PROLONGED DESTITUTION OF SQUADRON--THE MEN MUTINY IN A BODY--THE
SEAMEN'S LETTERS--SAN MARTIN SENDS AWAY THE PUBLIC TREASURE--MY SEIZURE
OF IT--PRIVATE PROPERTY RESTORED--SAN MARTIN'S ACCUSATIONS AGAINST
ME--THE SQUADRON PAID WAGES--ATTEMPT ON THE OFFICERS' FIDELITY--I AM
ASKED TO DESERT FROM CHILI--ORDERED TO QUIT ON REFUSAL--MONTEAGUDO'S
LETTER--MY REPLY--JUSTIFICATION OF SEIZING THE TREASURE--NO OTHER COURSE
POSSIBLE.
Previous to this time I had on board the flag-ship the unexpended
portion of the money captured at Arica, but as the Chilian Government,
trusting to Peru to supply the wants of the squadron, neither sent funds
or provisions, I was compelled to spend for our subsistence the
uncondemned portion of the prize money belonging to the seamen--a
necessity which, no less than their want of pay or reward, irritated
them beyond measure, as, in effect, compelling them to fight the battles
of the Republic not only without pay but at their own expense. In
addition to this, I was in possession of the uncondemned portion of
other sums taken on the coast, and these also I was obliged to expend,
at the same time transmitting accounts thereof to the Minister of Marine
at Valparaiso, the appropriation being fully approved by the Chilian
Government. The destitute condition of the squadron, and the consequent
dissatisfaction of the crews, will be best shewn by a few extracts from
the letters of the officers and the men themselves.
On the 2nd of September, Captain Delano, the Commander of the
_Lantaro_, wrote to me as follows:--
"The officers as well as the men are dissatisfied, having been a
long time on the cruise, and at present without any kind of meat
or spirits, and without pay, so that they are not able to provide for
themselves any longer, though, _until starved_, they have borne it
without a murmur."
"The ship's company have now absolutely refused duty on
account of short allowance. The last _charqui_ (dried beef) they got
was rotten and full of vermin. They are wholly destitute of clothing,
and persist in their resolution not to do duty till beef and spirits
are supplied, alleging that they have served their time, with nothing
but promises so frequently broken that they will no longer be
put off."
"In your Lordship's absence I took the liberty to write to the
Government and make their complaints known, but the Minister of
Marine did not even give me an answer."
"The greater portion have now left the ship and are all gone
ashore, so that under existing circumstances, and with the
dissatisfaction of the officers and the remainder of the ship's
company I do not hold myself responsible for any accident that may
happen to the ship until these difficulties are removed, as the
cables are bad and not to be trusted to, and we have no anchor
sufficient to hold her."
"PAUL DELANO, _Captain_."
On Captain Delano sending his first lieutenant on shore to persuade the
men to return to the ship, he was arrested by order of the Government
and put in prison, the Protector's object being to get all the men to
desert, thus furthering his views towards the appropriation of the
squadron.
The _Galvarino_ was even in a worse condition, so that I deemed it
expedient to address a letter to the ship's company asking them to
continue at their duty till I could devise means for their relief; with
what result the following letter from Captain Esmond, commanding the
_Galvarino_ will shew.
_Galvarino_, Sept. 8th, 1821.
MY LORD,
Pursuant to your Excellency's order, I have read your
letter of the 6th instant to the ship's company, respecting your
communication with His Excellency the Protector, concerning
arrears of pay, prize-money, &c.
I am sorry to inform your Excellency that they still persist in
their demands, _and are determined not to proceed to sea_.
I. ESMOND, _Captain_.
On the 19th, the foreign seamen of the flag-ship itself mutinied in a
body, on which my flag-captain, Crosbie, wrote me the following
letter:--
MY LORD,
It is with the utmost regret I have to inform your Lordship
that being ready for sea early this morning, the foreigners
refused heaving up the anchor in consequence of arrears of pay and
prize-money, and to my great surprise many of the natives also
came aft.
