Australia and The American Civil War - Aftermath

Aftermath

The residents of Melbourne, realizing they were vulnerable to attack by others, especially the Russians due to the events during the war, hurried to build coastal defense forts. This included the government of Victoria requesting an ironclad ship to be sent to protect the colony, after the values of ironclads were demonstrated during the American Civil War's Battle of Hampton Roads. The monitor HMVS Cerberus was constructed during the late 1860s, and duly arrived in Victoria in 1871.

In 1872 the British government paid the United States $3,875,000 as a result of the assistance provided to CSS Shenandoah and other Confederate ships in Victoria and other ports controlled by Great Britain, after an international jury ruled on the case in Geneva, Switzerland.

In 1972, the American Civil War Round Table of Australia was founded. Its secretary, Barry Crompton, has the largest library dedicated to the American Civil War outside the United States, with over 4,000 pieces as of 2005.