page_title: Cassius Marcellus Clay (politician)
section_title: Civil War and Minister to Russia
hierarchical_section_title: Cassius Marcellus Clay (politician) / Civil War and Minister to Russia
caption_attribution_description: Русский: Офицеры фрегата "Ослябя" (Бостон, 1863 год)
context_page_description: Cassius Marcellus Clay, nicknamed the "Lion of White Hall," was a Kentucky planter, politician, and emancipationist who worked for the abolition of slavery. He freed the slaves that were handed down as his inheritance from his father. He was a founding member of the Republican Party in Kentucky, and was appointed by President Abraham Lincoln as the United States minister to Russia. Clay is credited with gaining Russian support for the Union during the American Civil War.
context_section_description: President Lincoln appointed Clay to the post of Minister to the Russian court at St. Petersburg on March 28, 1861. The Civil War started before he departed and, as there were no Federal troops in Washington at the time, Clay organized a group of 300 volunteers to protect the White House and US Naval Yard from a possible Confederate attack. These men became known as Cassius M. Clay's Washington Guards. President Lincoln gave Clay a presentation Colt revolver in recognition. When Federal troops arrived, Clay and his family embarked for Russia.
  As Minister to Russia, Clay witnessed the Tsar's emancipation edict. Recalled to the United States in 1862 to accept a commission from Lincoln as a major general with the Union Army, Clay publicly refused to accept it unless Lincoln would agree to emancipate slaves under Confederate control. Lincoln sent Clay to Kentucky to assess the mood for emancipation there and in the other border states. Following Clay's return to Washington, DC, Lincoln issued the proclamation in late 1862, to take effect in January 1863.
  Clay resigned his commission in March 1863 and returned to Russia, where he served until 1869.  He was influential in the negotiations for the purchase of Alaska.
caption: Russian frigate visits Boston, 1863
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