THE SUMTER ON THE WING AGAIN--IS PUT UNDER SAIL FOR THE TIME--REACHES THE
ISLAND OF CURACOA, AND IS ONLY ABLE TO ENTER AFTER A DIPLOMATIC FIGHT.
From what has been said in the last chapter, the reader will have observed
how anxious I was to conform my conduct, in all respects, to the laws of
war. My hope was, that _some_ of the nations of the earth, at least, would
give me an asylum for my prizes, so that I might have them formally
condemned by the Confederate States Prize Courts, instead of being obliged
to destroy them. It was with this hope, that I had entered the port of
Cienfuegos, as the reader has seen; and it was in furtherance of this
object, that I now drew up the following appointment of a Prize Agent, who
had come well recommended to me, as a gentleman of integrity and capacity.
C. S. STEAMER SUMTER, CIENFUEGOS,
July 6, 1861.
SIR:--You are hereby appointed Prize Agent, for, and in behalf of the
Confederate States of America, of the following prizes, to wit: The
_Cuba_, _Machias_, _Ben. Dunning_, _Albert Adams_, _Naiad_, _West
Wind_, and _Louisa Kilham_, and their cargoes, until the same can be
adjudicated, by the Prize Courts of the Confederate States, and
disposed of by the proper authorities. You will take the necessary
steps for the safe custody of these prizes, and you will not permit
anything to be removed from, or disturbed on board of them. You will
be pleased, also, to take the examinations of the master, and mate of
each of these vessels, before a notary, touching the property of the
vessels, and cargoes; and making a copy thereof, to be retained in
your own possession, you will send, by some safe conveyance, the
originals, addressed to "The Judge of the Confederate States District
Court, New Orleans, La."
I have the honor to be, &c.,
RAPHAEL SEMMES.
_Senor Don_ MARIANO DIAS.
During the day, the steam-tug towed down from the town, for me, a couple
of lighters, containing about one hundred tons of coal, five thousand
gallons of water, and some fresh provisions for the crew. It was necessary
that we should prepare for sea, with some dispatch, as there was a line of
telegraph, from Cienfuegos to Havana, where there were always a number of
the enemy's ships of war stationed. As a matter of course, the U. S.
Consul at Cienfuegos had telegraphed to his brother Consul, in Havana, the
arrival of the _Sumter_, in the first ten minutes after she had let go her
anchor; and as another matter of course, there must already be several
fast steamers on their way, to capture this piratical craft, which had
thus so unceremoniously broken in upon the quiet of the Cuban waters, and
the Yankee sugar, and rum trade. I had recourse to the chart, and having
ascertained at what hour these steamers would be enabled to arrive, I
fixed my own departure, a few hours ahead, so as to give them the
satisfaction of finding that the bird, which they were in pursuit of, had
flown. My excellent first lieutenant came up to time, and the ship was
reported ready for sea before sunset, or in a little more than twenty-four
hours, after our arrival.
To avoid the coal dust, which is one of the pests of a steamer, and the
confusion, and noise which necessarily accompany the exceedingly poetic
operation of coaling, I landed, as the sun was approaching the western
horizon, in company with my junior lieutenant and sailing-master, for a
stroll, and to obtain sights for testing my chronometers, as well. Having
disposed of the business part of the operation first, in obedience to the
old maxim; that is to say, having made our observations upon the sun, for
time, we wandered about, for an hour, and more, amid the rich tropical
vegetation of this queen of islands, now passing under the flowering
acacia, and now under the deep-foliaged orange-tree, which charmed two
senses at once--that of smell, by the fragrance of its young flowers, and
that of sight, by the golden hue of its luscious and tempting fruit. We
had landed abreast of our ship, and a few steps sufficed to put us in the
midst of a dense wilderness, of floral beauty, with nothing to commune
with but nature. What a contrast there was between this peaceful, and
lovely scene, and the life we had led for the last week! We almost
loathed to go back to the dingy walls, and close quarters of our little
craft, where everything told us of war, and admonished us that a life of
toil, vexation, and danger lay before us, and that we must bid a long
farewell to rural scenes, and rural pleasures. As we still wandered,
absorbed in such speculations as these, unconscious of the flight of time,
the sound of the evening gun came booming on the ear, to recall us to our
senses, and retracing our steps, we hurriedly re-embarked. That evening's
stroll lingered long in my memory, and was often recalled, amid the
whistling, and surging of the gale, and the tumbling, and discomforts of
the ship.
