The Cruise of the Alabama and the Sumter Part 27

After this melancholy recital, we walked across to get a little chat with the prisoner so recently captured. He is a superior man, and spoke of the loss of his ship in the spirit of a philosopher. He was leaning against a rail just opposite the cabin. "What can't be cured must be endured," said he. In answer to our remark, that an hour more would have saved him, he said, "Yes, it would; I had not the remotest idea of a capture at this end of the world. I never supposed that she was in this direction. I was in my cabin, washing," said he, "and my mate came down and said there was a steamer in sight. 'Capital!' I said; 'it is the English mail-steamer; I shall be just in time for my letters.' He went up again, and shortly returning, said, 'She is going to hail us.' 'Hail us!' I said; 'what the deuce can she want to hail us for?' and I went on deck. I looked at that (pointing to the Confederate flag), and I soon saw who we were falling into the hands of. I said, 'Good-bye, mate; we shall not be long here.' This, sir," he went on to say, "is the second time I have been captured coming to the Cape. I left New York in the M.J. Calcon, and was captured by the Florida in 33 West and between 28 and 29 North. I went home all right, and left New York again on the 28th of May, direct for the Cape." This gentleman's name is Mr. H. Spaling.

The next we had an opportunity of conversing with was the chief officer. This gentleman who, by the way, stands six feet four out of his shoes, showed us round the ship with just pride. He pointed out to us the peculiar qualities of the magnificent guns. One of Blakeley's rifle pieces is a terrible-looking weapon. It throws conical sh.e.l.ls of a hundred weight; and he remarked, "When we fought the Hatteras, these conical sh.e.l.ls struck one after the other in capital style; they exploded with magnificent effect, and lit up her whole broadside." Many of the captured crew we observed in irons.

We were now introduced to Capt. Semmes, who up to this time had been engaged in the cabin with Mr. W.J. Anderson, of Anderson, Saxon, and Co., upon the subject of supplies, which are to be provided by the firm. We received a very cordial greeting from the gallant gentleman, who remarked that at Bahia, and indeed everywhere he had been, both his officers and himself had received very great attention from the English residents. We had always concluded that Captain Semmes, of the Powhattan, a fine steamer belonging to the States, to whom we were introduced some years since by the late Mr. D.M. Huckins, American Consul, was the captain of the Sumter and Alabama; but we found we were mistaken, and on remarking this to the captain, he said, "Captain Semmes of the Powhattan is of the same family as myself-he is, indeed, my cousin; but he was born in the North, his interests are all there, and he remains in the Federal service." Having desired us to take a seat, he said he should be happy to give us any information in his power; he had no secrets, and bade us take notes if we wished so to do. He then informed us that he had taken fifteen ships since he left Bahia. We told him that Captain Bartlett, of the ship Fortuna, stated that on the 2d of July he saw a ship on fire. Our readers will recollect that the particulars were given in a paragraph immediately after the Fortuna arrived. It was as follows:-"On the 2d of July, Captain Bartlett saw some smoke rising up on the horizon, which he supposed to be the smoke from a steamer. Later in the day, however, a strong reflection of light was seen in the sky, and which the captain at once believed to be a ship on fire. All hands were then called up 'to bout ship,' and they stood towards the spot from whence the light proceeded. This was about six o'clock; and at two o'clock on the morning of the 3d July, and in lat. 25 57' South, and in long. 38 20' West, the Fortuna ran up within forty yards of a large vessel of 800 or 1000 tons, which was enveloped in one ma.s.s of flame from stem to stern. Nothing remained of her but her hull; the whole of her rigging, masts, and decks had already been consumed. As the Fortuna ran towards the wreck, another vessel-the Oaks-bound to Calcutta, joined her, and the two vessels spoke one another. From what Captain Bartlett could make out, the captain of the Oaks told him that in the evening, about half-past six, an English man-of-war had pa.s.sed him, and whilst pa.s.sing she fired two guns, from which it was concluded that the crew of the burning vessel had been rescued by the man-of-war." Captain Semmes said Captain Bartlett was quite right in supposing that the ship had been set on fire by himself. She was the Annie F. Schmidt, from New York to San Francisco, with a general cargo on board; but the supposition of the man-of-war coming to the rescue of the crew was a mistake. "We set her on fire in the night," said Captain Semmes, "and shortly after we had done so, we heard a couple of guns. We thought it was another Yankee, and we up steam and fired a gun for her to heave-to. On coming alongside her, we found she was Her Majesty's frigate Dido. 'We did not take her, sir,' said the captain, with a laugh; 'in fact, we never attempt to take any of Her Majesty's frigates.'"