I endeavoured by persuasive means to induce them to return
quietly and willingly to their duty, which had no effect. Knowing
well, had I commenced hostile measures to enforce those orders the
consequence might be serious, I refrained therefrom, being aware of
your Lordship's wish to conduct everything as peaceably as possible.
The names of the foreigners who refuse going to sea I have the
honour to enclose to your Lordship, and also to enclose several
letters sent me officially from Captain Cobbett, of the _Valdivia_.
I.S. CROSBIE, _Captain_.
Not to multiply these letters from other Commanders, I will adduce two
written by the whole of the English and North-American seamen
themselves.
Captin Crosby,
Sir, It his the request of us all in the Ship's Company to
inform you that we would wish to acquaint his Lordship that we was
promised by General San Martin to receive a bounty of 50,000
dollars and the Total Amount of the Spanish Frigate _Ismeralda_, it
his the Sole thought of us all that if San Martin had any Honure
he would not breck his promises wish out to have been fulfilled
Long a go.
Ship's Company of _O'Higgins_.
Capt. Corbet
It is the request of us all On Bord the Chili States
ship _Valdivia_ To aquaint you that we are disatisfied on account of
our pay and prize money, and likewise the promises made to us on
leaving Valpariso, it is likewise our Determination not to weigh the
anchor of the _Valdivia_ untill we get the whole of our wages and
prize money, likewise a number of us is a Bove twelvemonths aBove
our time that we Shipt for And we should likewise wish our Discharge
and let them that wish to Reenter Again May do as they think
proppre as we consider this a patriot port.
The Ship's Company at large of the _Valdivia_.
Capt Crosby, Esq
We would wish to acquaint you of wot his bean read to
us on board of the different C. States ship under his Lordship's
Command Concerning the Capture of the _Ismeralda_.
Sir it was thus
the importance of the Service performed by your Lordship to the
States by the Capture of the Spanish Frigat _Ismeralda_, and the
brillant manner in which this noble enterprize was conducted
under your Command on the memorable night of the fifth
of November, has aurgumented the claims which your previous
services gave to the Consideration of the government and those
that is Interested in thar cause as well as my present esteem.
All those who partook in the risk and glory of this Interprise
deserves also the estermation of thar Companions in the Army, and
I enjoy the pleasure of being the Organ of thar Sentiments of
Admiration Wich so important an action as praduced in the officers
and army, Permit me tharfore to express such thar sentiments to
your Lordship that may be communicated to the Officers and
Seamen and troops of the Sqwardon.
Regarding the premium for the Frigat It is to be regretted that
the memorey of so herioic an Interprise should be mixed with the
painful ideer that blood as been shed in Accomplishment, and
we hope that your Lordship and the Gallant Officers and Seamen
may be enabbled to give new days of Glorry to the cause of
indispendence.
Ship's Company, _O'Higgins_.
N.B.--Warre One Single Sentiment his not been fulfilled.
This letter, though somewhat incomprehensible, was intended as a
farewell complimentary address to myself, previous to the desertion of
the flag-ship; and, had this taken place, there was no doubt that the
ships' companies of the whole squadron would have followed the example,
so that the Protector would have gained his ends, in spite of my
endeavours to keep the men faithful to the flag under which they were
engaged to serve.
Fortunately for Chili and myself, an occurrence took place which averted
the evil, and was brought about by the very means which the Protector
had devised to promote his individual views.
The occurrence alluded to, was the embarkation of large sums of money by
the Protector in his yacht _Sacramento_, which had cast out her ballast
to stow the silver, and in a merchant vessel in the harbour, to the
exclusion of the _Lantaro_ frigate, then at the anchorage. This money
was sent to Ancon, on the pretence of placing it in safety from any
attack by the Spanish forces, but possibly to secure it for the further
purposes of the Protector. The squadron having thus ocular demonstration
that its arrears could be paid, but were not, both officers and men
refused longer to continue in a service which had brought them nothing
but prolonged suffering.
