Sad News via New York.--Consternation among Speculators in
Nassau.--Departure from Nassau via Bermuda.--Arrival at
Liverpool.--The End.
Arriving at Nassau on the 8th, we found many blockade-runners in port,
waiting for news from Charleston; and on the 10th, the Owl returned,
after an unsuccessful attempt to enter Charleston, during which she
received a shot through her bows; and intelligence came also of the
capture of the "Stag" and "Charlotte." On the 23d, the "Chicora," which
had succeeded in getting into Charleston, arrived with the fatal news of
its evacuation, and the progress of General Sherman through Georgia and
South Carolina. This sad intelligence put an end to all our hopes, and
we were now cut off from all communication with the Confederate
Government authorities.
In this dilemma, Maffitt and I consulted with Mr. Heyliger, the
Confederate agent at Nassau; and it was decided that the Chameleon
should be taken over to England. Whatever might be the course of
events, our duty appeared to be to turn our vessels over, either to the
agent of the Navy Department in Liverpool, or to the firm of Messrs.
Fraser, Trenholm & Co. there. We learned afterwards, indeed, that
Captain Pembroke Jones, of the Confederate Navy, was at that time on his
way to us via Galveston or Mexico, with orders from the Navy Department.
All of us were directed to take in cargoes of provisions to a specified
point on the Rappahannock River, under the protection of Confederate
artillery to be stationed there in readiness. The steamers were to be
burned after landing their cargoes, but Jones could not reach us in
time.
The bottom of the Chameleon being quite foul, divers were employed to
scrub it preparatory to her long sea voyage. These people are
wonderfully expert, remaining under the surface nearly two minutes; and
the water in the harbor of Nassau is so clear that they can be
distinctly seen even at the keel of a vessel. Our cargo of provisions
was landed, and an extra supply of coal taken on board. The vessel being
under Confederate colors and liable to capture wherever found, except in
neutral waters, it behooved us to be prepared at all times to show our
heels to a stranger Some of our crew who wished their discharge, for the
purpose of rejoining their families at the South, were paid off; the
rest of them shipped for the voyage to Liverpool via Bermuda. We still
lingered for later intelligence which was brought by the mail steamer
Corsica from New York. Charleston was evacuated on the 17th of February,
and Fort Anderson, the last of the defences at Wilmington, fell on the
19th. General Johnston had assumed command of the broken remnant of the
army of the Tennessee in North Carolina, and subsequently offered some
resistance to the hitherto unimpeded march of General Sherman; but the
latter was now about to effect a junction with General Schofield, who
commanded a large force which had landed at Wilmington. It was too
evident that the end was near. The speculators in Nassau saw that "the
bottom had fallen out," and all of them were in the depths of despair.
Some of them, it is true, had risen from the desperately hazardous game
with large gains, but the majority had staked their all and lost it; and
even the fortunate ones had contracted a thirst for rash ventures, which
eventually led to the pecuniary and social ruin of some of them. Even
the negro stevedores and laborers bewailed our misfortunes, for they
knew that the glory of Nassau had departed forever. My old friend
Captain Dick Watkins probably more unselfishly regretted the disasters
to our arms than the speculators or even the refugees in Nassau, who had
succeeded in evading service in the army by skulking abroad. A
recruiting officer might have "conscripted" nearly a brigade of the
swaggering blusterers. Captain Dick and I parted with mutual regret; and
I sincerely hope, if Providence has been pleased to remove the old
fellow's helpmeet to a better sphere, that he has found consolation in a
virtuous union with one of those "mighty pretty yaller gals" he so much
admired; and that Napoleon Bonaparte may rise to the highest dignities
in that particolored community of spongers and "wrackers."
We sailed from Nassau on the 22d of March and arrived at St. George's,
Bermuda on the 26th. The harbor was deserted, and the town, in its
listless inactivity, presented a striking contrast with its late stir
and bustle. "'Twas Greece, but living Greece no more." After coaling, we
took our departure for Liverpool on the 26th of March, and arrived there
on the 9th of April. It was Palm Sunday, and the chimes were ringing
sweetly from the church bells, as we came to anchor.