We said we would mention that, and we do, as Captain Semmes's last. "The Dido people," he went on to say, "asked us if we had set the ship on fire, and I answered we had, and had got the crew safe on board. 'All right!' was the answer, and we parted. She was a vessel of about 1000 tons." We asked Captain Semmes if he could give us the names of the vessels he had captured. He answered that he could. "For," he said, "you English people won't be neighbourly enough to let me bring my prizes into your ports, and get them condemned, so that I am obliged to sit here a court of myself, try every case, and condemn the ships I take. The European powers, I see, some of them complain of my burning the ships; but what, if they will preserve such strict neutrality as to keep me out of their ports, what am I to do with these ships when I take them but burn them?" He then fetched his record books, and we took the following down from his lips:-"The ships we have captured were-the Ocmulgee, of 400 tons, thirty-two men on board; we burned her. The Alert, a whaler of 700 tons; we burned her. The whaling schooner Weathergauge; we burned her. The whaling brig Altamaha; we burned her. The whaling ship Benjamin Tucker; we burned her. The whaling schooner Courser; we burned her. The whaling barque Virginia; we burned her. The barque Elisha Dunbar, a whaler; we burned her. The ship Brilliant, with 1000 tons of grain on board; we burned her. The Emily Farnum we captured and released as a cartel, and having so many prisoners we put some of them on board her, and sent them off. The Wave Crest, with a general cargo on board for Europe, we set on fire. The Dunkirk brig, with a general cargo on board, we burned. The ship Tonawanda we captured, with a valuable freight on board, and released her, after taking a bond for a thousand dollars. The ship Manchester, with a cargo of grain, we burned. The barque Lamplighter, with an a.s.sorted cargo for Europe, we burned. The barque Lafayette, with an a.s.sorted cargo, we burned. The schooner Crenshaw, with an a.s.sorted cargo for the West Indies, we burned. The barque Lauretta, with an a.s.sorted cargo on board for Europe, we burned. The brig Baron de Custine we took a bond for and released. The whaling ship Levi Starbuck we burned. The T.B. Wales, from Calcutta to Boston, with a valuable cargo on board, we burned. The barque Martha, from Calcutta to West Indies, with an a.s.sorted cargo, we burned. The schooner Union we, after boarding, found had some English property on board, and we released her on bond. The mail steamer Ariel Running between New York and Aspinwall, we captured. Unfortunately she was going, not returning, or we should have had a lot of gold. We released her on bond. The United States gunboat Hatteras, who came out to fight us, had the same number of guns and crew. Our guns were a little heavier than hers, but we equalized them by permitting her to fight us at 300 yards. We sunk her in thirteen minutes by the watch. The barque Golden Rule, with an a.s.sorted cargo, we burned. She belonged to the same company as the Ariel. The brig Chastelaine we burned. The schooner Palmetto we burned. The barque Olive Jane we burned. The Golden Eagle, laden with guano, we burned. The Washington, from the Pacific, with guano, we released on bond. The Bethia Thayer, from East India, with a valuable cargo on board, was released on bond. The John A. Parker, with flour and lumber, from Boston to Buenos Ayres, we burned. The Punjaub, from East India, we found to have some English cargo on board, we released on bond. The ship Morning Star we released on bond. The whaling schooner Kingfisher we burned. The ship Nora, from Liverpool to West Indies, with salt on board, we burned. The barque Lafayette we burned. The whaling brig Kate Cory we burned. The whaling barque Nye we burned. The Charles Hall, from Liverpool, with coal, we burned.