I had been looking anxiously, for the last few hours, for the arrival of
our prize brigantine, the _Cuba_, but she failed to make her appearance,
and I was forced to abandon the hope of getting back my prize crew from
her. I left with my prize agent, the following letter of instructions for
the midshipman in command of the _Cuba_.
CONFEDERATE STATES STEAMER SUMTER,
CIENFUEGOS, July 7, 1861.
SIR:--Upon your arrival at this place, you will put the master, mate,
and crew of the _Cuba_ on _parole_, not to serve against the
Confederate States, during the present war, unless exchanged, and
release them. You will then deliver the brigantine to the Governor,
for safe custody, until the orders of the Captain-General can be
known in regard to her. I regret much that you are not able to arrive
in time, to rejoin the ship, and you must exercise your judgment, as
to the mode in which you shall regain your country. You will, no
doubt, be able to raise sufficient funds for transporting yourself,
and the four seamen who are with you, to some point in the
Confederate States, upon a bill of exchange, which you are hereby
authorized to draw, upon the Secretary of the Navy. Upon your arrival
within our territory, you will report yourself to that officer. Your
baggage has been sent you by the pilot.
_Midshipman_ A. G. HUDGINS.
I did not meet Mr. Hudgins, afterward, until as a rear admiral, I was
ordered to the command of the James River fleet, in the winter of 1864. He
was then attached to one of my ships, as a lieutenant. On the retreat from
Richmond, I made him a captain of light artillery, and he was paroled with
me, at Greensboro', North Carolina, in May 1865. How he has settled with
my friend, the Spanish pilot, who agreed with _me_ that the prizes which
I captured, off Cienfuegos, were _five_ miles from the land, and with the
Northern claimants, and the Captain-General of Cuba, that they were less
than _three_ miles from it, about his baggage, I have never learned.
Everything being in readiness for sea, on board the _Sumter_, and the
officers having all returned from their visits to the town, at eleven P.
M., we got under way, and as the bell struck the midnight hour, we steamed
out of the harbor, the lamps from the light-house throwing a bright glare
upon our deck, as we passed under its shadow, close enough to "have tossed
a biscuit" to the keeper; so bold is the entrance of the little river. The
sea was nearly calm, and the usual land breeze was gently breathing,
rather than blowing. Having given the course to the officer of the deck, I
was glad to go below, and turn in, after the excitement, and confusion of
the last forty-eight hours. When some seven or eight miles from the land,
we lost the land breeze, and were struck by the sea breeze, nearly ahead,
with some force. We steamed on, all the next day, without any incident to
break in upon the monotony, except a short chase which we gave to a
brigantine, which proved, upon our coming up with her, to be Spanish.
Between nine, and ten o'clock in the evening, we passed the small islands
of the _Caymans_, which we found to be laid down in the charts we were
using, some fifteen or sixteen miles too far to the westward. As there is
a current setting in the vicinity of these islands, and as the islands
themselves are so low, as to be seen with difficulty, in a dark
night,--and the night on which we were passing them was dark,--I make this
observation, to put navigators on their guard.
The morning of the ninth of July dawned clear, and beautifully, but as the
sun gained power, the trade-wind increased, until it blew half a gale,
raising considerable sea, and impeding the progress of the ship. Indeed,
so little speed did we make, that the island of Jamaica, which we had
descried with the first streaks of dawn, remained in sight all day; its
blue mountains softened but not obliterated by the distance as the evening
set in. The sea was as blue as the mountains, and the waves seemed almost
as large, to our eyes, as the little steamer plunged into, and struggled
with them, in her vain attempt to make headway. All the force of her
engine was incapable of driving her at a greater speed than five knots.
The next day, and the day after were equally unpropitious. Indeed the
weather went from bad, to worse, for now the sky became densely overcast,
with black, and angry-looking clouds, and the wind began to whistle
through the rigging, with all the symptoms of a gale. We were approaching
the hurricane season, and there was no telling at what moment, one of
those terrible cyclones of the Caribbean Sea might sweep over us. To add
to the gloominess of the prospect, we were comparatively out of the track
of commerce, and had seen no sail, since we had overhauled the Spanish
brigantine.
