Yale University Library

39002008348568

I

I

A

wmm.

mm

n

¦A A

^A

"'A

©.ft. IWVY

YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

Gift of
R. W. Neeser

¦^fSfMsmiUx^t

%¦ B,§E KS'Bfl E S a

SERVICE AFLOAT;

OK,

THE REMARKABLE CAREER OF THE CONFEDERATE CRDISER8

Sumter Ap JLlabam>,

DURING THE

WAR BETWEEN THE STATES

. BY
Admiral Raphael Semmes,
OF THE LATE CONFEDERATE STATES NAVY,
Author of " Service Afloat and Ashore During the Mexican 'War."

Illustrated with Steel Engraved Portraits, and Eight Engravings, from Original
Designs, Printed in Chromo-Tints.

NEW YORK :
P. J. KENEDY.
EXCELSIOR PUBLISHING HOUSE,
5 Barclay Street.
1903.

COPYRIGHT SECURED.

TO THE MEMOKY

Sailars ana %Mm ai % %aui\txn states,
WHO LOST THEIE LIVES, IN THE WAE BETWEEN THE STATKfl
IN DEFENCE OF THE LIBEETIES WHICH HAD BEEN
BEQUEATHED TO THEM BY THEIE FATHEES,
THIS VOLUME IS EESPECTFULLY
AND AFFECTIONATELY
INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR.

ILLUSTRATIONS.

STEEL PORTRAITS.

1. Sbmmes, Admibal Raphael, ..... Frontispiece.
2. Kell, John M.  Lieutenant.
3. Chapman, R. T.  «
4. Stkibling, J. M. ------ - "
5. Evans, W. E.  «
«. Myers, H.  Paymaster.
7. Galt, F.  Surgeon.
8. Fbeeman, M. J. ------- Engineer.
9. Armstrong, R. F.  Lieutenant.
10. Sinclair, A.  "
11. Howell, B. -------- "
12. Bullock, J.  Master.
13. Fullam, G. T.  Master's Mate.
14. Mafpit, E.  Midshipman.
15. Anderson, E. R. -  "

COLORED ENGRAVINGS.

16. The Sumter running the blockade of Pass & l'Outre, passed the
enemy's ship Brooklyn, June 30, 1861.
17. The Svmter, Kearsarge, and Tuscarora at Gibraltar.
18. The Alabama capturing her First Prize.
19. The Alabama in a cyclone in the Gulf Stream.
20. The Alabama in a gale at Cape Town.
21. The combat between the Alabama and the United States steamer
Haiteras.
22. Combat between the Alabama and the United States steamer

23. Blowing up of the James River Fleet.

PEEFACE.

A NUMBER of publications have appeared, first and laBt,
concerning the author and his career, as was naturally to
have been expected. The Alabama was the first steamship
in the history of the world — the defective little Sumter
excepted — that was let loose against the commerce of a
great commercial people. The destruction which she caused
wa« enormous. She not only alarmed the enemy,, but she
alarmed all the other nations of the earth which had com
merce afloat, as they could not be sure that a similar
scourge, at some future time, might not be let loose against
themselves. The Alabama, in consequence, became famous.
It was the fame of steam. As a matter of course, she
attracted the attention of the book-makers — those cormo
rants ever on the lookout for a "speculation.5 A number
of ambitious literateurs entered the seductive field. But it
was easier, as they soon found, to enter the field than to
explore it, and these penny-a-liners all made miserable fail
ures, — not even excepting the London house of Saunders,
Otley & Co., to whom the author was induced to loan his
journals, in the hope that something worthy of his career
might be produced. To those who have chanced to see the
"Log of the Sumter and Alabama" produced by that house,
it will be unnecessary to say that the author had no hand
in its preparation. He did not write a line for it, nor had
he any interest whatever in the sale of it, as the loan of his
journals had been entirely gratuitous. So far as his own
career was concerned, the author would gladly have de
volved the labor of the historian on other shoulders, if this

IV PREFACE.
had been possible. But it did not seem to be possible, after
the experiments that had been made. "With all the facilities ,
afforded the London house referred to, a meagre and barren
record was the result. The cause is sufficiently obvious.
The cruise of a ship is a biography. The ship becomes a
personification. She not only
"Walks the waters like a thing of life,"
but she speaks in moving accents to those capable of inter
preting her. But her interpreter must be a seaman, and not
a landsman. He must not only be a seaman, he must have
made the identical cruise which he undertakes to describe.
It will be seen, hence, that the career of the author was a
sealed book to all but himself. A landsman could not even
interpret his journals, written frequently in the hieroglyph
ics of the sea. A line, or a bare mark made by himself,
which to other eyes would be meaningless would for him be
fraught with the inspiration of whole pages.
Besides, the Alabama had an inside as well as an outside
life. She was a microcosm. If it required a seaman to inter
pret, her as to her outside life, much more did it require one to
give an intelligible view of the little world that she carried in
her bosom. No one but an eye-witness, and that witness him
self a sailor, could unveil to an outside world the domestic
mysteries of the every-day life of Jack, and portray him in
his natural colors, as he worked and as he played. The fol
lowing pages may, therefore, be said to be the first attempt
to give anything like a truthful picture of the career of the
author upon the high seas, during the late war, to the
public. In their preparation the writer has discarded the
didactic style of the historian, and adopted that of memoir
writing, as better suited to his subject. This style gave bim
more latitude in the description of persons and events, and
relieved him from some of the fetters of a mere writer of his
tory. There are portions of the work, however, purely his
torical, and these have been treated with the gravity and
dignity which became them. In short, the author has
aimed to produce what the title of his book imports — an
historical memoir of his services afloat during the war.

PEEFACE. T
A word now as to the feeling with which the author has
written. It has sometimes been said that a writer of history
should be as phlegmatic and unimpassioned as the judge upon
the bench. If the reader desires a dead history — in other
words, a history devoid of the true spirit of history — the
author assents to the remark. But if he desires a living,
moving, breathing picture of events — a personam instead of
a subjeotam, the picture must not be undertaken by one who
does not feel something of that which he writes. Such a
terrible war as that through which we have passed could not
be comprehended by a stolid, phlegmatic writer, whose pulse
did not beat quicker while he wrote. When all the higher
and holier passions of the human heart are aroused in a
struggle, feeUng is an important element in the real drama
that is passing before the eyes of the beholder. To attempt
to describe such a drama with the cold words of philosophy,
is simply ridiculous. If the acts be not described in words
suited to portray their true character, you have a lie instead
of history. Nor does it iollow that feeling necessarily over
rides judgment. All passions blind us if we give free rein to
them ; but when they are held in check, they sharpen, instead
of obscuring, the intellect. In a well-balanced mind, feeling
and judgment aid each other; and he will prove the most
successful historian who has the two in a just equipoise. But
though the author has given vent occasionally to a just indig
nation, he has not written in malice. He does not know the
meaning of the word. He has simply written as a Southern
man might be supposed to think and feel, treading upon the
toes of his enemies as tenderly as possible. If he has been
occasionally plain-spoken, it is because he has used the English
language, which calls a rogue a rogue, notwithstanding his
disguises. When the author has spoken of the Yankee and
his "grand moral ideas," he has spoken rather of a well-
known type than of individual men. If the reader will bear
these remarks in mind as he goes along, he will find them a
key to some of the passages in the book. In describing
natural phenomena, the author has ventured upon some new
suggestions. He submits these with great diffidence. Me
teorology is yet a new science, and many developments of
principles remain to be made.

X

\ . . . ¦ /

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I. rln
A Brief Historical Retrospect  17
CHAPTER II.
The Nature of the American Compact  24
CHAPTER III.
From the Foundation of the Federal Government down to 1830, both
the North and the South held the Constitution to be a Compact
between the States  36
CHAPTER IV.
Was Secession Treason ?  46
CHAPTER V.
Another Brief Historical Retrospect  52
CHAPTER VI.
The Question of Slavery as it affected Secession  62
CHAPTER VII.
The Formation of the Confederate Government, and the Resignation of
Officers of the Federal Army and Navy  71
CHAPTER VIII.
Author proceeds to Montgomery, and reports to the New Government,
and is dispatched northward on a Special Mission . . . .81
CHAPTER IX.
The Commissioning of the Sumter, the First Confederate States Ship
of War  93
CHAPTER X.
The Preparation of the Sumter for Sea — She drops down between the
Forts Jackson and St. Philip — Receives her Sailing Orders — List
of her Officers  97
CHAPTER XI.
After long Waiting and Watching, the Sumter runs the Blockade of the
Mississippi, in open Daylight, pursued by the Brooklyn . . . 108
CHAPTER XII.
Brief Sketch of the Officers of the Sumter — Her First Prize, with other
Prizes in Quick Succession  120
CHAPTER XIII.
Rapid Work — Seven Prizes in Two Days — The Sumter makes her First
Port, and what occurred there  132
Xi

SU CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XIV. paob
The Sumter on the Wing again — She is put wholly under Sail for the
first time — Reaches the Island of Curacoa, and is only able to
enter after a Diplomatic Fight  144
CHAPTER XV.
The Sumter at Curacoa — Her Surroundings — Preparations for Sea —
Her Captain solicited to become a Warwick — Her Departure — The
Capture of other Prizes — Puerto Cabello, and what occurred there . 155
CHAPTER XVI.
Steaming along the Coast of Venezuela — The Coral Insect, and the Won
ders of the Deep — The Andes and the Rainy Season — The Sumter
enters the Port of Spain in the British Island of Trinidad . . 170
CHAPTER XVII.
On the Way to Maranham — The Weather and the Winds — The Sumter
runs short of Coal, and is obliged to "bear up" — Cayenne and
Paramaribo, in French and Dutch Guiana — Sails again, and arrives
at Maranham, in Brazil . .  188
CHAPTER XVIII.
The Sumter at Maranham — More Diplomacy necessary — The Hotel
Porto and its Proprietor — A week on Shore — Ship coals and sails
again  210
CHAPTER XIX.
The Sumter at Martinique — Proceeds from Fort de France to St. Pierre —
Is an Object of much Curiosity with the Islanders — News of the Arrest
of Messrs. Mason and Slidell, on board the British Mail Steamer, The
Trent — Mr. Seward's extraordinary Course on the Occasion . . 232
CHAPTER XX.
Arrival at St. Pierre of the Enemy's Steam-sloop Iroquois — How she vio
lates the Neutrality of the Port — Arrival of the French Steamer-of-
War Acheron — The Iroquois blockades the Sumter — Correspond
ence with the Governor — Escape of the Sumter .... 252
CHAPTER XXI.
The Sumter pursues her Voyage across the Atlantic — Capture and Burn
ing of the Arcade, Vigilant, and Ebenezer Dodge — A Leaky Ship
and a Gale — An Alarm of Fire!  268
CHAPTER XXII.
Voyage across the Atlantic pursued — Christmas-day on board the Sum
ter — Cape Fly-away, and the Curious Illusion produced by it — The
Sumter passes from the Desert Parts of the Sea into a Tract of Com
merce once more — Boards a large Fleet of Ships in one Day, but
finds no Enemy among them — Arrival at Cadiz .... 283
CHAPTER XXIII.
Annoyance of the Spanish Officials — Short Correspondence with the U. S.
Consul — The Telegraph put in Operation by the Officials between
Cadiz and Madrid — The Sumter is ordered to leave in twenty -four
Hours — Declines Obedience to the Order — Prisoners land, and
Ship Docked after much ado — Deserters — Sumter leaves Cadiz . 297
CHAPTER XXIV.
The Sumter off Cadiz — The Pillars of Hercules — Gibraltar — Capture
of the Enemy's Ships Neapolitan and Investigator — A Conflagration
between Europe and Africa — The Sumter anchors in the Harbor of
Gibraltar; the Rock; the Town; the Military; the Review, and the
Alameda .... ..... 308

CONTENTS. xiii
CHAPTER XXV. rkm
The Sumter still at Gibraltar — Ship crowded with Visitors — A Ride over
the Rock with Colonel Freemantle — The Galleries and other Sub
terranean Wonders — A Dizzy Height, and the Queen of Spain's
Chair — The Monkeys and the Neutral Ground  320
CHAPTER XXVI.
The Sumter in Trouble — Finds it impossible to coal, by reason of a
Combination against her, headed by the Federal Consul  Applies
to the British Government for Coal, but is refused — Sends her Pay
master and Ex-Consul Tunstall to Cadiz — They are arrested and im
prisoned in Tangier — Correspondence on the Subject — The Sumter
laid up and sold  239
CHAPTER XXVII.
Author leaves Gibraltar and arrives in London — Mr. Commissioner
Mason — Confederate Naval News — Short Sojourn in London 
Author embarks on board the Steamer Melita for Nassau — Receives
new Orders from the Navy Department — Returns to Liverpool 346
CHAPTER XXVIII.
A. Brief Resumi of the History of the War, from the date of the commis
sioning the Sumter, to the commissioning of the Alabama — Secretary
Mallory and the Difficulties by which he was surrounded — The Reor
ganization of the Confederate States Navy  361 "
CHAPTER XXIX.
The Legality of the Eqvupment of the Alabama, and a few Precedents for
her Career, drawn from the History of the War of 1776 . . . 370 '
CHAPTER XXX.
The Equipment of the Alabama illustrated by that of sundry Colonial
Cruisers during the War of 1776 — Benjamin Franklin and Silas Deane
sent to Paris as Chiefs of a Naval Bureau — The Surprise and the Re
venge — Captains Wickes and Conyngham, and Commodore John Paul
Jones  888 •
CHAPTER XXXI.
Author leaves Liverpool to join the Alabama — ArriveB at Terceira —
Description of the Alabama — Preparing her for Sea — The Portu
guese Authorities — The commissioning of the Ship -r- A Picture of
her Birth and Death — Captain Bullock returns to England — The
Alabama on the High Seas  400
CHAPTER XXXII.
The Alabama a, Ship of War, and not a Privateer — Sketch of the Person
nel of the Ship — Putting the Ship in Order for Service — Sail and
Steam — The Character of the Sailor — The First Blow is struck at
the Whale Fishery — The Habitat and Habits of the Whale — Cap
ture of the Ocmulgee  414
CHAPTER XXXIII.
Capture of the Starlight; Ocean Rover; Alert; Weather Gauge — A
Chase by Moonlight — Capture of the Altamaha; Virginia; Elisha
Dunbar — A Rough Sea, Toiling Boats, and a Picturesque Conflagra
tion in a Gale  428
CHAPTER XXXIV.
The Yankee Colony of the Island of Flores — What the Captains of the
Virginia and Elisha Dunbar said of the Alabama when they got back
among their Countrymen — The Whaling Season at the Azores at an
End — The Alabama changes her Cruising Ground — What she saw
and what she did  445

XIV CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XXXV. »«
.Capricious Weather of the Gulf Stream — Capture of the Packet-Ship
Tonawanda ; of the Manchester and Lafayette — A Cyclone, the Ala
bama's First Gale — How she behaved  468
CHAPTER XXXVI.
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 — Further
Evidence of the Rotary Nature of the Winds — The Lauretta cap
tured — The Crenshaw captured — The New York Chamber of Com
merce cries aloud in Pain — Capture of the Baron de Castine, and of
the Levi Starbuck — Capture of the T. B. Wales — Lady Prisoners . 479
CHAPTER XXXVIL
The Calm-Belts and the Trade- Winds — The Arrival of the Alabama at
the Island of Martinique — The Curiosity of the Islanders to see the
Ship — A Quasi Mutiny among the Crew, and how it was quelled . 49S
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
The Alabama at Martinique — Is blockaded by the Enemy's Steamer San
Jacinto — How she escaped the Old Wagon — The Island of Blan-
quilla, the Alabama's new Rendezvous — Coaling Ship — A Yankee
Skipper and his Alarm — How the Officers and Men amused them
selves at this Island — The Alabama sails again — Capture of the
Parker Cooke, Union, and Steamer Ariel  514
CHAPTER XXXIX.
The Alabama is disabled by an Accident, and stops to repair her Ma
chinery — Proceeds to her New Rendezvous at the Areas Islands,
and thence to Galveston — Engagement with the United States
Steamer Hatteras, which she sinks  536
CHAPTER XL.
The Alabama proceeds to Jamaica, where she lands her Prisoners and
refits — Her Commander visits the Country — Intercourse with the
English Naval Officers — Earl Russell's Letter — Preparations for Sea
— A Boat Race by Moonlight, in which Strange Tactics are prac
tised — Captain Blake of the Hatteras complains of "Dixie" being
played by the English Bands — How the Matter is settled . . 551
CHAPTER XLI.
Departure from Jamaica — Capture of the Golden Rule — Coasting the
Island of Hayti — Capture of the Castelaine — The Old City of St.
Domingo and its Reminiscences — The Dominican Convent and the
Palace of Diego Columbus — Capture of the Palmetto, the Olive
Jane, and the Golden Eagle — How the Roads are blazed out upon
the Sea — Captain Maury  568
CHAPTER XLII.
The Croosing of the 30th Parallel— The ToU-Gate upon the Sea — How
the Travellers pass along the Highway — Capture of the Washing
ton ; John A. Parks ; the Bethia Taylor ; the Punjaub ; the Morning
Star ; the Kingfisher ; the Charles Hill ; and the Nora — Alabama
crosses the Equator — Capture of the Louisa Hatch — Arrival at
Fernando de Noronha  581
CHAPTER XLIII.
Fernando de Noronha — Its Famous Peak — Is a Penal Settlement of
Brazil — A Visit from the Governor's Ambassadors — A Visit to the
Governor in return — The Aristocracy of the Island — Capture of
the Lafayette and the Eate Cory — Burning of these two Ships with
the Louisa Hatch — Prisoners sent to Pernambuco — The Cloud Ring
and the Rainy and Dry Seasons  596

CONTENTS. XV

CHAPTER XLIV.
The Alabama leaves Fernando de Noronha for a Cruise on the Coast of
Brazil — Enters the great Highway, and begins to overhaul the
Travellers — Capture of the Whalers Nye; Dorcas Prince ; Union Jack;
Sea Lark — A Reverend Consul taken Prisoner — Alabama goes into
Bahia — What occurred there — Arrival of the Georgia — Alabama
proceeds to Sea again — Capture of the Gildersleeve ; the Justina; the
Jabez Snow ; the Amazonian ; and the Talisman .... 610
CHAPTER XLV.
The Alabama oontinues her Gruise on the Coast of Brazil — American
Ships under English Colors — The Enemy's Carrying-Trade in Neutral
Bottoms — The Capture of the Conrad — She is commissioned as a
Confederate States Cruiser — The Highways ofthe Sea, and the Tac
tics of the Federal Secretary of the Navy — The Phenomena of the
Winds in the Southern Hemisphere — Arrival at Saldanha Bay, on
the Coast of Africa  626
CHAPTER XLVI.
The connecting Thread of the History of the War taken up — A brief Re
view of the Events of the last twelve Months, during which the Ala
bama has been commissioned — The Alabama arrives at Cape Town
— Capture of the Sea-Bride — Excitement thereupon — Correspond
ence between the U. S. Consul and the Governor on the Subject of the
Capture  642
CHAPTER XLVII.
A Gale at Cape Town — The Alabama gets under way for Simon's Town
— Capture ofthe Martha Wenzell — The Tuscaloosa — Her Status asa
Ship of War considered — She proceeds to Sea — The Alabama follows
her — They, with the Sea-Bride, rendezvous at Angra PequeBa . 660
CHAPTER XLVIII.
The Alabama on the Indian Ocean — The Passengers questioned, and con
tracted with — The Agulhas Current — The brave West Winds — A
Theory— The Islands of St. Peter and St. Paul — The Tropic of Cap
ricorn — The South-east Trade-Winds, and the Monsoons — The Ala
bama arrives off the Strait of Sunda — Capture of the Amanda —
Runs in and anchors under the Coast of Sumatra .... 674
CHAPTER XLIX.
The Alabama passes through the Strait of Sunda, seeing nothing of the
Wyoming — Burns the Winged Racer just inside of the Strait — The
Malay Boatmen, and their Alarm — Alabama makes for the Gaspar
Strait, and burns the Contest, after an exciting Chase — She passes
through the Carimata Passage — Discharges her Prisoners into an
English Ship — Miniature Sea-Serpents — The Currents — Island of
Pulo Condore — Arrives at Singapore  690
CHAPTER L.
The Alabama at Singapore — Panic among the Enemy's Shipping in the
China Seas — The Multitude flock to see the Alabama — Curious Rumor
concerning a Portion of her Crew — The Author rides to the Country
and spends a Night — The Chinese in possession of the Business of
Singapore — Alabama leaves Singapore — Capture of the Martaban,
alias Texan Star — Alabama touches at Malacca — Capture of the
Highlander, and Sonora — Alabama once more in the Indian Ocean 708
CHAPTER LI.
The Alabama crosses the Bay of Bengal — The Pilgrims to Mecca, and
how they received her Boarding-Officer — The Burning of the Emma
Jane — The Town of Anjenga, and the Hindoos — The Great Deserts
2

XVI CONTENTS.

of Central Asia, and the Cotton Crop of Hindoston — The Alabama
crosses the Arabian Sea — The Animalcules of the Sea — The Comoro
Islands — Johanna, and its Arab Population — The Alabama passes
through the Mozambique Channel — Arrives at the Cape of Good
Hope  722
CHAPTER LII.
The Alabama again in Cape Town — The Seizure of the Tuscaloosa, and
the Discussion which grew out of it — Correspondence between the
Author and Admiral Walker — ActioD ofthe Home Government, and
Release of the Tuscaloosa  738
CHAPTER LIII.
The Alabama at the Cape of Good Hope — Leaves on her Return to Europe
— Capture of the Rockingham, and of the Tycoon — She crosses the
Equator into the Northern Hemisphere, and arrives at Cherbourg on
the 11th of June, 1864 — The Engagement between the Alabama and
the Kearsarge  744
CHAPTER LIV.
Other Incidents of the Battle between the Alabama and the Kearsarge
— The Rescue of a Portion of the Crew of the Alabama by the Eng
lish Steam-Yacht Deerhound — The United States Government de
mands that they be given up — The British Government refuses Com
pliance — The rescued Persons not Prisoners — The Inconsistency of
the Federal Secretary of the Navy  761
CHAPTER LV.
The Federal Government and the English Steam- Yacht Deerhound — Mr.
Seward's Despatch — Mr. Lancaster's Letter to the "Daily News" —
Lord Russell's Reply to Mr. Adams, on the Subject of his Complaint
against Mr. Lancaster — Presentation of a Sword to the Author by
the Clubs of England ; of a Flag by a Lady  774
CHAPTER LVI.
Author makes a Short Visit to the Continent — Returns to London, and
embarks on his Return to the Confederate States — Lands at Bagdad,
near the Mouth of the Rio Grande —- Journey through Texas —
Reaches Louisiana ; crosses the Mississippi, and reaches his Home
after an Absence of four Years  789
CHAPTER LVII.
Author sets out for Richmond — Is two Weeks in making the Journey —
Interview with President Davis ; with General Lee — Author is ap
pointed a Rear-Admiral, and ordered to command the James River
Squadron — Assumes Command — Condition of the Fleet — Great
Demoralization — The Enemy's Armies gradually increasing in Num
bers — Lee's Lines broken  799
CHAPTER LVIII.
The Evacuation of Richmond by the Army — The Destruction of the James
River Fleet — The Sailors of the Fleet converted into Soldiers — Their
helpless Condition without any Means of Transportation — The Con
flagration of Richmond, and the Entry of the Enemy into the Con
federate Capital — The Author improvises a Railroad Train, and
escapes in it, with his Command, to Danville, Va  807
CHAPTER LIX.
Interview with President Davis and Secretary Mallory — Author's Com
mand organized as a Brigade of Artillery — The Brigade marches to
Greensboro', N. C. — Capitulation between General Joseph E. John
ston and General Sherman — Dispersion of Johnston's Command in
Consequence — Author returns Home, and is arrested — Conclusion 817

MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT.

CHAPTER I.
A BRIEF HISTORICAL RETROSPECT.
THE disruption of the American Union by the war of 1861
was not an unforeseen event. Patrick Henry, and other
patriots who struggled against the adoption of the Federal
Constitution by the Southern States, foretold it in burning
words of prophecy ; and when that instrument was adopted,
when the great name and great eloquence of James Madison
had borne down all opposition, Henry and his compatriots
seemed particularly anxious that posterity should be informed
of the manly struggle which they had made. Henry said,
" The voice of tradition, I trust, will inform posterity of our
struggles for freedom. If our descendants be worthy of the
name of Americans, they will preserve, and hand down to the
latest posterity, the transactions of the present times; and
though I confess my explanations are not worth the hearing,
they will see I have done my utmost to preserve their liberty."
The wish of these patriotic men has been gratified. The
record of their noble deeds, and all but inspired eloquence,
has come down to posterity, and some, at least, of their descen
dants, "worthy of the name of Americans," will accord to
them the foremost rank in the long list of patriots and sages
who illustrated and adorned our early annals.
But posterity, too, has a history to record and hand down.
We, too, have struggled to preserve our liberties, and the lib
erties of those who are to come after us ; and the history of that
struggle must not perish. The one struggle is but the com
plement of the other, and history would be incomplete if either
17

18 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
were omitted. Events have vindicated the wisdom of Henry
and those who struggled with him against the adoption of the
Federal Constitution. Events will equally vindicate the wis
dom of Jefferson Davis, and other Confederate patriots, who
endeavored to preserve that Constitution, and hand it down,
unimpaired, to their posterity.
The wisdom of a movement is not always to be judged by
its success. Principles are eternal, human events are transi
tory, and it sometimes takes more than one generation or one
revolution to establish a principle. At first sight, it may ap
pear that there is some discordance between Patrick Henry
and Jefferson Davis, as the one struggled against the adoption
of the Constitution, and the other to preserve it. But they
were, in fact, both engaged in a similar struggle ; the object
of both being to preserve the sovereignty of their respective
States. Henry did not object so much to the nature of the
partnership, into which his State was about to enter, as to the
the nature of the partners with whom she was about to con
tract. He saw that the two sections were dissimilar, and that
they had different and antagonistic interests, and he was unwill
ing to trust to the bona fides of the other contracting party.
" I am sure," said he, " that the dangers of this system are reaL
when those who have no similar interests with the people of
this country are to legislate for us — when our dearest interests
are to be left in the hands of those whose advantage it will be
to infringe them."
The North, even at that early day, was in a majority in both
houses of Congress ; it would be for the advantage of that
majority to infringe the rights of the South ; and Henry, with
much more knowledge of human nature than most of the
Southern statesmen of his era, refused to trust that majority.
This was substantially the case with Jefferson Davis and those
of us whp followed his lead. We had verified the distrust of
Henry. What had been prophecy with him, had become his
tory with us. We had had experience of the fact, that our
partner-States of the North, who were in a majority, had
trampled upon the rights of the Southern minority, and we
desired, as the only remedy, to dissolve the partnership into
which Henry had objected to entering — not so much because

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 19
of any defect in the articles of copartnership, as for want of
faith in our copartners.
This was the wisdom of Jefferson Davis and his compa
triots, which, I say, will be vindicated by events. A final sepa
ration of these States must come, or the South will be perma
nently enslaved. We endeavored to bring about the separa
tion, and we sacrificed our fortunes, and risked our lives to
accomplish it. Like Patrick Henry, we have done our
" utmost to preserve our liberties ; " like him, we have failed,
and like him, we desire that our record shall go down to such
of our posterity as may be " worthy of the name of Ameri
cans." The following memoirs are designed to commemorate a few
of the less important events of our late struggle ; but before I
enter upon them, I deem it appropriate to give some " reason
for the faith" that was in us, of the South, who undertook the
struggle. The judgment which posterity will form upon our
actions will depend, mainly, upon the answers which we
may be able to give to two questions : First, Had the South the
right to dissolve the compact of government under which it
had lived with the North ? and, secondly, Was there sufficient
reason for such dissolution ? I do not speak here of the right
of revolution — this is inherent in all peoples, whatever may
be their form of government. The very term "revolution"
implies a forcible disruption of government, war, and all the
evils that follow in the train of war. The thirteen original
Colonies, the germ from which have sprung these States, exer
cised the right of revolution when they withdrew their alle
giance from the parent country. Not so with the Southern
States when they withdrew from their copartnership with the
Northern States. They exercised a higher right. They did
not form a part of a consolidated government, as the Colonies
did of the British Government. They were sovereign, equally
with the Northern States, from which they withdrew, and
exercised, as they believed, a peaceful right, instead of a right
of revolution.
Had, then, the Southern States the peaceful right to dissolve
the compact of government under which they had lived with
the North? A volume might be written in reply to this ques-

SO MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
tion, but I shall merely glance at it in these memoirs, referring
the student to the history of the formation of the old Con
federacy, prior to the adoption of the Constitution of the United
States; to the "Journal and Debates of the Convention of 1787,"
that formed this latter instrument; to the debates of the seve
ral State Conventions which adopted it, to the "Madison Papers,"
to the "Federalist," and to the late very able work of Dr. Bled
soe, entitled "Is Davis a Traitor? " It will be sufficient for the
purpose which I have in view — that of giving the reader a
general outline of the course of reasoning, by which South
ern men justify their conduct in the late war — to state the
leading features of the compact of government which was dis
solved, and a few of its historical surroundings, about which
there can be no dispute.
The close of the War of Independence of 1776 found the
thirteen original Colonies, which had waged that war, sovereign
and independent States. They had, for the purpose of carry
ing on that war, formed a league, or confederation, and the
articles of this league were still obligatory upon them. Under
these articles, a Federal Grovernment had been established,
charged with a few specific powers, such as conducting the
foreign affairs of the Confederacy, the regulation of com
merce, &c. At the formation of this Government, it was in
tended that it should be perpetual, and was so declared. It
lasted, notwithstanding, only a few years, for peace was de
clared in 1783, and the perpetual Government ceased to exist
in 1789. How did it cease to exist? By the secession ofthe States.
Soon after the war, a convention of delegates met at Anna
polis, in Maryland, sent thither by the several States, for the
purpose of devising some more perfect means of regulating
commerce. This was all the duty with which they were
charged. Upon assembling, it was found that several of the
States were not represented in this Convention, in consequence
of which, the Convention adjourned without transacting any
business, and recommended, in an address prepared by Alex
ander Hamilton, that a new convention should be called at
Philadelphia, with enlarged powers. "The Convention," says
Hamilton, "are more naturally led to this conclusion, as in
their reflections on the subject, they have been induced to

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 21
think, that the power of regulating trade is of such compre
hensive extent, and will enter so far into the great system of
the Federal Government, that to give it efficacy, and to obviate
questions and doubts concerning its precise nature and limits,
may require a corresponding adjustment in other parts of the
Federal system. That these are important defects in the sys
tem of the Federal Government is acknowledged by the acts
of those States, which have concurred in the present meeting.
That the defects, upon closer examination, may be found greater
and more numerous than even these acts imply, is at least, so far
probable, from the embarrassments which characterize the pres
ent state of our national affairs, foreign and domestic, as may
reasonably be supposed to merit a deliberate and candid dis
cussion, in some mode which will unite the sentiments and
counsels of all the States."
The reader will observe that the Government of the States,
under the Articles of Confederation, is called a "Federal Govern
ment," and that the object proposed to be accomplished by the
meeting of the new Convention at Philadelphia, was to amend
the Constitution of that Government. Northern writers have
sought to draw a distinction between the Government formed
under the Articles of Confederation, and that formed by the
Constitution of the United States, calling the one a league, and
the other a government. Here we see Alexander Hamilton
calling the Confederation a government — a Federal Govern
ment. It was, indeed, both a league and a government, as it
was formed by sovereign States; just as the Government of
the United States is both a league and a government, for the
same reason.
The fact that the laws of the Confederation, passed in pur
suance of its League, or Constitution, were to operate upon the
States ; and the laws of the United States were to operate upon
the individual citizens of the States, without the intervention
of State authority, could make no difference. This did not
make the latter more a government than the former. The dif
ference was a mere matter of detail, a mere matter of ma
chinery — nothing more. It did not imply more or less abso
lute sovereignty in the one case, than in the other. Whatevei
of sovereignty had been granted, had been granted by the States,
in both instances.

