THE PHYSIOGNOMY OF SHIPS--CAPTURE OF THE LAFAYETTE--DECREE OF THE
ADMIRALTY COURT ON BOARD THE ALABAMA IN HER CASE, AND IN THAT OF THE
LAURETTA--THE CRITICISMS OF THE NEW YORK PRESS--FARTHER PROOF OF THE
ROTARY NATURE OF THE WIND--THE LAURETTA CAPTURED--THE CRENSHAW
CAPTURED--THE NEW YORK CHAMBER OF COMMERCE CRIES ALOUD IN PAIN--CAPTURE OF
THE BARON DE CASTINE, AND THE LEVI STARBUCK--CAPTURE OF THE T. B.
WALES--LADY PRISONERS.
The day after the gale recorded in the last chapter, we set all hands at
work repairing damages--the carpenters fishing, and the boatswain and his
gang refitting the broken main-yard; the gunners putting their battery in
order, the sailmaker repairing sails, and the old signal-quartermaster
"breaking out" his signal-lockers, which had been invaded by the
sea-water, and airing his flags. The latter was enabled, by this time, to
make quite a display of Yankee flags, from his signal-halliards--the
_Alabama_ having captured seventeen ships in six weeks. As the Yankee
ships now began to wear, out of pure patriotism, (though they were out of
the war, and profitably chasing the honest penny,) the biggest sort of
"flaunting lies," there were several bagsful of these flags.
We began now to overhaul sails again. From the 16th to the 20th of
October, we chased and boarded nine, all of which were neutral! We were,
in fact, in an American sea--the Gulf Stream being the thoroughfare of
American and West Indian commerce to Europe--and yet the American flag was
beginning to disappear from it. Such of the Federal ships as could not
obtain employment from the Government, as transports, or be sold under
neutral flags, were beginning to rot at the wharves of the once thrifty
sea-ports of the Great Republic. Our "nautical enterprise" was beginning
to tell on the enemy, and if we had had the ability to imitate
Massachusetts, in the war of the first revolution, in the way of putting
forth armed cruisers, to prey upon the enemy's commerce, the said enemy
would not have had so much as a rope-yarn upon the sea, in the course of
twelve months. But at the time of which I am writing, the _Alabama_ and
the _Florida_ were the only two Confederate ocean cruisers afloat.
On the 21st of October, we observed in latitude 39 deg. 35', and longitude
63 deg. 26', and on that day, we made our first capture since the gale. We
were lying to, as usual, when a large ship was descried, in the north-west,
running in our direction. Though the wind was very fresh, she had her
royals and fore-topmast studding-sails set, and was, in consequence,
running before the wind, with great speed. I shook the reefs out of my own
topsails, and prepared to set the topgallant-sails if it should be
necessary, and filled away, and moved toward the path of the stranger as
she approached, with the English colors at my peak. The fine, large ship,
as she ran down to us, presented a beautiful picture--all the more
beautiful because we knew her to be Yankee, although she had not yet shown
her colors.
We had become now very expert in detecting the nationalities of ships. I
had with me a master's mate--Evans--who had a peculiar talent in this
respect. He had been a pilot out of Savannah, and had sailed in the
_Savannah_, privateer, at the beginning of the war. He escaped the harsh
treatment, and trial for piracy, which, as the reader may recollect, were
the fate of the prisoners captured in that little vessel, by being absent
in a prize at the time of her capture. He afterward joined me at
Liverpool. Whenever I had any doubt about the nationality of a ship, I
always sent for Mr. Evans, and putting my telescope in his hand, I would
say to him, "Look at that ship," pointing in the given direction, "and
tell me to what nation she belongs." A glance of a minute or two was all
he required. Lowering his glass at the end of this time, he would say to
me, "She is a Yankee, sir," or, "She is not a Yankee," as the case might
be; and if she was not a Yankee, he would say, "I think she is English,"
or French, or Dutch, or whatever other nation to which he supposed her to
belong. He sometimes failed, of course, in assigning their proper
nationality to neutrals, but his judgment seemed to amount to an instinct,
with regard to the question, Yankee, or no Yankee. When he pronounced a
ship a Yankee, I was always certain of her. I never knew him to fail, in
this particular, but once, and that can scarcely be said to have been a
failure. He once mistook a St. John's, New Brunswick-built ship, for an
enemy; and the ships built in the British Colonies, on the Yankee border,
are such counterparts of American ships, that it is very difficult to
distinguish one from the other.
