Mr. Stuart to the commissioners of customs. CUSTOM-HOUSE, Liverpool, September 3, 1862. HONORABLE SIRS: With reference to the collector's report of the 1st ultimo, I beg to transmit, for the information of the board, the annexed reports from the surveyor and assistant surveyor, detailing some information they have obtained respecting the gun-boat No. 290. I also inclose a specification of the cargo taken out by the Bahama, and which there appears no reason to doubt was transferred to the gun-boat. Respectfully, W. G. STUART, [Inclosure 1.] Mr. Hussey to Mr. Stuart. LIVERPOOL, Nelson Dock, September 2, 1872. SIR: I beg to state that a steamship called the Bahama arrived here last evening from Angra, (the capital of the island of Terceira, one of the Azores,) having previously cleared from Liverpool for Nassau. In consequence of a paragraph which appeared in the newspaper of this morning in reference to the above vessel, I deemed it expedient to send for the master, Tessier, and to inquire the nature of the cargo shipped on board in Liverpool. He states that he received sixteen cases, the contents of which he did not know, but presumed they were arms, &c., and, after proceeding to the above port, transferred the sixteen cases to a Spanish vessel, and returned to Liverpool with a quantity of coals. The master also states that, when off the Western Islands, he spoke the confederate gun-boat Alabama, (No. 290, built in Mr. Laird's yard at Birkenhead,) heavily armed, having a 100-pounder pivot-gun mounted at her stern, which he believes is intended to destroy some of the sea-port towns in the Northern States of America. The above case having excited much interest in the port, I deemed it expedient to report the facts for your information. [B] OP 1.-1 case containing 1 cast-iron gun. 2.-1 case containing 1 broadside carriage.. 3.-1 case containing rammers, sponges, handspikes, &c.... weighing 2 1 weighing 49 1 14 . weighing 12 0 14 14 [B] OP 1-1 case containing 1 cast-iron gun.. 3.-1 case containing rammers, sponges, handspikes, &c.... weighing weighing 49 1 weighing 12 14 20 10 14 [B] OP 1 to 6.-6 cases containing 50 cast shot.... ... weighing 13 1 20 Total weight..... Total value, £220. [Inclosure 3.] Mr. Morgan to Mr. Stewart. SURVEYOR'S OFFICE, September 3, 1862. SIR: I beg to report, for your information, that the British steamship Bahama, Tessier master, which vessel cleared out for Nassau, and sailed on the 13th ultimo with nineteen cases, contents as per specification annexed, has returned to this port, and entered inwards in ballast from Angra. The master of her is not disposed to enter very freely into conversation upon the subject, but from others on board there appears to be no doubt that the cases above referred to were transferred to the gun-boat No. 290. Captain Semmes, formerly of the confederate steamer Sumter, took passage in the Bahama, together with some fifty other persons, and they are described as being the permanent crew of the 290, now known as the Alabama. Respectfully, E. MORGAN, Surveyor. The Bahama had cleared for Nassau in the ordinary way, with a cargo of munitions of war, which it was probable were intended for the Confederate States. Her clearance and departure presented, so far as Her Majesty's government is aware, no circumstances distinguishing her from ordinary blockade-runners. No information was ever given or representation made to Her Majesty's government as to this ship, or her cargo, before she left British waters. But even had a suspicion existed that the cargo was exported with the intention that it should be used, either in the Confederate States or elsewhere out of Her Majesty's dominions, in arming a vessel which had been unlawfully fitted in Eng. land for warlike employment, this would not have made it the duty of the officers of customs to detain her, or empowered them to do so. Such a transaction is not a breach of English law, nor is it one which Her Majesty's government was under any international obligation to pre vent. On the 5th of September, 1862, Earl Russell received from Mr. Adams a note inclosing a letter from Mr. Dudley, and also a deposition pur porting to be made by one Redden, a seaman, who had sailed in the Alabama on her outward voyage, and had returned in the Bahama to Liverpool. The note and its inclosures were as follows:1 Mr. Adams to Earl Russell. