Lapas attēli
PDF
ePub

most cordial relations were at once established between the officers of all these ships and of the Alabama," and the Governor of the island promptly granted Semmes's request to be permitted to repair his ship."

On the 25th of January, having been refitted and furnished with [383] supplies, she left Jamaica, bound to the coast of Brazil, and thence to the Cape of Good Hope.".3

On the 30th of the previous November, after Captain Semmes's mode of carrying on war was known in England, Mr. Adams made to Lord Russell the first of a long series of representations concerning this vessel. This communication contains a summary of all that the United States deem it necessary to say about the Alabama in this place. "It now appears," Mr. Adams says, "from a survey of all the evidence, First. That this vessel was built in a dock-yard belonging to a commercial house in Liverpool, of which the chief member, down to October of last year, is a member of the House of Commons. Secondly. That from the manner of her construction, and her peculiar adaptation to war purpose, there could have been no doubt by those engaged in the work, and familiar with such details, that she was intended for other purposes than those of legitimate trade; and, Thirdly. That during the whole process and outfit in the port of Liverpool, the direction of the details, and the engagement of persons to be employed in her, were more or less in hands known to be connected with the insurgents in the United

States. It further appears that since her departure from Liver[384] pool, which she was suffered to leave *without any of the cus

tomary evidence at the custom-house to designate her ownership, she has been supplied with her armament, with coals, and stores, and men, by vessels known to be fitted out and dispatched for the purpose from the same port, and that although commanded by Americans in her navigation of the ocean, she is manned almost entirely by English seamen, engaged and forwarded from that port by persons in league with her commander. Furthermore it is shown that this commander, claiming to be an officer acting under legitimate authority, yet is in the constant practice of raising the flag of Great Britain, in order the better to execute his system of ravage and depredation on the high seas. And lastly, it is made clear that he pays no regard whatever to the recognized law of capture of merchant-vessels on the high seas, which requires the action of some judicial tribunal to confirm the rightfulness of the proceedings, but, on the contrary, that he resorts to the piratical system of taking, plundering, and burning private property, without regard to consequences, or responsibility to any legitimate authority whatever."4

The course of conduct so forcibly sketched by Mr. Adams was continued by the officers of the Alabama until that vessel was sunk by the Kearsarge off Cherbourg.

[385] *The Alabama went from the West Indies to Bahia, where she met the Georgia. She then crossed to the Cape of Good Hope, and entered Table Bay, as has already been seen. It is not necessary to say again what took place as to the Tuscaloosa; to speak of the

1

Semmes's Adventures Afloat, page 555.

Ibid. "By the act of consenting to receive the Alabama in Kingston, and permitting her to refit and supply herself at that, we had considered the British Government as having given her a positive recognition, and having assumed the responsibility for the consequences of that sanction.”—Mr. Adams's statement to Lord Russell, described in a dispatch to Mr. Seward, Vol. III, page 247.

Semmes's Adventures Afloat, page 563.

4

Vol. III, pages 70, 71.

Ante, page 110.

evident character of the vessel with the captured cargo on board; of the honest indignation of Rear-Admiral Sir Baldwin Walker at the flimsy attempt to convert the prize into a cruiser; of the partiality of the Governor and the Attorney General; of the decision of Her Majesty's Government that she must be regarded as a prize and not as a cruiser; of the reluctant enforcement of the decision of the Government by the Colonial Authorities; or of the reversal of that decision by Her Majesty's Government, when they found that it had been enforced. These facts have all been sufficiently set forth. It only remains to add, that, when Her Majesty's Government had determined to send the instructions to disregard in similar cases such attempts to change the character of a prize, Earl Russell informed Mr. Adams of the fact, and added, "Her Majesty's Government hope that under these instruetions nothing will for the future happen to admit of a question being raised as to Her Majesty's orders having been strictly carried out."i Earl Russell could not have anticipated that the first [386] and only attempt of the authorities at Cape Town to carry out those instructions would be disavowed by Her Majesty's Government, and that restoration would be ordered to the insurgents of the only vessel ever seized under them.

From Cape Town the Alabama pushed into the Indian Ocean, and, "within a day or two of six months," returned again to Cape Town on the 20th of March, 1864. During her absence she had coaled at Singapore, with the consent of the authorities, at the wharf of the Peninsular and Oriental Steamship Company. 3

On the 21st of March the Alabama began taking on board fresh supplies of coal in Cape Town. The last coal from a British port (and, in fact, the last supply) had been taken on board at Singapore on the 23d day of the previous December.5 The new supply was allowed to be put on board within three months from the time when the last supply was received in a British port. This was a fresh violation of the duties of Great Britain as a neutral.