The ship which was now running down for us was, as I have said, a picture,
with her masts yielding and swaying to a cloud of sail, her tapering poles
shooting skyward, even above her royals, and her well-turned, _flaring_
bows--the latter a distinctive feature of New York-built ships. She came
on, rolling gracefully to the sea, and with the largest kind of a "bone in
her mouth." She must have suspected something, from our very equivocal
attitude in such weather, and in such a place; but she made no change in
her course, and was soon under our guns. A blank cartridge brought her to
the wind. If the scene was beautiful before, it was still more so now. If
she had been a ship of war, full of men, and with hands stationed at
sheets, halliards, and braces, she could not have shortened sail much more
rapidly, or have rounded more promptly and gracefully to the wind, with
her main topsail aback. Her cloud of canvas seemed to shrivel and
disappear, as though it had been a scroll rolled up by an invisible hand.
It is true, nothing had been furled, and her light sails were all flying
in the wind, confined to the yards only by their clew-lines, but the ship
lay as snugly and conveniently for boarding, as I could desire. I
frequently had occasion, during my cruises, to admire the seamanship of my
enemies. The Yankee is certainly a remarkable specimen of the _genus
homo_. He is at once a duck, and a chicken, and takes to the water, or
the land, with equal facility. Providence has certainly designed him for
some useful purpose. He is ambitious, restless, scheming, energetic, and
has no inconvenient moral nature to restrain him from the pursuit of his
interests, be the path to these never so crooked. In the development of
material wealth he is unsurpassed, and perhaps this is his mission on this
new continent of ours. But he is like the beaver, he works from instinct,
and is so avid of gain, that he has _no time to enjoy the wealth he
produces_. Some malicious demon seems to be goading him on, in spite of
himself, to continuous and exhausting exertion, which consigns him to the
tomb before his time, leaving a "pile" of untouched wealth behind him.
The prize, upon being boarded, proved to be the _Lafayette_, from New
York, laden with grain, chiefly for Irish ports. We learned from
newspapers captured on board of her, that news of our capture of the
_Brilliant_ and _Emily Farnum_ off the Banks of Newfoundland, had reached
the United States, and, as was to be expected, I found, when I came to
examine the papers of the _Lafayette_, plenty of certificates to cover her
cargo. In fact, from this time onward, I rarely got hold of an enemy's
ship, whose cargo was not certificated all over--oaths for this purpose
being apparently as cheap, as the much-derided custom-house oaths, that
every ship-master is expected to take, without the least regard to the
state of the facts. Upon examination of these certificates, I pronounced
them fraudulent, and burned the ship.
As the burning of this vessel, with her cargo nicely "covered," as the
shippers had hoped, with British Consular seals and certificates, seemed
to warm up the Northern press, and cause it to hurl fresh denunciations of
"piracy" against me, I will detain the reader, a moment, from the thread
of my narrative, to look a little into the facts. The reader has already
been told that I held a regular prize-court on board the _Sumter_. I did
the same thing on board the _Alabama_, never condemning a ship or cargo,
when there was any claim of neutral property, without the most careful,
and thorough examination of her papers, and giving to the testimony the
best efforts of my judgment. I had every motive not to offend neutrals. We
were hoping for an early recognition of our independence, by the
principal powers of the earth, and were covetous of the good-will of them
all. I had, besides, the most positive instructions from Mr. Mallory, our
Secretary of the Navy, to pay the utmost attention and respect to neutral
rights.
Referring to the records of "The Confederate States Admiralty Court, held
on board the Confederate States steamer _Alabama_, on the High Seas," I
find the following decree entered, in the case of the _Lafayette_.
"_In re_ LAFAYETTE.
"The ship being under the enemy's flag and register, is condemned.
With reference to the cargo, there are certificates, prepared in due
form, and sworn to before the British Consul, that it was purchased,
and shipped, on neutral account. These _ex parte_ statements are
precisely such as every unscrupulous merchant would prepare, to
deceive his enemy, and save his property from capture. There are two
shipping-houses in the case; that of Craig & Nicoll, and that of
Montgomery Bros. Messrs. Craig & Nicoll say, that the grain shipped
by them, belongs to Messrs. Shaw & Finlay, and to Messrs. Hamilton,
Megault & Thompson, all of Belfast, in Ireland, to which port the
ship is bound, but the grain is not consigned to them, and they could
not demand possession of it, under the bill of lading. It is, on the
contrary, consigned _to the order_ of the shippers; thus leaving the
possession, and control of the property, in the hands of the
shippers. Farther: The shippers, instead of sending this grain to the
pretended owners, in a _general_ ship, on freight, consigned to them,
they paying freight, as usual, have chartered the whole ship, and
stipulated, themselves, for the payment of all the freights. If this
property had been, _bona fide_, the property of the parties in
Belfast, named in the depositions, it would undoubtedly have gone
consigned to them, in a bill of lading, authorizing them to demand
possession of it, and the agreement with the ship would have been,
that the consignees and owners of the property should pay the
freight, upon delivery. But even if this property were purchased, as
pretended, by Messrs. Craig & Nicoll, for the parties named, still,
their not consigning it to them, and delivering them the proper bill
of lading, passing the possession, left the property in the
possession, and under the dominion of Craig & Nicoll, and as such
liable to capture. See 3 _Phillimore on International Law_, 610, 612,
to the effect, that if the goods are going on account of the shipper,
_or subject to his order or control_, they are good prize. They
cannot even be sold, and transferred to a neutral, _in transitu_.