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, MY LORD: I have the honor to transmit the copy of a letter received from the consul of the United States at Liverpool, together with a deposition in addition to the others already submitted with my notes of the 22d and 24th of July, going to show the further prosecution of the illegal and hostile measures against the United States in [102] connection with the outfit of the gun-boat No. 290 from the port of *Liverpool. It now appears that supplies are in process of transmission from here to a vessel fitted out from England, and now sailing on the high seas, with the piratical intent to burn and destroy the property of the people of the country with which Her Majesty is in alliance and friendship. pray your lordship's pardon if I call your attention to the fact that I have not yet received any reply in writing to the several notes and representations I have had the honor to submit to Her Majesty's government touching this flagrant case. Renewing, &c., CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS. [Inclosure 1.] Mr. Dudley to Mr. Adams. UNITED STATES CONSULATE, SIR: I have just obtained the affidavit of the boatswain's mate who shipped in and went out in the No. 290, now called the Alabama. I inclose it to you, with bill for his services, signed by Captain Butcher. He returned on the Bahama. He states that the Alabama is to cruise on the line of packets from Liverpool to New York; that Semmes told them so. This may have been said for the purpose of misleading us. The bark that took out the guns and coal is to carry out another cargo of coal to her. It is to take it on either at Cardiff or Troon, near Greenock, in Scotland; the bark to meet 1 Appendix, vol. i, p. 209. the Alabama near the same island where the armament was put on board, or at least in that neighborhood. There will be no difficulty to get other testimony if it is required. I am, &c., THOS. H. DUDLEY. P. S.-There were two American vessels in sight when they parted with the Alabama, which Captain Semmes said he would take. They no doubt were taken and destroyed, the first-fruits from this vessel. [Inclosure 2.] Deposition of H. Redden. T. H. D. Henry Redden says: I reside at 16 Hook street, Vauxhill road, and am a seaman. In April last I shipped as boatswain's mate of a vessel lying in Laird's dock at Birkenhead, known as 290, and worked on board until she sailed. We sailed from Liverpool about 28th July; Captain Butcher was master: Mr. Law, a southerner, was mate; Mr. Lawrence Young was purser. A Captain Bullock went ont with us, but left with the pilot at Giant's Cove, near Londonderry. There were five ladies and a number of gentlemen went with us as far as the Bell buoy. We went first to Moelfra Bay, ne ir Point Lynas, when we anchored and remained about thirty hours. The Hercules tng brought down about forty men to us there; nothing else was then taken on board. Her crew then numbered ninety men, of whom thirty-six were sailors. She had no guns on board then, nor powder nor ammunition. We left Moelfra Bay on the Thursday night at 12 o'clock, and steered for the North Channel. We discharged Captain Bullock and the pilot on Saturday afternoon. We first steered down the South Channel as far as Bardsea, when we 'bout ship and steered north. From Derry we cruised about until we arrived at Angra, eleven days after leaving Holyhead. About four days after we arrived, an English bark, Captain Quinn, arrived from London with six guns, two of them 98-pounder (one rifled and the other smooth-bore) pivot guns, and four 38-pounder breech-guns, smooth-bore broadside guns, 200 or 300 barrels of powder, several cases of shot, a quantity of slops, 200 tons of coal. She came alongside and made fast. We were anchored in Angra Bay about a mile and a half or two miles from shore. After being there about a week, and while we were taking the guns and ammunition on board, the authorities ordered us away. We went outside and returned at night. The bark was kept lashed alongside, and we took the remainder of the guns, &c., on board as we could. While we were discharging the bark, the steamer Bahama, Captain Tessier, arrived from Liverpool. Captain Bullock, Captain Semmes, and forty meu came in her. She also brought two 38-pounder guns smooth-bore, and two safes full of money in gold. She had a safe on board before, taken on board at Birkenhead. The Bahama was flying the British flag. The Bahama towed the bark to another place in the island, and we followed. The next morning we were ordered away from there, and went out to sea until night, when we returned to Angra Bay. The Bahama, after towing the bark away the evening of her arrival, came back to the Alabama, or 290, in Angra Bay, made fast alongside of her, and discharged the guns on board of her and the money. The men struck for wages, and would not