On the 25th of March the Alabama "got up steam and moved out of Table Bay for the last time, amidst lusty cheers and thẻ [387] waving of handkerchiefs from the boats by which they were surrounded." "Military and naval officers, governors, judges, superintendents of boards of trade, attorneys-general, all on their way to their missions in the far East, came to see her.”7

She now made her way to northern waters, and on the 11th of June, 1864, cast anchor in the harbor of Cherbourg. Her career was now finished. The United States war-steamer Kearsarge was in those waters, and on the 19th of the same June, within sight of Cherbourg, this British-built, British-armed, and British-manned cruiser went down under the fire of American guns.

During her career the Alabama fitted out one tender, the Tuscaloosa. The "Conrad of Philadelphia, from Buenos Ayres to New York, with part of a cargo of wool," was captured on the 20th of June, 1863, in latitude 25° 48' south. It has already been seen that this prize was

1 Vol. III, page 203.

2 Semmes's Adventures Afloat, page 737.

3 Semmes's Adventures Afloat, page 715.

4 Semmes's Adventures Afloat, page 744.

5 This is evident from Semmes's account of his voyage on leaving Singapore, page 715, et seq.

6 Semmes's Adventures Afloat, page 744. 7 Semmes's Adventures Afloat, page 745. 8 Semmes's Adventures Afloat, page 627.

taken into the port of Cape Town, under the name of the Tuscaloosa, and under pretense of a commission; and that the pretense was recognized as valid. When the Alabama left to cruise in the Indian Ocean,

Semmes "dispatched this vessel from Angra Pequeña back to [388] the coast of Brazil, to *make a cruise on that coast." It has also

been seen how, on her return to Cape Town, she was seized by the Governor of Cape Town, and held until the close of the struggle. The United States ask the Tribunal of Arbitration, as to the Alabama and as to her tender, to determine and to certify that Great Britain has, by its acts and by its omissions, failed to fulfill its duties set forth in the three rules of the Treaty of Washington, or recognized by the principles of law not inconsistent with such rules. Should the Tribunal exercise the power conferred upon it by Article VII of the Treaty, award a sum in gross to be paid to the United States, they ask that, in considering the amount to be awarded, the losses of the United States, or of individuals, in the destruction of their vessels or their cargoes by the Alabama, or by its tender, and also the expense to which the United States were put in the pursuit of either of those vessels, or in the capture and destruction of the Alabama, may be taken into account. In addition to the general reasons already stated, they ask this for the following reasons:

1. That the Alabama was constructed, was fitted out, and was equipped within the jurisdiction of Great Britain, with intent to [389] cruise and carry on war against the United States, with whom

Great Britain was then at peace; that Great Britain had reasonable ground to believe that such was the intent of that vessel, and did not use due diligence to prevent such construction, fitting out, or equipping.

2. That the Alabama was constructed and armed within British jurisdiction. The construction of the vessel and the construction of the arms; the dispatch of the vessel and the dispatch of the arms-all took place at one British port; and the British authorities had such ample notice that they must be assumed to have known all these facts, The whole should be regarded, therefore, as one armed hostile expedi tion, from a British port, against the United States.

3. That the Alabama, having been specially adapted to warlike use at Liverpool, and being thus intended to cruise and carry on war against the United States, Great Britain did not use due diligence to prevent her departure from its jurisdiction at Liverpool; nor, subsequently, from its jurisdiction at Kingston; nor, subsequently, from its jurisdiction at the Cape of Good Hope; nor, subsequently, from its jurisdiction at Singapore; nor, lastly, from its jurisdiction again at the Cape of Good Hope, as required by the rules of the Treaty of Washington. [390] 4. That Great Britain did not, as Earl Russell had promised, send out orders for her detention.

5. That the Alabama received excessive hospitalities at Cape Town on her last visit, in being allowed to coal before three months had expired after her coaling at Singapore, a British port.

6. That the responsibility for the acts of the Alabama carries with it responsibility for the acts of her tender.

1 Semmes's Adventures Afloat, page 738.

The Retribution.

THE RETRIBUTION.

The steam-propeller Uncle Ben, built at Buffalo, in New York, in 1856, was.sent to the southern coast of the United States just prior to the attack on Fort Sumter. Entering Cape Fear River in stress of weather, she was seized by the insurgents. Her machinery was taken out, and she was converted into a schooner, and cruised, under the name of the Retribution, about the Bahama Banks. On the 19th day of December, 1862, she captured, near the island of San Domingo, the United States schooner Hanover, and took the prize to Long Cay, (Fortune Island,) Bahamas, and there sold the cargo, "without previous judicial process." Representations being made of these facts, an answer was made by the Colonial Authorities, *claiming that they were deceived, and that they supposed that [391] the person making the sale was the master of the vessel.2 Mr. Seward replied that this answer was not "deemed altogether conclusive." Subsequently one Vernon Locke was represented as the person who had, "by fraudulent personations and representations, procured the admission of that vessel [the Hanover] to entry at the Revenue Office and effected the sale of her cargo there." Locke was indicted, and bail accepted in the sum of £200. The United States are not aware that he was ever brought to trial. Mr. Seward thought the bail “surprisingly small and insignificant." On the 19th of February, 1863, when off Castle Island, one of the Bahamas, she captured the Ameri can brig Emily Fisher, freighted with sugar and molasses. This prize also" was taken to Long Cay, one of the Bahama Islands, and notwithstanding the protest of Captain Staples, [the master,] and in the presence of a British magistrate, was despoiled of her cargo; a portion of which was landed, and the balance willfully destroyed." The Retribution then went to the harbor of Nassau, where she was sold, assuming the name of the Etta.4