"The ship Louisa Hatch, from Cardiff to West Indies, we burned. The ship Dorcas Prince, with a general cargo, we burned. The ship Sea Lark, with a general cargo from the East Indies, we burned. The barque Union Jack, from Boston to Shanghai, we burned. We captured a Yankee consul on board of her; he was on his way to Foochin; we landed him at the Brazils. The ship Gildersliene, from New York to the East Indies, we burned. The barque Justina we released on bond, to take home prisoners. The ship Jabez Snow, from New York to the East Indies, we burned. The barque Amazonian, from Boston to Buenos Ayres, we burned. The ship Talisman, from New York to the East Indies, we burned. The barque Conrad, fitted up as a Federal cruiser, a tender to a man-of-war, we captured and burned. After these came the Anne F. Schmidt, mentioned before, and the Sea Bride-and the Sea Bride you saw us take to-day. The estimated value of these captures is 4,200,000 dollars."

The American Consul, Mr. Graham, has handed to his Excellency the Governor a protest against the capture of the Sea Bride, on the ground that the vessel was in British waters at the time of her being stopped by the Alabama. His Excellency told Mr. Graham that the decision of the case remained purely on evidence, but he would see there was no breach of neutrality. The Captain of the Sea Bride says he is prepared to show by bearings that he was within two and a half miles of Robben Island.

No. VI.

CORRESPONDENCE RESPECTING THE TUSCALOOSA.

Rear-Admiral Sir B. Walker to the Secretary to the Admiralty. August 19, 1863.

I beg you will be pleased to acquaint my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty with the following particulars relative to the proceedings of the Confederate States ships of war Alabama, her reported tender Tuscaloosa, and the Georgia, which have recently arrived at the Cape of Good Hope.

2. On the 28th of July an English schooner arrived in Table Bay, and reported that on the previous day she had been boarded by the Confederate steamer Alabama, fifteen miles north-west of Green Point. After some inquiries the Alabama left her, steering south-east.

3. Upon the receipt of this intelligence I ordered Captain Forsyth, of the Valorous, to hold himself in readiness to proceed to any of the ports in this colony where the Alabama might anchor, in order to preserve the rules of strict neutrality.

4. By a letter addressed to the Governor of this Colony by Captain Semmes, copy of which was telegraphed to me on the 4th instant, it appears that the Alabama had proceeded to Saldanha Bay for a few days, anchoring there on the 29th of July.

5. On the 5th instant I received a private telegram to the effect that the Alabama was off Table Bay, when I directed the Valorous immediately to proceed to that anchorage; and shortly afterwards a telegram reached me from the Governor stating "that the Alabama had captured a vessel (American), which was in sight, and steering for Table Bay." The Valorous reached that Bay at 10.15 P.M., where the Alabama had anch.o.r.ed at 3 o'clock in the afternoon of the same day.

6. Captain Forsyth having informed me that the tender to the Alabama had been ordered by Captain Semmes to Simon's Bay for provisions, and having learned that this vessel had been captured off the coast of Brazil, and not been condemned in any Prize Court, I had doubts as to the legality of considering her in the light of a tender, being under the impression that it was a ruse to disguise the real character of the vessel. I therefore wrote to the Governor to obtain the opinion of the Attorney-General of the Colony upon this subject, which correspondence is inclosed.

7. On the 8th of August the tender Tuscaloosa, a sailing barque, arrived in Simon's Bay, and the boarding officer having reported to me that her original cargo of wool was still on board, I felt that there were grounds for doubting her real character, and again called the Governor's attention to this circ.u.mstance. My letter and his reply are annexed. And I would here beg to submit to their Lordships' notice that this power of a captain of a ship of war to const.i.tute every prize he may take a "tender," appears to me to be likely to lead to abuse and evasion of the laws of strict neutrality, by being used as a means for bringing prizes into neutral ports for disposal of their cargoes, and secret arrangements-which arrangements, it must be seen, could afterwards be easily carried out at isolated places.