They must abide by their condition, _at the time of the sailing of
the ship_.
"The property attempted to be covered by the Messrs. Montgomery
Bros., is shipped by Montgomery Bros., of New York, and consigned to
Montgomery Bros., in Belfast. Here the consignment is all right. The
possession of the property has legally passed to the Belfast house.
But when there are two houses of trade doing business as partners,
and one of them resides in the enemy's country, the other house,
though resident in a neutral country, becomes also enemy, _quoad_ the
trade of the house in the enemy's country, and its share in any
property belonging to the joint concern is subject to capture,
equally with the share of the house in the enemy's country. To this
point, see 3 _Phillimore_, 605. Cargo condemned."
This is the whole case of the _Lafayette_. As this case was coupled, in
the criticisms in the Yankee papers to which I have alluded, and which the
reader will see presently, with the case of the _Lauretta_, not yet
captured, I will anticipate the capture of this ship by a few days, that
the reader may have the facts also in her case.
"_In re_ LAURETTA.
"The ship being under the enemy's colors and register, is condemned.
There are two shippers of the cargo, the house of Chamberlain, Phelps
& Co., and Mr. H. J. Burden--all the shippers resident, and doing
business in the city of New York. Chamberlain, Phelps & Co., ship
1424 barrels of flour, and a lot of pipe staves, to be delivered at
Gibraltar, _or_ Messina, _to their own order_, and 225 kegs of nails
to be delivered at Messina, to Mariano Costarelli. The bill of lading
for the flour and staves has the following indorsement, sworn to
before a notary: 'State, City, and County of New York: Louis
Contencin, being duly sworn, says, that he is clerk with Chamberlain,
Phelps & Co., and that part of the merchandise in the within bill of
lading is the property of the subjects of the King of Italy.' This
certificate is void for uncertainty. It does not separate the
property in the bill of lading, and say which of it belongs to the
'subjects of the King of Italy,' and which to the enemy. For aught
that appears, 'the subjects' alluded to may own no more than a single
pipe-staff apiece. Indeed, they can own nothing, as it does not
appear _what_ they own. Further: If the property was identified in
the certificate, the 'subjects of the King of Italy' are not. No
man--for there is none named--could claim the property under this
certificate. It is, therefore, void, for this reason. See 3
_Phillimore_, 596.
But the flour and staves are consigned _to the order of the
shippers_, and this, alone, would be sufficient to condemn them, even
if the articles had been identified, and the proper owners pointed
out in the certificate. The _possession of the property at the time
of the sailing of the ship, must be divested out of the
enemy-shipper_. See 3 _Phillimore_, 610, 612, cited in the case of
the _Lafayette_.
The contingent destination of this property, is another pregnant
circumstance. It shows that it was intended _for a market_, and not
for any particular neutral owner. It was to be delivered at Gibraltar
_or_ Messina, as the shippers might determine, after the sailing of
the ship--probably upon advices received by steamer. So much for the
claim of Chamberlain, Phelps & Co.
"The property shipped by H. J. Burden, consists of 998 barrels of
flour, and 290 boxes of herring, and is consigned to Charles R.
Blandy, Esq., at Funchal, Madeira. The shipper makes the following
affidavit before the British Consul, in New York: 'That all and
singular, the goods specified in the annexed bill of lading, were
shipped by H. J. Burden, in the bark _Lauretta_, for, and on account
of, H. J. Burden, subject of her Britannic Majesty.' Mr. Burden may
be a very good subject of her Britannic Majesty, but he describes
himself as of 42 Beaver Street, New York City, and seems to lose
sight of the fact, that his domicile in an enemy's country, for the
purposes of trade, makes him, _quoad_ that trade, an enemy. Cargo
condemned."
The reader is now in a condition to understand the following criticism,
from that very elegant sheet, the New York "Commercial Advertiser," and to
appreciate the justice and courtesy with which I was treated by the press
of New York, generally.
"THE ALABAMA.
"BRITISH AND ITALIAN PROPERTY DESTROYED--PORTUGAL ALSO INVOLVED.
"_The English Authorities Acting.--Important Facts._--Some
important facts have just been developed in relation to the
operations of the rebel privateer _Alabama_, and the present and
prospective action of the British and other foreign Governments,
whose citizens have lost property by the piracies of her commander.
The depredations of the vessel involve the rights of no less than
three European governments--England, Italy, and Portugal--and are
likely to become a subject of special interest to all maritime
nations.