My own views coincided with theirs, and I determined that the squadron
should be no longer starved nor defrauded. I therefore sailed to Ancon,
and personally seized the treasure, before witnesses; respecting all
that professed to belong to private individuals, and also the whole of
that contained in the Protector's schooner, _Sacramento_, considering it
his private property, though it could not have been other than plunder
wrested from the Limeños. Independently of this yacht-load of silver,
there were also on board, seven _surrones_ (sacks) of uncoined gold,
brought down on his account by the Legate Parroisien; so that, after all
the moveable wealth of Lima was supposed to have been previously
deposited for safety in the castles of Callao, but carried off by
Cantarac, the condition of the unhappy Limeños may be imagined, from the
additional sums of which they were subsequently deprived.
I immediately made proclamation, that all private individuals, having
the customary documents, might receive their property upon application,
and considerable sums were thus given up to Dr. Unanue, Don Juan Aguero,
Don Manuel Silva, Don Manuel Primo, Don Francisco Kamirez, and several
others, though connected with the Government. Besides which, I gave up
40,000 dollars to the commissary of the army, who claimed it; so that,
having returned all the money for which dockets were produced, there
remained 285,000 dollars, which was subsequently applied to the payment
of one year's arrears to every individual of the squadron; but relying
on the justice of the Chilian Government, I took no part myself,
reserving the small surplus that remained for the more pressing
exigencies and re-equipment of the squadron.
Accounts of the whole money seized, were forwarded to the Minister of
Marine at Valparaiso, as well as vouchers for its disbursement, and in
due course, I received the approbation of the Chilian Government for
what had been done.
General San Martin entreated, in the most earnest terms, the restoration
of the treasure, promising the faithful fulfilment of all his former
engagements. Letter after letter was sent, begging me to save the credit
of the Government, and pretending that the money seized was all the
Government possessed for indispensable daily expenses. To this I
replied, that had I been aware that the treasure spared in the
_Sacramento_ was the property of Government, and not that of the
Protector, I would have seized it also, and retained it till the debts
due to the squadron were liquidated. Finding all arguments unavailing,
and that no attention was paid to his threats, the Protector--to save
the credit of his Government--addressed a proclamation to the squadron,
confirming the distribution which was going on by my orders, at the same
time writing to me, that I "might employ the money as I thought proper."
San Martin afterwards accused me to the Chilian Government of seizing
the whole of the treasure, that in his yacht included, which, at a low
computation, must have been worth several millions of dollars, which
were all left untouched. He also asserted, that I had retained the
whole belonging to private individuals, though each _real_ claimed was
given up, as was well known to every individual concerned, and he also
knew that I did not retain a penny on my own account. Nevertheless, he
added, that I had kept the whole myself,--that, in consequence, the
squadron was in a state of mutiny, and the seamen were abandoning their
ships to offer their services to the Government of Peru! the fact being,
that those who went on shore to spend their pay after the fashion of
sailors, were prevented from returning on board, a lieutenant of my
flag-ship being put in jail for attempting to bring them off again.
The first intimation of this outrage was conveyed by the officer
himself, in the following letter, from his place of confinement.
My Lord,
Whilst obeying your Lordship's orders in bringing off the
men to the _O'Higgins_, Captain Guise sent his Lieutenant to tell me
that I could not ship any more men. My answer was, that, till I
received contrary orders from you I could not think of desisting.
I then went to Captain Guise to tell him your orders, and he told
me, that it was the Governor's order that I should not do it; he
likewise told me, that several officers had spoken against the
Government, instancing Captain Cobbett and others. He then
asked me, whether I thought that your Lordship's _robbery_! of the
money at Ancon was right? and, whether I believed that the
Government meant to keep its promise, and pay us, or not? My
answer was, that I thought your Lordship had acted perfectly right,
and that, in my opinion, the Government never intended to pay us;
upon which, he ordered me to be seized.
