Answer:
Lincoln's annual message to Congress did not touch directly on the Trent affair but, relying on estimates from Secretary of War Simon Cameron that the U.S. could field a 3,000,000 man army, stated that he could "show the world, that while engaged in quelling disturbances at home we are able to protect ourselves from abroad".
The British knew there would be less resistance by using local governments rather than British rule, and they knew that by using local governments only a handful of British soldiers would be needed to keep the colonists in line, leaving the bulk of the British army to be used were they were greatly needed.