"Already the capture and burning of the ship _Lafayette_, which
contained an English cargo, has been the occasion of a correspondence
between the British Consul at this port, Mr. Archibald, and
Rear-Admiral Milne, commanding the British squadron on the American
coast; and it is stated (but we cannot vouch for the truth of the
statement) that the Admiral has dispatched three war-vessels in
pursuit of the pirate. The Consul has also, we understand,
communicated the facts of the case to the British Government and Her
Majesty's Minister at Washington. What action will be taken by the
British Government, remains to be seen.
"The _Lafayette_ sailed from this port with a cargo of grain for
Belfast, Ireland. The grain was owned _by two English firms of this
city_, and the facts were properly certified on the bills of lading
under the British national seal. The _Lafayette_ was, however, a
Boston vessel, and was commanded by Captain Saunders. The facts of
the burning have been published.
"But another case (that of the bark _Lauretta_) is about to be
submitted for the consideration of the British authorities, as well
as those of Italy and Portugal. The facts establish a clear case of
piracy. The _Lauretta_, which had on board a cargo consisting
principally of flour and staves, was burned by Semmes on the 28th of
October. She was bound from this port for the island of Madeira and
the port of Messina, in Italy. Nearly a thousand barrels of flour and
also a large number of staves were shipped by Mr. H. J. Burden, a
British subject residing in this city, to a relative in Funchal,
Madeira. The bill of lading bore the British seal affixed by the
Consul, to whom the shipper was personally known. The other part of
the cargo was shipped by Chamberlain, Phelps & Co., to the order of
parties in Messina, and this property was also covered by the Italian
Consular certificates.
"The Portuguese Consul at this port also sent a package under seal,
to the authorities at Madeira, besides giving a right to enter the
port and sending an open bill of lading.
"Captain Wells' account of the manner in which Semmes disposed of
these documents, and which he has verified under oath, is not only
interesting, but gives an excellent idea of the piratical intentions
of the commander of the _Alabama_.
"The papers of the bark were, at the command of Semmes, taken by
Captain Wells on board the _Alabama_. There was no American cargo,
and therefore no American papers, except those of the vessel. These,
of course, were not inquired into. Semmes took first the packet which
bore the Portuguese seal, and with an air which showed that he did
not regard it as of the slightest consequence, ripped it open, and
threw it upon the floor, with the remark that 'he did not care a
d----n for the Portuguese.' The Italian bill of lading was treated in
a similar manner, except that he considered it unworthy even of a
remark.
"Taking up the British bill of lading and looking at the seal, Semmes
called upon Captain Wells, with an oath, to explain. It was evidently
the only one of the three he thought it worth his while to respect.
"'Who is this Burden?' he inquired sneeringly. 'Have you ever seen
him?'
"'I am not acquainted with him; but I have seen him once, when he
came on board my vessel,' replied Captain Wells.
"'Is he an Englishman--does he look like an Englishman?'
"'Yes,' rejoined the captain.
"'I'll tell you what,' exclaimed the pirate, 'this is a d----d pretty
business--it's a d----d Yankee hash, and I'll settle it,'--whereupon
he proceeded to rob the vessel of whatever he wanted, including
Captain Wells' property to a considerable amount; put the crew in
irons; removed them to the _Alabama_; and concluded by burning the
vessel.
"These facts will at once be brought before the British Consul. The
preliminary steps have been taken. The facts will also be furnished
the Portuguese Consul, who announces his intention of placing them
before his Government; and besides whatever action the Italian Consul
here may choose to take, the parties in Messina, to whom the property
lost on the _Lauretta_ was consigned, will of course do what they can
to maintain their own rights. The case is likely to attract more
attention than all the previous outrages of the _Alabama_, inasmuch
as property rights of the subjects of other nations are involved, and
the real character of Semmes and his crew becomes manifest.
"Some interesting facts are given by Captain Wells in regard to the
_Alabama_, to which, however, we can only make a brief allusion. The
officers of the privateer are principally Southern men, but the crew
are nearly all English and Irish. They claim that they were shipped
by stratagem; that they were told the vessel was going to Nassau, and
now they are promised shares in captured property--not only the
property taken, but that which is burned, of which Semmes says he
keeps an accurate account. The bills are to be paid by the
'Confederate Government,' which Semmes, who enforces discipline only
by terrorism, declares will soon achieve its independence. The men
suppose they are gaining fortunes--though some of them protest
against the cheat which has been practised upon them."