22 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
The new Convention met in Philadelphia, on the 14th of
May, 1787, with instructions to devise and discuss "all such
alterations, and further provisions as may be necessary to ren
der the Federal Constitution adequate to the exigencies of the
Union." We see, thus, that the very Convention which framed
the Constitution ofthe United States, equally called the Articles
of Confederation a Constitution. It was, then, from a Consti
tutional, Federal Government, that the States seceded when
they adopted the present Constitution of the United States I A
Convention of the States assembled with powers only to
amend the Constitution ; instead of doing which, it abolished
the old form of government altogether, and recommended a
new one, and no one complained. As each State formally and
deliberately adopted the new government, it as formally and
deliberately seceded from the old one ; and yet no one heard
any talk of a breach of faith, and still less of treason.
The new government was to go into operation when nine States
should adopt it. But there were thirteen States, and if nine
States only acceded to the new government, the old one would
be broken up, as to the other four States, whether these would or
not, and they would be left to provide for themselves. It was
by no means the voluntary breaking up of a compact, by all
ihe parties to it. It was broken up piece-meal, each State acting
for itself, without asking the consent of the others ; precisely
as the Southern States acted, with a view to the formation of a
new Southern Confederacy.
So far from the movement being unanimous, it was a long
time before all the States came into the new government.
Ehode Island, one of the Northern States, which hounded on
the war against the Southern States, retained her separate
sovereignty for two years before she joined the new govern
ment, not uttering one word of complaint, during all that
time, that the old government, of which she had been a mem
ber, had been unduly broken up, and that she had been left to
shift for herself. Why was this disruption of the old govern
ment regarded as a matter of course ? Simply because it was
a league, or treaty, between sovereign States, from which any
one of the States had the right to withdraw at any time, with
out consulting the interest or advantage of the others.

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 23
But, say the Northern States, the Constitution of the United
States is a very different thing from the Articles of Confedera
tion. It was formed, not by the States, but by the people of
the United States in the aggregate, and made all the States
one people, one government. It is not a compact, or league
between the States, but an instrument under which they have
surrendered irrevocably their sovereignty. Under it, the Fed
eral Government has become the paramount authority, and the
States are subordinate to it. We will examine this doctrine,
briefly, in another chapter.

CHAPTER II.
THE NATURE OF THE AMERICAN COMPACT.
THE two principal expounders of the Constitution of the
United States, in the North, have been Daniel Webster
«,nd Joseph Story, both from Massachusetts. Webster was, for
a long time, a Senator in Congress, and Story a Justice of the
Supreme Court of the United States. The latter has written
•an elaborate work on the Constitution, full of sophistry, and
•not always very reliable as to its facts. The great effort of
'both these men has been to prove, that the Constitution is not
a compact between the States, but an instrument of govern
ment, formed by the people of the United States, as contra
distinguished from the States. They both admit, that if the
Constitution were a compact between the States, the States
would have a right to withdraw from the compact — all agree
ments between States, in their sovereign capacity, being, neces
sarily, of no more binding force than treaties. These gentle
men are not always very consistent, for they frequently fall
into the error of calling the Constitution a compact, when they
are not arguing this particular question ; in short, it is, and it
is not a compact, by turns, according to the use they intend to
make of the argument. Mr. Webster's doctrine of the Consti
tution, chiefly relied on by Northern men, is to be found in
his speech of 1833, in reply to Mr. Calhoun. It is in that
speech that he makes the admission, that if the Constitution of
the United States is a compact between the States, the States
have the right to withdraw from it at pleasure. He says, "If a
league between sovereign powers have no limitation as to the
time of duration, and contains nothing making it perpetual, it
subsists only during the good pleasure of the parties, although
no violation be complained of. If in the opinion of either
party it be violated, such party may say he will no longer
24

MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT. 25
fulfil its obligations, on his part, but will consider the whole
league or compact as at an end, although it might be one of
its stipulations that it should be perpetual."
In his "Commentaries on the Constitution," Mr. Justice
Story says, "The obvious deductions which may be, and indeed
have been drawn, from considering the Constitution a compact
between States, are, that it operates as a mere treaty, or con
vention between them, and has an obligatory force no longer
than suits their pleasure, or their consent continues." The plain
principles of public law, thus announced by these distinguished
jurists, cannot be controverted. If sovereign States make a
compact, although the object of the compact be the formation
of a new government for their common benefit, they have the
right to withdraw from that compact at pleasure, even though,
in the words of Mr. Webster, "it might be one of its stipulations
that it should be perpetual."
There might, undoubtedly, be such a thing as State merger ;
that is, that two States, for instance, might agree that the
sovereign existence of one of them should be merged in the
other. In which case, the State parting with its sovereignty
could never reclaim it by peaceable means. But where a
State shows no intention of parting with its sovereignty, and,
in connection with other States, all equally jealous of their
sovereignty with herself, only delegates a part of it — never so
large a part, if you please — td a common agent, for the benefit
of the whole, there can have been no merger. This was emi
nently the case with regard to these United States. No one
can read the " Journal and Debates of the Philadelphia Conven
tion," or those of the several State Conventions to which the
Constitution was submitted for adoption, without being struck
with the scrupulous care with which all the States guarded
their sovereignty. The Northern States were quite as jealous,
in this respect, as the Southern States. Next to Massachusetts,
New Hampshire has been, perhaps, the most fanatical and
bitter of the former States, in the prosecution of the late war
against the South. That State, in her Constitution, adopted
in 1792, three years after the Federal Constitution went into
operation, inserted the following provision, among others, in
her declaration of principles : " The people of this Common-

26 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
wealth have the sole and exclusive right of governing them
selves as a free, sovereign, and independent State; and do,
and forever hereafter shall exercise and enjoy every power,
jurisdiction, and right which is not, or may not hereafter be,
by them, expressly delegated to the United States."
Although it was quite clear that the States, when they
adopted the Constitution of the United States, reserved, by
implication, all the sovereign power, rights, and privileges
that had not been granted away — as a power not given is
necessarily withheld — yet so jealous were they of the new
government they were forming, that several of them insisted,
in their acts of ratification, that the Constitution should be so
amended as explicitly to declare this truth, and thus put it
beyond cavil in the future. Massachusetts expressed herself
as follows, in connection with her ratification of the Constitu
tion: "As it is the opinion of this Convention, that .certain
amendments and alterations in said Constitution would remove
the fears, and quiet the apprehensions of the good people of
the Commonwealth, and more effectually guard against an
undue administration of the Federal Government, the Con
vention do, therefore, recommend that the following alteration
and provisions be introduced in said Constitution : First, that
it be explicitly declared, that all powers not delegated by the
aforesaid Constitution are reserved to the several States, to be
by them exercised."
Webster and Story had not yet arisen in Massachusetts, to
teach the new doctrine that the Constitution had been formed
by the "People of the United States," in contra-distinction to
the people of the States. Massachusetts did not speak in the
name of any such people, but in her own name. She was not
jealous of the remaining people of the United States, as frac
tional parts of a whole, of which she was herself a fraction,
but she was jealous of them as States; as so many foreign peo
ples, with whom she was contracting. The powers not dele
gated were to be reserved to those delegating them, to wit: the
"several States;" that is to say, to each and every one of the
States. Virginia fought long and sturdily against adopting the '
Constitution at all. Henry, Mason, Tyler, and a host of other

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 27
giants raised their powerful voices against it, warning their
people, in thunder tones, that they were rushing upon destruc
tion. Tyier even went so far as to say that " British tyranny
would have been more tolerable." So distasteful to her was
the foul embrace that was tendered her, that she not only
recommended an amendment of the Constitution, similar to
that which was recommended by Massachusetts, making ex-
plicit reservation of her sovereignty, but she annexed a con
dition to her ratification, to the effect that she retained the
right to withdraw the powers which she had granted, "when
ever the same shall be perverted to her injury or oppression."
North Carolina urged the following amendment — the same,
substantially, as that urged by Virginia and Massachusetts :
" That each State in the Union shall respectively [not aggre
gately] retain every power, jurisdiction, and right which is
not by this Constitution delegated to the Congress of the
United States, or to the departments ofthe Federal Government."
Pennsylvania guarded her sovereignty by insisting upon the
following amendment: "All the rights of sovereignty which
are not, by the said Constitution, expressly and plainly vested
in the Congress, shall be deemed to remain with, and shall be
exercised by the several States in the Union." The result of
this jealousy on the part of the States was the adoption of
the 10th amendment to the Constitution of the United States
as follows : " The powers not delegated to the United States,
by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are
reserved to the States, or to the people."
It is thus clear beyond doubt, that the States not only had
no intention of merging their sovereignty in the new govern
ment they were forming, but that they took special pains to
notify each other, as well as their common agent, of the fact.
The language which I have quoted, as used by the States, in
urging the amendments to the Constitution proposed by them,
was the common language of that day. The new government
was a federal or confederate government — in the " Federalist," it
is frequently called a "Confederation" — which had been cre
ated by the States for their common use and benefit ; each
State taking special pains, as we have seen, to declare that it
retained all the sovereignty which it had not expressly granted

28 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
away. And yet, in face of these facts, the doctrine has been
boldly declared, in our day, that the Constitution was formed
by the people of the United States in the aggregate, as one
nation, and that it has a force and vitality independent cf the
States, which the States are incompetent to destroy ! The
perversion is one not so much of doctrine as of history. It is
an issue of fact which we are to try.
It is admitted, that if the fact be as stated by our Northern
brethren, the conclusion follows : It is, indeed, quite plain,
that if the States did not create the Federal Constitution, they
cannot destroy it. But it is admitted, on the other hand, by
both Webster and Story, as we have seen, that if they did cre
ate it, they may destroy it ; nay, that any one of them may
destroy it as to herself; that is, may withdraw from the com
pact at pleasure, with or without reason. It is fortunate for
us of the South that the issue is so plain, as that it may be
tried by the record. Sophistry will sometimes overlie reason
and blind men's judgment for generations ; but sophistry, with
all its ingenuity, cannot hide a fact. The speeches of Web
ster and the commentaries of Story have been unable to hide
the fact of which I speak ; it stands emblazoned on every page
of our constitutional history.
Every step that was taken toward the formation of the. Con
stitution of the United States, from its inception to its adop
tion, was taken by the States, and not by the people of the
United States in the aggregate. There was no such people
known as the people of the United States, in the aggregate, at
the time of the formation of the Constitution. If there is any
such people now, it was formed by the Constitution. But this
is not the question. The question now is, who formed the
Constitution, not what was formed by it ? If it was formed by
the States, admit our adversaries, it may be broken by the
States. The delegates who met at Annapolis were sent thither by
the States, and not by the people of the United States. The
Convention of 1787, which formed the Constitution, was
equally composed of members sent to Philadelphia by the
States. James Madison was chosen by the people of Virginia,
and not by the people of New York ; and Alexander Hamil-

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 29
ton was chosen by the people of New York, and not by the
people of Virginia. Every article, section, and paragraph of
the Constitution was voted for, or against, by States ; the little
State of Delaware, not much larger than a single county of
New York, off-setting the vote of that great State.
And when the Constitution was formed, to whom was it
submitted for ratification ? Was there any convention of the
people of the United States in the aggregate, as one nation,
called for the purpose of considering it ? Did not each State,
on the contrary, call its own convention ? and did not some of
the States accept it, and some of them refuse to accept it ? It
was provided that when nine States should accept it, it should
go into operation ; was it pretended that the vote of these nine
States was to bind the others ? Is it not a fact, on the con
trary, that the vote of eleven States did not bind the other
two ? Where was that great constituency, composed of the
people of the United States in the aggregate, as one nation, all
this time ?
" But," say those who are opposed to us in this argument,
"look at the instrument itself, and you will see that it was
framed by the people of the United States, and not by the
States. Does not its Preamble read thus : ' We, the people of
the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, &c,
do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States
of America ' ? " Perhaps there has never been a greater liter
ary and historical fraud practised upon any people, than has
been attempted in the use to which these words have been put.
And, perhaps, no equal number of reading and intelligent
men has ever before submitted so blindly and docilely to be
imposed upon by literary quackery and the legerdemain of
words, as our fellow-citizens of the North have in accepting
Webster's and Story's version of the preamble of 4he Consti
tution. A brief history of the manner, in which the words, " We,
the people," &c, came to be adopted by the Convention which
framed the Constitution, will sufficiently expose the baldness
of the cheat. The only wonder is, that such men as Webster
and Story should have risked their reputations with posterity,
on a construction which may so easily be shown to be a falsi-

30 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
fication of the facts of history. Mr. Webster, in his celebrated
speech in the Senate, in 1833, in reply to Mr. Calhoun, made
this bold declaration: "The Constitution itself, in its very
front, declares, that it was ordained and established by the
people of the United States in the aggregate ! " From that
day to this, this declaration of Mr. Webster has been the chief
foundation on which all the constitutional lawyers of the North
have built their arguments against the rights of the States as
sovereign copartners.
If the Preamble of the Constitution stood alone, without the
lights of contemporaneous history to reveal its true character,
there might be some force in Mr. Webster's position ; but, un
fortunately for him and his followers, he has misstated a fact.
It is not true, as every reader of constitutional history must
know, that the Constitution of the United States was ordained
by the people of the United States in the aggregate ; nor did
the Preamble to the Constitution mean to assert that it was true.
The great names of Webster, and Story have been lent to a
palpable falsification of history, and as a result of that falsifi
cation, a great war has ensued, which has sacrificed its heca
tomb of victims, and desolated, and nearly destroyed an entire
people. The poet did not say, without reason, that " words are
things." Now let us strip off the disguises worn by these word-
mongers, and see where the truth really lies. Probably some
of my readers will learn, for the first time, the reasons which
induced the framers of the Constitution to adopt the phrase
ology, "We, the people," &c, in the formation of their Pre
amble to that instrument. In the original draft of the Consti
tution, the States, by name, were mentioned, as had been done
in the Articles of Confederation. The States had formed the
old Confederation, the States were equally forming the new
Confederation; hence the Convention naturally followed in their
Preamble the form which had been set them in the old Consti
tution, or Articles. This Preamble, purporting that the work
of forming -the new government was being done by the States,
remained at the head of the instrument during all the delibera
tions of the Convention, and no one member ever objected to it.
It expressed a fact which no one thought of denying. It is
thus a fact beyond question, not only that the Constitution

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 31
was framed by the States, but that the Convention so pro
claimed in "front of the instrument."
Having been framed by the States, was it afterward adopted,
or "ordained and established," to use the words of Mr. Web
ster, by the people of the United States, in the aggregate, and
was this the reason why the words were changed ? There were
in the Convention several members in favor of submitting the
instrument to the people of the United States in the aggre
gate, and thereby accomplishing their favorite object of estab
lishing a consolidated government — Alexander Hamilton and
Gouverneur Morris among the number. On the " Journal of
the Convention," the following record is found : " Gouverneur
Morris moved that the reference of the plan [i. e. of the Consti
tution] be made to one General Convention, chosen and author
ized by the people, to consider, amend, and establish the same."
Thus the question, as to who should " ordain and establish "
the Constitution, whether it should be the people in the aggre
gate, or the people of the States, was clearly presented to the
Convention. How did the Convention vote on this proposi
tion ? The reader will perhaps be surprised to learn, that the
question was not even brought to a vote, for want of a second ;
and yet this is the fact recorded by the Convention.
The reader who has read Mr. Madison's articles in the "Fed
eralist," and his speeches before the Virginia Convention, in
favor of the ratification of the Constitution, will perhaps be
surprised to learn that he, too, made a somewhat similar mo
tion. He was not in favor, it is true, of referring the instru
ment for adoption to a General Convention of the whole people,
alone, but he was in favor of referring it to such a Convention,
in connection with Conventions to be called by the States, thus
securing a joint or double ratification, by the people of the
United States in the aggregate, and by the States ; the effect
of which would have been to make the new government a
still more complex affair, and to muddle still further the brains
of Mr. Webster and Mr. Justice Story. But this motion failed
also, and the Constitution was referred to the States for
adoption. But n)wa new question arose, which was, whether the Con-
stitution was to be "ordained and established" by the legisla-

32 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
tures of the States, or by the people of the States in Conven
tion. All were agreed, as we have seen, that the instrument
should be referred to the States. This had been settled ; but
there were differences of opinion as to how the States should
act upon it. Some were in favor of permitting each of the
States to choose, for itself, how it would ratify it ; others were
in favor of referring it to the legislatures, and others, again,
to the people of the States in Convention. It was finally de
cided that it should be referred to Conventions of the people,
in the different States.
This being done, their work was completed, and it only
remained to refer the rough draft of the instrument to the
"Committee on Style," to prune and polish it a little — to lop
off a word here, and change or add a word there, the better to
conform the language to the sense, and to the proprieties of
grammar and rhetoric. The Preamble, as it stood, at once pre
sented a difficulty. All the thirteen States were named in it
as adopting the instrument, but it had been provided, in the
course of its deliberations by the Convention, that the new
government should go into effect if nine States adopted it.
Who could tell which these nine States would be ? It was
plainly impossible to enumerate all the States — for all of
them might not adopt it — or any particular number of them,
as adopting the instrument.
Further, it having been determined, as we have seen, that
the Constitution should be adopted by the people of the seve
ral States, as contra-distinguished from the legislatures of the
States, the phraseology of the Preamble must be made to ex
press this idea also. To meet these two new demands upon
the phraseology of the instrument, the Committee on Style
adopted the expression, "We, the people ofthe United States,"
— meaning, as every one must see, " We, the people of the seve
ral States united by this instrument." And this is the founda
tion that the Northern advocates of a consolidated government
build upon, when they declare that the people of the United
States in the aggregate, as one nation, adopted the Constitu
tion, and thus gave the fundamental law to the States, instead
of the States giving it to the Federal Government.
It is well known that this phrase, " We, the people," &c, be

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 3S
came a subject of discussion in the Virginia ratifying Con
vention. Patrick Henry, with the prevision of a prophet, was,
as we have seen, bitterly opposed to the adoption of the Con
stitution. He was its enemy a Voutrance. Not having been a
member of the Convention, of 1787, that framed the instru
ment, and being unacquainted with the circumstances above
detailed, relative to the change which had been made in the
phraseology of its Preamble, he attacked the Constitution on
the very ground since assumed by Webster and Story, to wit :
that the instrument itself proclaimed that it had been "or
dained and established " by the people of the United States in
the aggregate, instead of the people of the States. Mr. Madi
son replied to Henry on this occasion. Madison had been in
the Convention, knew, of course, all about the change of
phraseology in question, and this was his reply : " The parties
to it [the Constitution] were the people, but not the people as
composing one great society, but the people as composing
thirteen sovereignties. If it were a consolidated government "
continued he, "the assent of a majority of the people would
be sufficient to establish it. But it was to be binding on the
people of a State only by their own separate consent." There
was, of course, nothing more to be said, and the Virginia
Convention adopted the Constitution.
Madison has been called the Father of the Constitution
Next to him, Alexander Hamilton bore the most conspicuous
part in procuring it to be adopted by the people. Hamilton,
as is well known, did not believe much in republics; and
least of all did he believe in federal republics. His great
object was to establish a consolidated republic, if we must
have a republic at all. He labored zealously for this pur
pose, but failed. The States, without an exception, were
in favor of the federal form; and no one knew better than
Hamilton the kind of government which had been estab
lished. Now let us hear what Hamilton, an unwilling, but an honest
witness, says on this subject. Of the eighty-five articles in the
"Federalist," Hamilton wrote no less than fifty. Having failed
to procure the establishment of a consolidated government, his
next great object was, to procure the adoption by the States of

34 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
the present Constitution, and to this task, accordingly, he now
addressed his great intellect and powerful energies. In turn
ing over the pages of the "Federalist," we can scarcely go amiss
in quoting Hamilton, to the point that the Constitution is a
compact between the States, and not an emanation from the peo
ple of the United States in the aggregate. Let us take up the
final article, for instance, the 85th. In this article we find the
following expressions : " The compacts which are to embrace
thirteen distinct States in a common bond of amity and Union,
must necessarily be compromises of as many dissimilar inter
ests and inclinations." Again : " The moment an alteration is
made in the present plan, it becomes, to the purpose of adop
tion, a new one, and must undergo a new decision of each State.
To its complete establishment throughout the Union, it will,
therefore, require the concurrence of thirteen States."
And again : " Every Constitution for the United States must,
inevitably, consist of a great variety of particulars, in which
thirteen Independent States are to be accommodated in their
interests, or opinions of interests. * * * Hence the necessity
of moulding and arranging all the particulars which are to
compose the whole in such a manner as to satisfy all the
parties to the compact." Thus, we do not hear Hamilton, any
more than Madison, talking of a " people of the United States
in the aggregate" as having anything to do with the formation
of the new charter of government. He speaks only of States,
and of compacts made or to be made by States.
In view of the great importance of the question, whether it
was the people of the United States in the aggregate who
"ordained and established" the Constitution, or the States, —
for this, indeed, is the whole gist of the controversy between
the North and South, — I have dwelt somewhat at length on
the subject, and had recourse to contemporaneous history ; but
thi3 was scarcely necessary. The Constitution itself settles the
whole controversy. The 7th article of that instrument reads
as follows : " The ratification of the Conventions of nine States
shall be sufficient for the establishment of the Constitution
between the States so ratifying the same." How is it possible
to reconcile this short, explicit, and unambiguous provision
with the theory I am combating ? The Preamble, as explained

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 35
by the Northern consolidationists, and this article, cannot pos
sibly stand together. It is not possible that the people of the
United States in the aggregate, as one nation, " ordained and
established" the Constitution, and that the States ordained and
established it at the same time ; for there was but one set of
Conventions called, and these Conventions were called by the
States, and acted in the names of the States.
Mr. Madison did, indeed, endeavor to have the ratification
made in both modes, but his motion in the Convention to this
effect failed, as we have seen. Further, how could the Consti
tution be binding only between the States that ratified it,
if it was not ratified — that is, not "ordained and established"
— by them at all, but by the people of the United States in
the aggregate? As remarked by Mr. Madison, in the Virginia
Convention, a ratification by the people, in the sense in which
this term is used by the Northern consolidationists, would
have bound all the people, and there would have been no
option left the dissenting States. But the 7th article says that
they shall have an option, and that the instrument is to be
binding only between such of them as ratify it.
With all due deference, then, to others who have written
upon this vexed question, and who have differed from me in
opinion, I must insist that the proof is conclusive that the
Constitution is a compact between the States ; and this being
so, we have the admission of both Mr. Webster and Justice
Story that any one of the States may withdraw from it at
pleasure.

CHAPTER III.
FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
DOWN TO 1830, BOTH THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH
HELD THE CONSTITUTION TO BE A COMPACT BETWEEN
THE STATES.
ONE of the great difficulties in arguing the question of the
relative power of the States and of the Federal Govern
ment, consists in the fact that the present generation has
grown up under the shadow of the great Federal monster, and
has been blinded by its giant proportions. They see around
them all the paraphernalia and power of a great government —
its splendid capital, its armies, its fleets, its Chief Magistrate,
its legislature, and its judiciary — and they find it difficult to
realize the fact, that all this grandeur is not self-created, but
the offspring of the States.
When our late troubles were culminating, men were heard
frequently to exclaim, with plaintive energy, "What! have
we no government capable of preserving itself? Is our
Government a mere rope of sand, that may be destroyed at the
will of the States ?" These men seemed to think that there
was but one government to be preserved, and that that was
the Government of the United States. Less than a century
had elapsed since the adoption of the Constitution, and the
generation now on the theatre of events had seemingly for
gotten, that the magnificent structure, which they contemplated
with so much admiration, was but a creature of the States ; that
it had been made by them for their convenience, and neces-
saiily held the tenure of its life at sufferance. They lost sight
of the fact that the State governments, who were the creators
of the Federal Government, were the governments to be pre
served, if there should be any antagonism between them and
the Federal Government; and that their services, as well as
36

MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT. 37
their sympathies, belonged to the former in preference to the
latter. What with the teachings of Webster and Story, and a
host of satellites, the dazzling splendor of the Federal Govern
ment, and the overshadowing and corrupting influences of its
power, nearly a whole generation in the North had grown up
in ignorance of the true nature of the institutions, under which
they lived.
This change in the education of the people had taken place
since about the year 1830; for, up to that time, both of the
great political parties of the country, the Whigs as well as
the Democrats, had been State-Rights in doctrine. A very
common error has prevailed on this subject. It has been said,
that the North and the South have always been widely sepa
rated in their views of the Constitution; that the men of the
North have always been consolidationists, whilst the men of the
South have been secessionists. Nothing can be farther from the
truth. Whilst the North and the South, from the very com
mencement of the Government, have been at swords' points, on
many questions of mere construction and policy, — the North
claiming that more ample powers had been granted the Federal
Government, than the South was willing to concede, — there
never was any material difference between them down to the year
1830, as to the true nature of their Government. They all held
it to be a federal compact, and the Northern people were as jeal
ous ofthe rights of their States under it, as the Southern people.
In proof of this, I have only to refer to a few of the well-
known facts of our political history. Thomas Jefferson penned
the famous Kentucky Resolutions of '98 and '99. The first of
those resolutions is in these words : "Resolved, That the seve
ral States comprising the United States of America are not
united on the principles of unlimited submission to their gen
eral Government; but that by a compact, under the style and
title of the Constitution of the United States, and of amend
ments thereto, they constitute a general Government for special
purposes; and that whensoever the general Government
assumes undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void
and of no force; that to this compact each State acced&a as a
State, and is an integral party, its co-States forming, as to itself,
the other party; that the government created by this compact

38 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
was not made the exclusive or final judge of the extent of
the powers delegated to itself, since that would have made
its discretion, not the Constitution, the measure of its powers;
but that, as in all cases of compact among persons having
no common judge, each party has an equal right to judge
for itself, as well of infractions, as of the mode and measure of
redress." It is unnecessary to quote the other resolution, as the above
contains all that is sufficient for my purpose, which is to show
that Mr. Jefferson was a secessionist, and that with this record
he went before the American people as a candidate for the Pre
sidency, with the following results: In 1800 he beat his oppo
nent, John Adams, who represented the consolidationists of
that day, by a majority of 8 votes in the Electoral College.
In 1804, being a candidate for re-election, he beat his opponent
by the overwhelming majority of 162, to 14 votes. In the
Northern States alone, Mr. Jefferson received 85 votes, whilst
in the same States his opponent received but 9. This was
a pretty considerable indorsement of secession by the North
ern States.
In 1808, Mr. Madison, who penned the Virginia Resolutions
of '98, similar in tenor to the Kentucky Resolutions, became
a candidate for the Presidency, and beat his opponent by a
vote of 122 to 47; the Northern majority, though somewhat
diminished, being still 50 to 39 votes. Mr. Madison was re
elected in 1812, and in 1816, James Monroe was elected Presi
dent by a vote of 183 to his opponent's 34; and more than
one half of these 183 votes came from the Northern States.
In 1820, Mr. Monroe was re-elected over John Quincy Adams,
of Massachusetts, by a majority of 231 votes to 13. Besides
Monroe and Adams, Crawford and Jackson were also candi
dates, but these two latter received only 11 votes between
them. This last election is especially remarkable, as showing
that there was no opposition to Jefferson's doctrine of State-
Rights, since all the candidates were of that creed. The
opposition had been so often defeated, and routed in former
elections, that they had not strength enough left to put a can
didate in the field.
John Quincy Adams succeeded Mr. Monroe, and his State-