8. The Alabama, after lying three days in Table Bay, came to this anchorage to caulk and refit. She arrived here on the 9th, and sailed again on the 15th instant. Captain Semmes was guarded in his conduct, and expressed himself as most anxious not to violate the neutrality of these waters.

9. I should observe that, from the inclosed copy of a letter from Captain Forsyth to the Governor, it would appear that the vessel Sea Bride, taken by the Alabama off Table Bay, was beyond the jurisdiction of neutral territory.

10. During his pa.s.sage to this port Captain Semmes chased another American vessel, the Martha Wentzel, standing in for Table Bay. On my pointing out to him that he had done so in neutral waters, he a.s.sured me that it was quite unintentional, and, being at a distance from the land, he did not observe that he had got within three miles of an imaginary line drawn from the Cape of Good Hope to Cape Hanglip, but on discovering it he did not detain the vessel. The explanation I considered sufficient.

11. The tender Tuscaloosa, having been detained by a strong south-easter, got under way for the purpose of going to sea on the 14th instant, but anch.o.r.ed again a little distance from the Roman Rock lighthouse in consequence of thick fog prevailing.

12. The Alabama did not take in any coal, either here or at Table Bay, but after being caulked she proceeded to sea on the 15th instant, followed by the Tuscaloosa. Their destinations are unknown.

13. On the 16th instant, the Confederate States steamer Georgia, Commander Maury, anch.o.r.ed in this bay. She requires coal, provision, and caulking. This vessel did not meet the Alabama outside.

14. The Florida, another Confederate States steamer, is reported to be off this coast, probably cruising to intercept the homeward-bound American ships from China; indeed, it is with that object these ships are on this part of the Station.

15. I have learnt, since the departure of the Alabama, and her so-called tender, that overtures were made by some parties in Cape Town to purchase the cargo of wool, but, being unsatisfactory, they were not accepted. It is reported to be Captain Semmes' intention to destroy the Tuscaloosa at sea.

16. The Alabama is a steamer of about 900 tons, with 8 guns, and 150 men. The Georgia is an iron steamer of about 700 tons, with 5 guns, and 110 men. The Tuscaloosa is a sailing-barque of 500 tons, having 2 small guns and 10 men.

Captain Semmes, C.S.N., to Governor Sir P. Wodehouse. August 1, 1863.

An opportunity is offered me by the coasting schooner Atlas, to communicate with the Cape, of which I promptly avail myself.

I have the honour to inform your Excellency that I arrived in this bay on Wednesday morning last, for the purpose of effecting some necessary repairs. As soon as these repairs can be completed I will proceed to sea, and in the meantime your Excellency may rest a.s.sured that I will pay the strictest attention to the neutrality of your Government.

Rear-Admiral Sir B. Walker to Governor Sir P. Wodehouse. August 7, 1863.

Captain Forsyth having informed me that the Alabama has a tender outside captured by Captain Semmes on the coast of America, and commissioned by one of the Alabama's Lieutenants, and as this vessel has been ordered into Simon's Bay for provisions, may I request your Excellency will be good enough to obtain the opinion of the Law Officers whether this vessel ought still to be looked upon in the light of a prize, she never having been condemned in a Prize Court; the instructions, copy of which I inclose, strictly forbidding prizes captured by either of the contending parties in North America being admitted into our ports.

Governor Sir P. Wodehouse to Rear-Admiral Sir B. Walker, August 8, 1863.

I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Excellency's letter of yesterday's date, and to inclose the copy of an opinion given by the Acting Attorney-General to the effect that the vessel to which you refer ought to be regarded as a tender and not as a prize.

I shall take care to submit this question to Her Majesty's Government by the next mail, but in the meantime I conclude that your Excellency will be prepared to act on the opinion of the Attorney-General in respect to any vessels which may enter these ports in the character of prizes converted into ships of war by the officers of the navy of the Confederate States.

Extracts from "Wheaton's Elements of International Law."