The above is a fair specimen of the average intelligence of Yankee
newspapers, on any subject outside of the dirty pool of politics, in which
they habitually dabble. I was not _quite_ sure when I burned the
_Lafayette_, that her cargo belonged to the shippers, British merchants
resident in New York. The shippers swore that it did not belong to them,
but to other parties resident in Ireland, on whose account they had
shipped it. I _thought_ they swore falsely, but, as I have said, I was not
quite certain. The "Advertiser" sets the matter at rest. It says that I
was right. And it claims, with the most charming simplicity, that I was
guilty of an act of piracy, in capturing and destroying the property of
neutral merchants, _domiciled in the enemy's country, and assisting him to
conduct his trade_! The reader now sees what estimate to put upon all the
other balderdash of the article. I presume, the only thing Admiral Milne,
and the British Minister at Washington did, was to wonder at the stupidity
of the New York "Commercial Advertiser." It is scarcely necessary to say,
that Captain Wells of the _Lauretta_, took a "custom-house" oath, when he
swore to the account which the "Advertiser" gives of his interview with
me, when I burned his ship. It was a business operation with these Yankees
to abuse me, and they performed it in a _business-like manner_--with oaths
and affidavits.
Having captured the _Lafayette_ at nightfall, it was as late as ten P. M.
before we got through with the business of "robbing" her--robbing her, in
spite of all those nicely contrived certificates, and British consular
seals--when we set her on fire. In a few hours, she was a mere
beacon-light, upon the sea, marking, as so many other fine ships had
marked, the track of the "pirate." Though I have given the reader already
a pretty large dose of the meteorology of the Gulf Stream, in which we are
still cruising, I cannot forbear to call his attention to other proofs of
the rotary character of the winds which prevail along this hot-water river
in the sea. From the 2d to the 22d of October, a period of twenty days,
the wind had gone _nine_ times entirely around the compass, with the
regularity of clock-work. With the exception of the cyclone of the 16th,
we had had no regular gale of wind; though the wind frequently blew very
fresh, with the barometer sometimes as low as 29.60. These rotary winds
were circles of greater or less diameter, obeying the laws of storms, and
travelling along in the direction of the current, or about north-east.
There was an interval of only a few hours between them, the barometer
rising regularly as one circle or whirl departed, and falling as the next
approached. I was much struck with the exceeding regularity of the
recurrence of this phenomenon. The received impression is, that it is only
the great gales, which we call cyclones, or hurricanes, that gyrate. From
my observations in the Gulf Stream--and I lay in it, continuously, for
something like a month, changing place, in all this time, but a few
hundred miles--gyration is the normal condition of the winds in this
stream--that even the most gentle winds, when undisturbed by local
causes--the proximity of the land, for instance--are gyrating winds,
winding around, and around their respective vortices, _against the motion
of the sun_, as we have seen the tendril of the vine to wind around the
pole to which it clings.
On the third day after capturing the _Lafayette_, having chased and
overhauled, in the meantime, a number of neutrals, we descried a large
schooner, evidently American, bound to the southward, and eastward. We
gave chase at once, but as the schooner was to windward of us, a
considerable distance, the chase promised to be long, without the aid of
steam, and this, for reasons already explained, I was averse to using,
though we kept, at all times, banked fires in the furnaces, and warm water
in the boilers. The stranger hugged his wind very closely, this being
always the best point of sailing with schooners; but this was also the
best point of sailing with the _Alabama_. The reader has seen, that she
always put on her seven-league boots, when she had a chance of drawing aft
the sheets of those immense trysails of hers. We gained perceptibly, but
the wind was falling light, and it was to be feared night would overtake
us, before we could bring the chase within reach of our guns. She was
still good four miles to windward of us, when I resolved to try the effect
of a solid shot from my rifled pivot, on the forecastle. Elevating the gun
some ten degrees, we let fly the bolt. It threw up the water in a
beautiful jet, within less than half a mile of her! It was enough. The
schooner came to the wind, with the Federal colors at her mast-head, and
awaited our approach. Upon being boarded, she proved to be the _Crenshaw_,
three days out from New York, and bound for Glasgow, in Scotland.
The _Crenshaw_ was grain-laden, though rather small for a member of the
"junk fleet," and there was the usual number of certificates, and British
consular seals on board of her, vouching, upon good Yankee oaths, that her
cargo was neutral. It was amusing to see how these merchants clung to the
British seal, and appealed to the British power, when their grain sacks
were in danger. But it was all to no purpose. I would have respected
scrupulously any _bona fide_ neutral ownership of property, but I knew all
these certificates to be fraudulent. Fraudulent as the transactions were,
however, some of the shippers might have imposed upon me, if they had only
known how to prepare their vouchers. But they were such bunglers, that
they committed the most glaring mistakes. The New York merchant is a
pretty sharp fellow, in the matter of shaving paper, getting up false
invoices, and "doing" the custom-house; but the laws of nations, which had
had little connection, heretofore, with the debit and credit side of his
ledger, rather muddled his brain. The _Crenshaw's_ certificates were
precisely like so many others I had, by this time, overhauled. They simply
stated, that the cargo belonged to "subjects of her Britannic Majesty,"
without naming them. To quote the certificates literally, they were in
these terms: "The goods specified, in the annexed bills of lading, were
shipped on board the schooner _Crenshaw_, for, and on account of subjects
of her Britannic Majesty, and the said goods are wholly, and _bona fide_,
the property of British subjects." And when I came to look at the bills of
lading, I found that the property was consigned _to the order of the
shippers_. Here was evidently another of those "Yankee hashes," spoken of
by the New York "Commercial Advertiser;" or, if it was not a Yankee hash,
it was an English hash, gotten up by some "subjects of her Britannic
Majesty," who were _resident merchants in the enemy's country_--whose
property the aforesaid "Advertiser" so innocently thought was not subject
to capture. For aught that appeared from the certificates, the "subjects"
were all resident in New York. And so we did the usual amount of
"plundering" on board the _Crenshaw_, and then consigned her to the
flames.