My Lord, I am now a prisoner in the Case-mates, and am told
that the Governor has written to you on the subject. The men, my
Lord, will, I have no doubt, come off, as many have promised me to
do so, to-morrow morning. Hoping that your Lordship will enquire
into the circumstance, I remain, &c. &c,
J. PAYNTOR.
On receipt of this, I immediately demanded his release, which was
complied with.
Before distributing the money to the squadron, I took the precaution to
request that a commissary of the Government might be sent on board to
take part in the payment of the crews. As this was not complied with, I
again urged it, but without effect--the object of not attending to the
request being, as was afterwards learned, the expectation that I should
place the money in his hands ashore, when it doubtless would have been
seized, without payment to officers or men. This was, however, foreseen,
the Government being informed by me that "the money was on board ready
for distribution, whilst the people were on board ready to receive it,
there was, therefore no necessity to take it on shore;" it was then
distributed by my own officers.
Annoyed beyond measure at my having taken such steps to restore order in
the squadron by doing justice to the officers and men, the Protector, on
the very day, September 26th, on which he told me by letter to "make
what use I pleased of the money," sought to revenge himself by sending
on board the ships of the squadron his two _aides-de-camp_, Colonel
Paroissien and Captain Spry, with papers for distribution, stating that
"the squadron of Chili was under the command of the Protector of Peru,
and not under that of the Admiral, who was an inferior officer in the
service; and that it was consequently the duty of the Captains and
Commanders to obey the orders of the Protector and not mine." One of
these papers was immediately brought to me by that excellent and highly
honourable officer, Captain Simpson, of the _Araucano_ (now an Admiral
in the Chilian service), to whose ship's company it had been delivered.
These emissaries offered, in the name of the Protector, commissions, and
the promise of honours, titles, and estates to all such officers as
might accept service under the Government of Peru.
From the _Araucano_, the Protector's envoys went to the _Valdivia_,
where similar papers were given to the men, and Captain Cobbett, nephew
of the celebrated William Cobbett, was reminded of the preference which
an officer, for his own interests, ought to give to the service of a
rich state like Peru, in place of adhering to Chili, which must soon
dwindle to comparative insignificance; besides which the authority of
the Protector over the Chilian forces being unquestionable, it was the
duty of the officers to obey the orders of the Protector as
General-in-Chief. Captain Cobbett, who was a faithful and excellent
officer, sarcastically inquired of Spry whether, if his disobedience to
the Admiral brought him to a court-martial, the Protector's authority
would ensure him an acquittal? This closed the argument; for Spry being
at the time under sentence of court-martial, the question was much too
pertinent to be pleasant, especially as he by no means felt confident
that Cobbett might not seize him as a deserter.
Unfortunately for the emissaries, my flag-captain, Crosbie, was on a
visit to Captain Cobbett, and on learning their errand he pushed off to
the flag-ship with the intelligence. Observing this movement they
immediately followed, judging it more prudent to visit me than to run
the risk of being compelled so to do. At one o'clock in the morning
their boat came alongside, when Paroissien solicited an interview, Spry
remaining in the boat, having his own reasons for not wishing to attract
my attention. Paroissien then addressed me with the most high-flown
promises, assuring me of the Protector's wish, notwithstanding all that
had occurred, to confer upon me the highest honours and rewards, amongst
others the decoration of the newly-created order of "the Sun," and
telling me how much better it would be for me to be First Admiral of a
rich country like Peru, than Vice-Admiral of a poor province like Chili.
He assured me, as one of the Commissioners of confiscated property, that
it was the intention of the Protector to present me with a most valuable
estate, and regretted that the present unlucky difference should form an
obstacle to the Protector's intentions to confer upon me the command of
the Peruvian navy.