As explained to the reader, in one of the opening chapters, it was my
intention to proceed from Cuba, to Barbadoes, there recoal, and thence
make the best of my way to Cape St. Roque, in Brazil, where I expected to
reap a rich harvest from the enemy's commerce. I was now obliged to
abandon, or at least to modify this design. It would not be possible for
me to reach Barbadoes, with my present supply of coal, in the teeth of
such trade-winds, as I had been encountering for the last few days. I
therefore determined to bend down toward the Spanish Main; converting the
present head-wind, into a fair wind, for at least a part of the way, and
hoping to find the weather more propitious, on that coast. It was now the
thirteenth of July, and as we had sailed from Cienfuegos, on the seventh,
we had consumed six out of our eight days' supply of fuel. Steaming was no
longer to be thought of, and we must make some port under sail. The Dutch
island of Curacoa lay under our lee, and we accordingly made sail for that
island. The engineer was ordered to let his fires go down, and uncouple
his propeller that it might not retard the speed of the ship, and the
sailors were sent aloft to loose the topsails.
This was the first time that we were to make use of our sails, unaided by
steam, and the old sailors of the ship, who had not bestridden a yard for
some months, leaped aloft, with a will, to obey the welcome order. The
race of sailors has not yet entirely died out, though the steamship is
fast making sad havoc with it. There is the same difference between the
old-time sailor, who has been bred in the sailing-ship, and the modern
sailor of the steamship, that there is between the well-trained fox-hound,
who chases Reynard all day, and the cur that dodges a rabbit about, for
half an hour or so. The sailing-ship has a romance, and a poetry about
her, which is thoroughly killed by steam. The sailor of the former loves,
for its own sake, the howling of the gale, and there is no music so sweet
to his ear, as the shouting of orders through the trumpet of the officer
of the deck, when he is poised upon the topsail-yard, of the rolling and
tumbling ship, hauling out the "weather ear-ring." It is the _ranz de
vache_, which recalls the memory of his boyhood, and youth, when under the
tutelage of some foster-father of an old salt, he was taking his first
lessons in seamanship.
It used to be beautiful to witness the rivalry of these children of the
deep, when the pitiless hurricane was scourging their beloved ship, and
threatening her with destruction. The greater the danger, the more eager
the contest for the post of honor. Was there a sail to be secured, which
appeared about to be torn into ribbons, by the gale, and the loose gear of
which threatened to whip the sailor from the yard; or was there a topmast
to be climbed, which was bending like a willow wand under the fury of the
blast, threatening to part at every moment, and throw the climber into the
raging, and seething caldron of waters beneath, from which it would be
impossible to rescue him, Jack, noble Jack was ever ready for the service.
I have seen an old naval captain, who had been some years retired from the
sea, almost melt into tears, as he listened to the musical "heaving of the
lead" by an old sailor, in the "chains" of a passing ship of war.
But steam, practical, commonplace, hard-working steam, has well-nigh
changed all this, and cut away the webbing from the foot of the old-time
sailor. Seamanship, evolutions, invention, skill, and ready resource in
times of difficulty, and danger, have nearly all gone out of fashion, and
instead of reefing the topsails, and club-hauling, and box-hauling the
ship, some order is now sent to the engineer, about regulating his fires,
and paying attention to his steam-gauges. Alas! alas! there will be no
more Nelsons, and Collingwoods, and no more such venerable "bulwarks upon
the deep," as the _Victory_, and the _Royal Sovereign_. In future wars
upon the ocean, all combatants will be on the dead level of impenetrable
iron walls, with regard to dash, and courage, and with regard to
seamanship, and evolutions, all the knowledge that will be required of
them, will be to know how to steer a nondescript box toward their enemy.
Our first night under canvas, I find thus described, in my journal: "Heavy
sea all night, and ship rolling, and tumbling about, though doing pretty
well. The propeller revolves freely, and we are making about five knots."
The next day was Sunday, and the weather was somewhat ameliorated. The
wind continued nearly as fresh as before, but as we were now running a
point free, this was no objection, and the black, angry clouds had
disappeared, leaving a bright, and cheerful sky. A sail was seen on the
distant horizon, but it was too rough to chase. This was our usual
muster-day, but the decks were wet, and uncomfortable, and I permitted my
crew to rest, they having scarcely yet recovered from the fatigue of the
last few days.
