Blockade- run ishing of the vessels. The "Owl" was the first ning in partnerof these vessels to arrive. The insurgent Navy ship with the inDepartment claimed the right "to place a naval ment. officer in charge of her in conformity with regula 2 tions."1 4 On the 5th of October, 1864, orders were given for more arms, and McRae was ordered to supply Huse with $50,000 for the purpose. On the 26th of November, Ferguson reports his doings in the purchase of woolen goods, and gives the reason for "making Liverpool his headquarters." As late as the 7th of January, 1865, McRae is ordered to pay to Bullock £105,000. The steamer "Laurel," the same which took the arms and men to the Shenandoah, was then in Wilmington. She was sent out with a cargo of cotton, with instructions to the officer in command to sell the steamer and the cotton, and to pay Bullock £12,000 out of the proceeds, putting the balance to the credit of the Mallory to Trenholm, September 21, 1864, Vol. VI, page 171. 2 Same to same, September 22, 1864, Vol. VI, page 172. 3 Bullock to McRae, November 1, 1864, Vol. VI, page 173. 1 Gorgas to Seddon, October 5, 1864, Vol. VI, page 172. 5 Ferguson to Lawton, November 26, 1864, Vol. VI, page 175. surgent Govern ning in partner surgent Government. Blockade-run- treasury, with Fraser, Trenholm & Co.' No ship with the in- efforts seem to have been spared to sustain the dying fortunes of the insurrection. The insurgents, at the last, fell into the unaccountable error of supposing that the British Government intended to interfere with their blockade-running. They changed the apparent ownership of the Stag into the name of John Fraser & Co., lest it should be seized as "a transport owred by the Confederate States, engaged in the blockade." It is needless to say that the precaution was not required. Evidence had over and over again been laid before Lord Russell that these blockade-runners were, in fact, transports of the insurgents, carrying their funds for Liverpool, and bringing back their arms and munitions of war, and that the operations of these vessels were brought clearly within the terms of the Foreign Enlistment Act; but he ever turned a deaf ear to the charges. Continued partiality. On the 15th of March, 1865, Mr. Adams complained of this matter for the last time. The United States steamer San Jacinto having been wrecked on the Bahamas, and her officers and crew having found shelter at Nassau, the "Honduras," also a man-of-war, was sent there for the purpose of paying in coin the claims for salvage. Trenholm to Fraser, Trenholm & Co., December 24, 1864, Vol. VI, page 177. 2 Trenholm to Mallory, December 17, 1864, Vol. VI, page 176. The Consul asked permission for the "Honduras" to enter the port, which was refused, although the "Florida" had, less than six months before, remained eleven days at Bermuda, and taken on board a full supply of coal. In bringing this breach of hospitality to the notice of Earl Russell Mr. Adams said: "I shall not seek to dwell on the painful impression this proceeding has made in the Naval Department of the United States, which at the same time had too much reason to be cognizant of the abuse made of that port by persons practically engaged in hostilities in violation of Her Majesty's Proclamation. There was no single day during the month in which this incident happened that thirty-five vessels, engaged in breaking the blockade, were not to be seen flaunting their contraband flags in that port. Neither has its hospitality been restricted to that hybrid class of British ships running its illegal ventures on joint account with the insurgent authorities in the United States. The Chameleon, not inaptly named, but before known as the Tallahassee, and still earlier as a British steamer fitted out from London to play the part of a privateer out of Wilmington, was lying at that very time in Nassau, relieved indeed of her guns, but still retaining all the attributes of her hostile occupation. But a few days earlier the steamer Laurel, whose history tiality. Continued par- is already too well known to your Lordship, by my note of the 7th instant, had re-appeared after its assumption of the name of the Confederate States, and had there been not only received, but commissioned with a post mail to a port of Her Majesty's Kingdom."" Lord Russell took no notice of Mr. Adams's charge, that many of these blockaderunners were in fact transports in the insurgent service, and that the ports of Nassau and Bermuda were depots of ordnance and quartermasters' stores. His only reply, made four days after the surrender of Lee at Appomattox, was a repetition of the old story, "there is nothing in the law of nations which forbids the attempt of neutral ship-owners or commanders to evade the blockade." To the last the British Government refused to interfere. The fears which induced the insurgents to try to cover up the ownership of the "Stag" were groundless. The partnership continued until the United States interfered, and closed the business, before the English partners could deliver the last vessels under the contract. It is necessary to add a few words in regard to the closing operations of Bullock's department, before bringing this imperfect outline of Great Britain's violation of its duties as a neutral to a close. 1 Adams to Russell, Vol. I, page 709. On the 30th of November, 1863, the London Times announced that "the screw gun-vessel Victor,' recently purchased from the Admiralty, has, as had been expected, passed into the hands of the Confederate Government." "The Victor,' an old dispatch-boat belonging to Her Majesty's Navy, was one of a number of ships ordered by the Admiralty to be sold as worn out and unserviceable. An offer for her was accepted on the 14th September, 1863, and on the 10th November the hull was delivered to the order of the purchasers, Messrs. Coleman & Co., the masts, sails, and rigging having been previously removed, as the pivots and other fittings for guns." The steamer, instead of being taken away, remained at Sheerness, "refitting, under the direction of persons connected with the royal dock-yards."3 Many facts came to the knowledge of Mr. Adams, indicating that the vessel was intended for the insurgents. In pursuing his inquiries, however, the suspicions of the parties concerned were probably excited; for the vessel, "by no means prepared for sea, and with no adequate force to man her," was carried, with the workmen actually engaged upon her, across the English Channel and taken into Calais. Mr. Adams called Lord Russell's attention to these 1 Vol. II, page 725. 2 Bernard's Neutrality of Great Britain, page 357. The Rappahannock. |