The contrast between this happy, peaceful, prosperous country and our
own desolated, war-distracted land, struck a chill to our saddened
hearts. The last act in the bloody drama was about to close on that very
day at Appomattox Court House, and before that sun had set, the
Confederate Government had become a thing of the past. We, who were
abroad, were not unprepared for the final catastrophe; for we had
learned on our arrival at Liverpool of General Early's defeat in the
valley of the Shenandoah, and the accession to General Grant's already
overwhelmingly large forces of General Sheridan's cavalry; and of the
junction of General Sherman with General Schofield. To oppose these
mighty armies, there were 33,000 half starved, ragged heroes in the
trenches around Petersburg, and about 25,000 under General Johnston in
North Carolina.
This may not be a proper place to allude to the fearful penalties
inflicted upon a people who fought and suffered for what they deemed a
holy cause. But it should be proclaimed, in the interest of truth and
justice, that the South since the close of the war, has been preyed
upon by unprincipled adventurers and renegades who are determined to
rule or ruin. But a brighter day will come. Calumny and injustice cannot
triumph forever. That distinguished officer Colonel C. C. Chesney of the
British army in a volume of "Military Biography" lately published by
him, in allusion to General Lee, writes thus: "But though America has
learned to pardon, she has yet to attain the full reconciliation for
which the dead hero would have sacrificed a hundred lives. Time can only
bring this to a land, which in her agony, bled at every pore. Time, the
healer of all wounds will bring it yet. The day will come, when the evil
passions of the great civil strife will sleep in oblivion, and North and
South do justice to each other's motives, and forget each other's
wrongs. Then History will speak with clear voice of the deeds done on
either side, and the citizens of the whole Union do justice to the
memories of the dead." Surely all honest men and true patriots will
rejoice to see that day.
The firm of Fraser, Trenholm & Co. was represented in Liverpool by a Mr.
Prioleau who was by no means anxious for the consignment of the
Chameleon in ballast; with a cargo on board the case would have been
different. He evidently considered her a very big and unsalable
elephant, and repudiated the part of showman. The vessel was therefore
turned over to Captain Bullock, who acted with his usual tact and
discretion in the subsequent transactions connected with her. There was
a sharp struggle between rival claimants for the possession of the ship,
but the Gordian knot was cut by the British Government which placed the
"broad arrow" upon her. The public funds were also transferred to
Captain Bullock and his receipt taken for them. Here I beg leave to
affirm that I neither appropriated nor desired to appropriate any of the
spoils of the perishing ship of state.[16] But as memory recalls the
many opportunities placed in my way of making a fortune during the war,
without detriment to the cause, and consistent with every obligation due
to the Confederate Government, there are times when I cannot decide
whether I acted the part of a fool, or that of a patriot. We are told
that when Lord Clive was arraigned before the British Parliament for
profiting by his high position in India to enrich himself, he exclaimed
at the close of his defence against the charge, "By G----d, Mr. Chairman,
at this moment I stand astonished at my own moderation!" His idea of
"moderation" was £300,000. A "dead broke" Confederate would have
considered himself fortunate to possess 300,000 cents! Some of the crew
of the Chameleon, who had served for years in the Confederate Navy,
brought a claim against me for pay due them while in the public service,
and it was with some difficulty that their counsel, a pettifogging
lawyer, could be induced to consent to arbitration; but the matter was
finally settled through Bullock's agency, although it appeared probable
at one time that I would be obliged to take a hasty departure from
England.
The end was close at hand. News of the capture of Richmond arrived on
the 15th, and a few days afterwards, intelligence of the surrender of
General Lee's army. The Chameleon was soon afterwards given up to the
United States Government which claimed the assets, but repudiated the
liabilities of the Confederate Government. Her officers and crew were
turned adrift with "the wide world before them where to choose."
FOOTNOTE:
[16] The proofs, which I hold in my possession, of this affirmation can
have no interest for the general reader. Shortly after the close of the
war, I learned through a friend in Washington that I was charged with
appropriating many thousands of dollars belonging to the late
Confederate Government. Although I was then living in Halifax, Nova
Scotia, and beyond the jurisdiction of the United States Government, I
forwarded to the Hon. Secretary of the United States Navy, copies of the
receipts taken by me from Captain Bullock, in Liverpool, for all
Confederate property in my possession. I may be permitted indeed, to
claim eminent disinterestedness, for I might have accumulated a fortune;
and at the end, my faithful and efficient paymaster, E. Courtenay
Jenkins, a gentleman of the purest integrity, made the transfer by my
direction; both of us washing our hands of the "filthy lucre," and
retaining a clear conscience.