Аннотация

This article is based on a thorough study of archival materials both in Russia (Archive of Foreign Policy of Russian Empire) and the U.S. (National Archives, Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress) together with a variety of published sources (documentary publications, memoirs, press etc.). The author pays special attention to personal relations of C.M. Clay with A. Lincoln, W. Seward, Alexander II and A.M. Gorchakov, discusses the reasons for the unusual success of the mission of unexperienced Kentuckian at the Imperial Court of St. Peterburg.