From papers captured on board this vessel, we learned that the New York
Chamber of Commerce--whose leading spirit seemed to be a Mr. Low, one or
two of whose ships, if I mistake not, I had burned--was in a glow of
indignation. Its resolutions were exceedingly eloquent. This Chamber of
Commerce was a sort of debating society, which by no means confined itself
to mere commerce, as its name would seem to imply, but undertook to
regulate the affairs of the Yankee nation, generally, and its members had
consequently become orators. The words "privateer," "pirate," "robbery,"
and "plunder," and other blood-and-thunder expressions, ran through their
resolutions in beautiful profusion. These resolutions were sent to Mr.
Seward, and that renowned statesman sat down, forthwith, and wrote a
volume of despatches to Mr. Adams, in London, about the naughty things
that the "British Pirate" was doing in American waters. The _Alabama_,
said he, was burning everything, right and left, even _British_ property;
would the Lion stand it?
Another set of resolutions was sent to Mr. Welles, the Federal Secretary
of the Navy, and that old gentleman put all the telegraph wires in motion,
leading to the different sea-port towns; and the wires put in motion a
number of gunboats which were to hurry off to the banks of Newfoundland
and capture the _Alabama_. Whilst these gunboats were going from New York
to cruise among the cod-fishermen and icebergs, the _Alabama_ was jogging
along, under easy sail, toward New York. _We_ kept ourselves, all the
time, in the track of commerce; what track the gunboats,--some of which
only mounted a couple of guns, and would have been very shy of falling in
with the _Alabama_,--took, to look for us, we never knew, as we did not
see any of them.
On the day after capturing the _Crenshaw_, we observed in latitude 39 deg.
47', and longitude 68 deg. 06'. Being near the edge of St. George's Bank,
off the coast of New England, we sounded with eighty-five fathoms of line,
but got no bottom. Here another gale of wind overtook us; the barometer
descending as low as 29.33, at the height of the gale. On the next day,
the 28th of October, the weather being still rough, we captured the bark
_Lauretta_, of which the veracious Captain Wells was master, and of which
the reader has already had some account. The _Lauretta_ was skirting St.
George's Bank, on her way to Madeira and the Mediterranean, and literally
ran into our arms. We had no other trouble than to heave her to, with a
gun, as she approached, and send a boat on board, and take possession of
her; transferring her crew to the _Alabama_, with as much dispatch as
possible, and "robbing" Captain Wells, as he states--by which he means,
probably, that we deprived him of his chronometer and nautical
instruments; for the mere personal effects of a prisoner, as the reader
has already been informed, were never disturbed. We burned the ship.
On the next day, the weather being thick and rainy, and the _Alabama_
being about two hundred miles from New York, we chased and captured the
brig _Baron de Castine_, from Bangor, in Maine, and bound, with a load of
lumber, to Cardenas, in the island of Cuba. This vessel being old, and of
little value, I released her on ransom-bond, and sent her into New York,
with my prisoners, of whom I had now a large number on board. I charged
the master of this ship, to give my special thanks to Mr. Low, of the New
York Chamber of Commerce, for the complimentary resolutions he had had
passed, in regard to the _Alabama_. The more the enemy abused me, the more
I felt complimented, for it is "the galled jade only that winces." There
must have been a merry mess in the cabin of the _Baron_ that night, as
there were the masters and mates of three burned ships. New York was "all
agog" when the _Baron_ arrived, and there was other racing and chasing
after the "pirate," as I afterward learned.
The engineer having now reported to me, that we had no more than about
four days of fuel on board, I resolved to withdraw from the American
coast, run down into the West Indies, to meet my coal ship, and renew my
supply. Being uncertain, in the commencement of my career, as to the
reception I should meet with, in neutral ports, and fearing that I might
have difficulty in procuring coal in the market, I had arranged, with my
ever-attentive co-laborer, Captain Bullock, when we parted off Terceira,
to have a supply-ship sent out to me, from time to time, as I should
indicate to him the rendezvous. The island of Martinique was to be the
first rendezvous, and it was thither accordingly that we were now bound.