There is, perhaps, no part of the world where the weather is so uniformly
fine, as on the Spanish Main. The cyclones never bend in that direction,
and even the ordinary gales are unknown. We were already beginning to feel
the influence of this meteorological change; for on Monday, the 15th of
July, the weather was thus described in my journal: "Weather moderating,
and the sea going down, though still rough. Nothing seen. In the
afternoon, pleasant, with a moderate breeze, and the clouds assuming their
usual soft, fleecy, trade-wind appearance." The next day was still clear,
though the wind had freshened, and the ship was making good speed.
At nine A. M. we made the land, on the starboard bow, which proved to be
the island of Oruba, to leeward, a few miles, of Curacoa. For some hours
past, we had been within the influence of the equatorial current, which
sets westward, along this coast, with considerable velocity, and it had
carried us a little out of our course, though we had made some allowance
for it. We hauled up, a point, or two, and at eleven A. M. we made the
island of Curacoa, on the port bow. We doubled the north-west end of the
island, at about four P. M. and hauling up on the south side of it we
soon brought the wind ahead, when it became necessary to put the ship
under steam again, and to furl the sails.
The afternoon proved beautifully bright, and clear; the sea was of a deep
indigo-blue, and we were all charmed, even with this barren little island,
as we steamed along its bold, and blackened shores, of limestone rock,
alongside of which the heaviest ship might have run, and throwing out her
bow and stern lines, made herself fast with impunity, so perpendicularly
deep were the waters. Our average distance from the land, as we steamed
along, was not greater than a quarter of a mile. There were a few stunted
trees, only, to be seen, in the little ravines, and some wild shrubbery,
and sickly looking grass, struggling for existence on the hills' sides. A
few goats were browsing about here, and there, and the only evidence of
commerce, or thrift, that we saw, were some piles of salt, that had been
raked up from the lagoons, ready for shipment. And yet the Dutch live, and
thrive here, and have built up quite a pretty little town--that of St.
Anne's, to which we were bound. The explanation of which is, that the
island lies contiguous to the Venezuelan coast, and is a free port, for
the introduction of European, and American goods, in which a considerable
trade is carried on, with the main land.
We arrived off the town, with its imposing battlements frowning on either
side of the harbor, about dusk, and immediately hoisted a jack, and fired
a gun, for a pilot. In the course of half an hour, or so, this
indispensable individual appeared, but it was too late, he said, for us to
attempt the entrance, that night. He would come off, the first thing in
the morning, and take us in. With this assurance we rested satisfied, and
lay off, and on, during the night, under easy steam. But we were not to
gain entrance to this quaint little Dutch town, so easily, as had been
supposed. We were to have here a foretaste of the trouble, that the
Federal Consuls were to give us in the future. We have already commented
on the love of office of the American people. There is no hole, or corner
of the earth, into which a ship can enter, and where there is a dollar to
be made, that has not its American Consul, small or large. The smallest of
salaries are eagerly accepted, and, as a consequence, the smallest of men
are sometimes sent to fill these places. But the smaller the place, the
bigger were the cocked hats and epaulettes the officials wore, and the
more brim-full were they of patriotism.
At the time of which I am writing, they called one Wm. H. Seward, master,
and they had taken Billy's measure to a fraction. They knew his tastes,
and pandered to them, accordingly. His circular letters had admonished
them, that, in their intercourse with foreign nations, they must speak of
our great civil war, as a mere _rebellion_, that would be suppressed, in
from sixty, to ninety days; insist that we were not entitled to
belligerent rights, and call our cruisers, "corsairs," or "pirates."
Accordingly, soon after the pilot had landed, from the _Sumter_, carrying
with him to the shore, the intelligence that she was a Confederate States
cruiser, the Federal Consul made his appearance at the Government-House,
and claimed that the "pirate" should not be permitted to enter the harbor;
informing his Excellency, the Governor, that Mr. Seward would be irate, if
such a thing were permitted, and that he might expect to have the stone,
and mortar of his two forts knocked about his ears, in double quick, by
the ships of war of the Great Republic.
This bold, and defiant tone, of the doughty little Consul, seemed to
stagger his Excellency; it would not be so pleasant to have St. Anne's
demolished, merely because a steamer with a flag that nobody had seen
before, wanted some coal; and so, the next morning, bright and early, he
sent the pilot off, to say to me, that "the Governor could not permit the
_Sumter_ to enter, having received recent orders from Holland to that
effect." Here was a pretty kettle of fish! The _Sumter_ had only one day's
fuel left, and it was some distance from Curacoa, to any other place,
where coal was to be had. I immediately sent for Lieutenant Chapman, and
directed him to prepare himself for a visit to the shore; and calling my
clerk, caused him to write, after my dictation, the following despatch to
his Excellency:--
CONFEDERATE STATES STEAMER SUMTER,
OFF ST. ANNE'S, CURACOA, July 17, 1861.
