That an English yacht, one belonging to the Royal Yacht Squadron, and
flying the White Ensign, too, during the conflict, should have assisted
the Confederate prisoners to escape after they had formally surrendered
themselves, according to their own statement, by firing a lee-gun,
striking their colours, hoisting a white flag, and sending a boat to the
Kearsarge--some of which signals must have been witnessed from the deck of
the Deerhound, is most humiliating to the national honour. The movements
of the yacht early on Sunday morning were as before shown, most
suspicious; and had Captain Winslow followed the advice and reiterated
requests of his officers when she steamed off, the Deerhound might now
have been lying not far distant from the Alabama. Captain Winslow however,
could not believe that a gentleman who was asked by himself "to save life"
would use the opportunity to decamp with the officers and men who,
according to their own act, were prisoners-of-war. There is high
presumptive evidence that the Deerhound was at Cherbourg for the express
purpose of rendering every assistance possible to the corsair; and we may
be permitted to doubt whether Mr. Lancaster, the friend of Mr. Laird, and
a member of the Mersey Yacht Club, would have carried Captain Winslow and
his officers to Southampton if the result of the struggle had been
reversed, and the Alabama had sent the Kearsarge to the bottom.
The Deerhound reached Cherbourg on the 17th of June, and between that time
and the night of the 18th, boats were observed from the shore passing
frequently between her and the Alabama. It is reported that English
gunners come over from England purposely to assist the privateer in the
fight; this I heard before leaving London, and the assertion was repeated
to me again at Havre, Honfleur, Cherbourg, and Paris. If this be the fact,
how did the men reach Cherbourg? On the 14th of June, Captain Semmes sends
his challenge to the Kearsarge through Monsieur Bonfils, stating it to be
his intention to fight her "as soon as I can make the necessary
arrangements." Two full days elapse, during which he takes on board 150
tons additional of coal, and places for security in the Custom House the
following valuables:
38 kilo. 700 gr. of Gold coin,
6 gr. of Jewelery and set Diamonds,
2 Gold Watches.
What then became of the pillage of a hundred merchantmen, the
chronometers, etc., which the _Times_ describes as the "_spolia opima_ of
a whole mercantile fleet?" Those could not be landed on French soil, and
were not: did they go to the bottom with the ship herself, or are they
saved?
Captain Semmes' preparations are apparently completed on the 16th, but
still he lingers behind the famous breakwater, much to the surprise of his
men. The Deerhound arrives at length, and the preparations are rapidly
completed. How unfortunate that Mr. Lancaster did not favour the _Times_
with a copy of his log-book from the 12th to the 19th of June inclusive!
The record of the Deerhound is suggestive on the morning of that memorable
Sunday. She steams out from behind the Cherbourg breakwater at an early
hour,--scouts hither and thither, apparently purposeless--runs back to her
anchorage--precedes the Alabama to sea--is the solitary and close
spectator of the fight whilst the Couronne has the delicacy to return to
port, and finally--having picked up Semmes, thirteen of his officers and a
few of his men--steams off at fullest speed to Southampton, leaving the
"_apparently much-disabled_" _Kearsarge_ (Mr. Lancaster's own words) to
save two-thirds of the Alabama's drowning crew struggling in the water.
An English gentleman's yacht playing tender to a corsair! No one will ever
believe that Deerhound to be thorough-bred.