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 39
Rights doctrines are well known. He expressed them as fol
lows: "The indissoluble link of union between the people of
the several States of this confederated nation, is, after all, not
in the right, but in the heart. If the day should ever come
(may heaven avert it) when the affections of the people of these
States shall be alienated from each other; when the fraternal
spirit shall give way to cold indifference, or collision of interests
shall fester into hatred, the bands of political association will
not long h6ld together parties, no longer attracted by the magne
tism of conciliated interests, and kindly sympathies; and far
better will it be for the people of the dis-united States to part in
friendship with each other, than to be held together by constraint.
Then will be the time for reverting to the precedents, which
occurred at the formation, and adoption of the Constitution, to
form again a more perfect union, by dissolving that which
could no longer bind, and to leave the separated parts to be
reunited by the law qf political gravitation to the centre."
General Jackson succeeded Mr. Adams in 1828, and was re
elected in 1832. It was during his administration that the heresy
was first promulgated by Mr. Webster, that the Constitution
was not a compact between the States, but an instrument of
government, '• ordained, and established," by the people of the
United States, in the aggregate, as one nation. With respect
to the New England States in particular, there is other and
more pointed evidence, that they agreed with Mr. Jefferson,
and the South down to the year 1830, on this question of
State rights, than is implied in the Presidential elections above
quoted. Massachusetts, the leader of these States in intellect,
and in energy, impatient of control herself, has always sought
to control others. This was, perhaps, but natural. All man
kind are prone to consult their own interests. Selfishness,
unfortunately, is one of the vices of our nature, which few
are found capable of struggling against effectually.
The New England ' people were largely imbued with the
Puritan element. Their religious doctrines gave them a
gloomy asceticism of character, and an intolerance of other
men's opinions quite remarkable. In their earlier history as
colonists, there is much in the way of uncharitableness and
persecution which a liberal mind could wish to see blotted

40 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
out. True to these characteristics, which I may almost call
instincts, the New England States have always been the most
refractory States of the Union. As long as they were in a
minority, and hopeless of the control of the Government, they
stood strictly on their State rights, in resisting such measures
as were unpalatable to them, even to the extremity of threat
ening secession; and it was only when they saw that the tables
were turned, and that it was possible for them to seize the
reins of the Government, that they abandoned their State-
Rights doctrines, and became consolidationists.
One of the first causes of the dissatisfaction of the New
England States with the General Government was the purchase
of Louisiana, by Mr. Jefferson, in 1803. It arose out of their
jealousy of the balance of power between the States. The
advantages to result to the United States from the purchase
of this territory were patent to every one. It completed the
continuity of our territory, from the head waters of the Mis
sissippi, to the sea, and unlocked the mouths of that great river.
But Massachusetts saw in the purchase, nothing more than the
creation of additional Southern States, to contest, with her, the
future control of the Government. She could see no authority
for it in the Constitution, and she threatened, that if it were
consummated, she would secede from the Union. Her Legis
lature passed the following resolution on the subject: "He-
solved, That the annexation of Louisiana to the Union, tran
scends the Constitutional power of the Government of the
United States. It formed a new Confederacy, to which the
States [not the people of the United States, in the aggregate]
united by the former compact, are not bound to adhere."
This purchase of Louisiana rankled, for a long time, in the
breast of New England. It was made, as we have seen, in
1803, and in 1811 the subject again came up for consictera-
tion ; this time, in the shape of a bill before Congress for the
admission of Louisiana as a State. One of the most able and
influential members of Congress of that day from Massachu
setts was Mr. Josiah Quincy. In a speech on this bill, that
gentlemen uttered the following declaration: "If this bill
passes, it is my deliberate opinion that it is virtually a disso
lution of the Union ; that it will free the States from their
moral obligation, and as it will be the right of all, so it will

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 41
be the duty of some definitely to prepare for separation, ami
cably if they can, violently if they must."
Time passed on, and the difficulties which led to our War of
1812, with Great Britain, began to rise above the political hori
zon. Great Britain began to impress seamen from New Eng
land merchant ships, and even went so far, at last, as to take
some enlisted men from on board the United States ship of
war Chesapeake. Massachusetts was furious; she insisted
that war should be declared forthwith against Great Britain.
The Southern States, which had comparatively little interest
in this matter, except so far as the federal honor was con
cerned, came generously to the rescue of the shipping States,
and war was declared. But the first burst of^her passion
having spent itself, Massachusetts found that she had been
indiscreet; her shipping began to suffer more than she had
anticipated, and she began now to cry aloud as one in pain.
She denounced the war, and the Administration which was car
rying it on ; and not content with this, in connection with
other New England States, she organized a Convention, at
Hartford, in Connecticut, with a view to adopt some ulterior
measures. We find the following among the records of that
Convention: "Events may prove, that the causes of our calami
ties are deep, and permanent. They may be found to proceed
not merely from blindness of prejudice, pride of opinion, vio
lence of party spirit, or the confusion of the times ; but they
may be traced, to implacable combinations, of individuals, or
of States, to monopolize office, and to trample, without remorse,
upon the rights and interests of the commercial sections of the
Union. Whenever it shall appear, that these causes are radi
cal, and permanent, a separation by equitable arrangement, will
be preferable to an alliance, by constraint, among nominal friends
but real enemies, inflamed by mutual hatred, and jealousy, and
inviting, by intestine divisions, contempt and aggressions from
abroad." Having recorded this opinion of what should be the
policy of the New England States, in the category mentioned.
the "Journal of the Convention" goes on to declare what it con
siders the right of the States, in the premises' " That acts of
Congress, in violation of the Constitution, are absolutely void;
is an indisputable position. It does not, however, consist
with the respect, from a Confederate State toward the General

42 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
Government, to fly to open resistance, upon every infraction
of the Constitution. The mode, and the energy of the opposi
tion should always conform to the nature of the violation, the
intention of the authors, the extent of the evil inflicted, the
determination manifested to persist in it, and the danger of
delay. But in case of deliberate, dangerous, and palpable
infractions of the Constitution, affecting the sovereignty of the
State, and liberties of the people, it is not only the right, but
the duty, of each State to interpose its authority for their protec
tion, in the manner best calculated to secure that end. When
emergencies occur, which are either beyond the reach of judi
cial tribunals, or too pressing to admit of the delay incident to
their forms, States, which have no common umpire, must be
their own judges, and execute their own decisions." These pro
ceedings took place in January, 1815. A deputation was
appointed to lay the complaints of New England before the
Federal Government, and there is no predicting what might
have occurred, if the delegates had not found, that peace had
been declared, when they arrived at Washington.
It thus appears, that from 1803-4 to 1815, New England
was constantly in the habit of speaking of the dissolution of
the Union — her leading men deducing this right from the
nature of the compact between the States. It is curious and
instructive, and will well repay the perusal, to read the " Jour
nal of the Hartford Convention," so replete is it with sound
constitutional doctrine. It abounds in such expressions as
these : " The constitutional compact ;" " It must be the duty of
the State to watch over the rights reserved, as of the United
States to exercise the powers which were delegated;" the right of
conscription is " not delegated to Congress by the Constitution,
and the exercise of it would not be less dangerous to their
liberties, than hostile to the sovereignty of the States." The
odium which has justly fallen upon the Hartford Convention,
has not been because of its doctrines, for these were as sound,
as we have seen, as the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions of
'98 and '99, but because it was a secret conclave, gotten toge
ther, in a time of war, when the country was hard pressed by
a foreign enemy ; the war having, in fact, been undertaken for
the benefit of the very shipping States which ivere threatening
to dissolve the Union on account of it.

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 43
Mr. John Quincy Adams, the sixth President of the United
States, himself, as is well known, a Massachusetts man, speak
ing of this dissatisfaction of the New England States with the
Federal Government, says : " That their object was, and had
been, for several years, a dissolution of the Union and the
establishment of a separate Confederation, he knew from une
quivocal evidence, although not provable in a court of law ;
and that in case of a civil war, the aid of Great Britain, to
effect that purpose, would be assuredly resorted to, as it would
be indispensably necessary to their design." See Mr. Adams'
letter of Dec. 30th, 1828, in reply to Harrison Gray Otis and
others. We have thus seen, that for forty years, or from the founda
tion of the Federal Government, to 1830, there was no material
difference of opinion between the sections, as to the nature of
the league or compact of government which they had formed.
There was this difference between the sections, however. The
South, during this entire period of forty years, had substan
tially controlled the Government ; not by force, it is true, of
her own majorities, but with the aid of a few of the Northern
States. She was the dominant or ruling power in the Govern
ment. During all this time, she conscientiously adhered to her
convictions, and respected the rights of the minority, though
she might have wielded her power, if she had been so inclined,
to her own advantage.
Constitutions are made for the protection of minorities, and
she scrupulously adhered to this idea. Minorities naturally
cling to the guarantees and defences provided for them in the
fundamental law ; it is only when they become strong, when
they throw off their pupilage, and become majorities, that their
principles and their virtues are really tested. It is in politics,
as in religion — the weaker party is always the tolerant party.
Did the North follow this example set her by the South ? No ;
the moment she became strong enough, she recanted all the
doctrines under which she had sought shelter, tore the Consti
tution into fragments, scattered it to the winds ; and finally
when the South threw herself on the defensive, as Massachu
setts had threatened to do, in 1803 and 1815, she subjugated her.
What was the powerful motive which thus induced the
North to overthrow the government which it had labored so

44 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
assiduously with the South to establish, and which it had con^
strued in common with the South, for the period of forty years?
It was the motive which generally influences human conduct ;
it was the same motive which Patrick Henry had so clearly
foreseen, when he warned the people of Virginia against enter
ing into the federal compact; telling them, that interested
majorities never had, in the history of the world, and never
would respect the rights of minorities.
The great "American System," as it has been called, had in
the meantime arisen, championed by no less a personage than
Henry Clay of Kentucky. In 1824, and again in 1828, op
pressive tariffs had been enacted for the protection of New
England manufacturers. The North was manufacturing, the
South non-manufacturing. The effect of these tariffs was to
shut out all foreign competition, and compel the Southern con
sumer to pay two prices for all the textile fabrics he consumed,
from the clothing of his negroes to his own broadcloth coats.
So oppressive, unjust, and unconstitutional were these acts
considered, that South Carolina nullified them in 1830. Imme
diately all New England was arrayed against South Carolina.
An entire and rapid change took place in the political creed
of that section. New England orators and jurists rose up to
proclaim that the Constitution was not a compact between the
States. Webster thundered in the Senate, and Story wrote
his " Commentaries on the Constitution." These giants had a
herculean task before them; nothing less than the falsifying
of the whole political history of the country, for the previous
forty years ; but their barren and inhospitable section of the
country had been touched by the enchanter's wand, and its
rocky hills, and sterile fields, incapable of yielding even a
scanty subsistence to its numerous population, were to become
glad with the music of the spindle and the shuttle ; and the
giants undertook the task ! How well they have accomplished
it, the reader will see, in the course of these pages, when,
toward the conclusion of my narrative, he will be called upon
to view the fragments of the grand old Constitution, which has
been shattered, and which will lie in such mournful profusion
around him ; the monuments at once of the folly and crimes
of a people, who have broken up a government — a free govern
ment — which might else have endured for centuries.

CHAPTER IV.
WAS SECESSION TREASON?
A FEW more words, and we shall be in a condition to
answer the question which stands at the head of this chap
ter. Being a legal question, it will depend entirely upon the
constitutional right the Southern States may have had to
withdraw from the Union, without reference to considerations
of expediency, or of moral right; these latter will be more
appropriately considered, when we come to speak of the causes
which impelled the Southern States to the step. I have com
bated many of the arguments presented by the other side, but
a few others remain to be noticed.
It has been said, that, admitting that the Constitution was a
federal compact, yet the States did in fact cede away a part of
their sovereignty, and from this the inference has been deduced,
that they no longer remained sovereign for the purpose of
recalling the part, which had been ceded away. This is a
question which arises wholly under the laws of nations. It is
admitted, that the States were independent sovereignties, before
they formed the Constitution. We have only, therefore, to
consult the international code, to ascertain to what extent the
granting away of a portion of their sovereignty affected the
remainder. Vattel, treating of this identical point, speaks as
follows : " Several sovereign and independent States may unite
themselves together by a perpetual confederacy, without ceas
ing to be, each individually, a perfect State. They will, to
gether, constitute a federal republic ; their joint deliberations
will not impair the sovereignty of each member, though they
may, in certain respects, put some restraint upon the exercise of itt
in virtue of voluntary engagements." That was just what the
American States did. when they formed the Federal Constitu- 45

46 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
tion ; they put some voluntary restraint upon their sovereignty
for the furtherance of a common object.
If they are restrained, by the Constitution, from doing certain
things, the restraint was self-imposed, for it was they who
ordained, and established the instrument, and not a common
superior. They, each, agreed that they would forbear to do
certain things, if their copartners would forbear to do the same
things. As plain as this seems, no less an authority than that
of Mr. Webster has denied it ; for, in his celebrated argument
against Mr. Calhoun, already referred to, he triumphantly
exclaimed, that the States were not sovereign, because they were
restrained of a portion of their liberty by the Constitution. See
how he perverts the whole tenor of the instrument, in his
endeavor to build up those manufactories of which we spoke
in the last chapter. He says : " However men may think this
ought to be, the fact is, that the people of the United States have
chosen to impose control on State sovereignty. There are those,
doubtless, who wish that they had been left without restraint ;
but the Constitution has ordered the matter differently. To
make war, for instance, is an exercise of sovereignty, but, the
Constitution declares that no State shall declare war. To coin
money is another act of sovereign power ; but no State is at
liberty to coin money. Again, the Constitution says, that no
sovereign State shall be so sovereign, as to make a treaty.
These prohibitions, it must be confessed, are a control on the
State sovereignty of South Carolina, as well as of the other
States, which does not arise from her feelings of honorable
justice." Here we see, plainly, the germ of the monstrous heresy that
has riven the States asunder, in our day. The "people of the
United States," a common superior, ordained and established
the Constitution, says Mr. Webster, and imposed restraints
upon the States ! However some might wish they had been
left without restraint, the Constitution has " ordained it differ
ently I " And the ostrich stomach of the North received, and
digested this monstrous perversion of the plainest historical
truth, in order that the spindle might whirr on, and the shuttle
dance from side to side of the loom.
Following the idea of Mr. Webster, that the people of the

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 47
United States gave constitutional law to the States, instead of
receiving it from them, Northern writers frequently ask, in
what part ofthe Constitution, is the doctrine of secession found?
In no part. It was not necessary to put it there. The States
who formed the instrument, delegated certain powers to the
Federal Government, retaining all others. Did they part, with
the right of secession ? Could they have parted with it, with
out consenting to a merger of their sovereignty ? And so far
from doing this, we have seen with what jealous care they pro
tested against even the implication of such a merger, in the
10th amendment to the Constitution. If the power was not
parted with, by explicit grant, did it not remain to them, even
before the 10th amendment was adopted, and still more, if
possible, after it was adopted ?
To make it still more apparent, that the common under
standing among the Fathers of the Constitution was, that this
right of secession was reserved, it is only necessary to refer to
what took place, during the transition from the old to the new
government. The thirteen original States seceded, as we have
seen, from the Articles of Confederation, not unanimously, or
all together, but one by one, each State acting for itself, with
out consulting the interests, or inclinations of the others. One
of the provisions of those Articles was as follows : " Every
State shall abide by the determination of the United States,
in Congress • assembled, in all questions, which, by this Con
federation, are submitted to them; and the Articles of this
Confederation shall be inviolably observed by every State, and
the Union shall be perpetual; nor shall any alteration, at any
time hereafter, be made in any of them, unless such alteration
be agreed to, in a Congress of the United States, and be after
ward confirmed by the legislature of every State."
Now, it is a pertinent, and instructive fact, that no similar
provision of perpetuity was engrafted in the new Constitution.
There must have been a motive for this — it could not have
been a mere accidental omission — and the motive probably
was, that the Convention of 1787 were ashamed to attempt, a
second time, to bind sovereign States, by a rope of sand, which
they, themselves, were in the act of pulling asunder. It was in
accordance with this understanding, that both New York and
4

48 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
Virginia, in their ratifications of the new Constitution, expressly
reserved to themselves the right of secession ; and no objection
was made to such conditional ratifications. The reservations
made by these States enure, as a matter of course, to the benefit
of all the States, as they were all to go into the new Union, on
precisely the same footing.
In the extract from Mr. Webster's speech, which has been
given above, it is alleged among other things, that the States,
are not sovereign, because they cannoi make treaties ; and this
disability also has been urged as an argument against seces
sion. The disability, like others, was self-imposed, and, as any
one may see, was intended to be binding on the States only so
long as the contract which they were then forming should
endure. The Confederate States respected this obligation
while they remained in the Federal Union. They scrupu
lously forbore from contracting with each other until they had
resumed, each for itself, their original sovereignty ; they were
then not only free to contract with each other, but to do and
perform all the other acts enumerated by Mr. Webster ; the
act of declaring war included, even though this war should be
against their late confederates.
The truth is, the more we sift these arguments of our late
enemies, the less real merit there appears in them. The facts
of history are too stubborn, and refuse to be bent to conform
to the new doctrines. We see it emblazoned on every page
of American history for forty years, that the Constitution was
a compact between the States ; that the Federal Government
was created, by, and for the benefit of the States, and possessed
and could possess no other power than such as was conferred
upon it by the States ; that the States reserved to themselves
all the powers not granted, and that they took especial pains
to guard their sovereignty, in terms, by an amendment to the
Constitution, lest, by possibility, their intentions in the forma
tion of the new government, should be misconstrued.
In the course of time this government is perverted from its
original design. Instead of remaining the faithful and impar
tial agent of all the States, a faction obtains control of it, in
the interests of some of them, and turns it, as an engine of
oppression against the others. These latter, after long ant*

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 49
patient suffering, after having exhausted all their means of
aefence, within the Union, withdraw from the agent the powers
which they had conferred upon him, form a new Confederacy,
and desire " to be let alone." And what is the consequence 1
They are denounced as rebels and traitors, armies are equipped,
and fleets provided, and a war of subjugation is waged against
them. What says the reader? Does he see rebellion and
treason lurking in the conduct of these States ? Are they,
indeed, in his opinion, in face of the record which he has in
spected, so bereft of their sovereignty, as to be incapable of
defending themselves, except with halters around the necks of
their citizens?
Let us examine this latter question of halters for a moment.
The States existed before the Federal Government ; the citi
zens of the States owed allegiance to their respective States,
and to none others. By what process was any portion of this
allegiance transferred to the Federal Government, and to what
extent was it transferred ? It was transferred by the States,
themselves, when they entered into the federal compact, and
not by the individual citizens, for these had no power to make
such a transfer. Although it be admitted, that a citizen of any
one of the States may have had the right to expatriate him
self entirely — and this was not so clear a doctrine at that day
— and transfer his allegiance to another government, yet it is
quite certain, that he could not, ex mero motu, divide his alle
giance. His allegiance then was transferred to the Federal
Government, by his State, whether he would or not.
Take the case of Patrick Henry, for example. He resisted
the adoption of the Federal Constitution, by the State of Vir
ginia, with all the energies of an ardent nature, solemnly
believing that his State was committing suicide. And yet,
when Virginia did adopt that Constitution, he became, by vir
tue of that act, a citizen of the United States, and owed alle
giance to the Federal Government. He had been born in the
hallowed old Commonwealth. In the days of his boyhood he
had played on the banks of the Appomattox, and fished in its
waters. As he grew to man's estate, all his cherished hopes,
and aspirations clustered around his beloved State. The bones
of his ancestors were interred in her soil ; his loves, his joys,

50 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
his sorrows were all centred there. In short, he felt the in
spiration of patriotism, that noble sentiment which nerves
men to do, and dare, unto the death, for their native soil.
Will it be said, can it be said, without revolting all the best
feelings of the human heart, that if Patrick Henry had lived
to see a war of subjugation waged against his native State, he
would have been a traitor for striking in her defence ? Was
this one of the results which our ancestors designed, when
they framed the federal compact ? It would be uncharitable
to accuse them of such folly, and stupidity, nay of such cruelty.
If this doctrine be true, that secession is treason, then our an
cestors framed a government, which could not fail to make
traitors of their descendants, in case of a conflict between the
States, and that government, let them act as they would.
It was frequently argued in the "Federalist," and elsewheie,
by those who were persuading the States to adopt the Federal
Constitution, that the State would have a sufficient guarantee
of protection, in the love, and affection of its citizens — that
the citizen would naturally cling to his State, and side with
her against the Federal Government — that, in fact, it was
rather to be apprehended that the Federal Government would
be too weak, and the States too strong, for this reason, instead
of the converse of the proposition being true. It was not
doubted, in that day, that the primary and paramount allegi
ance of the citizen was due to his State, and, that, in case of a con
flict between her and the Federal Government, his State would
have the right to withdraw his allegiance, from that Govern
ment. If it was she who transferred it, and if she had the right
to transfer it, it follows beyond question, that she would have
the right to withdraw it. It was not a case for the voluntary
action of the citizen, either way ; he could not, of his own free
will, either give his allegiance to the Federal Government, or
take it away.
If this be true, observe in what a dilemma he has been
placed, on the hypothesis that secession is treason. If he
adheres to the Federal Government, after his State has with
drawn his allegiance from that Government, and takes up arms
against his State, he becomes a traitor to his State. If he
adheres to bis State, and takes up arms against the Federal

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 51
Goverment, he becomes a traitor to that Government. He is
thus a traitor either way, and there is no helping himself. Is
this consistent with the supposed wisdom of the political
Fathers, those practical, common sense men, who formed the
Federal Constitution?
The mutations of governments, like all human events, are
constantly going on. No government stands still, any more than
the individuals of which it is composed. The only difference is,
that the changes are not quite so obvious to the generation which
views them. The framers of the Constitution did not dare to
hope that they had formed a government, that was to last for
ever. Nay, many of them had serious misgivings as to the
result of the experiment they were making. Is it possible,
then, that those men so legislated, as to render it morally cer
tain, that if their experiment should fail, their descendants
must become either slaves or traitors ? If the doctrine that sece3
sion is treason be true, it matters not how grievously a State
might be oppressed, by the Federal Government; she has been
deprived of the power of lawful resistance, and must regain her
liberty, if at all, like other enslaved States, at the hazard of war,
and rebellion. Was this the sort of experiment in govern
ment, that our forefathers supposed they were making? Every
reader of history knows that it was not.

CHAPTER V.
ANOTHER BRIEF HISTORICAL RETROSPECT.
IN the previous chapters, I have given a brief outline of the his
tory and formation of the Federal Constitution, proving, by
abundant reference to the Fathers, and to the instrument itself,
that it was the intention of the former to draft, and that they
did draft, a federal compact of government, which compact was
" ordained, and established," by the States, in their sovereign
capacity, and not by the people of the United States, in the
aggregate, as one nation. It resulted from this statement of
the question, that the States had the legal, and constitutional
right to withdraw from the compact, at pleasure, without ref
erence to any cause of quarrel. Accordingly, nothing has yet
been said about the causes which impelled the Southern States
to a separation, except indeed incidentally, when the tariff sys
tem was alluded to, as the motive which had induced Massa
chusetts and the other Northern States, to change their State-
Rights doctrine.
It was stated in the opening chapter, that the judgment
which posterity will form, upon the great conflict between the
sections, will depend, mainly, upon the answers which we may
be able to give to two questions : First, Had the South the
right to dissolve the compact of government, under which it
had lived with the North ? and secondly, Was there sufficient
ground for this dissolution ? Having answered the first ques
tion — imperfectly, I fear, but yet as fully, as was consistent,
with the design of these pages — I propose now to consider,
very briefly, the second. I would gladly have left all this pre
liminary work to other, and abler pens, but I do not consider
that the memoirs of any actor in the late war, who, like my
self, was an officer in the old service, and who withdrew from
that service, because of the breaking out of the war — or rather
because of the secession of his State — would be complete with-
52

MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT. 53
out, at least, a brief reference to the reasons, which controlled
his judgment.
The American Constitution died of a disease, that was in
herent in it. It was framed on false principles, inasmuch as
the attempt was made, through its means, of binding together,
in a republican form of government, two dissimilar peoples,
with widely dissimilar interests. Monarchial governments
may accomplish this, since they are founded on force, but
republican governments never. Austria, and Russia, pin to
gether, in our day, with their bayonets, many dissimilar peo
ples, but if a republic should make the attempt, that moment
it must, of necessity, cease to be a republic, since the very
foundation of such a government is the consent of the governed.
The secession of the Southern States was a mere corollary of
the American proposition of government; and the Northern
States stultified themselves, the moment they attempted to re
sist it. The consent of the Southern States being wanted, there
should have been an end of the question.
If the Northern States were not satisfied to let them go, but
entertained, on the contrary, a desire to restrain them by force,
this was a proof, that those States had become tired of the
republican form, and desired to change it. But they should
have been honest about it; they should have avowed their
intentions from the beginning, and not have waged the war, as
so many republics, endeavoring to coerce other republics, into
a forced union with them. To have been logical, they should
have obliterated the State boundaries, and have declared all
the States — as well the Northern States, as the Southern — so
many counties of a consolidated government. But even then,
they could not have made war upon any considerable number
of those counties, without violating the fundamental American
idea of a government — the consent of the governed. The
right of self-government was vindicated in the Declaration of
Independence, in favor of three millions of the subjects of
Great Britain. In the States of the Southern Confederacy,
there were eight millions.
The American Republic, as has been said, was a failure,
because of the antagonism of the two peoples, attempted to be
bound together, in the same government. If there is to be but

54 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
a single government in these States, ih the future, it cannot be
a republic. De Toqueville saw this, thirty years ago. In his
"Democracy in America " he described these States, as "more
like hostile nations, than rival parties, under one government."
This distinguished Frenchman saw, as with the eye of intu
ition, the canker which lay at the heart of the federal com
pact. He saw looming up, in the dim distance, the ominous,
and hideous form of that unbridled, and antagonistic Majority,
which has since rent the country in twain — a majority based
on the views, and interests of one section, arrayed against the
views, and interests of the other section. "The majority,"
said he, "in that country, exercises a prodigious, actual
authority, and a moral influence which is scarcely less pre
ponderant ; no obstacles exist, which can impede, or so much
as retard its progress, or which can induce it to heed the com
plaints of those whom it crushes upon its path. * * *
This state of things is fatal, in itself, and dangerous for the
future. * * * If the free institutions of America are ever
destroyed, that event may be attributed to the unlimited
authority of the majority. * * * Anarchy will then be
the result, but it will have been brought about by despotism."
Precisely so ; liberty is always destroyed by the multitude,
in the name of liberty. Majorities within the limits of con
stitutional restraints are harmless, but the moment they lose
sight of these restraints, the many-headed monster becomes
more tyrannical, than the tyrant with a single head ; numbers
harden its conscience, and embolden it, in the perpetration of
crime. And when this majority, in a free government, becomes
a faction, or, in other words, represents certain classes and
interests to the detriment of other classes, and interests, fare
well to public liberty ; the people must either become enslaved,
or there must be a disruption of the government. This result
would follow, even if the people lived under a consolidated
government, and were homogenous : much more, then, must it
follow, when the government is federal in form, and the States
are, in the words of De Toqueville, " more like hostile nations,
than rival parties, under one government." These States are,
and indeed always have been rival nations.
The dissimilarity between the people of the Northern, and

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 55
the people of the Southern States has always been remarked
upon, by observant foreigners, and it has not escaped the atten
tion of our own historians. Indeed it could not be otherwise,
for the origin of the two sections has been diverse. Virginia,
and Massachusetts were the two original germs, from which
the great majority of the American populations has sprung ;
and no two peoples, speaking the same language, and coming
from the same country, could have been more dissimilar, in
education, taste, and habits, and even in natural instincts, than
were the adventurers who settled these two colonies. Those
who sought a new field of adventure for themselves, and afflu
ence for their posterity, in the more congenial climate of the
Chesapeake, were the gay, and dashing cavaliers, who, as a
class, afterward adhered to the fortunes of the Charleses, whilst
the first settlers of Massachusetts were composed of the same
materials, that formed the " Praise-God-Barebones " parliament
of Cromwell.
These two peoples, seem to have had an instinctive repug
nance, the one to the other. To use a botanical phrase, the Pu
ritan was a seedling of the English race, which had ' been
unknown to it before. It had few, or none of the character
istics of the original stock. Gloomy, saturnine, and fanatical,
in disposition, it seemed to repel all the more kindly, and gen
erous impulses of our nature, and to take a pleasure in pulling
down everything, that other men had built up ; not so much,.
as its subsequent history would seem to show, because the
work was faulty, as because it had been done by other hands
than their own. They hated tyranny, for instance, but it was
only because they were not, themselves, the tyrants; they
hated religious intolerance, but it was only when not practised
by themselves.
Natural affinities attracted like unto like. The Cavalier
sought refuge with the Cavalier, and the Puritan with the Puri
tan, for a century, and more. When the fortunes of the
Charleses waned, the Cavaliers fled to Virginia ; when the for
tunes of Cromwell waned, the Puritans fled to Massachusetts.
Trade occasionally drew the two peoples together, but they
were repelled at all other points. Thus these germs grew,
etep by step, into two distinct nations. A different civiliza-

56 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
tion was naturally developed in each. The two countries were
different in climate, and physical features — the climate of the
one being cold and inhospitable, and its soil rugged, and
sterile, whilst the climate of the other was soft, and genial, and
its soil generous, and fruitful. As a result of these differences
of climate, and soil, the pursuits of the two peoples became
different, the one being driven to the ocean, and to the mechanic
arts, for subsistence, and the other betaking itself to agricul
ture. Another important element soon presented itself, to widen the
social, and economical breach, which had taken place between
the two peoples — African slavery. All the Colonies, at first,
became slaveholding, but it was soon found, that slave labor
was unprofitable in the North, where the soil was so niggard.
in its productions, and where, besides, the white man could
labor. One, by one, the Northern States got rid of their
.slaves, as soon as they made this discovery. In the South, the
«ase was different. The superior fertility of the soil, and the
greater geniality of the climate enabled the planter to employ
the African to advantage ; and thus slave labor was engrafted
on our system of civilization, as one of its permanent features.
The effect was, as before remarked, a still greater divergence
between the two peoples. The wealth of the South soon
began to outstrip that of the North. Education and refine
ment followed wealth. Whilst the civilization of the North
was coarse, and practical, that of the South was more intel
lectual, and refined. This is said in no spirit of disparage
ment of our Northern brethren ; it was the natural, and inevi
table result of the different situations of the two peoples. In
the North, almost every young man was under the necessity,
during our colonial existence, of laboring with his own hands,
for the means of subsistence. There was neither the requisite
leisure, nor the requisite wealth to bring about a very refined
system of civilization. The life of a Southern planter on the
other hand with his large estates, and hundreds of vassals,
with his profuse hospitality, and luxurious style of living,
resembled more that of the feudatories of the middle ages,
than that of any modern gentleman out of the Southern States.
It is not my object to express a preference for either of these