Perceiving that he felt nervously uneasy in his attempt at negotiation,
I reminded him that the Peruvian navy had no existence except in
imagination; that I had no doubt whatever of his desire for my
prosperity, but that it might be more agreeable to him to join me in a
bottle of wine than to reiterate his regrets and lamentations. After
taking a glass he went into his boat, and pulled off, glad no doubt to
escape so easily, not that it occurred to me to resent the treachery of
visiting the ships of the squadron in the dark, to unsettle the minds of
the officers and men.
This, however, and other efforts proved but too successful, twenty-three
officers abandoning the Chilian service, together with all the foreign
seamen, who went on shore to spend their pay, and who were either
forced, or allured by promises of a year's additional pay to remain, so
that the squadron was half unmanned.
The fortress, notwithstanding the supplies so successfully introduced by
General Cantarac, having again--by the vigilance of the squadron--been
starved into surrender, I received an order immediately to quit Callao
and proceed to Chili, although the Peruvian Government believed that
from the abandonment of the squadron by the officers and foreign seamen,
it would not be possible to comply with the order. The following is
Monteagudo's letter conveying the commands of the Protector:--
Lima, Sept. 26th, 1821.
My Lord,
Your note of yesterday, in which you explain the motives
which induced you to decline complying with the positive orders of
the Protector, _temporarily_ to restore the money which you forcibly
took at Ancon, has frustrated the hopes which the Government
entertained of a happy termination to this most disagreeable of all
affairs which have occurred during the expedition.
To answer your Excellency in detail, it will be necessary to enter
into an investigation of acts which cannot be fully understood without
referring to official communications and documents which prove
the interest which has been taken in the necessities of the squadron.
(Here follows a reiteration of the _promises_ and good intentions of
the Protector, with which the reader is already well acquainted.)
This has been a mortal blow to the State, and worse could not
have been received from the hand of an enemy, there only remaining
to us a hope in the moderation and patient suffering of the
valiant men who have sacrificed all!
You will immediately sail from this port to Chili, with the whole
squadron under your command, and there deliver up the money
which you have seized, and which you possess without any pretext
to hold it. In communicating this order to your Excellency, the
Government cannot avoid expressing its regret at being reduced to
this extremity towards a chief with whom it has been connected by
ties of friendship and high consideration since August 20th, 1820.
I have to complain of the style of your Excellency's Secretary,
who, perhaps from his ignorance of the idiom of the Spanish
language, cannot express himself with decency--his soul not having
been formed to conceive correct ideas.
MONTEAGUDO.
The complaining tone of this letter about the "valiant sacrificing all,"
is worthy of the writer; when I had left untouched many times the amount
seized, and the army, according to the admission of the Protectoral
Government, had received two-thirds of its pay, whilst the squadron had
even been suffered to starve. On the 28th I replied to the Minister as
follows:--
Sir,
I should have felt uneasy, had the letter you addressed
to me contained the commands of the Protector to quit the ports of
Peru without reason assigned, and I should have been distressed
had his motives been founded in reason, or on facts; but finding
the order based on the groundless imputation that I had declined to
do what I had no power to effect, I console myself that the Protector
will ultimately be satisfied that no blame rests on me. At all
events, I have the gratification of a mind unconscious of wrong, and
gladdened by the cheering conviction that, however facts may be
distorted by sycophancy, men who view things in their proper
colours will do me the justice I deserve.
You address me as though I required to be convinced of your
good intentions. No, Sir, it is the seamen who want convincing,
for it is they who put no faith in professions so often broken. They
are men of few words and decisive acts, and say that "for their
labour they have a right to pay and food, and will work no longer
than they are paid and fed"--though this may be uncourtly
language, unfit for the ear of high authority. They urge, moreover,
that they have had no pay whatever, whilst their fellow-labourers,
the soldiers, have had two-thirds of their wages; they were starved,
or living on stinking _charqui_, whilst the troops were wholly fed on
beef and mutton; they had no grog, whilst the troops had money
to obtain that favourite beverage, and anything else they desired.
Such, Sir, are the rough grounds on which an English seaman
founds his opinions. He expects an equivalent for the fulfilment
of his contract, which, on his part, is performed with fidelity; but,
if his rights are withheld, he is as boisterous as the element on
which he lives. It is of no use, therefore, to convince me, but
them.
In what communication, Sir, have I insisted on the payment of
200,000 dollars. I sent you an account of money due, but told you
in my letter that it was the mutinous seamen who demanded the
disbursements, and that I was doing all in my power, though
without effect, to restrain their violence and allay their fears. You
tell me in your letter that it was impossible to pay the clamorous
crews. How, then, is it _that they are now paid out of the very money
then_ lying at your disposal, I having left untouched ten times as much?
My warning to you, that they were no longer to be trifled with, was
founded on a long acquaintance with their character and disposition;
and facts have proved, and may more fully prove, the truth of what
I told you.
Why, Sir, is the word "immediate" put into your order to go
forth from this port? Would it not have been more decorous to
have been less peremptory, knowing, as you do, that the delay of
payment had unmanned the ships--that the total disregard of all
my applications had left the squadron destitute--and that the men
were enticed away by persons acting under the Peruvian Government?
This being so, why are matters pushed to this extremity?
I thank you for the _approval of my services since the 20th of
August_, 1820, and assure you that no abatement of my zeal for the
Protector's interest took place till the 5th of August, when I became
acquainted with his Excellency's installation, and when, in your
presence, he uttered sentiments that struck a thrill through my
frame, which no subsequent act, nor protestation of intentions, has
been able to mitigate. Did he not say--aye, did you not hear him
declare, that he would never pay the debt to Chili, nor that due to
the navy, unless Chili would sell the squadron to Peru? What
would you have thought of me as an officer, sworn to be faithful to
the state of Chili, had I listened to such language in cold, calculating
silence, weighing my decision in the scale of personal interest?
No, Sir, the promise of San Martin, that "my fortune should be
equal to his own," will not warp from the path of honour
Your obedient, humble Servant,
COCHRANE.
After a lapse of nearly forty years' anxious consideration, I cannot
reproach myself with having done any wrong in the seizure of the money
of the Protectoral Government. General San Martin and myself had been,
in our respective departments, deputed to liberate Peru from Spain, and
to give to the Peruvians the same free institutions which Chili herself
enjoyed. The first part of our object had been fully effected by the
achievements and vigilance of the squadron; the second part was
frustrated by General San Martin arrogating to himself despotic power,
which set at naught the wishes and voice of the people. As "my fortune
in common with his own" was only to be secured by acquiescence in the
wrong he had done to Chili by casting off his allegiance to her, and by
upholding him in the still greater wrong he was inflicting on Peru, I
did not choose to sacrifice my self-esteem and professional character by
lending myself as an instrument to purposes so unworthy. I did all in my
power to warn General San Martin of the consequences of ambition so
ill-directed, but the warning was neglected, if not despised. Chili
trusted to him to defray the expenses of the squadron when its
objects--as laid down by the Supreme Director--should be accomplished;
but in place of fulfilling the obligation, he permitted the squadron to
starve, its crews to go in rags, and the ships to be in perpetual danger
for want of the proper equipment which Chili could not afford to give
them when they sailed from Valparaiso. The pretence for this neglect was
want of means, though at the same time money to a vast amount was sent
away from the capital to Ancon. Seeing that no intention existed on the
part of the Protector's Government to do justice to the Chilian
squadron, whilst every effort was made to excite discontent among the
officers and men with the purpose of procuring their transfer to Peru, I
seized the public money, satisfied the men, and saved the navy to the
Chilian Republic, which afterwards warmly thanked me for what I had
done. Despite the obloquy cast upon me by the Protector's Government,
there was nothing wrong in the course I pursued, if only for the reason
that if the Chilian squadron was to be preserved, _it was impossible for
me to have done otherwise_. Years of reflection have only produced the
conviction, that, were I again placed in similar circumstances, I should
adopt precisely the same course.