then go on board. There were four engineers, a boatswain, and captain's clerk named Smith, also came in the Bahama, and they were taken on board the same evening. All three vessels continued to fly the British flag the whole time. The guns were mounted as soon as they were taken on board. They were busy at work getting them and the Alabama or 290 ready for fighting while the Bahama and the bark were alongside. On the Sunday afternoon following (last Sunday week) Captain Semmes called all hands aft, and the confederate flag was hoisted, the band playing "Dixie's Land." Captain Semmes addressed the men, and said he was deranged in his mind to see his country going to ruin, and had to steal ont of Liverpool like a thief. That instead of them watching him he was now going after them. He wanted all of us to join him; that he was going to sink, burn, and destroy all his enemies' property, and that any that went with him was entitled to two-twentieths prize-money; it did not matter whether the prize was sunk, or burned, or sold, the prize-money was to be paid. That there were only four or five [103] northern ships that he was afraid of.* *He said he did not want any to go that were not willing to fight, and there was a steamer alongside to take them back if they were not willing. The vessel was all this time steaming to sea, with the Bahama at a short distance. Forty-eight men, most of them firemen, refused to go, and an hour afterward were put on board the Bahama. I refused to go, and came back with the rest in the Bahama. Captain Butcher, Captain Bullock, and all the English engineers came with us, and landed here on Monday morning. When we left the Alabama she was all ready for fighting, and steering to sea. I heard Captain Semmes say he was going to ernise in the track of the ships going from New York to Liverpool, and Liverpool to New York. The Alabama never steamed while I was in her more than eleven knots, and cannot make any more. We signed articles while in Moelfra Bay for Nassau or an intermediate port. Captain Butcher got us to sign. The provisions were put on board at Laird's yard before sailing; they were for six months. When we left her she had about ninety men, and eight guns mounted, three on each side and two pivots. HENRY REDDEN. (Signed) Declared and subscribed at Liverpool aforesaid, the 3d day of September, 1862, before me. (Signed) WILLIAM G. BATESON, Notary Public, and a Commissioner to Administer Oaths in Chancery. Earl Russell, on the 22d September, 1862, replied as follows:1 Earl Russell to Mr. Adams. FOREIGN OFFICE, September 22, 1862. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 4th instant inclosing a copy of a letter from the United States consul at Liverpool, together with the deposition of Henry Redden, respecting the supply of cannon and munitions of war to the gun-boat No. 290. You also call attention to the fact that you have not yet received any reply to the representations you have addressed to Her Majesty's government upon the subject. I had the honor, in acknowledging the receipt of your letter of the 23d of June, to state to you that the matter had been referred to the proper department of Her Majesty's government for investigation. Your subsequent letters were also at once forwarded to that department, but, as you were informed in my letter of the 28th of July, it was requisite, before any active steps could be taken in the matter, to consult the law-officers of the Crown. This could not be done until sufficient evidence had been collected, and from the nature of the case some time was necessarily spent in procuring it. The report of the law-officers was not received until the 29th of July, and on the same day a telegraphic message was fowarded to Her Majesty's government stating that the vessel had sailed that morning. Instructions were then dispatched to Ireland to detain the vessel should she put into Queenstown, and similar instructions have been sent to the governor of the Bahamas in case of her visiting Nassau. It appears, however, that the vessel did not go to Queenstown, as had been expected, and nothing has been since heard of her movements. The officers of customs will now be directed to report upon the further evidence forwarded by you, and I shall not fail to inform you of the result of the inquiry. I am, &c., (Signed) RUSSELL. Mr. Adams's note, with its inclosures, having been referred to the commissioners of customs, they, on the 25th September, 1862, reported as follows:2 The commissioners of customs to the lords commissioners of the treasury. CUSTOM-HOUSE, September 25, 1862. Your lordships having, by Mr. Arbuthnot's letter of the 16th instant, transmitted to us, with reference to Mr. Hamilton's letter of the 2d ultimo, the inclosed communica tion from the Foreign Office, with copies of a further letter, and its inclosures, from the United States minister at this court respecting the supply of cannon and muni[104] tions of war to the gun-boat No. 290, recently built at Liverpool, and now in the service of the so-called Confederate States of America, and your lordships having desired that we would take such steps as might seem to be required in view of the facts therein represented, and report the result to your lordships 1 Appendix, vol. i, p. 211. 