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 57
modes of civilization — each, no doubt, had its advantages, and
disadvantages — but to glance at them, merely, for the purpose
of showing the dissimilarity1 of the two peoples ; their uncon
geniality, and want of adaptation, socially, the one to the others
With social institutions as wide asunder as the poles, and with
their every material interest antagonistic, the separation of the
two peoples, sooner or later, was a logical sequence.
As had been anticipated by Patrick Henry, and others, the
moment the new government went into operation, parties be
gan to be formed, on sectional interests and sectional preju
dices. The North wanted protection for her shipping, in the
way of discriminating tonnage dues, and the South was op
posed to such protection. The North wanted a bank, to facili
tate their commercial operations ; the South was opposed to
it. The North wanted protection for their manufactures, the
South was opposed to it. There was no warrant, of course,
for any of these schemes of protection in the Federal Constitu
tion ; they were, on the contrary, subversive of the original
design of that instrument. The South has been called aggres
sive. She was thrown on the defensive, in the first Congress,
and has remained so, from that day to this. She never had
the means to be aggressive, having been always in a minority,
in both branches of the Legislature. It is not consistent with
the scope of these memoirs, to enter, at large, into the politi
cal disputes which culminated in secession. They are many,
and various, and would fill volumes. It will be sufficient to
sketch the history of one or two of the more important of
them. The "American System," of which Mr. Clay, of Kentucky,
became the champion, and to which allusion has already been
made, became the chief instrument of oppression of the South
ern States, through a long series of years. I prefer to let a
late distinguished Senator, from the State of Missouri, Mr.
Benton, tell this tale of spoliation. On the slavery question,
Mr. Benton was with the North, he cannot, therefore, be ac
cused of being a witness unduly favorable to the South. In
a speech in the Senate, in 1828, he declared himself, as fol
lows: "I feel for the sad changes, which have taken place in
the South, during the last fifty years. Before the Revolution,

58 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
it was the seat of wealth, as well as hospitality. Money, and
all it commanded, abounded there. But how is it now ? All
this is reversed. Wealth has fled from the South, and settled
in regions north of the Potomac ; and this in the face of the
fact, that the South, in four staples alone, has exported pro
duce, since the Revolution, to the value of eight hundred mil
lions of dollars ; and the North has exported comparatively
nothing. Such an export would indicate unparalleled wealth,
but what is the fact? In the place of wealth, a universal
pressure for money was felt — not enough for current ex
penses — the price of all property down — the country droop
ing, and languishing — towns and cities decaying — and the
frugal habits of the people pushed to the verge of universal
self-denial, for the preservation of their family estates. Such a
result is a strange, and wonderful phenomenon. It calls upon
statesmen to inquire into the cause. Under Federal legisla
tion, the exports of the South have been the basis of the
Federal revenue. * * * Virginia, the two Corolinas, and
Georgia, may le said to defray three-fourths, of the annual ex
pense of supporting the Federal Government ; and of this great
sum, annually furnished by them, nothing, or next to nothing
is returned to them, in the shape of Government expenditures.
That expenditure flows in an opposite direction — it flows
northwardly, in one uniform, uninterrupted, and perennial
stream. This is the reason why wealth disappears from the
South and rises up in the North. Federal legislation does all
this. It does it by the simple process of eternally taking from
the South, and returning nothing to it. If it returned to the
South the whole, or even a good part, of what it exacted
the four States south of the Potomac might stand the action
of the system, but the South must be exhausted of its money,
and its property, by a course of legislation, which is forevei
taking away, and never returning anything. Every new
tariff increases the force of this action. No tariff has ever yet
included Virginia, the two Carolinas, and Georgia, except to
increase the burdens imposed upon them."
This picture is not overdrawn ; it is the literal truth. Before
the war the Northern States, and especially the New England
States, exported next to nothing, and yet they " blossomed as

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 59
the rose." The picturesque hills of New England were dotted
with costly mansions, erected with money, of which the
Southern planters had been despoiled, by means of the tariffs
of which Mr. Benton spoke. Her harbors frowned with forti
fications, constructed by the same means. Every cove and
inlet had its lighthouse, for the benefit of New England ship
ping, three fourths of the expense of erecting which had been
paid by the South, and even the cod, and mackerel fisheries
of New England were bountied, on the bald pretext, that they
were nurseries for manning the navy.
The South resisted this wholesale robbery, to the best of her
ability. Some few of the more generous of the Northern rep
resentatives in Congress came to her aid, but still she was
overborne ; and the curious reader, who will take the pains to
consult the " Statutes at Large," of the American Congress, will
find on an average, a tariff for every five years recorded on
their pages ; the cormorants increasing in rapacity, the more
they devoured. No wonder that Mr. Lincoln when asked,
"why not let the South go?" replied, "Let the South go I
where then shall we get our revenue ? "
This system of spoliation was commenced in 1816. The
doctrine of protection was not, at first, boldly avowed. A
heavy debt had been contracted during the war of 1812, with
Great Britain, just then terminated. It became necessary to
raise revenue to pay this debt, as well as to defray the current
expenses of the government, and for these laudable purposes,
the tariff of 1816 was enacted. The North had not yet be
come the overshadowing power, which it has become in our
day. It was comparatively modest, and only asked, that, in
adjusting the duties under the tariff, such incidental protection,
as might not be inconsistent with the main object of the bill,
to wit, the raising of revenue, should be given to Northern
manufactures. It was claimed that these manufactures had
sprung up, sua sponte, during the war, and had materially
aided the country in prosecuting the war, and that they
would languish, and die, unless protected, in this incidental
manner. This seemed but just and reasonable, and some of
the ablest of our Southern men gave their assent to the pro
position ; among others, Mr. Calhoun of South Carolina, and
Mr. Clay of Kentucky.

60 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
The letter, in particular, then a young member of the House
of Representatives, espoused the Northern side of the contro
versy, and subsequently became known, as we have seen, as
the father of the system. Much undeserved obloquy has been
thrown upon Mr. Clay, for this supposed abandonment of his
section. The most that he claimed, was that a temporary pro
tection, of a few years' duration only, should be given to these
infant manufactures, until they should become self-sustaining.
In later life, when he saw the extent to which the measure was
pushed, he did, indeed recoil from it, as Mr. Calhoun, with
keener intellect, had done, years before. The wedge, being
thus entered, was driven home by the insatiable North.
In less than twenty years, or during the early part of Gen
eral Jackson's administration, the public debt was paid off, and
it became necessary to reduce the tariffs, to prevent a plethora
in the public treasury; but the North, by this time, had
"waxed fat," and like the ox in the scriptures, began to kick.
From incidental protection, it advanced, boldly, to the doctrine
of "protection, for the sake of protection" — thus avowing the
unjust doctrine, that it was right to rob one section, for the
benefit of the other; the pretence being the general good —
the "general welfare" clause of the Constitution as well as the
expression "We, the people," in the Preamble, being invoked
to cover the enormity. Under the wholesale system of spolia
tion, which was now practised, the South was becoming poorer,
and poorer. Whilst her abundant cotton crops supplied all
the exchanges of the country, and put in motion, throughout
the North, every species of manufacturing industry, from the
cut-nail, which the planter put in the weather-boarding of his
house, to the coach in which his wife, and daughters took an
airing, it was found, that, from year to year, mortgages were
increasing on her plantations, and that the planter was fast
oecoming little better, than the overseer of the Northern manu
facturer, and the Northern merchant. A statesman of Eng
land once declared, that "not so much as a hob-nail should
be manufactured, in America." The colonial dependence, and
vassalage meant to be proclaimed by this expression, was now
strictly true, as between the North, and the South. The South
was compelled to purchase her hob-nails, in the North, being
excluded by the Northern tariffs, from all other markets.

DURING THE WAR BE1TEEN THE STATES 61
South Carolina, taking the alarm at this state of things,
resorted as we have seen, to nullification, in 1832. The quar
rel was compromised in 1833, by the passage of a more mode
rate tariff, but the North still growing, in strength, and wealth,
disregarded the compromise, in 1842, and enacted a more
oppressive tariff than ever. From this time onward, no
attempt was made to conciliate the South, by the practice of
forbearance, and justice, and the latter sank, hopelessly, into
the condition of a tributary province to her more powerful
rival. All this was done under a federal compact, formed by sover
eign States, for their common benefit I Thus was the prophecy
of Patrick Henry verified, when he said: "But I am sure,
that the dangers of this system [the Federal Constitution] are
real, when those who have no similar interest with the people
of this country [the South] are to legislate for us — when our
dearest rights are to be left, in the hands of those, whose
advantage it will be to infringe them." And thus also, was
verified the declaration of Charles Cotesworth Pinkney, of
South Carolina: "If they [the Southern States] are to form so
considerable a minority, and the regulation of trade is to be
given to the general Government, they will be nothing more
than overseers of the Northern States."

CHAPTER VI.
THE QUESTION OF SLAVERY, AS IT AFFECTED SECESSION.
GREAT pains have been taken, by the North, to make it ap
pear to the world, that the war was a sort of moral, and
religious crusade against slavery. Such was not the fact.
The people of the North were, indeed, opposed to slavery, but
merely because they thought it stood in the way of their
struggle for empire. I think it safe to affirm, that if the ques
tion had stood upon moral, and religious grounds alone, the
institution would never have been interfered with.
The Republican party, which finally brought on the war,
took its rise, as is well known, on the question of extending
slavery to the Territories — those inchoate States, which were
finally to decide the vexed question of the balance of power,
between the two sections. It did not propose to disturb the
institution in the States; in fact, the institution could do no
harm there, for the States, in which it existed, were already in
a hopeless minority. The fat, Southern goose could not resist
being plucked, as things stood, but it was feared that if slavery
was permitted to go into the Territories, the goose might be
come strong enough to resist being plucked. If proof were
wanted of this, we have it, in the resolution passed by the
Federal Congress, after the first battle of Manassas, in the first
year of the war, as follows : " Resolved, That the war is not
waged on our part, in any spirit of oppression, or for any pur
pose of conquest, or for interfering with the rights, or estab
lished institutions of these States, but to defend, and maintain the
supremacy of the Constitution, and to preserve the Union, with
all the dignity and rights of the several States unimpaired."
In 1820, in the admission of Missouri into the Union, tho
North and the South had entered into a compromise, which pro
vided, that slavery should not be carried into any of the Terri-
62

MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT. 63
tories, north of a given geographical line. This compromise
was clearly violative of the rights of the South, for the Terri
tories were common property, which had been acquired, by
the blood, and treasure, of the North and the South alike, and
no discrimination could justly be made between the sections,
as to emigration to those Territories ; but discrimination would
be made, if the Northern man could emigrate to all of them,
and the Southern man to those of them only that lay South
of the given line. By the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska
bill, introduced into the House of Representatives, in 1854 by
Mr. Stephen A. Douglas, this unjust compromise was repealed;
the repealing clause declaring, that the Missouri Compromise
"being inconsistent with the principles of non-intervention,
by Congress, with slavery in the States, and Territories, as
recognized by the legislation of 1850, commonly called the
Compromise Measures, is hereby declared inoperative, and
void ; it being the true intent, and meaning of this act, not to
legislate slavery into any Territory, or State, nor to exclude
it therefrom, but to leave the people thereof perfectly free to
form, and regulate their domestic institutions, subject only to
the Constitution of the United States."
Nothing would seem more just, than the passage of this act,
which removed the restriction which had been put upon a por
tion of the States, threw open the Territories to immigration
from all the States, alike, and left the question of local govern
ment, the question of slavery included, to be decided by the
inhabitants of the Territories themselves. But this act of jus
tice, which Mr. Douglas had had the address and ability to
cause to be passed, was highly distasteful to the Northern peo
ple. It was not consistent with their views of empire that
there should be any more Southern Slave States admitted into
the Union. The Republican party, which, up to that time, had
made but little headway, now suddenly sprang into importance,
and at the next elections in the North, swept every thing
before it. The Northern Democratic members of Congress
who had voted for the hated measure, were beaten by over
whelming majorities, and Republicans sent in their places;
and the Republican Convention which assembled at Chicago
in 1860, to nominate a candidate for the Presidency, adopted

64 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOA1
as one of the "planks of its platform" — to use a slang politi
cal phrase of the day — the principle that slavery should there
after be excluded from the Territories ; not only from the Ter
ritories North of the geographical line, of the Missouri Com
promise, but from all the Territories ! The gauntlet of defi
ance was thus boldly thrown at the feet of the Southern States.
From 1816 to 1860, these States had been plundered by
tariffs, which had enriched the North, and now they were told
without any circumlocution, that they should no longer have
any share in the Territories. I have said that this controversy,
on the subject of slavery, did not rest, in the North, on any
question of morals or religion. The end aimed at, in restrict
ing slavery to the States, was purely political ; but this end
was to be accomplished by means, and the Northern leaders
had the sagacity to see, that it was all-important to mix up
the controversy, as a means, with moral, and religious ques
tions. Hence they enlisted the clergy in their crusade against
the South; the pulpit becoming a rostrum, from which to
inflame the Northern mind against the un-Godly slave-holder ;
religious papers were established, which fulminated their
weekly diatribes against the institution ; magazine literature,
fiction, lectures, by paid itinerants, were all employed, with
powerful effect, in a community where every man sets himself
up as a teacher, and considers himself responsible for the
morals of his neighbor. The contumely and insult thus heaped
upon the South were, of themselves, almost past endurance, to
6ay nothing of the wrongs, under which she suffered. The
sectional animosity which was engendered by these means, in
the North, soon became intense, and hurried on the catastrophe
with railroad speed.
Whilst the dispute about slavery in the Territories was draw
ing to a focus, another, and if possible, a still more exciting
question, had been occupying the public mind — the rendition
of fugitive slaves to their owners. Our ancestors, in the Con
vention of 1787, foreseeing the difficulty that was likely to
arise on this subject, insisted that the following positive pro
vision, for their protection, should be inserted in the Consti
tution: "No person held to service, or labor, in one State,
under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in con-

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 65
sequence of any law, or regulation therein, be discharged from
such service, or labor; but shall be delivered up, on claim of
the party to whom such service, or labor may be due."
In 1793, a law, called the fugitive slave law, had been passed,
for the purpose of carrying out this provision of the Constitu
tion. This law was re-enacted, with some alterations, the bet
ter to secure the object in question, in 1850. Neither of those
laws was ever properly executed in the North. It soon became
unsafe, indeed, for a Southern man to venture into the North,
in pursuit of his fugitive slave. Mr. Webster sought, in vain,
in the latter part of his life, when he seemed to be actuated by
a sense of returning justice to the South, to induce his coun
trymen to execute those laws, and he lost much of his popu
larity, in consequence. The laws were not only positively dis
obeyed, but they were formally nullified by the Legislatures
of fourteen of the Northern States ; and penalties were annexed
to any attempt to execute them. Mr. Webster, in speaking on
this subject, says: "These States passed acts defeating the law
of Congress, as far as it was in their power to defeat it. Those
of them to whom I refer, not all, but several, nullified the law
of 1793. They said in effect, ' We will not execute it. No
runaway slave shall be restored.' Thus the law became a dead
letter. But here was the Constitution, and compact still bind
ing ; here was the stipulation, as solemn as words could form
it, and which every member of Congress, every officer of the
General Government, every officer of the State government,
from governors down to constables, is sworn to support. It
has been said in the States of New York, Massachusetts, and
Ohio, over and over again, that the law shall not be exe
cuted. That was the language in conventions, in Worcester,
Massachusetts ; in Syracuse, New York, and elsewhere. And
for this they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their
sacred honors. Now, gentlemen, these proceedings, I say it
upon my professional reputation, are distinctly treasonable.
And the act of taking Shadrick [a fugitive slave] from the
public authorities, in Boston, and sending him off, was an act
of clear treason." Great outcry was raised against South
Carolina when she nullified the tariff law of 1830, passed in
si ear violation of the spirit of the Constitution ; here we see

66 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
fourteen States nullifying an act, passed to carry out an express
provision of the same instrument, about which there was not,
and could not be any dispute.
Let us, again put Mr. Webster on the witness stand, and
hear what he says, was the effect of this wholesale nullification
by the Northern States of this provision of the Constitution.
" I do not hesitate," says he, " to say, and repeat, that if the
Northern States refuse wilfully, and deliberately to carry into
effect that part of the Constitution, which respects the restora
tion of fugitive slaves, the South would be no longer bound
to keep the compact. A bargain broken on one side is broken
on all sides." That was spoken like Daniel Webster, the able
jurist, and just man, and not like the Daniel Webster, whom
I have before quoted, in these pages, as the casuist, and the
sophist. The reader cannot fail to see what a full recantation
we have here, of Mr. Webster's heresy, of 1833, when he con
tended that the -Constitution had been " ordained and estab
lished," by the people of the United States, in the aggregate,
as one nation.
Mr. Webster now calls the States, the parties to the instru
ment, and claims that the infraction of it, by some of the States,
releases the others from their obligations under it. It is then,
after all, it seems, a, federal compact; and if it be such, we have
the authority of Mr. Webster, himself, for saying that the
States may withdraw from it, at pleasure, without waiting for
an infringement of it, by their co-States.
But the Southern States did not desire to withdraw from it,
without reason. They were sincerely attached to the Union.
and were willing to suffer, and endure much rather than that
it should be destroyed. They had stood, shoulder to shoulder,
with the North in two wars against the mother country, and
had freely spent their wealth, and shed their blood in defence
of the common rights. They had rushed to the defence of
New England, in the war of the Revolution, and had equally
responded to her call in 1812, in defence of her shipping in
terest. Mr. Madison relied much upon these ties, as a common bond
of union. When Patrick Henry and other Southern patriots
were warning their people against the new alliance, proposed

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 67
to them in the Federal Constitution, he spoke the following
fervid language in reply to them, in one of the numbers of the
"Federalist." "Hearken not to the unnatural voice, which
tells you, that the people of America, knit together, as they
are, by so many natural cords of affection, can no longer live
together as members of the same family ; can no longer con
tinue mutual guardians of their mutual happiness. * * *
No, my countrymen, shut your ears against this unhallowed lan
guage. Shut your hearts against the poison which it conveys.
The kindred blood which flows in the veins of American citi
zens, the mingled blood which they have shed in defence of
their sacred rights, consecrate their union, and excite horror at
the idea of their becoming aliens, rivals, enemies." Much of
this feeling still lingered in the bosoms of Southern men.
They were slow to awaken from this dream of delusion. A
rude and rough hand had been necessary to disenchant them.
But they were compelled, in spite of themselves, to realize the
fact at last, that they had been deceived, and betrayed into the
federal compact, that they might be made slaves. Like an
unhappy bride, upon whose brow the orange-wreath had been
placed, by hands that promised tenderness, and protection, the
South had been rudely scorned, and repelled, and forced, in
tears, and bitter lamentation, to retract the faith which she had
plighted. To carry still further our simile ; like the deceived,
and betrayed bride, the least show of relenting, and tenderness
was sufficient to induce the South to forgive, and to endeavor
to forget.
The history of our unhappy connection with the North is
full of compromises, and apparent reconciliations — prominent
among which was the compromise of 1833, growing out of the
nullification of South Carolina, on the tariff question ; and the
compromise of 1850, in which it was promised, that Congress
should not interfere with the question of slavery, either in the
States, or Territories. The South, like the too credulou?
Dride, accepted these evidences of returning tenderness, in good
faith ; the North, like the coarse and brutal husband, whose
selfishness was superior to his sense of justice, withdrew them,
almost as soon as made. The obnoxious laws which had

68 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
been modified, or repealed, under these compromises, were re-
enacted with additional provocations, and restrictions.
So loth was the South to abandon the Union, that she made
strenuous efforts to remain in it, even after Mr. Lincoln had
been elected President, in 1860. In this election, that dreaded
sectional line against which President Washington had warned
his countrymen, in his Farewell Address, had at last beeD
drawn; in it, — "the fire-bell of the night," — which had so dis
turbed the last days of Jefferson, had been sounded. There
had, at last, arisen a united North, against a united South.
Mr. Lincoln had been placed by the Chicago Convention on a
platform so purely sectional, that no Southern State voted, or
could vote for him. His election was purely geographical ; it
was tantamount to a denial of the co-equality of the Southern
States, with the Northern States, in the Union, since it drove
the former out of the common Territories. This had not been
a mere party squabble — the questions involved had been fed
eral, and fundamental. Notwithstanding which, some of the
Southern States were not without hope, that the North might
be induced to revoke its verdict. Mr. Crittenden, of Kentucky,
introduced into the Senate, a series of resolutions, which he
hoped would have the effect of restoring harmony ; the chief
feature of which was, the restoration of the Missouri Compro
mise, giving the Southern Spates access to the Territories south
of a geographical line. Although this compromise was a
partial abandonment of the rights of the South, many of the
ablest, and most influential statesmen of that section, gave in
their adhesion to it ; among others, Mr. Jeflerson Davis. The
measure failed.
Various other resolutions, looking to pacification, were intro
duced into both houses of Congress ; but they failed, in like
manner. The border Slave States aroused to a sense of their
danger — for by this time, several of the Gulf States had
seceded — called a Convention in the city of Washington, to
endeavor to allay the storm. A full representation attended,
composed of men, venerable for their years, and renowned for
their patriotic services, but their labors ended also in failure ;
Congress scarcely deigned to notice them. In both houses of
Congress the Northern faction, which had so recently triumphed

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 69
in the election of their President, was arrayed in a solid
phalanx of hostility to the South, and could not be moved an
inch. The Puritan leaven had at last "leavened the whole
loaf," and the descendants of those immigrants who had come
over to America, in the May Flower, feeling that they had the
power to crush a race of men, who had dared to differ with
them in opinion, and to have interests separate and apart from
them, were resolved to use that power in a way to do no dis
credit to their ancestry. Rebels, when in a minority, they had
become tyrants, now that they were in a majority.
Nothing remained to the South, but to raise the gantlet
which had been thrown at her feet. The Federal Government
which had been established by our ancestors had failed of its
object. Instead of binding the States together, in peace, and
amity, it had, in the hands of one portion of the States, become
an engine of oppression of the other portion. It so happened,
that the slavery question was the issue which finally tore them
asunder, but, as the reader has seen, this question was a mere
means, to an end. The end was empire, and we were about to
repeat, in this hemisphere, the drama which had so often been
enacted in the other, of a more powerful nation crushing out
a weaker. The war of the American sections was but the prototype of
many other wars, which had occurred among the human race.
It had its origin in the unregenerated nature of man, who is
only an intellectual wild beast, whose rapacity has never yet
been restrained, by a sense of justice. The American people
thought, when they framed the Constitution, that they Were to
be an exception to mankind, in general. History had in
structed them that all other peoples, who had gone before
them, had torn up paper governments, when paper was the
only bulwark that protected such governments, but then they
were the American people, and no such fate could await them.
The events which I have recorded, and am about to record,
have taught them, that they are no better — and perhaps they
are no worse — than other people. It is to be hoped that they
will profit by their dear-bought experience, and that when
they shall have come to their senses, and undertake to lay the

70 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT.
foundation of a new government, they will, if they design to
essay another republic, eliminate all discordant materials.
The experiment of trusting to human honesty having failed,
they must next trust to human interests — the great regula
tor, as all philosophy- teaches, of" human nature. They must
listen rather" to the philosophy of Patrick Henry, than to
that of James Madison, and never attempt again to bind
up in one sheaf, with a withe of straw, materials so discord
ant as were the people of the North, and the people of the
South.

CHAPTER VII.
THE FORMATION OF THE CONFEDERATE GOVERNMENT,
AND THE RESIGNATION OF OFFICERS OF THE FEDE
RAL ARMY AND NAVY.
AS I am not writing a history of the war, but only of a very
small portion of the war, it cannot be expected that I
will follow events in a connected train. I have detained the
reader, so far, as to give him a continuous, though hasty glance,
of the causes of the war, but having brought him down
to the final rupture of the sections, I must leave him to sup
ply for himself many a link, here and there, in the broken
chain, as we proceed. Let him imagine then that the Southern
States have seceded — the gallant little State of South Carolina
setting her larger, and more powerful sisters, the example, on
the 20th December, 1860 — and that they have met at Mont
gomery, in Alabama, by their delegates in Congress, to form a
new Confederacy; that a Provisional Government has been
formed and that Mr. Jefferson Davis has been elected Presi
dent, and Mr. Alexander H. Stephens Vice-President.
The time had now come for the officers of the old Army,
and Navy to make their election, as to which of the two Govern ¦
ments they would give their adhesion. There were no such
questions then, as rebellion, and treason in the public mind.
This was a Federal after-thought, when that Government began
to get the better of us in the war. The Puritan, if he had
been whipped, would have been a capital secessionist, and as
meek, and humble as we could have desired. He would have
been the first to make a " perpetual " alliance with us, and to offer
us inducements to give him the benefits of our tfade. After
the first drubbing we gave him, at Manassas, he was disposed
to be quite reasonable, and the Federal Congress passed the
conciliatory resolution I have quoted in a previous chapter,
71

72 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
intimating to us, that if we would come back, slavery should be
secure in the States, and our "rights and dignity" remain un
impaired. But as he gained strength, he gained courage, and
as the war progressed, and it became evident that we should
be beaten, he began to talk of traitors, and treason.
As a general rule, the officers both of the Army, and the Navy
sided with their respective States; especially those of them
who were cultivated, and knew something of the form of
government, under which they had been living. But even
the profession of arms is not free from sordid natures, and
many of these had found their way into both branches of the
public service. Men were found capable of drawing their
swords against their own firesides, as it were, and surrender
ing their neighbors, and friends to the vengeance of a govern
ment, which paid them for their fealty. Some, with cunning
duplicity, even encouraged their former messmates, and com
panions who occupied places above them, to resign, and after
ward held back themselves. Some were mere soldiers, and
sailors of fortune, and seemed devoid of all sensibility on the
subject, looking only to rank and pay. They were open to the
highest bidder, and the Federal Government was in a condition
to make the highest bids. Some of the Southern men of this
latter class remained with the North, because they could not ob
tain the positions they desired in the South ; and afterward, as
is the fashion with renegades, became more bitter against their
own people than even the Northern men,
Civil war is a terrible crucible through which to pass char
acter ; the dross drops away from the pure metal at the first
touch of the fire. It must be admitted, indeed, that there was
some little nerve required, on the part of an officer of the regu
lar Army, or Navy, to elect to go with his State. His profes
sion was his only fortune ; he depended upon it, for the means
of subsisting himself and family. If he remained where he
was, a competency for life, and promotion, and honors prob
ably awaited him ; if he went with the South, a dark, and un
certain future was before him ; he could not possibly better
his condition, and if the South failed, he would have thrown
away the labor of a life-time. The struggle was hard in other
respects. All professions are clannish. Men naturally cling

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 73
together, who have been bred to a common pursuit ; and this
remark is particularly applicable to the Army, and the Navy.
West Point, and Annapolis were powerful bonds to knit
together the hearts of young men. Friendships were there
formed, which it was difficult to sever, especially when
strengthened by years of after-association, in common toils, com
mon pleasures, and common dangers. Naval officers, in particu
lar, who had been rocked together in the same storm, and had
escaped perhaps from the same shipwreck, found it very diffi
cult to draw their swords against each other. The flag, too,
had a charm which it was difficult to resist. It had long been
the emblem of the principle that all just governments are
founded on the consent of the governed, vindicated against
our British ancestors, in the War of the Revolution, and it
was difficult to realize the fact that it no longer represented
this principle, but had become the emblem of its opposite;
that of coercing unwilling States, to remain under a Govern
ment, which they deemed unjust and oppressive.
Sentiment had almost as much to do with the matter, as
principle, for there clustered around the " old flag," a great
many hallowed memories, of sacrifices made, and victories won.
The cadet at West 'Point had marched and countermarched
under its folds, dreaming of future battle-fields, and future
honors to be gained in upholding and defending it ; and the
midshipman, as he gazed upon it, in some foreign port, flying.
proudly from the gaff-end of his ship, had drunk in new inspi
ration to do and to dare, for his country. Many bearded men
were affected almost to tears, as they saw this once hallowed
emblem hauled down from the flag-staves, of Southern forts,
and arsenals. They were in the condition of one who had
been forced, in spite of himself, to realize the perfidy of a
friend, and to be obliged to give him up, as no longer worthy
of his confidence or affection. General Robert E. Lee has so
happily expressed all these various emotions, in a couple of
letters, which he wrote, contemporaneously, with his resigna
tion from the Federal Army, that I give them to the reader.
One of these letters is addressed to General Winfield Scott,
and the other to General Lee's sister.

74 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
Arlington, Va., April 20, 1861.
General : — Since my interview with you on the 18th instant, 1
have felt that I ought not longer to retain my commission in the
army. I therefore tender my resignation, which I request you will
recommend for acceptance. It would have been presented at once,
but for the struggle which it has cost me to separate myself from
a service, to which I have devoted all the best years of my life, and
all the ability I possessed. During the whole of that time — more
than a quarter of a century — I have experienced nothing but kind
ness from my superiors, and the most cordial friendship from my
comrades. To no one, General, have I been as much indebted as
yourself, for uniform kindness and consideration, aDd it has always
been my ardent desire to merit your approbation. I shall carry tc
the grave the most grateful recollection of your kind consideration,
and your name and fame will always be dear to me.
Save in defence of my native State, I never desire to draw my
sword. Be pleased to accept my most earnest wishes for the con
tinuance of your happiness and prosperity, and believe me most
truly yours, R.E.Lee.
Lieutenant- General Winpield Scott,
Commanding United States Army.
Arlington, Va., April 20, 1861.
Mt Dear Sister: — I am grieved at my inability to see you
* * * I have been waiting " for a more convenient season," which
has brought to many before me deep and lasting regrets. Now we
are in a state of war which will yield to nothing. The whole South
is in a state of revolution, into which Virginia after a long strug
gle, has been drawn, and though I recognize no necessity for this
state of things, and would have forborne and pleaded to the end,
for redress of grievances, real or supposed, yet in my own person
I had to meet the question, whether I should take part against my
native State. With all my devotion to the Union, and the feeling
of loyalty, and duty of an American citizen, I have not been able
to make up my mind to raise my hand against my relatives, my
children, my home. I have therefore resigned my commission in
the army, and save in defence of my native State, with the sincere
hope that my services may never be needed, I hope I may never be
called on to draw my sword.
I know you will blame me, but you must think as kindly of me
as you can, and believe that I have endeavored to do what I
thought right. To show you the feeling and struggle it has cost
me, I send a copy of my letter to General Scott, which accompa
nied my letter of resignation. I have no time for more. * * *
May God guard and protect you, and yours, and shower upon you
every blessing is the prayer of your devoted brother.
R. E. Lee.

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 75
In the winter of 1860, I was stationed in the city of Wash
ington, as the Secretary of the Lighthouse Board, being then
a commander in the United States Navy, and was an observer
of many of the events I have described. I had long abandoned
all hope of reconciliation between the sections. The public
mind, North and South, was in an angry mood, and the day of
compromises was evidently at an end. I had made up my
mind to retire from the Federal service, at the proper moment,
and was only waiting for that moment to arrive.
Although I had been born in the State of Maryland, and
was reared on the banks of the Potomac, I had been, for many
years, a resident citizen of Alabama, having removed to this
State, in the year 1841, and settled with my family, on the
west bank of the Perdido ; removing thence, in a few years, to
Mobile. My intention of retiring from the Federal Navy, and
taking service with the South, in the coming struggle, had
been made known to the delegation in the Federal Congress
from Alabama, early in the session of 1860-1. I did not
doubt that Maryland would follow the lead of her more
Southern sisters, as the cause of quarrel was common with all
the Southern States, but whether she did or not, could make no
difference with me now, since my allegiance, and my services
had become due to another State.
The month of February, 1861, found me still at the city of
Washington. The following extract from a letter written by
me to a Southern member of the Federal Congress, tempora
rily absent from his post, will show the state of mind in which
I was looking upon passing events. " I am still at my post at
the Light-House Board, performing my routine duties, but lis
tening with an aching ear and beating heart, for the first
sounds of the great disruption which is at hand." On the
14th of that month, whilst sitting quietly with my family,
after the labors of the day, a messenger brought me the fol
lowing telegram : — Montgomery, Feb. 14, 1861.
Sm: — On behalf of the Committee on Naval Affairs, I beg leave
to request that you will repair to this place, at your earliest con
venience. Your obedient servant, C. M. Conrad, Chairman
Commander Raphael Semmes, Washington, D. G.

76 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
Here wis the sound for which I had been so anxiously
listening. Secession was now indeed a reality, and the time
had come for me to arouse myself to action. The telegram
threw my small family-circle into great commotion. My
wife, with the instincts of a woman, a wife, and a mother,
seemed to realize, as by intuition, all the dangers and difficul
ties that lay before me. She had been hoping without hope,
.that I would not be subjected to the bitter ordeal, but the die
was now cast, and with a few tears, and many prayers she
nerved herself for the sacrifices, and trials that she knew
were before her. Her children were to be withdrawn from
school, her comfortable home broken up, and she was to return,
penniless, to her people, to abide with them the fortunes of a
bloody, and a doubtful war. The heroism of woman ! how
infinitely it surpasses that of man. With all her gentleness,
and tenderness, and natural timidity, in nine cases in ten, she
has more nerve than the other sex, in times of great emer
gency. With a bleeding and bursting heart, she is capable of
putting on the composure, and lovely serenity of an angel,
binding up the wounds of a husband or son, and when he is
restored to health and vigor, buckling on his sword anew, and
returning him to the battle-field. Glorious women of the
South ! what an ordeal you have passed through, and how
heroically you .have stood the trying test. You lost the lib
erty which your husbands, sires, and sons struggled for, but
only for a period. The blood which you will have infused
into the veins of future generations will yet rise up to vindi
cate you, and " call you blessed."
The telegram reached me about four o'clock, P.M., and I
responded to it, on the same evening as follows :
Washington, Feb. 14, 1861.
Hon. C. M. Conrad, Chairman of the Committee on Naval Affairs,
Congress ofthe Confederate States: — Despatch received; I will be
with you immediately. Respectfully, &c, R. Semmes.
The next morning, I repaired, as usual, to the office of the
Light House Board, in the Treasury building, General John
A. Dix being then the Secretary of the Treasury, and ex qffki*

I
DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 77
President of the Board, and wrote the following resignation
of my commission, as a Commander in the United States Navy:
Washington, D. C, Feb. 15, 1861.
Sir : — I respectfully tender through you, to the President of the
United States, this, the resignation of the commission which I have
the honor to hold as a Commander in the Navy of the United
States. In severing my connection with the Go verm ment of the
United States, and with the Department over which you preside, I
pray you to accept my thanks for the kindness which has charac
terized your official deportment towards me.
I have the honor to be very respectfully your obedient servant,
Raphael Semmes,
Commander U. S. Navy.
Hon. Isaac Toucey, Secretary of the Navy,
Washington, D. G.
On the same day, I received the following acceptance of my
resignation : — Navy Department, Feb. 15, 1861.
Sir: — Your resignation as a Commander in the Navy of the
United States, tendered in your letter of this date, is hereby
accepted. I am respectfully your obedient servant, I. Toucey.
Raphael Semmes, Esq., late Commander
U. S. Navy, Washington.
A few days previously to my resignation, by the death of a
lamented member of the Light-House Board, I had been
promoted from the Secretaryship, to a Membership of that
Board, and it now became necessary for me to inform the
Board officially, of my being no longer a member of it, which
I did in the following communication : —
Washington, D. C, Feb. 16, 1861.
Sir : — I have the honor to inform you, that I have resigned my
commission, as a Commander in the Navy of the United States,
and that, as a consequence, I am no longer a member of the Light-
House Board. In severing thus my connection with the Board, at
which I have had the honor to hold a seat, since the 17th of No
vember, 1858, I desire to say to the members, individually, and
collectively, that I shall carry with me to my home in the South, a
grateful recollection of the amenities, and courtesies which have
characterized, on their part, our official intercourse.
I am very respectfully your obedient servant,
Raphael Semmes.
Commander T. A. Jenkins, U. S. N,
Secretary Light-House Board, Washington.

78 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
I left in the Light-House Board, a South Carolinian, and a
Virginian, both of whom were too loyal to their places, to fol
low the lead of their States. The South Carolinian has been1
rewarded with the commission of a Rear- Admiral, and the Vir
ginian with that of a Commodore. The presence of these gen
tlemen in the Board may account for the fact, that my letter
was not even honored with an acknowledgment of its receipt.
I have said that there was no talk at this time, about traitors,
and treason. The reader will observe how openly, and as a
matter of course, all these transactions were conducted. The
seceded States had been several months in getting their Con
ventions together, and repealing, with all due form, and cere
mony, the ordinances by which the Federal Constitution had
been accepted. Senators, and members of the House of Re
presentatives of the Federal Congress had withdrawn from
their seats, under circumstances unusually solemn, and impres
sive, which had attracted the attention of the whole country.
Mr. Jefferson Davis, in particular, had taken leave of a full
Senate, with crowded galleries, in a speech of great dignity and
power, in the course of which he said : " We will invoke the
God of our Fathers, who delivered them from the power of
the Lion, to protect us from the ravages of the Bear ; and thus
putting our trust in God, and in our own firm hearts, and
strong arms, we will vindicate the right as best we may."
As the resignation of each officer of the Army, and Navy
went in, it was well understood what his object was, and yet
we have seen, that up to this period, the Government accepted
them all, and permitted the officers to depart to their respec
tive States. It was not known, as yet, to what extent the dis
integration might go, and it was not safe therefore to talk of
treason. " The wayward sisters " might decide to go in a body,
in which event it would not have been policy to attempt to
prevent them, or to discuss questions of treason with them.
The Secretary of the Navy did not think of arresting me, for
telegraphing to the Congress of the Confederate States, that I
would be with it, immediately ; nor did he, though he knew
my purpose of drawing my sword against the Federal Govern
ment, if necessary, refuse to accept my resignation. Nay, Presi
dent Buchanan had decided that he had no power under the

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 79
Federal Constitution, to coerce a State ; though, like a weak
old man as he had now become, he involved himself afteiward
in the inconsistency of attempting to hold possession of the
ceded places within the limits of the States which had with
drawn from the Union. It could not but follow, logically, from
the premise, that there was no power in the Federal Constitu
tion to coerce a State, that the State had the right to secede ;
for clearly any one may do that which no one has the right to
prevent him from doing.
It was under such circumstances as these, that I dissolved
my connection with the Federal Government, and returned to
the condition of a private citizen, with no more obligation rest
ing upon me, than upon any other citizen. The Federal Gov
ernment, itself, had formally released me from the contract of
service I had entered into with it, and, as a matter of course,
from the binding obligation of any oath I had taken in con
nection with that contract. All this was done, as the reader
has seen, before I moved a step from the city of Washington ;
and yet a subsequent Secretary of the Navy, Mr. Gideon Welles,
has had the hardihood and indecency of accusing me of having
been a " deserter from the service." He has deliberately put
this false accusation on record, in a public document, in face
of the facts I have stated — all of which were recorded upon
the rolls of his office. I do not speak here of the clap-trap he
has used about " treason to the flag," and the other stale non
sense which he has uttered in connection with my name, for
this was common enough among his countrymen, and was per
haps to have been expected from men smarting under the cas-
tigation I had given them, but of the more definite and explicit
charge, of " deserting from the service," when the service, itself,
as he well knew, had released me from all my obligations to it.
Another charge, with as little foundation, has been made
against myself, and other officers of the Army and Navy, who
resigned their commissions, and came South. It has been said
that we were in the condition of Aleves of the Federal Govern
ment, inasmuch as we had received our education at the mili
tary schools, and that we were guilty of ingratitude to that
Government, when we withdrew from its service. This slan
der has no doubt had its effect, with the ignorant masses, but
6

80 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
it can scarcely have been entertained by any one who has a
just conception of the nature of our federal system of govern
ment. It loses sight of the fact, that the States are the creators,
and the Federal Government the creature ; that not only the
military schools, but the Federal Government itself belongs to
the States. Whence came the fund for the establishment of
these schools ? From the States. In what proportion did the
States contribute it ? Mr. Benton has answered this question,
as the reader has seen, when he was discussing the effect ofthe
tariffs under which the South had so long been depleted. He
has told us, that four States alone, Virginia, the two Carolinas
and Georgia, defrayed three fourths of the expenses of the
General Government ; and taking the whole South into view,
this proportion had even increased since his day, up to the
breaking out of the war.
Of every appropriation, then, that was made by Congress
for the support of the military schools, three fourths of the
money belonged to the Southern States. Did these States send
three fourths of the students to those schools ? Of course not
— this would have been something like justice to them; but
justice to the Southern States was no part ofthe scheme ofthe
Federal Government. With the exception of a few cadets, and
midshipmen "at large," whom the President was authorized to
appoint — the intention being that be should appoint the sons
of deceased officers of the Army and Navy, but the fact being
that he generally gave the appointment to his political friends
— the appointments to these schools were made from the sev
eral States, in proportion to population, and as a matter of
course, the North got the lion's share. But supposing the States
to have been equally represented in those schools, what would
have been the result ? Why, simply that the South not only
educated her own boys, but educated three fourths of the
Northern boys, to boot. Virginia, for instance, at the same
time that she sent young Robert E. Lee to West Point, to be
educated, put in the public treasury not only money enough
to pay for his education, and maintenance, but for the educa
tion and maintenance of three Massachusetts boys! How
ungrateful of Lee, afterward, being thus a charity scholar of
the North, to draw his sword against her.

CHAPTER VIII.
AUTHOR PROCEEDS TO MONTGOMERY, AND REPORTS TO
THE NEW GOVERNMENT, AND IS DISPATCHED NORTH
WARD, ON A SPECIAL MISSION.
ON the evening of the 16th of February, the day after I had
resigned my commission, I took a sorrowful leave of my
family, and departed for Montgomery, by the way of Freder
icksburg and Richmond. Virginia and North Carolina had
not yet seceded, and anxious debates were going on, on the
all-absorbing question, in each town and village in these two
States, through which I passed. It was easy to see, that the
great majority of the people were with the extreme South, in
this her hour of need, but there were some time-servers and
trimmers, who still talked of conciliation, and of guarantees.
They inquired eagerly after news from Washington, at all the
stations at which the train stopped, and seemed disappointed
when they found we had nothing more to tell them,*than they
had already learned through the telegraph.
On the evening of the 18th, I entered the level tract of pine
lands between West Point, and Montgomery. The air had
become soft, and balmy, though I had left a region of frosts,
and snow, only two days before. The pine woods were on fire
as we passed through them, the flames now and then running
up a lightwood tree, and throwing a weird and fitful glare upon
the passing train. The scene was peculiarly Southern, and
reminded me that I was drawing near my home, and my people,
and I mechanically repeated to myself the words of the poet :
"Breathes there a man with soul so dead,
Who never to himself hath said,
This is my own, my native land ! "
And my heart, which up to that moment, had felt as though a
heavy weight were pressing upon it, began to give more vigor
81

82 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
ous beats, and send a more inspiring current through my veins.
Under this happy influence I sank, as the night advanced, and
the train thundered on, into the first sound sleep which had
visited my weary eyelids, since I had resigned my commission,
and read at the foot of the letter accepting my resignation, my
name inscribed as plain " Esq." This night-ride, through the
burning pine woods of Alabama, afterward stood as a great
gulf in my memory, forming an impassable b,arrier, as it were,
between my past, and my future life. It had cost me pain to
cross the gulf, but once crossed, I never turned to look back.
When I washed and dressed for breakfast, in Montgomery, the
next morning, I had put off the old man, and put on the new.
The labors, and associations of a lifetime had been inscribed
in a volume, which had been closed, and a new book, whose
pages were as yet all blank, had been opened.
¦ My first duty was to put myself in communication with Mr.
Conrad, the chairman of the Committee of Naval Affairs.
Several naval officers had preceded me to the seat of the new
government, and others were arriving. It was agreed that
there should be a special meeting on the next day, in joint
session, of the two committees — on military and naval affairs.
The Confederate Congress was in session in the State Capi
tol, and about noon, I repaired thither to witness the spectacle.
They did me the honor to admit me to the floor, and upon cast
ing my eyes over the august assembly, I recognized a numbei
of familiar faces. General Howell Cobb of Georgia was the
President ; Toombs, Crawford, and other distinguished men
were there from the same State. Curry, McRae, Robert H.
Smith and other able men were there from Alabama. In
short the Congress was full of the best talent of the South.
It was by far the best Congress that ever assembled under the
new government. It was a convention as well as a Congress,
since it was charged with the establishment of a Provisional
Government. Every one realized the greatness of the crisis
that was upon us, and hence the very best men in the commu
nity had been selected to meet the emergency. The harmony
of the body was equal to its ability, for, in the course of a few
weeks, if had put the complicated machinery of a government
in motion, and was already taking active measures for defence,

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 83
in case the Federal power should decide upon making war
upon us.
Mr. Davis, the Provisional President, had preceded me to
the capital, only a few days, and my next step was to call upon
him. I had known him in the city of Washington. He
received me kindly, and almost the first question which he
asked me, was whether I had disembarrassed myself of my
Federal commission. I replied to him that I had done so, as
a matter of course, before leaving Washington, and that my
allegiance henceforth belonged to the new government, and to
the Southern people. He seemed gratified at this declaration,
and entered into a free, and frank conversation with me, on the
subject of the want of preparation for defence, in which he
found our States, and the great labor that lay before us, to pre
pare for emergencies. Congress, he said, has not yet had time
to organize a navy, but he designed to make immediate use of
me, if I had no objection. I told him that my services were
at his command, in any capacity he thought fit to employ them.
He then explained to me his plan of sending me back to the
city of Washington, and thence into the Northern States, to
gather together, with as much haste as possible, such persons,
and materials of war as might be of most pressing necessity.
The persons alluded to, were to be mechanics skilled in the
manufacture, and use of ordnance, and rifle machinery, the
preparation of fixed ammunition, percussion caps, &c. So ex
clusively had the manufacture of all these articles for the use
of the United States, been confined to the North, under " the
best government the world ever saw," that we had not even
percussion caps enough to enable us to fight a battle, or the
machines with which to make them, although we had captured
all the forts, and arsenals within our limits, except Fort Sum
ter and Fort McRae. The President was as calm and unmoved
as I had ever seen him, and was living in a very simple, and un
pretending style at the Exchange Hotel. He had not yet
selected all his Cabinet ; nor indeed had he so much as a pri
vate secretary at his command, as the letter of instructions
which he afterward presented me, for my guidance, was writ
ten with his own hand. This letter was very full, and precise,
frequently descending into detail, and manifesting an acquaint-

84 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
anoe with bureau duties, scarcely to have been expected from
one who had occupied his exalted positions.
On the next day, I attended the joint-session of the two
committees above named. These committees were composed,
as was to have been expected, of some of the best men of tho
Congress. Conrad, Crawford, Curry, and the brilliant young
Bartow of Georgia were present, among others whose names I
do not now recall. But few naval officers of any rank had as
yet withdrawn from the old service ; Rousseau, Tattnall,
Ingraham, and Randolph were all the captains ; and Farrand,
Brent, Semmes, and Hartstone were all the commanders. Of
these there were present before the committees, besides myself,
Rousseau, Ingraham, and Randolph ; Major Wm. H. Chase, lata
of the engineers of the Federal Army, was also present. Ran
dolph commanded the Navy Yard at Pensacola, and Chase the
military defences. We discussed the military and naval
resources of the country, and devised such means of defence
as were within our reach — which were not many — to enable
us to meet the most pressing exigences of our situation, and
separated after a session of several hours. I can do no more,
of course, than briefly glance at these things, as I am not
writing, as before remarked, the history of the war.
The next morning I called again on the President, received
my instructions, and departed Northward on the mission which
had been assigned me. I will be brief in the description of
this mission also. I stopped a day at Richmond, and examined
the State Arsenal, in charge of Capt. Dimmock, and the Trede
gar Iron Works ; having been especially enjoined to report
upon the present, and future capacity of these works for the
casting of cannon, shot, shells, &c. The establishment had
already turned its attention in this direction, and I was grati
fied to find that it was capable of almost indefinite enlargement,
and that it could be made a most valuable auxiliary to us.
The reader will see how confidently we already reckoned upon
the support of Virginia.
Reaching Washington again, I visited the Arsenal, and
inspected such of its machinery as I thought worth my notice,
particularly an improved percussion-cap machine which I
found in operation. I also held conferences with some m»

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 85
chanics, whom I desired to induce to go South. Whilst I
was in Washington Mr. Abraham Lincoln, the newly elected
President ofthe United States, arrived, for the purpose of being
inaugurated. Being purely a sectional President, and feeling
probably that he had no just right to rule over the South, he
had come into the city by night, and in disguise, afraid to trust
himself among a people of whom he claimed to be Chief Magis
trate. Poor old General Winfield Scott was then verging
toward senility, and second childhood, and had contributed no
little, perhaps, to Mr. Lincoln's alarm. He had been gather
ing together troops for some days, in the Federal capital, for
the purpose of inaugurating, amid bayonets, a President of the
United States. It had been the boast of the American people,
heretofore, that their Presidents did not need guards, but trusted
wholly for their security, to the love, and confidence of their
constituents, but the reign of peace, and good will was at an
end, and the reign of the bayonet was to ensue. The rum
bling of artillery through the streets of Washington, and the
ring of grounded arms on the pavements, had sounded the
death-knell of liberty in these States for generations. Swarms
of visitors from far and near, in the North and West, had
flocked to Washington, to see their President inaugurated, and
were proud of this spectacle of arms ; too stupid to see its fear
ful significance.
The auspicious day, the 4th of March, at length arrived,
and whilst the glorious pageant is being prepared ; whilst the
windows and the house-tops along Pennsylvania Avenue are
being thronged with a motley population of men and women,
come to see the show ; whilst the President elect, in a hollow
square of bayonets, is marching toward the Capitol, the writer
of these pages, having again taken leave of his family, was
hurrying away from the desecration of a capital, which had
been ceded by a too credulous Maryland, and Virginia, and
which had been laid out by Washington. As I left the Balti
more depot, extra trains were still pouring their thousands
into the streets of Washington. I arrived in New York, the
next lay, and during the next three weeks, visited the West
Print Academy, whither I went to see a son, who was a cadet
at the Institution, and who afterward became a major of light

86 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
artillery, in the Confederate service ; and made a tour through
the principal work-shops of New York, Connecticut, and
Massachusetts. I found the people everywhere, not only willing, but anxious
to contract with me. I purchased large quantities of percus
sion caps in the city of New York, and sent them by express
without any disguise, to Montgomery. I made contracts for
batteries of light artillery, powder, and other munitions, and
succeeded in getting large quantities of the powder shipped.
It was agreed between the contractors and myself, that when I
should have occasion to use the telegraph, certain other words
were to be substituted, for those of military import, to avoid
suspicion. I made a contract, conditioned upon the approval of my
Government, for the removal to the Southern States, of a com
plete set of machinery for rifling cannon, with the requisite
skilled workmen to put it in operation. Some of these men,
who would thus have sold body, and soul to me, for a sufficient
consideration, occupied high social positions, and were men of
wealth. I dined with them, at their comfortable residences
near their factories, where the music of boring out cannon,
accompanied the clatter of the dishes, and the popping of
champagne-corks ; and I had more than one business interview
with gentlemen, who occupied the most costly suites of apart
ments at the Astor House in New York City. Many of these
gentlemen, being unable to carry out their contracts with the
Confederate States because of the prompt breaking out of the
war, afterward obtained lucrative contracts from the Federal
Government, and became, in consequence, intensely loyal. It
would be a quasi breach of honor to disclose their names, as
they dealt with me, pretty much as conspirators against their
government are wont to deal with the enemies of their govern
ment, secretly, and with an implied confidence that I would
keep their secret. It is accordingly safe.
In the mean time, the great revolution was progressing.
Abraham Lincoln had delivered his inaugural address, with
triple rows of bayonets between him, and the people to whom
he was speaking, in which address he had puzzled his hearers,
and was no doubt puzzled himself, as to what he really meant.

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 87
He was like President Buchanan ; now he saw it, and now he
didn't. He would not coerce the States, but he would hold
on to the ceded places within their limits, and collect the pub
lic revenue. Texas, and Arkansas went out whilst I was in
New York. The bulletin-boards at the different newspaper
offices were daily thronged by an unwashed multitude, in
search of some new excitement. The Northern public was
evidently puzzled. It had at first rather treated secession as
a joke. . They did not think it possible that the Southern peo
ple could be in earnest, in dissolving their connection with a
people, so emniently proper as themselves ; but they now
began to waver in this opinion. Still they forbore any de
cided demonstration. Like sensible men they preferred waiting
until they could see how large a bull they were required to
take by the horns.
Toward the latter part of my stay in New York I received
the following letter from the Hon. Stephen R. Mallory, who
had been appointed Secretary of the Navy, which branch of
the public service had been organized since I had left Mont
gomery : Confederate States op America, )
Navy Dept., Montgomery, Ala., March 13, 1861. j
Commander Raphael Semmes.
Sir: — With the sanction of the President, I am constrained to
impose upon you duties connected with this Department, in addi
tion to the important trusts with which you are charged ; but I do
so, upon the express understanding, that they are not to interfere
with the performance of your special duties. I have received reli
able information, that two, or more steamers, of a class desired for
immediate service, may be purchased at, or near New York;
steamers of speed, light draught, and strength sufficient for at least
one heavy gun. When I say to you, that they are designed to navi
gate the waters, and enter the bays, and inlets of the coast, from
Charleston to the St. Mary's, and from Key West, to the Rio
Grande, for coast defence ; that their speed should be sufficient to
give them, at all times, the ability to engage, or evade an engage
ment ; and that eight or ten-inch guns, with perhaps two thirty-
twos, or if not, two of smaller calibre should constitute their bat
tery, your judgment will need no further guide. Be pleased,
should your other important engagements permit, to make inquiries,
in such manner as may not excite special attention, and give me
such details as to cost, character, &c, as you may deem im
portant.

88 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
Under these instructions I made diligent search in the
waters of New York, for such steamers as were wanted, but
none could be found. The river, and Long Island Sound boats
were mere shells, entirely unfit for the purposes of war, and
it was difficult to find any of the sea-going steamers, which
combined the requisite lightness of draught, with the other
qualities desired.
March was now drawing to a close, the war-cloud was assum
ing darker, and more portentous hues, and it soon became evident
that my usefulness in the North was about to end. Men were
becoming more shy of making engagements with me, and the
Federal Government was becoming more watchful. The New
York, and Savannah steamers were still running, curiously
•enough carrying the Federal flag at the peak, and the Con
federate flag at the fore ; and in the last days of March, I em
barked on board one of them, arriving in Montgomery on the
4th of April, just eight days before fire was opened upon Fort
Sumter. During the short interval that elapsed between my
arrival, and my going afloat, I was put in charge of the Light-
House Bureau; the Confederate Congress having, upon my
recommendation, established a Bureau, with a single naval
¦officer at its head, instead of the complicated machinery of a
Board, which existed in the old Government. I had bareiy
time to appoint the necessary clerks, and open a set of books,
before Fort Sumter was fired upon, and the tocsin of war was
sounded.

CHAPTER IX.
THE COMMISSIONING OF THE SUMTER, THE FIRST CON
FEDERATE STATES' SHIP OF WAR.
FORT Sumter surrendered on the 13th of April. The
next day was a gala day in Montgomery. We had
driven an insolent enemy from one of the strongest positions
in the South, and the people were all agog to hear the news.
A large Confederate flag was displayed from a balcony of the
War Office, and the Hon. L. P. Walker, the Secretary of War,
announced in a brief speech, to the assembled multitude be
low, amid repeated cheering, and the waving of hats, and
handkerchiefs, the welcome tidings. The Union men, who
have become so numerous since the war, had, if any of them
were in the city, slunk to their holes, and corners, and the air
was redolent, alone, of Southern patriotism, and Southern
enthusiasm. The driving of the enemy from Charleston harbor, decided
the fate of Virginia, which had been trembling in the balance
for some days. The grand old State could no longer resist
her generous impulses. Under a proclamation of President
Lincoln the martial hosts of an enraged and vindictive North
were assembling, to make war upon her sisters, and this was
enough — her ordinance of secession was passed, by a very
gratifying majority. Patrick Henry had become a prophet,
and the beautiful, and touching apostrophe of James Madison
to the "kindred blood," and the "mingled blood" of the
American people, which was given to the reader a few pages
back, had proved to be the mere chimera of an excited
imagination. The effect of the surrender of Sumter in the North was be
yond conception. A prominent leader of the public press of
that section had said of the American flag : — 89

90 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
" Tear down that flaunting lie,
Half-mast the starry flag,
Insult no sunny sky
With hate's polluted rag."
Instantly, and as if by the touch of a magician's waad, tha
polluted rag became the rallying cry of the whole Northern
people, and of none more so, than of the very men who had
thus denounced it. But there was method in this madness ;
the rag had only been polluted whilst it was the emblem of
good faith between the North, and the South ; whilst, in other
words, it prevented the mad fanatics of the North from vio
lating that slave property, which their ancestors had promised
our ancestors, in the solemn league and covenant of the Con
stitution, should forever remain inviolate.
But now that the rag, instead of being an obstacle, might
be made the means of accomplishing their designs, it was no
longer necessary to pull it down. The moment it was fired
upon, it became, in their eyes, a new flag, and the symbol of
a new faith. It was no longer to represent the federative
principle, or to protect the rights of States ; it was henceforth
to wave over yelling, and maddened majorities, whose will
was to be both Constitution, and law. Strange that the
thinking portion of' the Northern people did not see this;
strange that the hitherto conservative Democratic party did
not see it. Or was it that the whole North had been wearing
a mask, and that the mask was now no longer available, or
desirable, to hide their treachery?
Perhaps the future historian, in calmer moments, when the
waves of passion engendered by the late storm shall have sunk
to rest, will be better able to answer this question. For the
present it is sufficient to record the fact, mortifying, it must be
confessed, to poor human nature, that all our quondam friends,
without so many as half a dozen exceptions in a whole nation —
I speak, of course, of prominent men — went over to the com
mon enemy. The very men who had stood, shoulder to shoul
der, with us, in resisting Northern aggression, who had en
couraged us with pen, and voice, to resist, if need be, unto the
death, who promised in case of secession, to stand between us,
and the march of Northern armies of invasion, instantly, and

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 91
without even the salvo to their consciences of circumlocution,
changed their political faith of a life-time, and became, if not
straight-out Republicans, at least blatant War Democrats.
The reader cannot be at a loss to account for this change.
It was caused by the purest, and most refined selfishness.
Next to the love of wealth, the love of office may be said to be
the distinguishing passion of the American people. In the
hands of a skilful office-seeker, patriotism is a mere word with
which to delude the ignorant masses, and not a sentiment, or a
creed, to be really entertained. Our allies in the North were
very patriotic, whilst there were still hopes of preserving the
Union, and along with it the prospect of office, by the aid of the
Southern people, but the moment the Southern States went out,
and it became evident that they would be politically dead, unless
they recanted their political faith, it was seen that they had no
intention of becoming martyrs. Their motto, on the contrary
became sauve qui peut, and the d — 1 take the hindmost ; and the
banks of the new political Jordan were at once crowded with
a multitude anxious to be dipped in its regenerating waters I
As the tidings of these doings in the North were flashed to
us, over the wires, in Montgomery, it became evident to me, that
the Light-House Bureau was no longer to be thought of. It
had become necessary for every man, who could wield a sword,
to draw it in defence of his country, thus threatened by the
swarming hordes of the North, and to leave the things , of
peace to the future.
I had already passed the prime of life, and was going gently
down that declivity, at whose base we all arrive, sooner or
later, but / thanked God, that I had still a few years before me,
and vigor enough of constitution left, to strike in defence of
the right. I at once sought an interview with the Secretary
of the Navy, and explained to him my desire to go afloat. We
had, as yet, nothing that could be called a navy ; not a ship in
deed, if we except a few river steamers, that had been hastily
armed by some of the States, and turned over, by them, to the
Navy Department. The naval officers, who had come South,
had brought with them nothing but their poverty, and their
swords ; all of them who had been in command of ships, at the
secession of their respective States, having, from a sense of
honor, delivered them back to the Federal Government.

92 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
If a sense of justice had presided at the separation of the
States, a large portion of the ships of the Navy would have
been turned over to the South ; and this failing to be done, it
may be questionable whether the Southern naval officers, in
command, would not have been justified in bringing their
ships with them, which it would have been easy for them to
do. But, on the other hand, they had been personally intrusted
with their commands, by the Federal Government, and it would
have been treason to a military principle, if not to those great
principles which guide revolutions, to deliver those commands
to a different government. Perhaps they decided correctly —
at all events, a military, or naval man, cannot go very far
astray, who abides by the point of honor.
Shortly before the war-cloud had arisen so ominously above
the political horizon, I had written a letter to a distinguished
member of the Federal Congress from the South, in reply to
one from himself, giving him my views as to the naval policy
of our section, in case things should come to a crisis. I make
no apology to the reader for presenting him with the following
extract from that letter, bearing upon the subject, which we
have now in hand. " You ask me to explain what I mean, by
an irregular naval force. I mean a well -organized system of
private armed ships, called privateers. If you are warred upon
at all, it will be by a commercial people, whose ability to do
you harm will consist chiefly in ships, and shipping. It is at
ships and shipping, therefore, that you must strike ; and the
most effectual way to do this, is, by means of the irregular
force of which I speak. Private cupidity will always furnish
the means for this description of warfare, and all that will be
required of you will be to put it under sufficient legal restraints,
to prevent it from degenerating into piracy, and becoming an
abuse. Even New England ships, and New England capital
would be at your service, in abundance. The system of pri
vateering would be analogous to the militia system on the
land. You could have a large irregular sea force, to act in aid
of the regular naval force, so long as the war lasted, and which
could be disbanded, without further care or expense, at the
end of the war."
Wealth is necessary to the conduct of all moder a wars, and

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 93
I naturally turned my eyes, as indicated in the above letter, to
the enemy's chief source of wealth. The ingenuity, enter
prise, and natural adaptation of the Northern people to the
sea, and seafaring pursuits, had enabled them, aided by the
vast resources, which they had filched, under pretence of
legislation, from the South, to build up, in the course of a
very few years, a commercial marine that was second only to
that of Great Britain, in magnitude and importance.
The first decked vessel that had been built in the United
States, was built by one Adrian Block, a Dutch skipper, on
the banks of the Hudson, in 1614, and in 1860, or in less than
two centuries and a half, the great Republic was competing
with England, the history of whose maritime enterprise ex
tended back a thousand years, for the carrying trade of the
world ! This trade, if permitted to continue, would be a pow
erful means of sustaining the credit of the enemy, and enabling
him to carry on the war. Hence it became an object of the
first necessity with the Confederate States, to strike at his com
merce. I enlarged upon this necessity, in the interview I was
now holding with Mr. Mallory, and I was gratified to find that
that able officer agreed with me fully in opinion.
A Board of naval officers was already in session at New
Orleans, charged with the duty of procuring, as speedily as
possible, some light and fast steamers to be let loose against
the enemy's commercial marine, but their reports up to this
time, had been but little satisfactory. They had examined a
number of vessels, and found some defects in all of them.
The Secretary, speaking of the discouragement presented by
these reports, handed me one of them, which he had received
that morning, from the Board. I read it, and found that it
described a small propeller steamer, of five hundred tons bur
den, sea-going, with a low-pressure engine, sound, and capable
of being so strengthened as to be enabled to carry an ordinary
battery of four, or five guns. Her speed was reported to be
between nine, and ten knots, but unfortunately, said the Board,
she carries but five days' fuel, and has no accommodations
for the crew of a ship of war. She was, accordingly, con
demned. When I had finished reading the report, I turned
to the Secretary, and said, " Give me that ship ; I think I can

94 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
make her answer the purpose." My request was at onca
acqeded to, the Secretary telegraphed to the Board, to receive
the ship, and the clerks of the Department were set at work,
to hunt up the necessary officers, to accompany me, and make
out the proper orders. And this is the way in which the
Confederate States' steamer Sumter, which was to have the
honor of being the first ship of war to throw the new Confede
rate flag to the breeze, was commissioned. I had accepted a
stone which had been rejected of the builders, and which,
though, it did not afterward become the " chief corner-stone of
the temple," I endeavored to work into the building which the
Confederates were then rearing, to remind their posterity that
they had struggled, as Patrick Henry and his contemporaries
had struggled before them, "in defence of their liberties."
The next day, the chief clerk of the Navy Department
handed me the following order :
Confederate States op America, 1
Navy Department, Montgomery, April 18, 1861. j
Sir : — You are hereby detached from duty as Chief of the
Light-House Bureau, and will proceed to New Orleans, and take
command of the steamer Sumter (named in honor of our recent
victory over Fort Sumter). The following officers have been
ordered to report to you, for duty : Lieutenants John M. Kell, R.
T. Chapman, John M. Stribling, and Wm. E. Evans ; Paymaster
Henry Myers ; Surgeon Francis L. Gait ; Midshipmen, Wm. A.
Hicks, Richard F. Armstrong, Albert G. Hudgins, John F. Holden,
and Jos. D. Wilson. I am respectfully your obedient servant,
S. R. Mallory, Secretary of the Navy.
Commander Raphael Semmes.
The reader will observe that I am addressed as a " com
mander," the rank which I held in the old service. The Navy
Department, in consultation with the President, had adopted
the rule of accepting all the officers who chose to come to us
from the old Navy — as the Federal Navy began now to be called
— without increase of rank ; and in arranging them on the
Navy-list, their old relative rank was also preserved. This rule
had two good effects ; it did not tempt any officer to come to
us, moved by the hope of immediate promotion, and it put us
all on an equal footing, in the future race for honors.
I had been living in Montgomery as a bachelor, at the house

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 95
of Mr." Wm. Knox, an old friend — my family having gone
to spend some time with a beloved brother, in Maryland, until
I could see, by the light of events, what final disposition to
make of it. It did not occupy me long, therefore, to make my
preparations for departure, in obedience to my orders. I took
a respectful, and affectionate leave of the officers of the gov
ernment, with whom I had been associated, and embarked on
the afternoon of the same day on which I had received my
orders, on board the steamer Southern Republic for Mobile.
At Mobile I fell in with Lieutenant Chapman, one of the offi
cers who had been detailed to report to me, and he, being a
minute-man like myself, took a hasty leave of a young wife,
and we continued our journey together.
I found Mobile, like the rest of the Confederacy, in a great
state of excitement. Always one of the truest of Southern
cities, it was boiling over with enthusiasm ; the young mer
chants had dropped their daybooks and ledgers, and were
forming, and drilling companies, by night and by day, whilst
the older ones were discussing questions of finance, and anx
iously casting about them, to see how the Confederate Treasury
could be supported. The Battle House, at which I stopped
for a few hours, previous to taking the steamer for New Or
leans, was thronged with young men in military costume, and
all seemed going " as merrily as a marriage-bell." Alas ! my
poor young countrymen, how many of you had disappeared
from the scene, when I next returned among you, near the
close of the war, and how many poor mothers there were, weeping
for the sons that were not. But your gallant and glorious
record! — that, at least, remains, and must remain forever; for
you have inscribed your names so high on the scroll of fame,
that the slanderous breath of an ungenerous foe can never
reach them.
I arrived in New Orleans, on Monday, the 22d of April, and
at once put myself in communication with the commanding
naval officer, the venerable Lawrence Rousseau, since gone to
his long home, full of years, and full of honors. Like a true
son of the South he had obeyed the first call of his fatherland,
the State of Louisiana, and torn off the seal from the commis
sion of a Federal captain, which he had honored for forty
7

96 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT.
years. I will not say, " peace to his ashes," for the spirit of a
Christian gentleman, which animated his frame during life, has
doubtless received its appropriate reward ; nor will I say
aught of his name, or fame, for these are embalmed in the
memories of his countrymen. He was my friend, and in that
name " friend " I pronounce his eulogy. On the same day of
my arrival, in company with Lieutenant Chapman, I inspected,
and took possession of my new ship. I found her only a dis
mantled packet-ship, full of upper cabins, and other top-hamper,
furniture, and crockery, but as unlike a ship of war as possible.
Still, I was pleased with her general appearance. Her lines
were easy, and graceful, and she had a sort of saucy air about
her, which seemed to say, that she was not averse to the ser
vice on which she was about to be emploved.

CHAPTER X.
THE PREPARATION OF THE SUMTER FOR SEA — SHE DROPS
DOWN BETWEEN THE FORTS JACKSON, AND ST. PHILIP-
RECEIVES HER SAILING ORDERS  LIST OF OFFICERS.
A GREAT change was apparent in New Orleans since I
had last visited it. The leve"e in front of the city was no
longer a great mart of commerce, piled with cotton bales, and
supplies going back to the planter ; densely packed with steam
ers, and thronged with a busy multitude. The long lines of
shipping above the city had been greatly thinned, and a gen
eral air of desolation hung over the river front. It seemed as
though a pestilence brooded over the doomed city, and that its
inhabitants had fled before the fell destroyer. The Sumter lay
on the opposite side of the river, at Algiers, and I crossed over
every morning to superintend her refitment. I was sometimes
detained at the ferry-house, waiting for the ferry-boat, and on
these occasions, casting my eyes up and down the late busy
river, it was 'not unfrequent to see it without so much as a
skiff in motion on its bosom.
But this first simoon of the desert which had swept over the
city, as a foretaste of what was to come, had by no means dis
couraged its patriotic inhabitants. The activity of commerce
had ceased, it is true, but another description of activity had
taken its place. War now occupied the thoughts of the mul
titude, and the sound of the drum, and the tramp of armed
men were heard in the streets. The balconies were crowded
with lovely women in gay attire, to witness the military pro
cessions, and the Confederate flag in miniature was pinned on
almost every bosom. The enthusiasm of the Frenchman had
been most easily and gracefully blended with the stern deter
mination of the Southern man of English descent ; the con
sequence of which was, that there was more demonstrative 97

98 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
patriotism in New Orleans, than in any other of our Southern
cities. Nor was this patriotism demonstrative only, it was
deep and real, and was afterward sealed with some of the best
Creole blood of the land, poured out, freely, on many a despe
rate battle-field. Alas! poor Louisiana. Once the seat of
wealth, and of a gay and refined hospitality, thy manorial resi
dences are deserted, and in decay, or have been levelled by
the torch of the incendiary ; thy fruitful fields, that were cul
tivated by the contented laborer, who whistled his merriment
to his lazy plow, have been given to the jungle; thy fair
daughters have been insulted, by the coarse, and rude Vandal ;
and even thy liberties have been given in charge of thy freed
men ; and all this, because thou wouldst thyself be free !
I now took my ship actively in hand, and set gangs of me
chanics at work to remove her upper cabins, and other top-
hamper, preparatory to making the necessary alterations.
These latter were considerable, and I soon found that I had a
edious job on my hands. It was no longer the case, as it had
oeen in former years, when I had had occasion to fit out a ship,
that I could go into a navy-yard, with well-provided work
shops, and skilled workmen ready with all the requsite mate
rials at hand to execute my orders. Everything had to be im-
Drovised, from the manufacture of a water-tank, to the " kids,
and cans" of the berth-deck messes, and from a gun-carriage
to a friction-primer. I had not only to devise all the altera
tions but to make plans, and drawings of them, before they
could be comprehended. The main deck was strengthened, by
the addition of heavy beams to enable it to support the battery;
a berth-deck was laid for the accommodation of the crew ; the
engine, which was partly above the water-line, was protected
by a system of wood-work, and iron bars ; the ship's rig was
altered so as to convert her into a barkentine, with square-sails
on her fore and main-masts; the officers' quarters, including
my own cabin, were re-arranged ; new suits of sails were made,
and new boats constructed ; hammocks and bedding were pro
cured for the crew, and guns, gun-carriages, and ammunition
ordered. Two long, tedious months were consumed in mak
ing these various alterations, and additions. My battery was
to consist of an eight-inch shell gun, to be pivoted amid-

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 99
ships, and of four light thirty -two pounders, of thirteen cwt.
each, in broadside.
The Secretary ofthe Navy, who was as anxious as myself that
I should get to sea immediately, had given me all the assist
ance in his power, readily acceding to my requests, and
promptly filling, or causing to be filled, all my requisitions.
With the secession of Virginia we had become possessed of a
valuable depot of naval supplies, in the Norfolk Navy Yard. It
was filled with guns, shot, shell, cordage, and everything that
was useful in the equipment of a ship, but it was far away
from New Orleans, and such was the, confusion along the dif
ferent lines of railroad, that it was difficult to procure trans
portation. Commander Terry Sinclair, the active ordnance
officer of the yard, had early dispatched my guns, by railroad,
but weeks elapsed without my being able to hear anything of
them. I was finally obliged to send a lieutenant in search of
them, who picked them up, one by one, as they had been
thrown out on the road-side, to make room for other freight.
My gun-carriages I was obliged to have constructed myself,
and I was fortunate enough to obtain the services of a very
ingenious mechanic to assist me in this part of my duties —
Mr. Roy, a former employee of the Custom-House, within
whose ample walls he had established his work-shop. He con
trived most ingeniously, and constructed out of railroad iron,
one of the best carriages (or rather, slide and circle) for a pivot-
gun, which I have ever seen. The large foundry of Leeds &
Co. took the contract for casting my shot, and shells, and
executed it to my satisfaction.
Whilst all these various operations are going on, we may
conveniently look around us upon passing events, or at least
upon such of them as have a bearing upon naval operations.
President Davis, a few days after the secession of Virginia, and
when war had become imminent, issued a proclamation for the
purpose of raising that irregular naval force, of which I have
spoken in a previous page. Parties were invited to apply for
letters-of-marque and reprisal, with a view to the fitting out
of privateers, to prey upon the enemy's commerce. Under
this proclamation several privateers — generally light-draught
river-steamers, with one or two small guns each — were hastily

100 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
prepared, in New Orleans, and had already brought in some
prizes captured off the mouths of the Mississippi. Even this
small demonstration seemed to surprise, as well as alarm the
Northern government, for President Lincoln now issued a pro
clamation declaring the molestation of Federal vessels, on the
high seas, by Confederate cruisers, piracy. He had also issued
a proclamation declaring the ports of the Confederacy in a
state of blockade. The mouths of the Mississippi were to be
sealed on the 23th of May.
The European governments, as soon as it became evident,
that the two sections were really at war, took measures accord
ingly. Great Britain took the lead, and declared a strict neu
trality between the combatants. It was of the essence of such
a declaration, that it should put both belligerents on the same
footing. This was apparently done, and the cruisers of both
sections were prohibited, alike, from taking their prizes into
British ports. I shall have something to say of the unequal
operation of this declaration of neutrality, in a future part of
these memoirs ; for the present it is only necessary to state,
that it acknowledged us to be in possession of belligerent
rights. This was a point gained certainly, but it was no more
than was to have been expected. Indeed, Great Britain could
do nothing less. In recognizing the war which had broken
out between the sections, as a war, and not as a mere insurrec
tion, she had only followed the lead of Mr. Lincoln himself.
Efforts had been made it is true, both by Mr. Lincoln, and his
Secretary of State, to convince the European governments that
the job which they had on their hands was a small affair ; a
mere family quarrel, of no great significance.
But the truth would not be suppressed, and when, at last, it
became necessary to declare the Confederate ports in a state of
blockade, and to send ships of war thither, to enforce the dec
laration, the sly little game which they had been playing was
all up with them. A blockade was an act of war, which came
under the cognizance of the laws of nations. It concerned
neutrals, as well as belligerents, and foreign nations were
bound to take notice of it. It followed that there could not
be a blockade without a war; and it equally followed, that
there could not be a war without at least two belligerent par-

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES 101
ties to it. It will thus be seen, that the declaration of neu
trality of Great Britain was a logical sequence of Mr. Lincoln's,
and Mr. Seward's own act. And yet with sullen, and singular
inconsistency, the Northern Government has objected, from that
day to this, to this mere routine act of Great Britain. So
much was this act considered, as a matter of course, at the time,
that all the other powers of the earth, of sufficient dignity to
act in the premises, at all, followed the example set them by
Great Britain, and issued similar declarations; and the four.
years of bloody war that followed justified the wisdom of their
acts. We may now return to the equipment of the Sumter. A
rendezvouz had been opened, and a crew had been shipped for
her, which was temporarily berthed on board the receiving
ship, Star of the West, a transport-steamer of the enemy,
which had been gallantly captured by some Texans, and
turned over to the Navy. New Orleans was full of seamen,
discharged from ships that had been laid up, and more men
were offering themselves for service, than I could receive. I
had the advantage, therefore, of picking my crew, an advan
tage which no one but a seaman can fully appreciate. My
lieutenants, surgeon, paymaster, and marine officer had all
arrived, and, with the consent of the Navy Department, I had
appointed my engineers — one chief, and three assistants —
boatswain, carpenter, and sailmaker. My provisions had been
purchased, and were ready to be put on board, and my funds
had already arrived, but we were still waiting on the mechan
ics, who, though doing their best, had not yet been able to turn
the ship over to us. From the following letter to the Secre
tary of the Navy, inclosing a requisition for funds, it will be
seen that my demands upon the department were quite mode
rate, and that I expected to make the Sumter pay her own ex
penses, as soon as she should get to sea.
New Orleans, May 14, 1861.
Sir: — I have the honor to inclose, herewith, a requisition for
the sum of $10,000, which I request may be remitted to the pay
master of the Sumter, in specie, for use during my contemplated
cruise. I may find it necessary to coal several times, and to sup
ply my crew with fresh provisions, &c, before I have the opportu
nity of replenishing my military chest from the enemy.

102 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
The ammunition remained to be provided, and on the 20th of
May, I dispatched Lieutenant Chapman to the Baton Rouge
Arsenal, which had been captured a short time before for the
purpose of procuring it, under the following letter of : nstruc-
tions : New Orleans, May 20, 1861.
Sir: — You will proceed to Baton Rouge, and put yourself in com
munication with the commander of the C. S. Arsenal, at that point,
for the purpose of receiving the ammunition, arms, shot, shell, &c,
that may be required for the supply of the C. S. steamer Sumter,
now fitting for sea at this port. It is presumed that the proper orders
£ which had been requested] have been, or will be dispatched from
Montgomery, authorizing the issue of all such articles, as we may
need. Should this not be the case, with regard to any of the
articles, it is hoped that the ordnance officer in charge will not
hesitate to deliver them, as it is highly important that the Sumter
should not be detained, because of any oversight, or informality, in
the orders of the War Department. Be pleased to present the ac
companying requisition to Captain Booth, the superintendent, and
ask that it may be filled. The gunner will be directed to report to
you, to accompany you to Baton Rouge, on this service.
The reader will thus perceive that many difficulties lay in
the way of equipping the Sumter ; that I was obliged to pick
up one material here, and another there, as I could best find it,
and that I was not altogether free from the routine of the
"Circumlocution Office," as my requisitions had frequently
to pass through many hands, before they could be complied
with. About this time, we met with a sad accident in the loss of
one of our midshipmen, by drowning. He, with other young
officers of the Sumter, had been stationed, temporarily, on
board the receiving ship, in charge of the Sumter's crew,
whilst the latter ship was still in the hands of the mechanics.
The following letter of condolence to the father of the young
gentleman will sufficiently explain the circumstances of the
disaster New Orleans, May 18, 1861.
Sir: — It becomes my melancholy duty to inform you, of the
death, by drowning, yesterday, of your son, Midshipman John F.
Holden, of the C. S. steamer Sumter. Your son was temporarily
attached to the receiving ship (late Star of the West) at this
place, whilst the Sumter was being prepared for sea, and whilst
engaged in carrying out an anchor, in a boat belonging to that

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 103
ship, met his melancholy fate, along with three of the crew, by the
swamping of the boat, in which he was embarked. I offer you, my
dear sir, my heartfelt condolence on this sad bereavement. You
have lost a cherished son, and the Government a valuable and
promising young officer.
W. B. Holden, Esq., Louisburg, Tenn.
War had begun, thus early, to demand of us our sacrifices.
Tennessee had not yet seceded, and yet this ardent Southern
youth had withdrawn from the Naval Academy, and cast his
lot with his section.
A few extracts from my journal will now, perhaps, give the
reader a better idea of the progress of my preparations for sea,
and of passing events, than any other form of narrative. May
27th. — News received this morning of the appearance, at Pass
a L'Outre, yesterday, of the U. S. steamer Brooklyn, and of
the establishment of the blockade. Work is progressing satis
factorily, and I expect to be ready for sea, by Sunday next.
News of skirmishing in Virginia, and of fresh arrivals of
Northern troops, at Washington, en route for that State. The
Federal Government has crossed the Potomac, in force, and
thus inaugurated a bloody, and a bitter war, by the inva
sion of our territory. So be it — we but accept the gantlet,
which has been flung in our faces. The future will tell a tale
not unworthy of the South, and her glorious cause.
Monday, May 30th. My patience is sorely tried by the
mechanics. The water-tanks for the Sumter are not yet com
pleted. The carriage for the 8-inch gun was finished, to-day,
and we are busy laying down the circles for it, and cutting the
holes for the fighting-bolts. The carriages for the 32-pounders
are promised us, by Saturday next, and also the copper tanks
for the magazine. Our ammunition, and small arms arrived,
yesterday, from Baton Rouge. Besides the Brooklyn, at the
Passes, we learn, to-day, that the Niagara, and Minnesota, two
of the enemy's fastest, and heaviest steamships have arrived,
to assist in enforcing the blockade, and to lie in wait for some
ships expected to arrive, laden with arms and ammunition, for
the Confederacy. May 31st. — The tanks are at last finished,
and they have all been delivered, to-day. Leeds & Co. have
done an excellent job, and I shall be enabled to carry three

104 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
months' water for my crew. We shall now get on, rapidly,
with our preparations.
Saturday, June 1st, finds us not yet ready for sea! The
tanks have all been taken on board, and stowed ; the gun car
riages for the 32s will be finished on Monday. The circles for
the 8-inch gun have been laid down, and the fighting-bolts
are ready for placing. On Monday I shall throw the crew on
board, and by Thursday next, I shall, without doubt be ready
for sea. We are losing a great deal of precious time. The
enemy's flag is being flaunted in our faces, at all our ports by
his ships of war, and his vessels of commerce are passing, and
repassing, on the ocean, in defiance, or in contempt of our
power, and, as yet, we have not struck a blow.'
At length on the 3d of June, I was enabled to put the Sum
ter, formally, in commission. On that day her colors were
hoisted, for the first time — the ensign having been presented
to me, by some patriotic ladies of New Orleans — the crew was
transferred to her, from the receiving ship, and the officers
were ordered to mess on board. The ship was now hauled off
and anchored in the stream, but we were delayed two long
and tedious weeks yet, before we were finally ready. During
these two weeks we made a trial trip up the river, some ten or
twelve miles. Some of the principal citizens were invited on
board, and a bright, and beautiful afternoon was pleasantly
spent, in testing the qualities of the ship, the range of her
guns, and the working of the gun-carriages ; the whole ending
by a collation, in partaking of which my guests were kind
enough to wish me a career full of " blazing honors."
I was somewhat disappointed in the speed of my ship, as we
did not succeed in getting more than nine knots out of her.
There was another great disadvantage. With all the space I
conld allot to my coal-bunkers, she could be made to carry no
more than about eight days' fuel. We had masts, and sails, it
is true, but these could be of but little use, when the coal was
exhausted, as the propeller would remain a drag in the water,
there being no means of hoisting it. It was with such draw
backs, that I was to take the sea, alone, against a vindictive
and relentless enemy, whose Navy already swarmed on our
coasts, and whose means of increasing it were inexhaustible.

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 105
But the sailor has a saying, that "Luck is a Lord," and we
trusted to luck.
On the 18th of June, after all the vexatious delays that have
been described, I got up my anchor, and dropped down to the
Barracks, below the city a short distance, to receive my pow
der on board, which, for safety, had been placed in the State
magazine. At 10.30 p. m. of the same day, we got up steam,
and by the soft and brilliant light of a moon near her full,
threw ourselves into the broad, and swift current of the Father
of Waters, and ran rapidly down to the anchorage, between
Fort Jackson, and Fort St. Philip, where we came to at 4 A.
M. In the course of the day, Captain Brand, an ex-officer of
the old Navy, and now second in command of the forts, came
on board to make us the ceremonial visit ; and I subsequently
paid my respects to Major Duncan, the officer in chief com
mand, an ex-officer of the old Army. These gentlemen were
both busy, as I found upon inspecting the forts, in perfecting
their batteries, and drilling their men, for the hot work that
was evidently before them. As was unfortunately the case
with our people, generally, at this period, they were over-con
fident. They kindly supplied some few deficiencies, that still
remained in our gunner's department, and I received from
them a howitzer, which I mounted on my taffarel, to guard
against boat attacks, by night.
I remained three days at my anchors between the forts, for
the purpose of stationing, and drilling my crew, before ven
turing into the presence of the enemy ; and I will take advan
tage of this lull to bring up some matters connected with the
ship, which we have hitherto overlooked. On the 7th of June,
the Secretary of the Navy — the Government having, in the
mean time, removed to Richmond — sent me my sailing orders,
and in my letter of the 14th of the same month, acknowledg
ing their receipt, I had said to him : " I have an excellent set
of men on board, though they are nearly all green, and will
require some little practice, and drilling, at the guns, to enable
them to handle them creditably. Should I be fortunate enough
to reach the high seas, you may rely upon my implicit obe
dience of your instructions, 'to do the enemy's commerce the
greatest injury, in the shortest time.' "

106 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
Here was a model of a letter of instruction — it meant
" burn, sink, and destroy," always, of course, within the limits
prescribed by the laws of nations, and with due attention to
the laws of humanity, in the treatment of prisoners. The reader
will see, as we progress, that I gave the " implicit obedience "
which had been promised, to these instructions, and that if
greater results were not accomplished, it was the fault of the
Sumter, and not of her commander. In the same letter that
brought me my sailing orders, the Secretary had suggested to
me the propriety of adopting some means of communicating
with him, by cipher, so that, my despatches, if captured by the
enemy, would be unintelligible to him. The following letter
in reply to this suggestion, will explain how this was arranged :
" I have the honor to enclose herewith a copy of ' Reid's Eng
lish Dictionary,' a duplicate of which I retain, for the purpose
mentioned in your letter of instructions, of the 7th instant. I
have not been able to find in the city of New Orleans, ' Cobb's
Miniature Lexicon,' suggested by you, or any other suitable
dictionary, with but a single column on a page. This need
make no difference, however. In my communications to the
Department, should I have occasion to refer to a word in the
copy sent, I will designate the first column on the page, A, and
the second column, B. Thus, if I wish to use the word ' pris
oner,' my reference to it would be as follows : 323, B, 15 ; the
first number referring to the page, the letter to the column, and
the second number to the number of the word from the top
of the column." By means of this simple, and cheap device,
I was enabled, at all times, to keep my dispatches out of the
hands of the enemy, or, in other words, prevent him from
interpreting them, when I had anything of importance to
communicate. Before leaving New Orleans, I had, in obedience to a general
order of the service, transmitted to the Navy Department, a
Muster Roll of the officers, and men, serving on board the
Sumter. Her crew, as reported by this roll, consisted of
ninety-two persons, exclusive of officers. Twenty of these
ninety -two persons were marines — a larger guard than waa
usual for so small a ship. The officers were as follows :
Commander. — Raphael Semmes.

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 107
Lieutenants.— John M. Kell; Robert T. Chapman; John M.
Stribling-; William E. Evans.
Paymaster. — Henry Myers.
Surgeon. — Francis L. Gait.
1st Lieutenant of Marines. — B. Howell.
Midshipmen. — William A. Hicks; Albert G. Hudgins;
Richard F. Armstrong ; Joseph D. Wilson.
Engineers. — Miles J. Freeman; William P. Brooks; Mat
thew O'Brien ; Simeon W. Cummings.
Boatswain. — Benjamin P. Mecasky.
Gunner. — Thomas C. Cuddy.
Sailmaker. — W. P. Beaufort.
Carpenter. — William Robinson.
Captain's Clerk. — W. Breedlove Smith.
Commissions had been forwarded to all the officers entitled
to receive them, and acting appointments had been given by
me to the warrant officers. It will thus be seen, how formally
all these details had been attended to. These commissions
were to be our warrants for what we were to do, on the high
seas. And now the poor boon will be permitted to human nature,
that before we launch our frail bark, on the wild sea of adven
ture, before us, we should turn our thoughts, homeward, for a
moment. " 'And is he gone ? ' — on sudden solitude
How oft that fearful question will intrude !
'T was but an instant past — and here he stood !
And now! ' — without the portal's porch she rushed,
And then at length her tears in freedom gushed;
Big, bright, and fast, unknown to her they fell ;
But still her lips refused to send 'farewell! '
For in that word — that fatal word — howe'er
We promise — hope — believe — there breathes despair."
Such was the agony of many a fair bosom, as the officers of
the Sumter had torn themselves from the embraces of their
families, in those scenes of leave-taking, which more than any
other, try the sailor's heart. Several of them were married
men, and it was long years before they returned to the homes
which they had made sad by their absence.

