The North was defeated at Bull Run in July 1861, but captured forts Henry and Donelson in 1862, and gained a victory at Shiloh. At Richmond, and later at Fredericksburg, the North was defeated. Lincoln issued his proclamation of Emancipation on January 1, 1863. The South, under Lee, were defeated in the greatest battle of the war at Gettysburg, on July 4th. In 1864 there were further victories for the North under Grant at Spottsylvania and Coldharbour; and Atlanta and Savanah were captured. In 1865 Petersburg and Richmond were evacuated by the Confederates and Lee surrendered. On May 26th the war came to an end, after a desperate struggle of nearly four years. Political Result: The Union was restored and slavery abolished. Lincoln was assassinated on April 14, 1865, and his wise counsel was lost therefore for the difficult work of reconstruction which followed the war. Remarks: Great Britain declared neutrality at the outset, and thereby implicitly, though not explicitly, recognized the Southern Confederacy as a belligerent Power. There was much sympathy with the South among the governing class, but the people were on the side of the North. The Trent affair brought Great Britain and America very near to war. (See _Treaty of Washington_, p. 94.) FRENCH EXPEDITION IN MEXICO 1862–1867 Belligerents: France. Mexican Republicans. Cause: From 1789, the date of the first conspiracy against Spain, down to 1857, when a Constitution was promulgated, Mexico was in a state of permanent warfare. In 1861 France, Spain, and Great Britain adopted joint measures against the republic in order to get better protection for their subjects and their property. In 1862 Great Britain and Spain withdrew. But Napoleon III conceived the project of establishing a monarchy in Mexico under his patronage, and so increasing French ascendancy beyond the Atlantic. Occasion: The financial misdemeanours of the Mexican Government were made the pretext for the advance of French troops into Mexico in 1862. Course of the War: The French force was checked in May 1862, and further reinforcements were sent out. They advanced again in February 1863, and entered Mexico City in June. A Provisional Government was established, and the crown was offered to Maximilian of Austria, who accepted it and reached Mexico City in June 1864. Juarez, the republican leader, was driven into the extreme north of the country. But his resistance was by no means overcome. Napoleon III bound himself to keep a force in Mexico for the protection of Maximilian. In 1865, on the restoration of peace after the Civil War in the United States, the Government of Washington refused to acknowledge any authority in Mexico but that of Juarez. The French were obliged to withdraw in 1867, and Maximilian was left to his fate. The Juarists got the upper hand, and Maximilian was executed. Political Result: