During the American Civil War, St. George's, Bermuda was the primary harbour from which British and European war material was smuggled into the South aboard blockade runners (also built in Britain). Cotton travelled in the reverse direction in payment. Although it had been perceived in the South as an enemy, supporting abolition, before the war, Britain nearly entered the fray effectively as an ally of the Confederacy following the Trent Affair, building up forces in Canada to either defend against a Union attack, or to launch an invasion of the northern states, while preparing the naval and military forces in Bermuda to launch an expedition intended to capture New York. Many British citizens took part in the war in the Confederate forces, including Henry Wemyss Feilden, who resigned his commission in the British Army to become an officer in the Confederate Army, and William Watson, who served as a sergeant in the 3rd Louisiana Infantry before crewing blockade runners. In Bermuda, the close historical ties with the South, as well as the enticement to profiteer from the war by supplying the South, meant that the Confederate agent operated openly from the Globe Hotel in St. George's, while the US Government's consul was attacked in the street and had his flagpole cut down on the 4th of July. Many Bermudians earned fortunes handling supplies to the South, or, like Thomas Leslie Outerbridge, crewing blockade runners. Another prominent volunteer was the Scotland-born, Captain William Watson.