CHAPTER XI.
AFTER LONG WAITING AND "WATCHING, THE SUMTER RUNS
THE BLOCKADE OF THE MISSISSIPPI, IN OPEN DAYLIGHT,
PURSUED BY THE BROOKLYN.
WHILST we were lying at our anchors between the
forts, as described in the last chapter, Governor Moore
of Louisiana, who had done good service to the Confederacy,
by seizing the forts, and arsenals in his State, in advance of
secession, and the Hon. John Slidell, lately returned 'rem his
seat in the Federal Senate, and other distinguished gentlemen
came down, on a visit of inspection to the forts. I went on
shore to call on them, and brought them on board the Sumter
to lunch with me. My ship was, by this time, in excellent
order, and my crew well accustomed to their stations, under
the judicious management of my first lieutenant, and I took
pleasure in showing these gentlemen how much a little disci
pline could accomplish, in the course of a few weeks. Disci
pline ! — what a power it is everywhere, and under all circum
stances ; and how much the want of it lost us, as the war pro
gressed. What a pity the officers of our army did not have
their respective commands, encircled by wooden walls, with
but a " single monarch to walk the peopled deck."
Just at nightfall, on the evening of the 21st of June, I
received the following despatch from the commanding officer
of the forts :
Captain : — I am desired by the commanding officer to state, that
the Ivy — this was a small tender of the forts, and letter-of-marque
— reports that the Powhatan has left, in pursuit of two ships, and
that he has a telegram from Pass a L' Outre, to the effect, that a
boat from the Brooklyn had put into the river and was making for
-the telegraph station, where she was expected to arrive within a
few minutes. 108

MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT. 109
The Powhatan was blockading the Southwest Pass, and it was
barely possible that I might get to sea, through this pass, if a
pilot could be at once procured ; and so I immediately ordered
steam to be raised, and getting up my anchor, steamed down
to the Head of the Passes, where the river branches into its
three principal outlets. Arriving here, at half-past ten p. m. I
dispatched a boat to the light-house, for a pilot ; but the keeper
knew nothing of the pilots, and was unwilling to come on board,
himself, though requested. The night wore away, and nothing
could be done.
The telescope revealed to us, the next morning, that the
Powhatan had returned to her station. From the sullen, and
unsatisfactory message, which had been returned to me, by the
keeper of the light-house, I began to suspect that there was
something wrong, about the pilots ; and it being quite necessary
that 3 should have one constantly, on board, to enable me to
take advantage of any temporary absence of the enemy's cruis
ers, without having to hunt up one for the emergency, I dis
patched the Ivy, to the pilots' station, at the Southwest Pass,
in search of one. This active little cruiser returned in the
course of a few hours, and reported that none of the pilots were
willing to come on board of me ! I received, about the same
time, a telegraphic despatch from the Southwest Pass, for
warded to me through Major Duncan, which read as follows:
"Applied to the Captain of the Pilots' Association for a pilot
for the Sumter. He requested me to state, that there are no
pilots on duty now ! " " So ho ! sits the wind in .that quarter,"
thought I — I will soon set this matter right. I, at once, sent
Lieutenant Stribling on board the Ivy, and directed him to pro
ceed to the Pilots' Association, and deliver, and see executed
the following written order :
C. S. Steamer Sumter, Head of the Passes, )
June 22, 1861. }
Sir : — This is to command you to repair on board this ship, with
three or four of the most experienced pilots of the Bar. I am sur
prised to learn, that an unwillingness has been expressed, by some
of the pilots of your Association, to come on board the Sumter ;
and my purpose is to test the fact of such disloyalty to the Con
federate States. If any man disobeys this summons I will not
only have his Branch taken from him, but I will send a' armed
force, and arrest, and bring him on board.

HO MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
This order had the desired effect, and in the course of the
afternoon, Lieutenant Stribling returned, bringing with him, the
Captain of the Association, and several of the pilots. I di
rected them to be brought into my cabin, and when they were
assembled, demanded to know the reason of their late behavior.
Some stammering excuses were offered, which I cut short, by
informing them that one of them must remain on board con
stantly, and that they might determine for themselves, who
should take the first week's service ; to be relieved at the end
of the week, by another, and so on, as long as I should find it
necessary. One of their number being designated, I dismissed
the rest. The reader will see how many faithful auxiliaries
Admiral Farragut afterward found, in the Pilots' Association
of the mouths of the Mississippi, when he made his famous
ascent of the river, and captured its great seaport. Nor was
this defection confined to New Orleans. The pilots along our
whole Southern coast were, with few exceptions, Northern men,
and as a rule they went over to the enemy, though pretending,
in the beginning of our troubles, to 'be good secessionists. The
same remark may be applied to our steamboat men, of Northern
birth, as a class. Many of them had become domiciled in the
South, and were supposed to be good Southern men, until the
crucial test of self-interest was applied to them, when they, too,
deserted us, and took service with the enemy.
The object of the Brooklyn's boat, which, as we have seen,
pulled into the telegraph station at Pass a L'Outre, just before
we got under way from between the forts, was to cut the wires,
and break up the station, to prevent intelligence being given
me of the movements of the blockading fleet. I now resorted
to a little .retaliation. I dispatched an officer to the different
light-houses, to stave the oil-casks, and bring away the light
ing apparatus, to prevent the enemy's shipping from using the
lights. They were of great convenience, not only to the ships
employed on the blockade, but to the enemy's transports, and
other ships, bound to and from the coast of Texas. They
could be of no use to our own blockade-runners, as the passes
of the Mississippi, by reason of their long, and tortuous, and
frequently shifting channels, were absolutely closed to them.

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. Ill
The last letter addressed by me to the Secretary of the Navy,
before escaping through the blockade, as hereinafter described,
was the following :
C. S. Steamer Sumter, Head of the Passes, )
June 30, 1861. j"
Sir: — I have the honor to inform the Department that I am
still at my anchors at the "Head of the Passes" — the enemy
closely investing both of the practical outlets. At Pass a L'Outre
there are three ships, the Brooklyn, and another propeller, and a
large side-wheel steamer ; and at the Southwest Pass, there is the
Powhatan, lying within half a mile of the bar, and not stirring an
inch from her anchors, night or day. I am only surprised that the
Brooklyn does not come up to this anchorage, which she might
easily do — as there is water enough, and no military precautions,
whatever, have been taken to hold the position — and thus effectu
ally seal all the passes of the river, by her presence alone ; which
would enable the enemy to withdraw the remainder of his block
ading force, for use elsewhere. With the assistance of the Jackson,
Lieutenant Gwathmey, and the McRae, Lieutenant Huger — neither
of which has, as yet, however, dropped down — I could probably hold
my position here, until an opportunity offers of my getting to sea. I
shall watch, diligently, for such an opportunity, and have no doubt,
that sooner or later, it will present itself. I found, upon dropping
down to this point, that the lights at Pass a- L'Outre, and South
Pass had been strangely overlooked, and that they were still being
nightly exhibited. I caused them both to be extinguished, so that
if bad weather should set in — a gale from the south-east, for in
stance — the blockading ships, having nothing to " hold on to," will
be obliged to make an offing. At present the worst feature of the
blockade of Pa-ss h, L'Outre is, that the Brooklyn has the speed of
me; so that even if I should run the bar, I could not hope to escape
her, unless I surprised her, which with her close watch of the bar,
at anchor near by, both night and day, it will be exceedingly diffi
cult to do. I should be quite willing to try speed with the Pow
hatan, if I could hope to run the gantlet of her guns, without
being crippled ; bat here again, unfortunately, with all the buoys,
and other marks removed, the bar which she is watching is a per
fectly blind bar, except by daylight. In the meantime, I am drill
ing my green crew, to a proper use of the great guns, and small arms.
With the exception of a diarrhoea, which is prevailing, to some ex
tent, brought on by too free use of the river water, in the excessive
heats which prevail, the crew continues healthy.
Nothing in fact surprised me more, during the nine days I
lay at the Head of the Passes, than that the enemy did not
attack me with some of his light-draught, but heavily armed
steamers, or by his boats, by night. Here was the Sumter, a
8

112 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
small ship, with a crew, all told, of a little over a hundred
men, anchored only ten, or twelve miles from the enemy, with
out a gun, or an obstruction between her and him ; and yet no
offensive movement was made against her. The enemy watched
me closely, day by day, and bent all his energies toward pre
venting my escape, but did not seem to think of the simple
expedient of endeavoring to capture me, with a superior force.
In nightly expectation of an assault, I directed the engineer to
keep the water in his boilers, as near the steam-point as pos
sible, without actually generating the vapor, and sent a patrol
of boats some distance down the Southwest Pass ; the boats
being relieved every four hours, and returning to the ship, at
the first streaks of dawn. After I went to sea, the enemy did
come in, and take possession of my anchorage, until he was
driven away by Commodore Hollins, in a little nondescript
ram ; which, by the way, was the first ram experiment of the
war. The reader may imagine the tedium, and discomforts of
our position, if he will reflect that it is the month of June, and
that at this season of the year, the sun comes down upon the
broad, and frequently calm surface of the Father of Waters,
with an African glow, and that clouds of that troublesome
little insect the mosquito tormented us, by night and by day.
There was no sleeping at all without the mosquito bar, and I
had accordingly had a supply sent down for all the crew.
Rather than stand the assaults of these little picadores, much
longer, I believe my crew would have run the gantlet of the
whole Federal Navy.
My diary will now perhaps give the reader, his clearest con
ception of the condition of things on board the Sumter, for the
remaining few days that she is to continue at her anchors.
Tuesday, June 25th. — A sharp thunder-storm at half-past three
A. M., jarring and shaking the ship with its crashes. The very
flood-gates of the heavens seem open, and the rain is descend
ing on our decks like a cataract. Clearing toward ten o'clock.
Both blockading ships still at their anchors. The British
steam sloop Jason touched at the Southwest Pass, yesterday,
and communicated with the Powhatan. We learn by the news
papers, to-day, that the enemy has taken possession of Ship
Island, and established a blockade of the Sound. The ana-

»URING THE WAR BETWEEN THE SPATES. 113
eonda is drawing his folds around us. We are filling some
shell, and cartridges to-day, and drilling the crew at the
battery. Wednesday, June 26th. — Cloudy, with occasional rain squalls,
which have tempered the excessive heats. The Ivy returned
from the city to-day, and brought me eighty barrels of coal.
Sent the pilot, in the light-house keeper's boat, to sound the
S. E. bar, an unused and unwatched outlet to the eastward of
the South Pass — in the hope that we may find sufficient water
over it, to permit the egress of the ship. The Federal ships
are keeping close watch, as usual, at both the passes, neither
of them having stirred from her anchor, since we have been
at the "Head ofthe Passes."
Thursday, June 27th. — Weather sultry, and atmosphere
charged with moisture. Pilot returned this afternoon, and
reports ten and a half feet water on the S. E. bar. Unfortu ¦
nately the Sumter draws twelve feet ; so we must abandon this
hope. Saturday, June 29th. — A mistake induced us to expend a
little coal, to-day, uselessly. The pilot having gone aloft, to
take his usual morning's survey ofthe "situation," reported that
the Brooklyn was nowhere to be seen I Great excitement imme
diately ensued, on the decks, and the officer of the watch hur
ried into my cabin with the information. I ordered steam to
be gotten up with all dispatch, and when, in the course of a
very few minutes, it was reported ready — for we always kept
our fires banked — the anchor was tripped, and the ship was
under way, ploughing her way through the turbid waters, to
ward Pass a L'Outre. When we had steamed about four miles
down the pass, the Brooklyn was seen riding very quietly at
her anchors, in her usual berth near the bar. Explanation:
The Sumter had dragged her anchor during the night, and the
alteration in her position had brought a clump of trees between
her, and the enemy's ship, which had prevented the pilot from
seeing the latter ! With disappointed hopes we had nothing
to do, but to return to our anchors, and watch and wait. In
half an hour more, the sailors were lounging idly about the
decks, under well-spread awnings • the jesv, and banter went
round, as usual, and save the low hissing and singing of the

114 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
steam, which was still escaping, there was nothing to remind
the beholder of our recent disappointment- Such is the
school of philosophy in which the seaman is reared. Our
patience, however, was soon to be rewarded.
Early on the next morning, which was the 30th of June, the
steamer, Empire Parish, came down from the city, and coming
alongside of us, put on board some fresh provisions for the
crew, and about one hundred barrels of coal, which my thought
ful, and attentive friend, Commodore Rousseau, had sent down
to me. Having done this, the steamer shoved off, and proceeded
on her trip, down Pass a L'Outre, to the pilots' station, and
lighthouse. It was a bright Sunday morning, and we were
thinking of nothing but the usual muster, and how we should
get through another idle day. In the course of two or three
hours, the steamer returned, and when she had come near us,
she was seen to cast off a boat, which she had been towing,
containing a single boatman — one ofthe fishermen, or oyster-
men so common in these waters. The boatman pulled rapidly
under our stern, and hailing the officer of the deck, told him,
that the Brooklyn had gone off in chase of a sail, and was no
longer in sight. The crew, who had been "cleaning them
selves," for Sunday muster, at once stowed away their bags
the swinging-booms were gotten alongside, the boats run up,
and, in ten minutes, the steam was again hissing, as if impa
tient of control. The men ran round the capstan, in " double-
quick," in their eagerness to get up the anchor, and in a few
minutes more, the ship's head swung off gracefully with the
current, and, the propeller being started, she bounded off like
a thing of life, on this new race, which was to decide whether
we should continue to stagnate in midsummer, in the marshes
of the Mississippi, or reach those " glad waters of the dark
blue sea," which form as delightful a picture in the imagina
tion of the sailor, as in that of the poet.
Whilst we were heaving up our anchor, I had noticed the
pilot, standing near me, pale, and apparently nervous, and agi
tated, but, as yet, he had said not a word. When we were
fairly under way, however, and it seemed probable, at last, that
we should attempt the blockade, the fellow's courage fairly
broke down, and he protested to me that he knew nothing of

DURING THE WAE BETWEEN THE STATES. 115
the bar of Pass a L'Outre, and durst not attempt to : un me
over. "I am," said he, "a S. W. bar pilot,. and know nothing
of the other passes." " What," said I, " did you not know that
I was lying at the Head of the Passes, for the very purpose of
taking any one of the outlets through which an opportunity
of escape might present itself, and yet you dare tell me, that
you know but one of them, and have been deceiving me."
The fellow stammered out something in excuse, but I was too
impatient to listen to him, and, turning to the first lieutenant,
oidered him to hoist the " Jack" at the fore, as a signal for a
pilot. I had, in fact, resolved to attempt the passage of the
bar, from my own slight acquaintance with it, when I had been
a light-house inspector, rather than forego the opportunity of
escape, and caused the Jack to be hoisted, rather as a matter
of course, than because I hoped for any good result from it.
The Brooklyn had not " chased out of sight," as reported — she
had only chased to the westward, some seven or eight miles,
and had been hidden from the boatman, by one of the spurs of
the Delta. She had probably, all the while, had her telescopes
on the Sumter, and as soon as she saw the black smoke issuing
from her chimney, and the ship moving rapidly toward the
pass, she abandoned her chase, and commenced to retrace her
steps. We had nearly equal distances to run to the bar, but I had
the advantage of a four-knot current. Several of my officers
now collected around me, and we were discussing the chances
of escape. "What think you of our prospect," said I, turning
to one of my lieutenants, who had served a short time before,
on board the Brooklyn, and knew well her qualities. " Pros
pect, sir! not the least in the world — there is no possible
chance of our escaping that ship. Even if we get over the bar
ahead of her, she must overhaul us, in a very short time. The
Brooklyn is good for fourteen knots an hour, sir." " That was
the report," said I, "on her trial trip, but you know how all such
reports are exaggerated ; ten to one, she has no better speed,
if so good, as the Sumter." "You will see, sir," replied my
lieutenant ; "we made a passage in her, only a few months ago,
from Tampico to Pensacola, and averaged about thirteen knots
the whole distance."

116 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
Here the conversation dropped, for an officer now came to
report to me that a boat had just shoved off from the pilots' sta
tion, evidently with a pilot in her. Casting my eyes in the
given direction, I saw a whale-boat approaching us, pulled by four
stout blacks,, who were bending like good fellows to their long
ashen oars, and in the stern- sheets was seated, sure enough, the
welcome pilot, swaying his body to, and fro, as his boat leaped
under the oft-repeated strokes of the oars, as though he would
hasten her already great speed. But more beautiful still was
another object which presented itself. In the balcony of the
pilot's house, which had been built in the very marsh, on the
margin of the river, there stood a beautiful woman, the pilot's
young wife, waving him on to his duty, with her handkerchief.
We could have tossed a biscuit from the Sumter to the shore,
and I uncovered my head gallantly to my fair countrywoman.
A few moments more, and a tow-line had been thrown to the
boat, and the gallant young fellow stood on the horse-block
beside me.
As we swept past the light-house wharf, almost close enough
to touch it, there were other petticoats fluttering in the breeze,
the owners of which were also waving handkerchiefs of
encouragement to the Sumter. I could see my sailors' eyes
brighten at these spectacles, for the sailor's heart is capacious
enough to love the whole sex, and I now felt sure of their
nerves, in case it should become necessary to tax them. Half
a mile or so, from the light-house, and the bar is reached.
There was a Bremen ship lying aground on the bar, and there
was just room, and no more, for us to pass her. She had run
out a kedge, and had a warp attached to it that was lying
across the passage-way. The crew considerately slackened the
line, as we approached, and in another bound the Sumter was
outside the bar, and the Confederate flag was upon the high
seas! We now slackened our speed, for an instant — only an
instant, for my officers and men all had their wits about them,
and worked like good fellows — to haul the pilot's boat along
side, that he might return to the shore. As the gallant young
fellow grasped my hand, and shook it warmly, as he descended
from the horse-block, he said, "Now, Captain, you are all clear;
g'.ve her h — 11, and let her go ! "
We had now nothing to do, but turn our attention to the

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 117
enemy. The Brooklyn, as we cleared the bar, was about three
and a half, or four miles distant; we were therefore just out
of reach of her guns, with nothing to spare. Thick volumes
of smoke could be seen pouring from the chimneys of both
ships ; the firemen, and engineers of each evidently doing their
best. I called a lieutenant, and directed him to heave the log.
He reported our speed to be nine, and a half knots. Loth to
believe that we could be making so little way, through the yet
turbid waters, which were rushing past us with great appar
ent velocity, I directed the officer to repeat the experiment;
but the same result followed, though he had paid out the line
with a free hand. I now sent for the engineer, and, upon in
quiry, found that he was doing his very best — " though," said
he, "there is a little drawback, just now, in the 'foaming' of
our boilers, arising from the suddenness with which we got up
steam ; when this subsides, we may be able to add half a knot
more." The Brooklyn soon loosed, and set her sails, bracing them
sharp up on the starboard tack. I loosed and set mine, also.
The enemy's ship was a little on my weather quarter, say a
couple of points, and had thus slightly the weather-gauge of
me. As I knew I could lay nearer the wind than she, being
able to brace my yards sharper, and had besides, the advan
tage of larger fore-and-aft sails, comparatively, stay-sails, try
sails, and a very large spanker, I resolved at once to hold my
wind, so closely, as to compel her to furl her sails, though this
would carry me a little athwart her bows, and bring me perhaps
a little nearer to her, for the next half hour, or so. A rain
squall now came up, and enveloped the two ships, hiding each
from the other. As the rain blew off to leeward, and the Brook
lyn reappeared, she seemed fearfully near to us, and I began
to fear I should realize the foreboding of my lieutenant. I
could not but admire the majesty of her appearance, with
her broad flaring bows, and clean, and beautiful run, and her
masts, and yards, as taunt and square, as those of an old time
sailing frigate. The stars and stripes of a large ensign flew
out from time to time, from under the lee of her spanker, and
we could see an apparently anxious crowd of officers on her
quarter-deck, many of them with telescopes directed toward
us. She had, evidently, I thought, gained upon us, and I ex-

118 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
pected every moment to hear the whiz of a shot ; but still she
did not fire.
I now ordered my paymaster to get his public chest, and
papers ready for throwing overboard, if it should become
necessary. At this crisis the engineer came up from below,
bringing the welcome intelligence that the " foaming " of his
boilers had ceased, and that his engine was " working beauti
fully," giving the propeller several additional turns per
minute. The breeze, too, favored me, for it had freshened
considerably; and what was still more to the purpose, I
began to perceive that I was " eating " the Brooklyn " out of
the wind " ; in other words, that she was falling more and more
to leeward. I knew, of course, that as soon as. she fell into
my wake, she would be compelled to furl her sails. This she
did in half an hour or so afterward, and I at once began to breathe
more freely, for I could still hold on to my own canvas. I have
witnessed many beautiful sights at sea, but the most beautiful
of them all was when the Brooklyn let fly all her sheets, and
halliards, at once, and clewed up, and furled, in man-of-war
style, all her sails, from courses to royals. We now began ,to
gain quite perceptibly on our pursuer, and at half-past three,
the chase was abandoned, the baffled Brooklyn retracing her
steps to Pass a l'Outre, and the Sumter bounding away on her
course seaward.
We fired no gun of triumph in the face of the enemy — my
powder was too precious for that — but I sent the crew aloft, to
man the rigging, and three such cheers were given for the Con
federate flag, "that little bit of striped bunting," that had waved
from the Sumter's peak during the exciting chase, as could pro
ceed only from the throats of American seamen, in the act of
defying a tyrant — those cheers were but a repetition of many
such cheers that had been given, by our ancestors, to that other
bit of " striped bunting " which had defied the power of Eng
land in that olden war, of which our war was but the logi
cal sequence. The reader must not suppose that our anxiety
was wholly allayed, as soon as we saw the Brooklyn turn away
from us.
We were, as yet, only a few miles from the land, and our
"X>ast was swarming with the enemy's cruisers. Ship Island

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 119
was not a great way off, and there was a constant passing to
and fro, of ships-of-war between that island and the passes of
the Mississippi, and we might stumble upon one of tnese at
any moment. "Sail ho!" was now shouted from the mast
head. "Where away !" cried the officer of thedeck. "Righ>
ahead," said the look-out. A few minutes only elapsed, and a
second sail was descried, "broad on the starboard bow." But
nothing came of these spectres ; we passed on, seaward, with
out so much as raising either of them from the deck, and
finally, the friendly robes of night enveloped us. When we at
length realized that we had gained an offing; when we be
gan to feel the welcome heave of the sea; when we looked
upon the changing aspect of its waters, now darkening into
the deepest blue, and breathed the pure air, fresh from the
Gulf, untainted of malaria, and untouched of mosquito's wing,
we felt like so many prisoners who had been turned loose from
a long and painful confinement ; and when I reflected upon my
mission, to strike for the right ! to endeavor to sweep from the
seas the commerce of a treacherous friend, who had become a
cruel and relentless foe, I felt, in full force, the inspiration ot
the poet : —
" Ours the wild life in tumult still to range,
From toil to rest, and joy in every change.
Oh, who can tell ? Not thou, luxurious slave,
Whose soul would sicken o'er the heaving wave;
Not thou, vain lord of wantonness and ease,
Whom slumber soothes not — pleasures cannot please;
Oh, who can tell, save he whose heart hath tried,
And danced in triumph o'er the waters wide,
The exulting Bense — the pulse's maddening play,
That thrills the wanderer of that trackless way ?
********* Death!
Come when it will — we snatch the life of life;
When lost — what recks it — by disease or strife?
Let him who crawls, enamored of decay,
Cling to his couch, and sicken years away ;
Heave his thick breath, and shake his palsied head;
Ours ! the fresh turf, and not the feverish bed ;
While gasp by gasp he falters forth his soul,
Ours, with one pang — one bound — escapes controL
His corpse may boast its wan and narrow cave,
And they who loathed his life, may gild his grave:
Ours are the tears, though few, sincerely shed,
When ocean shrouds and sepulchres our dead."

CHAPTER XII.
BRIEF SKETCH OF THE OFFICERS OF THE SUMTER — HEB
FIRST PRIZE, WITH OTHER PRIZES, IN QUICK SUCCES
SION — HER FIRST PORT.
CAPTAIN POOR, the commander of the Brooklyn, was
greatly censured by his Government, for permitting the
•escape of the Sumter. It was even hinted that there had been
treason, in the engine-room of the Brooklyn, as one or more
•of the engineers had been heard to express sentiments favor-
¦able to the South. There was no truth, of course, in this
report. It had its origin in the brain of a people, who, having
become traitors, themselves, to their former principles, were
ready to suspect, and to impute treason to every one else. The
greatest offence which had been committed by Captain Poor
was that he had probably permitted his cupidity to draw him
away from his station. He had chased a prize, in his eager
ness to clutch the prize-money, a little too far — that was all.
But in this, he sinned only in common with his countrymen.
The thirst of gain, as well as the malignity of hate, seemed, from
the very first days of the war, to have seized upon a majority
of the Northern people. The Army, and the Navy, professions
hitherto held honorable, did not escape the contamination. They
were soon found, first plundering, and then maliciously burn
ing private houses. The spectacle of cotton-thieving was more
than cnce presented by the highest dignitaries of the two ser
vices — the Admiral quarrelling with the General, as ignoble
rogues are wont to quarrel, as to which rightly pertained the
booty. The evening of the escape of the Sumter was one of those
Gulf evenings, which can only he felt, and not described. The
wind died gently away, as the sun declined, leaving a calm,
and sleeping sea, to reflect a myriad of stars. The sun had
gore down behind a screen of purple, and gold, and to add to
120

MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT. 121
the beauty of the scene, as night set in, a blazing comet, whose
tail spanned nearly a quarter of the heavens, mirrored itself
within a hundred feet of our little bark, as she ploughed her
noiseless way through the waters. As I leaned on the carriage
of a howitzer on the poop of my ship, and cast a glance toward
the quarter of the horizon whence the land had disappeared,
memory was busy with the events of the last few months.
How hurried, and confused they had been! It seemed as
though I had dreamed a dream, and found it difficult, upon
waking, to unite the discordant parts. A great government
had been broken up, family ties had been severed, and war —
grim, ghastly war — was arraying a household against itself.
A little while back, and I had served under the very flag which
I had that day defied. Strange revolution of feeling, how I
now hated that flag ! It had been to me as a mistress to a
lover ; I had looked upon it with admiring eyes, had dallied
with it in hours of ease, and had had recourse to it, in hours
of trouble, and now I found it false ! What wonder that I felt
a lover's resentment ?
My first lieutenant now approached me, and touching my
elbow, said, " Captain, had we not better throw this howitzer
overboard ? it can be of no further service to us, and is very
much in the way." My waking dream was dissolved, on the
instant, and I returned at once to the duties of the ship. I
assented to the lieutenant's proposition, and in a few minutes
more, the poop was cleared of the incumbrance. It was the
howitzer — a heavy, awkward, iron field-piece with huge
wheels — which we had received on board, when we lay
between the forts, as a protection against the enemy's boats.
The rest of the night, to a late hour, was devoted to lashing,
and otherwise securing such heavy articles, as were likely to
be thrown from their places, by the rolling of the ship ; getting
the anchors in-board and stowing them, and, generally, in mak
ing the ship snug. I turned in after a day of excitement, and
slept too soundly to continue the day-dream from which I had
been aroused by my first lieutenant.
The sun rose in an unclouded sky, the next morning, with a
gentle breeze from the south-west, or about abeam ; our course
being about south-east The look-out at the mast-head, after

122 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
having carefully scanned the horizon in every direction, in
formed the officer of the deck, that there was nothing in sight
The awnings were soon spread, and the usual routine of a man-
of-war, at sea, commenced. The crew was mustered, in clean
apparel, at quarters, at nine o'clock, and a division of guns
was exercised, the rest of the crew being dispersed in idle
groups about the deck ; the old salts overhauling their bags,
and seeing that their tobacco, and soap, and needles, and thread
were all right for the cruise, and the youngsters discussing
their recent escape. At noon, we found ourselves in latitude
26° 18', and longitude 87° 23'. I had provided myself with
two excellent chronometers, before leaving New Orleans, and
having had much experience as a master, I was always enabled,
when the sun was visible, at the proper hours, to fix my posi
tion within from a quarter, to half a mile, or, what is the same
thing, within from one to two seconds of time. I appointed
my junior lieutenant, navigating officer, pro forma, but always
navigated my ship, myself. I had every confidence in the
ability of my young lieutenant, but I always found, that I
slept better, when surrounded by danger, after I had fixed the
position of my ship, by my own observations.
We held on our course, during the rest of this day, without
the least incident to break in upon the monotony — not so
much as a sail having been descried in any direction ; not that
we were in want of excitement, for we had scarcely regained
our equilibrium from the excitement of the previous day.
An occasional swash of the sea against the ship's sides, the
monotonous beating of time by her propeller, an occasional
order from the officer of the deck, and the routine " calls " of
the boatswain's whistle, as dinner, or grog was piped, were the
only sounds audible, beyond the usual hum of conversation
among the crew.
If the reader will permit me, I will avail myself of this inter
val of calm before the storm, to introduce to him some of my
officers. This is indeed but a courtesy due him, as he is to be
a passenger in our midst. On the afternoon of our escape
from the Brooklyn, the officers of the ward-room were kind
enough to invite me to drink a glass of wine with them, in
honor of our success, and I will avail myself of this occasion

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 123
to make the presentations. I am seated at one end of the
long mess-table, and my first lieutenant at the other. The
first lieutenant, as the reader has already been informed, by an
inspection of the Sumter's muster-roll, is from Georgia. John
Mcintosh Kell is a descendant from one of the oldest families
in that State, having the blood of the Mclntoshes in his veins,
through one branch of his ancestors. He was bred in the old
Navy, and my acquaintance with him commenced when he
was in trouble. He was serving as a passed midshipman, on
board the old sailing sloop Albany, and being ordered, on one
occasion, to perform what he considered a menial duty, he
resisted the order. Some of his brother passed midshipmen
were in the same category. A court-martial resulted, and, at
the request of the young gentlemen, I defended them. The
relation of counsel, and client, as a matter of course, brought
us close together, and I discovered that young Kell had in
him, the making of a man. So far from being a mutineer, he
had a high respect for discipline, and had only resisted obe
dience to the order in question, from a refined sense of gentle
manly propriety. The reader will see these qualities in him,
now, as he sits opposite me. He has developed since the time
I speak of, into the tall, well-proportioned gentleman, of mid
dle age, with brown, wavy hair, and a magnificent beard, in
clining to red. See how scrupulously neat he is dressed, and
how suave, and affable he is, with his associates. His eye is
now beaming gentleness, and kindness. You will scarcely
recognize him, as the same man, when you see him again on
deck, arraigning some culprit, "at the mast," for a breach of
discipline. When Georgia seceded, Lieutenant Kell was well
on his way to the commander's list, in the old Navy, but he
would have scorned the commission of an admiral, if it had
been tendered him as the price of treason to his State. To
have brought a Federal ship into the waters of Georgia, and
ravaged her coasts, and fired upon her people, would have
been, in his eyes, little less than matricide. He forthwith re
signed his commission, and joined his fortunes with those ot
his people. When it was decided, at Montgomery, that I was
to have the Sumter, I at once thought of Kell, and, at my re
quest, he was ordered to the ship — Commodore Tattnall, with