This resolution was taken on the 30th of October, and shaping our course,
and making sail accordingly, we soon crossed the southern edge of the Gulf
Stream, and were in a comparatively desert track of the ocean. Our sinews
were once more relaxed, and we had a few days of the _dolce far niente_.
The weather became fine, as we proceeded southward, and the sailors,
throwing aside their woollen garments, were arrayed again in their duck
frocks and trousers. Our mornings were spent in putting the ship in order,
preparatory to going into port, and in exercising the crew at the battery,
and the evenings were given up to amusement. Great inroads had been made,
by the continuous bad weather of the Gulf Stream, on both duty and
pleasure. Sometimes a week or ten days would elapse, during which it would
not be possible to cast loose a heavy gun, for exercise; and evening after
evening passed in drenching rain and storm, when not so much as a note on
the violin was heard or even a song. The men were, however, cheerful and
obedient, were as much excited as ever by the chase and the capture, and
were fast becoming a well-disciplined crew. If there was any of that
discontent, spoken of by Captain Wells, it was not visible to the eyes of
the officers. Our numbers had been considerably increased, by recruits
from the enemy's ships, and we now had men enough to man all our guns,
which added considerably to our sense of security. The young officers had
gained much experience in the handling of their ship, and I began in
consequence to sleep more soundly in my cot, at night, when the weather
was dark and stormy.
On the 2d of November, when we were scarcely expecting it, we captured
another of the enemy's ships. She was descried from the mast-head, about
half-past eight in the morning, and we immediately gave chase. It was
Sunday, and the muster-hour coming on, we mustered the crew, and read the
Articles of War in the midst of the chase. We came up with the stranger
about noon, with the United States colors at our peak, and upon firing a
gun, the fugitive hoisted the same colors, and hove to. She proved to be
the _Levi Starbuck_, a whaler, out of New Bedford, and bound on a voyage
of thirty months, to the Pacific Ocean. Here was another store-ship for
us, with plenty of provisions, slops, and small stores. Getting on board
from her such articles as we stood in need of, and removing the crew, we
burned her about nightfall.
Her New Bedford papers were only four days old, with the latest news from
the "seat of war." The two armies were watching each other on the Potomac,
and additional gun-boats had been sent "in pursuit of the _Alabama_." In
the meantime, the _Alabama_ was approaching another track of commerce,
across which she intended to run, on her way to Martinique--the track of
the homeward-bound East India ships of the enemy.
Toward midnight of the 7th of November, we descried a schooner, standing
to the southward, to which we gave chase. She had heels, as well as the
_Alabama_, and when day dawned she was still some distance from us, though
we had gained on her considerably. But fortune came to her rescue, for
very soon, a large ship, looming up on the horizon like a frigate, came
in sight, steering to the north-west. She was under all sail, with
studding-sails, and sky-scrapers set, and Evans, having been sent for,
pronounced her "Yankee." The small craft was probably Yankee, too, but we
were like a maiden choosing between lovers--we could not have both--and so
we took the biggest prize, as maidens often do in a similar conjuncture.
The large ship was standing in our direction, and we had nothing to do,
but await her approach. When she came sufficiently near to distinguish our
colors, we showed her the stars and stripes, which she was apparently very
glad to see, for she began, of her own accord, to shorten sail, as she
neared us, evidently with the intention of speaking us, and getting, it
might be, a welcome newspaper from "home." The stars and stripes were, by
this time, flying from her own peak. She was terribly astonished, as her
master afterward confessed, when the jaunty little gun-boat, which he had
eyed with so much pleasure, believing her to be as good a Yankee as
himself, fired a gun, and hauling down "hate's polluted rag," hoisted, in
its stead, the banner of the Southern Republic.
The stranger had not much more to do, in order to surrender himself a
prisoner. His studding-sails had already been hauled down, and he now
hauled up his courses, and backed his main-yard. We were once more in
gentle airs, and a smooth sea; and in a few minutes, the boarding-officer
was alongside of him. She proved to be as we had expected, an East India
trader. She was the _T. B. Wales_, of Boston, from Calcutta, for Boston,
with a cargo consisting chiefly of jute, linseed, and saltpetre. Of the
latter, she had 1700 bags, sufficient to supply our pious Boston brethren,
who were fighting for nothing but "grand moral ideas," with a considerable
quantity of powder. But for the _Wales_ meeting with the _Alabama_, it
would, probably, have gone into some of the same Yankee mills, which, just
before the war broke out, had supplied the Confederate States under the
contracts which, as the reader has seen, I had made with them. The jute,
which she had on board, was intended as a substitute for cotton, in some
of the coarser fabrics; the Boston people being somewhat pressed, at the
period, for the Southern staple.
