8. General Price now pressed northward to Lexington, which was defended by two thousand six hundred Federals, commanded by Colonel Mulligan. A stubborn defence was made, but Mulligan was obliged to capitulate. On the 16th of October Lexington was retaken by the Federals. General John C. Fremont followed the retreating Confederates as far as Springfield, when he was superseded by General Hunter. The latter retreated to St. Louis, and Price fell back toward Arkansas. 9. The Confederates captured the town of Columbus in Kentucky, and also gathered in force at Belmont, on the opposite bank of the Mississippi. Colonel Ulysses S. Grant, with three thousand Illinois troops, was now sent into Missouri. On the 7th of November he made a successful attack on Belmont; but was afterwards obliged to retreat. [Sidenote: Ball's Bluff.] 10. After the rout at Bull Run, troops were rapidly hurried to Washington. The aged General Scott retired from active duty, and General McClellan took command of the Army of the Potomac. By October his forces had increased to a hundred and fifty thousand men. On the 21st of that month two thousand troops were sent across the Potomac at Ball's Bluff. Without proper support, the Federals were attacked by a force of Confederates under General Evans, driven to the river, their leader, Colonel Baker, killed, and the whole force routed with a loss of eight hundred men. [Sidenote: Southern Coast Blockaded.] 11. In the summer of 1861 a naval expedition proceeded to the North Carolina coast, and on the 29th of August captured the forts at Hatteras Inlet. On the 7th of November an armament, under Commodore Samuel F. Du Pont and General Thomas W. Sherman, reached Port Royal, and captured Forts Walker and Beauregard. The blockade became so rigorous that communication between the Confederate States and foreign nations was cut off. In this juncture of affairs, a serious difficulty arose with Great Britain. [Illustration: George B. McClellan.] [Sidenote: Mason and Slidell.] 12. The Confederate government appointed James M. Mason and John Slidell as ambassadors to France and England. The envoys, escaping from Charleston, reached Havana in safety. At that port they took passage on the British steamer _Trent_ for Europe. On the 8th of November the vessel was overtaken by the United States frigate _San Jacinto_, commanded by Captain Wilkes. The _Trent_ was hailed and boarded; the two ambassadors were seized, transferred to the _San Jacinto_, and carried to Boston. When the _Trent_ reached England, the whole kingdom burst out in a blaze of wrath.