HIS EXCELLENCY GOVERNOR CROL:--
I was surprised to receive, by the pilot, this morning, a message
from your Excellency, to the effect that this ship would not be
permitted to enter the harbor, unless she was in distress, as your
Excellency had received orders from his Government not to admit
vessels of war of the Confederate States of America, to the
hospitality of the ports, under your Excellency's command. I most
respectfully suggest that there must be some mistake here; and I have
sent to you the bearer, Lieutenant Chapman, of the Confederate States
Navy, for the purpose of an explanation. Your Excellency must be
under some misapprehension as to the character of this vessel. She is
a ship of war, duly commissioned by the government of the Confederate
States, which States have been recognized, as belligerents, in the
present war, by all the leading Powers of Europe, viz:--Great
Britain, France, Spain, &c., as your Excellency must be aware.
It is true, that these Powers have prohibited both belligerents,
alike, from bringing prizes into their several jurisdictions; but no
one of them has made a distinction, either between the respective
prizes, or the cruisers, themselves, of the two belligerents--the
cruisers of both governments, unaccompanied by prizes, being admitted
to the hospitalities of the ports of all these great Powers, on terms
of perfect equality. In the face of these facts, am I to understand
from your Excellency, that Holland has adopted a different rule, and
that she not only excludes the prizes, but the ships of war,
themselves, of the Confederate States? And this, at the same time,
that she admits the cruisers of the United States; thus departing
from her neutrality, in this war, ignoring the Confederate States, as
belligerents, and aiding and abetting their enemy? If this be the
position which Holland has assumed, in this contest, I pray your
Excellency to be kind enough to say as much to me in writing.
When this epistle was ready, Chapman shoved off for the shore, and a long
conference ensued. The Governor called around him, as I afterward learned,
all the dignitaries of the island, civil and military, and a grand council
of State was held. These Dutchmen have a ponderous way of doing things,
and I have no doubt, the gravity of this council was equal to that held in
New Amsterdam in colonial days, as described by the renowned historian
Diederick Knickerbocker, at which Woutter Van Twiller, the doubter, was
present. Judging by the time that Chapman was waiting for his answer,
during which he had nothing to do but sip the most delightful mint
juleps--for these islanders seemed to have robbed old Virginia of some of
her famous mint patches--in company with an admiring crowd of friends, the
councillors must have "smoked and talked, and smoked again;" pondered with
true Dutch gravity, all the arguments, _pro_ and _con_, that were
offered, and weighed my despatch, along with the "recent order from
Holland," in a torsion balance, to see which was heaviest.
After the lapse of an hour, or two, becoming impatient, I told my first
lieutenant, that as our men had not been practised at the guns, for some
time, I thought it would be as well to let them burst a few of our
eight-inch shells, at a target. Accordingly the drum beat to quarters, a
great stir was made about the deck, as the guns were cast loose, and
pretty soon, whiz! went a shell, across the windows of the
council-chamber, which overlooked the sea; the shell bursting like a clap
of rather sharp, ragged thunder, a little beyond, in close proximity, to
the target. Sundry heads were seen immediately to pop out of the windows
of the chamber, and then to be withdrawn very suddenly, as though the
owners of them feared that another shell was coming, and that my gunners
might make some mistake in their aim. By the time we had fired three or
four shells, all of which bursted with beautiful precision, Chapman's boat
was seen returning, and thinking that our men had had exercise enough, we
ran out and secured the guns.
My lieutenant came on board, smiling, and looking pleasantly, as men will
do, when they are bearers of good news, and said that the Governor had
given us permission to enter. We were lying close in with the entrance,
and in a few minutes more, the _Sumter_ was gliding gracefully past the
houses, on either side of her, as she ran up the little canal, or river,
that split the town in two. The quays were crowded with a motley gathering
of the townspeople, men, women, and children, to see us pass, and sailors
waved their hats to us, from the shipping in the port. Running through the
town into a land-locked basin, in its rear, the _Sumter_ let go her
anchor, hoisted out her boats, and spread her awnings,--and we were once
more in port.