Biography

John Moncure Daniel was the American Minister to Sardinia when William Henry Seward toured today's Italy in 1859. He served as minister from 1853-1860. From Seward's letters from Turin, we know that the Prime Minister Count di Cavour had a low opinion of Mr. Daniel. From an account in "The American Historical Review" it seems that Mr. Daniel made some diplomatic errors in courtesy by bringing an uninvited guest to a wedding, among other things. When Mr. Daniel returned to the United States, he took up editing a Confederate newspaper, "The Richmond Examiner." He was wounded in a duel, declined, and died shortly before the Confederacy collapsed.