial manifesto for the abolition of serfdom in Russia was issued on March 3, 1861, the day before President Lincoln was inaugurated, and this perhaps created a special bond of sympathy. [Illustration: FORT MONROE.] [Illustration: MAJOR-GENERAL BENJAMIN F. BUTLER.] [Illustration: COMMODORE S. H. STRINGHAM. (Afterward Rear-Admiral.)] CHAPTER VIII. THE FIRST UNION VICTORIES. FEDERAL NAVY--BLOCKADE-RUNNING--BALLS, POWDER, AND EQUIPMENTS BROUGHT FROM ENGLAND FOR CONFEDERATES--THE FIRST HATTERAS EXPEDITION--CAPTURE OF FORT HATTERAS AND FORT CLARK--CAPTURE OF HILTON HEAD AND PORT ROYAL--GENERAL BURNSIDE'S EXPEDITION TO ROANOKE ISLAND--FEDERAL VICTORY AT MILL SPRINGS, KY.--CAPTURE OF FORT HENRY BY FEDERAL FORCES UNDER GENERAL GRANT--FALL OF FORT DONELSON--BATTLE OF PEA RIDGE.