The captain of the _Wales_, though a Northern man, had very few of the
ear-marks of the Yankee skipper about him. He was devoid of the raw-bone
angularity which characterizes most of them, and spoke very good English,
through his mouth, instead of his nose. His pronunciation and grammar were
both good--quite an unusual circumstance among his class. He had been five
months on his voyage, and, of course, had not heard of any such craft as
the _Alabama_. He had quite a domestic establishment on board his ship,
as, besides his own wife, who had accompanied him on the voyage, there was
an ex-United States Consul, with his wife and three small daughters,
returning with him, as passengers, to the New England States.
There was no attempt to cover the cargo of the _Wales_, and I was glad to
find, that it was consigned to, and probably owned by, the obnoxious house
of the Barings, in Boston, whose ship, the _Neapolitan_, I had burned, in
the Strait of Gibraltar. This British house had rendered itself
exceedingly active, during the war, in the Federal interest, importing
large quantities of arms, and otherwise aiding the enemy; and I took
especial pleasure, therefore, in applying the torch to its property. It
was one of the New York "Commercial Advertiser's" pets--being a _neutral
house, domiciled in an enemy's country, for the purposes of trade_. I have
not heard what Admiral Milne and the British Minister at Washington did,
when they heard of the burning of the _Wales_, or whether the "Advertiser"
invoked, anew, the protection of the British lion. A few hours sufficed to
transfer the crew and passengers of the East-Indiaman to the _Alabama_,
and to get on board from her, some spars of which we were in want. It was
found, upon measurement, that her main-yard was almost of the precise
dimensions of that of the _Alabama_, and as ours had been carried away in
the cyclone of the 16th of October, and had only been fished for temporary
use, we got down the yard from the _Wales_, and brought it on board.
We treated the ladies--our first prisoners of the sex--with all due
consideration, of course; but I was forced to restrict them in the matter
of baggage and furniture, for the want of room. I permitted them to bring
on board their entire wardrobes, of course, without permitting it to be
examined, but was forced to consign to the flames some fancy chairs and
other articles of East India workmanship, which they seemed to prize very
highly. I dare say they thought hard of it, at the time, though, I doubt
not, they have long since forgiven me. Both ladies were gentle. The
Consul's wife was an Englishwoman, the daughter of a general in the
British army, serving in the _Mauritius_, where her husband had met and
married her. She was refined and educated, of course, and her three little
daughters were very beautiful children. Mr. George H. Fairchild--for such
was her husband's name--though a New-Englander, was, apparently, an
unbigoted gentleman, and observed all the gentlemanly proprieties, during
his stay on board my ship.
When I was arrested, after the war, by the Administration of President
Johnson, in violation of the contract which the Government had made with
me, at my surrender, and threatened with a trial, by one of those Military
Commissions which have disgraced American civilization, on the trumped-up
charge, among others, of cruelty to prisoners, Mr. Fairchild was kind
enough to write to me, in prison, and tender himself as a witness in my
behalf. In the then state of New England feeling, with all the passions,
and especially those of malignity, and hate, running riot through the
land, it required moral courage to do this; and I take this opportunity of
thanking a New England man, for obeying the instincts of a Christian and a
gentleman.
It took us some time to despoil the _Wales_ of such of her spars and
rigging as we wanted, and it was near nightfall when we applied the torch
to her. We had scarcely turned away from the burning prize, when another
sail was discovered, in the fading twilight, but the darkness soon
shutting her out from view, it was useless to attempt to chase. The
_Wales_ was one of the most useful of my captures. She not only served as
a sort of ship-yard, in enabling me to repair the damages I had suffered
in the Gulf Stream, but I received eight recruits from her, all of whom
were fine, able-bodied seamen. My crew now numbered 110 men--120 being my
full complement. I bestowed the ladies, with their husbands, upon the
ward-room mess, consigning them to the care of my gallant friend, Kell.
Some of the lieutenants were turned out of their state-rooms, for their
accommodation, but being carpet knights, as well as knights of the lance,
they submitted to the discomfort with becoming grace.
My _menage_ began now to assume quite a domestic air. I had previously
captured another interesting prisoner, who was still on board--not having
been released on parole. This prisoner was a charming little canary-bird,
which had been brought on board from a whaler, in its neat gilded cage.
Bartelli had the wonderful art, too, of supplying me with flowers--brought
from the shore when this was practicable, and when not practicable, raised
in his own tiny pots. When I would turn over in my cot, in the morning,
for another nap, in that dim consciousness which precedes awakening, I
would listen, in dreamy mood, to the sweet notes of the canary, the
pattering of the tiny feet of the children and their gleeful voices over
my head; inhaling, the while, the scent of the geranium, or the jessamine,
and forget all about war's alarms. "Home, Sweet Home," with all its
charms, would cluster around my imagination, and as my slumber deepened,
putting reason to rest, and giving free wing to fancy, I would be clasping
again the long-absent dear ones to my heart. Bartelli's shake of my cot,
and his announcement that it was "seven bells"--half-past seven, which was
my hour for rising--would often be a rude dispeller of such fancies,
whilst the Fairchilds were on board.