2 Ibid, p. 213. We have now to report: That, assuming the statements set forth in the affidavit of Redden (who sailed from 'Liverpool in the vessel) which accompanied Mr. Adam's letter to Earl Russell to be correct, the furnishing of arms, &c., to the gun-boat does not appear to have taken place in any part of the United Kingdom, or of Her Majesty's dominions, but in or near to Angra Bay, in the Azores, part of the Portuguese dominions. No offense, therefore, cognizable by the laws of this country appears to have been committed by the parties engaged in the transactions alluded to in the affidavit. With respect to the allegation of Redden that the arms, &c., were shipped on board the 290 in Angra Bay, partly from a bark (name not given) which arrived there from Loudon, commanded by Captain Quinn, and partly from the steamer Babama, from Liverpool, we beg to state that no vessel having a master named Quinn can be traced as having sailed from this port for foreign parts during the last six months. The Knight Errant, Captain Quine, a vessel of 1,342 tous burden, cleared for Calcutta on the 12th April last with a general cargo, such as usually exported to the East Indies, but, so far as can be ascertained from the entries, she had neither gunpowder nor cannon on board. The Bahama steamer cleared from Liverpool on the 12th ultimo for Nassau. We find that Messrs. Fawcett, Preston and Co., engineers and iron-founders, of Liverpool, shipped on board that vessel nineteen cases containing guns, gun-carriages, shot, rammers, &c., weighing in all 158 cwt. 1 qr. 27 lbs. There was no other cargo on board, excepting 552 tons of coals for the use of the ship; and the above-mentioned goods having been regularly cleared for Nassau in compliance with the customs laws, our officers could have no power to interfere with their shipment. With reference to the further statement in the letter of Mr. Dudley, the consul of the United States at Liverpool, that the bark that took out the guns and coal is to carry out another cargo of coal to the gun-boat 290, either from Cardiff or Troon, near Greenock, we have only to remark that there would be great difficulty in ascertaining the intention of any parties making such a shipment, and we do not apprehend that our officers would have any power of interfering with it were the coals cleared outward for some foreign port in compliance with the law. (Signed) F. GOULBURN. A copy of this report was sent to Mr. Adams by Earl Russell. As to the vessel stated in Redden's deposition to have been commanded by a Captain Quinn, she may perhaps have been the Agrippina, McQueen, master, which appears, by the register of clearances kept in the port of London, to have cleared from that port for Demerara in August, 1862. Her Britannic Majesty's government has reason to believe that Butcher, while the vessel afterward called the Alabama was in the waters of the Azores, falsely stated both to the Portuguese officials and to the British vice-consul that she was the steamship Barcelona, from London to Nassau, and that he desired only to coal the vessel in smooth water, having no occasion to communicate with the town. These false statements were made in order to escape interference on the part of the authorities of Terceira. . Depositions purporting to be made by other persons who had taken service in the Alabama, and had afterward left that ship during her cruise, were afterward furnished to Her Majesty's government by Mr. Adams. Among these was a deposition purporting to be made by one John Latham, part of which was as follows:1 Deposition of John Latham. I, John Latham, of 36 Jasper street, Liverpool, in the county of Lancaster, engineer, make oath and say as follows: 1. About the 8th or 10th of August, 1862, I signed articles at the Sailors' Home, Liverpool, to ship in the steamship Bahama, Captain Tessier, for a voyage to Nassau and back. The Bahama went out of the Bramley Moore dock the same night about 12 |