The Confederate government sent him to the United Kingdom and France in 1862, and to Canada in 1863–64, to arrange the trade of cotton for food. He also made some secret diplomatic representations to Northern men of influence. During the War he was on the Union "Wanted List", and in its aftermath he was charged as a conspirator in the successful 1865 plot to assassinate Abraham Lincoln. Although he was never arrested, he was never pardoned either.