What const.i.tutes a setting forth as a vessel of war has been determined by the British Courts of Prize, in cases arising under the clause of the Act of Parliament, which may serve for the interpretation of our own law, as the provisions are the same in both. Thus it has been settled that where a ship was originally armed for the Slave Trade, and after capture an additional number of men were put on board, but there was no commission of war and no additional arming, it was not a setting forth as a vessel of war under the Act. But a commission of war is decisive if there be guns on board; and where the vessel after the capture has been fitted out as a privateer, it is conclusive against her, although, when recaptured, she is navigating as a mere merchant-ship; for where the former character of a captured vessel had been obliterated by her conversion into a ship of war, the Legislature meant to look no further, but considered the t.i.tle of the former owner forever extinguished. Where it appeared that the vessel had been engaged in a military service of the enemy, under the direction of his Minister of the Marine, it was held as a sufficient proof of a setting forth as a vessel of war; so where the vessel is armed, and is employed in the public military service of the enemy by those who have competent authority so to employ it, although it be not regularly commissioned. But the mere employment in the enemy's military service is not sufficient; but if there be a fair semblance of authority, in the person directing the vessel to be so employed, and nothing upon the face of the proceedings to invalidate it, the Court will presume that he is duly authorized; and the commander of a single ship may be presumed to be vested with this authority as commander of a squadron.

Rear-Admiral Sir B. Walker to Governor Sir P. Wodehouse. August 8, 1863.

I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Excellency's letter of this day's date, covering the written opinion of the Acting Attorney-General of this Colony as to the legality of the so-called tender to the Confederate States armed ship Alabama, and for which I beg to express my thanks.

The vessel in question, now called the Tuscaloosa, arrived here this evening, and the boarding officer from my flag-ship obtained the following information:

That she is a barque of 500 tons, with two small rifled 12 pounder guns and ten men, and was captured by the Alabama on the 21st June last, off the coast of Brazil: cargo of wool still on board.

The admission of this vessel into port will, I fear, open the door for numbers of vessels captured under similar circ.u.mstances being denominated tenders, with a view to avoid the prohibition contained in the Queen's instructions; and I would observe that the vessel Sea Bride captured by the Alabama off Table Bay a few days since, or all other prizes, might be in like manner styled tenders, making the prohibition entirely null and void.

I apprehend that to bring a captured vessel under the denomination of a vessel of war, she must be fitted for warlike purposes, and not merely have a few men and two small guns put on board of her (in fact nothing but a prize crew) in order to disguise her real character as a prize.

Now this vessel has her original cargo of wool still on board, which cannot be required for warlike purposes, and her armament and the number of her crew are quite insufficient for any services other than those of a slight defence.

Viewing all the circ.u.mstances of the case, they afford room for the supposition, that the vessel is styled a "tender" with the object of avoiding the prohibition against her entrance as a prize into our ports, where, if the captors wished, arrangements could be made for the disposal of her valuable cargo, the transhipment of which, your Excellency will not fail to see, might be readily effected on any part of the coast beyond the limits of this Colony.

My sole object in calling your Excellency's attention to the case is to avoid any breach of strict neutrality.

Governor Sir P. Wodehonse to Rear-Admiral Sir B. Walker. August 10, 1863.

I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Excellency's letter of the 8th instant, on which I have consulted the Acting Attorney-General.

The information given respecting the actual condition of the Tuscaloosa is somewhat defective, but referring to the extract from Wheaton transmitted in my last letter, the Attorney-General is of opinion that if the vessel received the two guns from the Alabama or other Confederate vessel of war, or if the person in command of her has a commission of war, or if she be commanded by an officer of the Confederate navy, in any of these cases there will be a sufficient setting forth as a vessel of war to justify her being held to be a ship of war; if all of these points be decided in the negative, she must be held to be only a prize, and ordered to leave forthwith.

Rear-Admiral Sir B. Walker to Governor Sir P. Wodehouse. August 11, 1863.

I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Excellency's letter, dated yesterday, respecting the Confederate barque Tuscaloosa now in this bay.

As there are two guns on board, and an officer of the Alabama in charge of her, the vessel appears to come within the meaning of the cases cited in your above-mentioned communication.