*The United States, with confidence, ask the Tribunal to find [392] and certify as to this vessel, that Great Britain failed to fulfill the duties set forth in the three rules of Article VI of the Treaty, or recognized by the principles of International Law not inconsistent with such rules. They ask this, not only for the general reasons heretofore mentioned as to this class of vessels, but because, in the case of each of the captured vessels above named, the acts complained of were done within Her Majesty's jurisdiction.

The Georgia.

THE GEORGIA.

The Georgia was built for the insurgents at Dumbarton, below Clyde, on the Glasgow. She was launched on the 10th day of January, 1863, at which time, as has already been said, "a Miss North, daughter of a Captain North, of one of the Confederate States, officiated as priestess, and christened the craft Virginia."

1 Mr. Seward to Lord Lyons, Vol. I, page 701.

2 Burnside to Nesbitt, Vol. 1,

page 702.

3 Governor Bayley to Duke of Newcastle, Vol. I, page 706.

4 Affidavit of Thomas Sampson, Vol. VI, page 786.

5 Underwood to Seward, January 16, 1863, Vol. VI, page 593.

It was no

torious that she was being constructed for this service. When finished she was a "screw-steamer of about five hundred tons register,

clipper-built; figure-head, fiddle-bow; short thick funnel; with [393] *a number of compartments forward on both sides, from eight to

ten feet square, and stronger than a jail, strong doors to them, with hinges about three inches thick, and brass padlocks accordingly, and a strong magazine forward in the bow." On Friday, the 27th of March, she left for Greenock.2 By this time she had parted with her name Virginia, and had the name Japan, "written in small letters on her bow ;" and it was pretended that her voyage was to be to China.

On the evening of Monday, the 30th of March, some seventy or eighty men who had been shipped at Liverpool for this vessel were sent to Greenock. The agreements with this crew were made by the house of Jones & Co., of Liverpool, who advanced money to them. The vessel was registered in the name of Thomas Bold, of Liverpool, a member of the house of Jones & Co., and a near connection of Maury, who afterward commanded her. It remained registered in his name until the 23d day of the following June. When the men arrived in the Clyde from Liverpool, the Japan was "lying in the river

opposite Greenock, and they were taken on board in a tug. . On [394] the morning of the 2d of April they ran out toward the sea, but

returned in the afternoon, and remained near the light-house down the Clyde, taking on board more men and provision from Greenock. They started again, and next morning they were off Castleton, Isle of Man. Here they changed their course, and went into the Atlantic, through the northern passage, between Ireland, and Scotland. On the 6th of April they reached the coast of France. Ushant light was the first place they sighted. Here they turned their steps toward St. Malo, proceeding under slow steam, and in the morning they sighted, off Morleans, the steamer Alar, with arms, ammunition, and supplies for the Georgia, under charge of Jones, a partner in the Liverpool house of Jones & Co.8

It happened that these proceedings were afterward made the subject of judicial investigation before Sir Alexander Cockburn, Lord Chief Justice of England. Highatt and Jones, two of the members of the firm of Jones & Co., were indicted at Liverpool, for a violation of the Foreign Enlistment Act of 1819, in causing these men to be enlisted to serve

in a war against the United States. The case came on for trial [395] at the. Liverpool Assizes, in August, 1864. In his address to

the jury, after the evidence was in, the Lord Chief Justice said: "There was no doubt that Matthews, Stanley, and Glassbrook did enter themselves and enlist on board the steamer, which was immediately afterward employed as a war-steamer in the Confederate service, for the purpose of waging war against the Northern States of America; and there seemed to be very little doubt that both the defendants had to do with the men's leaving the port of Liverpool, for the purpose of joining the Japan, afterward called the Georgia. * 典 # Now came the question, whether the defendants had procured the men to be engaged

1 Extracts from London Daily News, February 12 and 17, 1863, Vol. VI, page 503,

et seq.

Dudley to Seward, Vol. II, page 665; Vol. VI, page 509.

* Vol. II, page 681; Vol. VI, page 516; Vol. VII, page 83.

4 Vol. II, page 672; Vol VI, page 512; Vol. VII, page 88.

Mr. Adams to Earl Russell, Vol. II, pages 677, 678; Vol. VII, page 88.

Mahon's affidavit, Vol. II, page 672; Vol. VI, page 513.

Thompson's affidavit, Vol. II, page 671; Vol. VI, page 511.

* Speech of Thomas Baring, Esq., M. P., Hansard, 3d series, Vol. 175, page 467.

« iepriekšējāTurpināt »