124 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
whom he had been serving on the Georgia coast, giving him
up very reluctantly.
Seated next to myself, on my right hand, Is Lieutenant
Robert T. Chapman. This gentleman is from Alabama ; he is
several years younger than Kell, not so tall, but stouter, in
proportion. His complexion, as you see, is dark, and he has
jet-black hair, and eyes — the latter remarkable for their bril
liancy, and for a twinkle of fun,' and good humor. Chapman
is the life of the mess-table ; always in a pleasant mood, and
running over with wit and anecdote. Though he has a fash
ion, as you see, of wearing his hair closely cropped, he is the
very reverse of a round-head, being a preux chevalier, as ready
for the fight as the dance, and having a decided preference for
the music of the band, over that of " Old Hundred." He is
the second lieutenant, and has, consequently, the easiest berth
among the sea lieutenants, being relieved from the drudgery
of the first lieutenant, and exempt from the calls for extra duty,
that are sometimes made upon the junior lieutenant. When
his watch is over, and his division drilled, he is a gentleman
at large, for the rest of the day. You see by his build — a
slight inclination to corpulency — that he is fond of his ease,
and that he has fallen as naturally into the place of second
lieutenant, as if it had been cut out for him on purpose. He
also was bred in the old Navy, and was found to be of the
pure metal, instead of the dross, when the touchstone of
secession came to be applied to separate the one from the
other. At Lieutenant Kell's right hand, sits Lieutenant John M.
Stribling, the third lieutenant, and a native of the glorious little
State of South Carolina. He is of medium height, somewhat
spare in build, with brown hair, and whiskers, and mild and
expressive blue eyes ; the mildness of the eye only dwelling
in it, however, in moments of repose. When excited at the
thought of wrong, or oppression, it has a peculiar stare of firm
ness, as much as to say,
"This rock shall fly,
From its firm base as soon as I."
Striblmg was also an Sieve of the old Navy, and, though tied

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 125
to it, by cords that were hard to sever, he put honor above
place, in the hour of trial, and came South.
Next to Stribling, sits Lieutenant William E. Evans, the
fourth and junior lieutenant of the ship. He is not more than
twenty-four years of age, slim in person, of medium height,
and rather delicate-looking, though not from ill health. His
complexion is dark, and he has black hair, and eyes. He has
a very agreeable, riante expression about his face, and is some
what given to casuistry, being fond of an argument, when
occasion presents itself. He is but recently out of the Naval
Academy, at Annapolis, and like all new graduates, feels the
freshness of academic honors. He is a native of South Caro
lina, and a brother of General Evans of that State, who so
greatly distinguished himself, afterward, at the battle of
Manassas, and on other bloody fields.
H the reader will now cast his eye toward the centre of the
table, on my right hand, he will see two gentlemen, both with
black hair and eyes, and both somewhat under middle size,
conversing together. These are Dr. Francis L. Gait, the Sur
geon, and Mr. Henry Myers, the Paymaster, both from the old
service ; the former a native of Virginia, and the latter a native
of South Carolina ; and opposite these, are the Chief Engineer,
and Marine Officer, — Mr. Miles J. Freeman, and Lieutenant B.
Howell, the latter a brother-in-law of Mr. Jefferson Davis, our
honored President. I have thus gone the circuit of the ward
room. All these officers, courteous reader, will make the cruise
with us, and if you will inspect the adjoining engraving, and
are a judge of character, after the rules of Lavater and Spurz-
heim, you will perceive in advance, how much reason I shall
have to be proud of them.
We may now take up our narrative, from the point at which
it was interrupted, for the purpose of these introductions. Day
passed into night, and with the night came the brilliant comet
again, lighting us on our way over the waste of waters. The
morning of the second of July, our second day out, dawned
clear, and beautiful, the Sumter still steaming in an almost
calm sea, with nothing to impede her progress. At eight a.m.
we struck the north-east trade-wind, and made sail in aid of
steam, giving orders to the engineer, to make the most of his
fuel, by carrying only a moderate head of steam. Toward

126 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
noon, a few trade squalls passed over us, with light and refresh
ing showers of rain ; just enough to cause me to take shelter,
for a few moments, under the lee of the spanker. At noon,
we observed in latitude 23° 4' showing that we had crossed
the tropic — the longitude being 86° 13'. The reader has
seen that we have been steering to the S. E., diminishing both
latitude, and longitude, and if he will look upon the chart of
the Caribbean Sea, he will perceive, that we are approaching
Cape San Antonio, the south end of the island of Cuba ; but he
can scarcely conjecture what sort of a cruise I had marked out
for myself. The Secretary of the Navy, in those curt sailing
orders which we have already seen, had considerately left me
carte blanche as to cruising-ground, but as I was " to do the
greatest injury to the enemy's commerce, in the shortest time,"
the implication was, that I should, at once, throw myself into
some one of the chief thoroughfares of his trade. I accord
ingly set my eye on Cape St. Roque, in Brazil, which may be
said to be the great turning-point of the commerce of the
world. My intention was to make a dash, of a few days, at the
enemy's ships on the south side of Cuba, coal at some con
venient point, stretch over to Barbadoes, coal again, and then
strike for the Brazilian coast. It is with this view, that the
Sumter is now running for the narrow outlet, that issues from
the Gulf of Mexico, between Cape Antonio, and the opposite
coast of Yucatan. I shaped my course for the middle of this
passage, but about midnight, made the light of Cape Antonio
right ahead, showing that I had been drifted, northward, by a
current setting, at the rate of from three fourths of a mile, to a
mile per hour. We drew off a little to the southward, doubled
the Cape, with the light still in view, and at nine o'clock, the
next morning, we found ourselves off Cape Corrientes.
The weather had now become cloudy, and we had a fresh
trade-wind, veering from E. to E. S. E., with some sea on. At
meridian, we observed in latitude 21° 29', the longitude being
84° 06'. Running along the Cuban coast, between it and the
Isle of Pines, of piratical memory, at about three in the after
noon, the cry of "Sail ho!" was heard from the mast-head, for
the first time since we had left the mouths of the Mississippi.
The look-out, upon being questioned, said that he saw two

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 127
sail, and that they were both right ahead. We came up with
them, very rapidly, for they were standing in our direction,
and when we had approached within signal distance, we showed
them the English colors. The nearest sail, which proved to
be a brig, hoisted the Spanish colors, and, upon being boarded,
was found to be from Cadiz, bound for Vera Cruz. She was
at once permitted to proceed. Resuming our course, we now
stood for the other sail, which, by this time, there was no mis
taking ; she being plainly American, although she had not yet
shown her colors. A gun soon brought these to the peak,
when, as I had expected, the stars and stripes unfolded them
selves, gracefully, to the breeze. Here was our first prize, and
a most welcome sight it was. The capture, I find, upon look
ing over my notes, was recorded in a few lines, barren of all
incident, or remark, except only that the doomed ship was
from the " Black Republican State of Maine ;" but I well
recollect the mingled impressions of joy, and sadness, that
were made upon me by the event. The " old flag," which I
had been accustomed to worship, in my youth, had a criminal
look, in my eyes, as it ascended to the peak of that ship. How
strangely we sometimes invest mere inanimate things with the
attributes of life ! When I had fired the gun, as a command
to the stranger to heave to, and show his colors, I had hauled
down the English, and hoisted my own flag. The stars and
stripes seemed now to look abashed in the presence of the new
banner of the South ; pretty much as a burglar might be sup
posed to look, who had been caught in the act of breaking into
a gentleman's house ; but then the burglar was my relative,
and had erst been my friend — how could I fail to feel some
pity for him, along with the indignation, which his crime had
excited ? The boarding officer soon returned from the cap
tured ship, bringing with him the master, with his papers.
There were no knotty points of fact or law to embarrass my
decision. There were the American register, and clearance,
and the American character impressed upon every plank and
spar of the ship. Nothing could exceed the astonishment of
the master, who was rather a mild, amiable-looking gentle
man, not at all disposed to go either into hysterics, or the
heroics. "A clap of thunder in a cloudless sky could not

128 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
have surprised me more," said he to me as I overhauled hia
papers, " than the appearance of the Confederate flag in these
seas." " My duty is a painful one," said I, " to destroy so noble
a ship as yours, but I must discharge it without vain regrets ;
and as for yourself, you will only have to do, as so many thou
sands have done before you, submit to the fortunes of war —
yourself and your crew will be well treated on board my
ship." The prize bore the name of The Golden Rocket, was a
fine bark, nearly new, of about seven hundred tons, and was
seeking, in ballast, a cargo of sugar in some one of the Cuban
ports. Boats were dispatched to bring off the crew, and such
provisions, cordage, sails, and paints as the different depart-
nienis of my ship stood in need of, and at about ten o'clock
at night, the order was given to apply the torch to her.
The wind, by this time, had become very light, and the
night was pitch-dark — the darkness being of that kind, graph
ically described by old sailors, when they say, you may cut it
with a knife. I regret that I cannot give to the reader the picture
of the burning ship, as it presented itself to the silent, and
solemn watchers on board the Sumter as they leaned over her
hammock rails to witness it. The boat, which had been sent
on this errand of destruction, had pulled out of sight, and her
oars ceasing to resound, we knew that she had reached the
doomed ship, but so impenetrable was the darkness, that no
trace of either boat, or ship could be seen, although the Sum
ter was distant only a few hundred yards. Not a sound could
be heard on board the Sumter, although her deck was crowded
with men. Every one seemed busy with his own thoughts,
and gazing eagerly in the direction of the doomed ship, en
deavoring, in vain, to penetrate the thick darkness. Suddenly,
one of the crew exclaimed, " There is the flame ! She is on fire ! "
The decks of this Maine-built ship were of pine, calked with
old-fashioned oakum, and paid with pitch ; the wood-work of
the cabin was like so much tinder, having been seasoned by
many voyages to the tropics, and the forecastle was stowed
with paints, and oils. The consequence was, that the flame was
not long in kindling, but leaped, full-grown, into the air, in a
very few minutes after its first faint glimmer had been seen.
The boarding officer, to do his work more effectually, had ap-

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 129
plied the torch simultaneously in three places, the cabin, the
mainhold, and the forecastle ; and now the devouring flames
rushed up these three apertures, with a fury which nothing
could resist. The burning ship, with the Sumter's boat in the
act of shoving off from her side ; the Sumter herself, with her
grim, black sides, lying in repose like some great sea-monster,
gloating upon the spectacle, and the sleeping sea, for there was
scarce a ripple upon the water, were all brilliantly lighted.
The indraught into the burning ship's holds, and cabins, added
every moment new fury to the flames, and now they could be
heard roaring like the fires of a hundred furnaces, in full blast.
The prize ship had been laid to, with her main- topsail to the mast,
and all her light sails, though clewed up, were flying loose about
the yards. The forked tongues of the devouring element, leap
ing into the rigging, newly tarred, ran rapidly up the shrouds,
first into the tops, then to the topmast-heads, thence to the top
gallant, and royal mast-heads, and in a moment more to the
trucks ; and whilst this rapid ascent of the main current of
fire was going on, other currents had run out upon the yards,
and ignited all the sails. A top-gallant sail, all on fire, would
now fly off from the yard, and sailing leisurely in the direc
tion of the light breeze that was fanning, rather than blowing,
break into bright, and sparkling patches of flame, and settle,
or rather silt into the sea. The yard would then follow, and
not being wholly submerged by its descent into the sea, would
retain a portion of its flame, and continue to burn, as a floating
brand, for some minutes. At one time, the intricate net-work
of the cordage of the burning ship was traced, as with a pen
cil of fire, upon the black sky beyond, the many threads of
flame twisting, and writhing, like so many serpents that had
received their death wounds. The mizzen-mast now went by
the board, then the fore-mast, and in a few minutes afterward,
the great main-mast tottered, reeled, and fell over the ship's
side into the sea, making a noise like that of the sturdy oak
of the forests when it falls by the stroke of the axeman
By the light of this flambeau, upon the lonely and silent sea,
lighted of the passions of bad men who should have been our
brothers, the Sumter, having aroused herself from her dream of
vengeance, and run up her boats, moved forward on her course.

130 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
The captain jf the Golden Rocket watched the destruction of
his ship from the quarter-deck of the Sumter, apparently with
the calm eye of a philosopher, though, doubtless, he felt the
emotions which the true sailor always feels, when he looks
upon the dying agonies of his beloved ship, whether she be
broken up by the storm, or perish in any other way.
The flag! what was done with the "old flag"? It was
marked with the day, and the latitude and longitude of the
capture, and consigned to the keeping of the signal quarter
master, who prepared a bag for its reception ; and when this
bag was full, he prepared another, and another, as the cruise
progressed, and occasion required. It was the especial pride
of this veteran American seaman to count over his trophies,
and when the weather was fine, he invariably asked permis
sion of the officer of the deck, under pretence of damage from
moths, to " air " his flags ; and as he would bend on his signal-
halliards, and throw them out to the breeze, one by one, his
old eye would glisten, and a grim smile of satisfaction would
settle upon his sun-burned, and weather-beaten features. This
was our practice also on board the Alabama, and when that
ship was sunk in the British channel, in her engagement with
the enemy's ship Kearsarge, as the reader will learn in due
time, if he has the patience to follow me in these memoirs, we
committed to the keeping of the guardian spirits of that famous
old battle-ground, a great many bags-full of " old flags," to be
stored away in the caves of the sea, as mementos that a nation
once lived whose naval officers prized liberty more than the
false memorial of it, under which they had once served, and
who were capable, when it became
"Hate's polluted rag,"
of tearing it down.
The prisoners — what did we do with them? The captain
was invited to mess in the ward-room, and when he was after
ward landed, the officers generously made him up a purse to
supply his immediate necessities. The crew was put into a
mess by themselves, with their own cook, and was put on a
footing, with regard to rations, with the Sumter's own men,

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 131
We were making war upon the enemy's commerce, but not
upon his unarmed seamen. It gave me as much pleasure to
treat these with humanity, as it did to destroy his ships, and
one of the most cherished recollections which I have brought
out of a war, which, in some sense, may be said to have been
a civil war, is, that the "pirate," whom the enemy denounced,
with a pen dipped in gall, and with a vocabulary of which
decent people should be ashamed, set that same enemy the
example, which he has failed to follow, of treating prisoners qf
war, according to the laws of war.

CHAPTER XIII.
EAPID WORK  SEVEN PRIZES IN TWO DAYS, — THE
SUMTER MAKES HER FIRST PORT, AND WHAT OC
CURRED THERE.
WE burned the Golden Rocket, as has been seen, on the 3d
of July. The next day was the "glorious Fourth" —
once glorious, indeed, as the day on which a people broke the
chains of a government which had bound them against their
will, and vindicated the principle of self-government as an in
alienable right; but since desecrated by the same people, who
have scorned, and spat upon the record made by their fathers,
and repudiated, as a heresy fraught with the penalties of trea
son, the inalienable right for which their fathers struggled.
The grand old day belonged, of right, to us of the South, for
we .still venerated it, as hallowed by our fathers, and were en
gaged in a second revolution, to uphold, and defend the doc
trines which had been proclaimed in the first, but we failed to
celebrate it on board the Sumter. We could not help associat
ing it with the "old flag," which had now become a sham and
a deceit ; with the wholesale robberies which had been com
mitted upon our property, and with the villification and abuse
which had been heaped upon our persons by our late co-part
ners, for a generation and more. The Declaration of Indepen
dence had proved to be a specious mask, under which our
loving brethren of the North had contrived to draw us into a
co-partnership with them, that they might be the better en
abled, in the end, to devour us. How could we respect it, in
such a conneotion? Accordingly, the Captain of the Sumter
was not invited to dine in the ward-room, on the time-honored
day, nor was there any extra glass of grog served to the crew,
as had been the custom in the old service.
The weather still continued cloudy, with a few rain squalls
132

MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT. 133
passing with the trade wind, during the morning. I had
turned into my cot, late on the previous night, and was still
sleeping soundly, when, at daylight, an officer came below to
inform me, that there were two sails in sight from the mast
head. We were steaming, as before, up the south side of
Cuba, with the land plainly in sight, and soon came close
enough to distinguish that the vessels ahead were both brig-
antines, and probably Americans. There being no occasion to
resort to ruse, or stratagem, as the wind was light, and there
was no possibility of the ships running away from us, we
showed them at once the Confederate colors, and at the same
time fired a blank cartridge to heave them to. They obeyed
our signal, promptly, and came to the wind, with their foretop-
sails aback, and the United States colors at their peaks. When
within a few hundred yards, we stopped our engine, and
lowered, and sent a boat on board of them — the boarding
officer remaining only a few minutes on board of each, and
bringing back with him, their respective masters, with their
ships' papers. Upon examination of these, it appeared that.
one of the brigantines was called the Cuba, and the other the-
Machias; that they were both laden with sugar and molasses,
for English ports, and that they had recently come out of the
port of Trinidad-de-Cuba. Indeed the recency of their sail
ing was tested, by the way in which their stern-boats were gar
landed, with festoons of luscious bananas, and pine-apples, and
by sundry nets filled with golden-hued oranges — all of which
was very tempting to the eyes and olfactories of men, who had
recently issued from a blockaded port, in which such luxuries
were tabooed. The cargoes of these small vessels being neu
tral, as certified by the papers — and indeed of this there could
be little doubt, as they were going from one neutral port to
another — I could not burn the vessels as I had done the
Golden Rocket, and so after transferring prize crews to them,
which occupied us an hour or two, we took them both in tow,
and steamed away for Cienfuegos — it being my intention to
test the disposition of Spain toward us, in this matter of
taking in prizes. England and France had issued procla
mations, prohibiting both belligerents, alike, from bringing
prizes into their ports, but Spain had not yet spoken, and

134 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
I had hopes that she might be induced to pursue a different
course. Nothing worthy of note occurred during the rest of this
day ; we steamed leisurely along the coast, making about five
knots an hour. Finding our speed too much diminished, by
the towage of two heavily laden vessels, we cast off one of
them — the Cuba — during the night and directed the prize-
master to make sail, and follow us into port. The Cuba did
not rejoin us, and we afterward learned through the medium
of the enemy's papers, that she had been recaptured by her
crew. I had only sent a midshipman and four men on board
of her as a prize crew; and the midshipman incautiously
going aloft, to look out for the land, as he was approaching
his port, and a portion of his prize crew proving treacherous —
they were not native Americans I am glad to say — he was
fired upon by the master, and crew of the brig, who had got
ten possession of the revolvers of the prize crew, and com
pelled to surrender, after defending himself the best he could,
and being wounded in one or two places. The vessel then
changed her course and made haste to get out of the Carib
bean Sea.
The morning of the fifth dawned cloudy, with the usual
moderate trade-wind. It cleared toward noon, and at two
p. M. we crossed the shoal off the east end of the Jardinillos
reef, in from seven to five fathoms of water. The sea, by this
time, had become quite smooth, and the rays of a bright sun
penetrated the clear waters to the very bottom of the shoal,
revealing everything to us, as clearly as though the medium
through which we were viewing it were atmosphere instead of
water. Every rock, sea-shell, and pebble lying at the bottom
of the sea were distinctly visible to us, and we could see the
little fish darting into their holes, and hiding-places, as the
steamer ploughed her way through their usually quiet domain.
It was quite startling to look over the side, so shallow did
the waters appear. The chart showed that there was no dan
ger, and the faithful lead line, in the hands of a skilful sea
man, gave us several fathoms of water to spare, and yet one
could hardly divest himself of the belief, that at the next
moment the steamer would run aground.

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 135
Crossing this shoal, we now hauled up N. E. by N., for the
Cienfuegos lighthouse. As we approached the lights, we de
scried two more sail in the south-east, making an offing with all
diligence, to which we immediately gave chase. They were
eight or nine miles distant from the land, and to facilitate our
pursuit, we cast off our remaining tow, directing the prize-
master to heave to, off the lighthouse, and await our return.
We had already captured three prizes, in twenty-four hours,
and, as here were probably two more, I could perceive that my
crew were becoming enamoured of their business, pretty much
as the veteran fox-hunter does in view of the chase. They
moved about with great alacrity, in obedience to orders; the
seamen springing aloft to furl the sails like so many squirrels,
and the firemen below sending up thick volumes of black
smoke, from their furnaces. The Sumter, feeling the renewed
impulse of her engines, sprang forward in pursuit of the
doomed craft ahead, as if she too knew what was going on.
We had just daylight enough left to enable us to accomplish
our purpose; an hour or two later, and at least one of the ves
sels might have escaped. Coming up, first with one, and then
the other, we hove them to, successively, by " hail," and brought
the masters on board. They both proved to be brigantines,
and were American, as we had supposed : — one, the Ben. Dun
ning, of Maine, and the other, the Albert Adams, of Massachu
setts. They had come out of the port of Cienfuegos, only a
few hours before, were both sugar laden, and their cargoes
were documented as Spanish property. We hastily threw prize
crews on board of them, and directed the prize masters to stand
in for the light, still in sight, distant about twelve miles, and
hold on to it until daylight. It was now about ten p. M.
Some appeal was made to me by the master of one of the
brigantines, in behalf of his wife and a lady companion of
hers, who were both invalids from the effects of yellow fever,
which they had taken in Cienfuegos, and from which they
were just convalescing. I desired him to assure the ladies,
that they should be treated with every tenderness, and respect,
and that if they desired it, I would send my surgeon to visit
them ; but I declined to release the captured vessel on this
account

136 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
We now stood in for the light ourselves, and letting our
steam go down, to the lowest point consistent with locomotion,
lay off, and on, until daylight. The next morning dawned
beautiful, and bright, as a tropic morning only can dawn. We
were close in under the land, and our prizes were lying around
us, moving to and fro, gracefully, to preserve their positions,
The most profuse, and luxuriant vegetation, of that peculiarly
dark green known only to the tropics, ran down to the very
water's edge; the beautiful little stream, on which Cienfuegos
lies, disembogued itself at the foot of the lighthouse perched
on a base of blackened limestone rock; and the neat, white
fort, that sat a mile or two up the river, was now glistening in
the rays of the sun, just lifting himself above the central
range of mountains. The sea breeze had died away during
the night, and been replaced by the land breeze, in obedience
to certain laws which prevail in all countries swept by the
trade- winds; and this land breeze, blowing so gently, as
scarce to disturb a tress on the brow of beauty, came laden
with the most delicious perfume of shrub and flower.
But, "what smoke is that we perceive, coming down the
river ? " said I, to the officer of the deck. " I will see in a
moment," said this active young officer, and springing several
ratlines up the rigging, to enable him to obtain a view over
the intervening foliage, he said, "There is a small steam -tug
coming down, with three vessels in tow, two barks and a
brig." "Can you make out the nationality of the ships in
tow? " I inquired. "Plainly," he replied, "they all have the
American colors set." Here was a piece of unlooked-for good
fortune. I had not reckoned upon carrying more than three,
or four prizes into port, but here were three others. But to
secure these latter, a little management would be necessary.
I could not molest them, within neutral jurisdiction, and the
neutral jurisdiction extended to a marine league, or three geo
graphical miles from the land. I immediately hoisted a Span
ish jack at the fore, as a signal for a pilot, and directed the
officer of the deck, to disarrange his yards, a little, cock-billing
this one, slightly, in one direction, and that one, in another, and
to send all but about a dozen men below, to give the strangeis the
idea that we were a common merchant steamer, instead of a ship

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 137
of war. To carry still further the illusion, we hoisted the Spanish
merchant flag. But the real trouble was with the prizes — two of
these must surely be recognized by their companions of only the
day before ! Luckily my prize masters took the hint I had
given ,them, and hoisted their respective flags, at the fore, for
a pilot also. This mystified the new-comers, and they con
cluded that the two brigantines, though very like, could not
be the same. Besides, there was a third brigantine in company,
and she evidently was a new arrival. And so they came on,
quite unsuspiciously, and when the little steamer had towed
them clear of the mouth of the harbor, she let them go, and
they made sail. The fellows worked very industriously, and
soon had their ships under clouds of canvas, pressing them out
to get an offing, before the sea breeze should come in. The
steam-tug, as soon as she had let go her tows, came alongside
the Sumter, and a Spanish pilot jumped on board of me, ask
ing me in his native tongue, if I desired to go up to town ;
showing that my ruse of the Spanish flag had even deceived
him. I replied in the affirmative, and said to him, pleasantly,
" but I am waiting a little, to take back those ships you have
just towed down." " Diablo ! " said he, " how can that be ; they
are Americanos del Norte, bound to Boston, and la Nueva York!"
"That is just what I want," said I, " we are Confederados, and
we have la guerra with the Americanos del Norte!" " Caram-
ba ! " said he, " that is good ; give her the steam quick, Cap
tain ! " " No, no," replied I, " wait a while. I must pay due
respect to your Queen, and the Captain-General ; they com
mand in these waters, within the league, and I must wait until
the ships have passed beyond that." I accordingly waited
until the ships had proceeded some five miles from the coast,
as estimated both by the pilot, and myself, when we turned the
Sumter's head seaward, and again removed the leash. She was
not long in pouncing upon the astonished prey. A booming
gun, and the simultaneous descent of the Spanish, and ascent
of the Confederate flag to the Sumter's peak, when we had
approached within about a mile of them, cleared up the mys
tery of the chase, and brought the fugitives to the wind. In
half an hour more, their papers had been examined, prize
crews had been thrown on board of them, and they were

138 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
standing back in company with the Sumter, to rejoin the other
prizes. I had now a fleet of six sail, and when the sea breeze set in
next morning, which it did between nine and ten o'clock, I led
into the harbor, the fleet following. The three newly captured
vessels were the bark West Wind, of Rhode Island; the
bark Louisa Kilham, of Massachusetts, and the brigantine
Naiad, of New York. They had all cargoes of sugar, which
were covered by certificates of neutral property. When the
Sumter came abreast of the small fort, which has already
been noticed, we were surprised to see the sentinels on post
fire a couple of loaded muskets, the balls of which whistled
over our heads, and to observe them making gestures, indicat
ing that we must come to anchor. This we immediately did ;
but the prizes, all of which had the United States colors flying,
were permitted to pass, and they sped on their way to the town,
some miles above, as they had been ordered. When we had let
go our anchor, I dispatched Lieutenant Evans to the fort, to call
on the Commandant, and ask for an explanation of his conduct,
in bringing us to. The explanation was simple enough. He
did not know what to make of the new-born Confederate flag.
He had never seen it before. It did not belong to any of the
nations of the earth, of which he had any knowledge, and we
might be a buccaneer for aught he knew. In the afternoon,
the Commandant himself came on board to visit me, and inform
me, on the part of the Governor of Cienfuegos, with whom he
had communicated, that I might proceed to the town, in the
Sumter, if I desired. We drank a glass of wine together, and
I satisfied him, that I had not come in to carry his fort by
storm — which would have been an easy operation enough, as
he had only about a corporal's guard under his command — or
to sack the town of Cienfuegos, after the fashion of the Drakes,
and other English sea-robbers, who have left so vivid an
impression upon Spanish memory, as to make Spanish com
mandants of small forts, cautious of all strange craft.
It had only been a week since the Sumter had run the
blockade of New Orleans, and already she was out of fuel !
having only coal enough left for about twenty-four hours
steaming. Here was food for reflection. Active operations

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 139
which would require the constant use of steam, would never
do ; for, by-and-by, when the enemy should get on my track,
it would be easy for him to trace me from port to port, if I
went into port once a week. I must endeavor to reach some
cruising-ground, where I could lie in wait for ships, under
sail, and dispense with the use of steam, except for a few hours,
at a time, for the purpose of picking up such prizes, as I could
not decoy within reach of my guns. I was glad to learn from
the pilot, that there was plenty of coal to be had in Cienfuegos,
and I dispatched Lieutenant Chapman to town, in one of the
ship's cutters, for the double purpose of arranging for a sup
ply, and communicating with the Governor, on the subject of
my prizes, and the position which Spain was likely to occupy,
during the war. The following letter addressed by me to hia
Excellency will explain the object I had in view in coming
into Cienfuegos, and the hopes I entertained of the conduct of
Spain, whose important island of Cuba lay, as it were, athwart
our main gateway to the sea — the Gulf of Mexico.
CONFEDERATE STATES STEAMER SUMTER, )
Island op Cuba, July 6, 1861. )
Sir : — I have the honor to inform you, of my arrival at the port
of Cienfuegos, with seven prizes of war. These vessels are the
brigantines Cuba* Machias, Ben. Dunning, Albert Adams, and
Naiad; and barks West Wind, and Louisa Kilham, property of
citizens of the United States, which States, as your Excellency is
aware, are waging an aggressive and unjust war upon the Confed
erate States, which I have the honor, with this ship under my com
mand, to represent. I have sought a port of Cuba, with these
prizes, with the expectation that Spain will extend to the cruisers
of the Confederate States, the same friendly reception that, in simi
lar circumstances, she would extend to the cruisers of the enemy ;
in other words, that she will permit me to leave the captured ves
sels within her jurisdiction, until they can be adjudicated by a
Court of Admiralty of the Confederate States. As a people main
taining a government de facto, and not only holding the enemy in
check, but gaining advantages over him, we are entitled to all the
rights of belligerents, and I confidently rely upon the friendly dis
position of Spain, who is our near neighbor, in tbe most important
of her colonial possessions, to receive us with equal and even-
handed justice, if not with the sympathy which our identity of
interests and policy, with regard to an important social and indus
trial institution, are so well calculated to inspire. A rule which would
* The Cuba was hourly expected to arrive, but, as the reader has seen, was
recaptured, and did not make her appearance.

140 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
exclude our prizes from her ports, during the war, although it
should be applied, in terms, equally to the enemy, would not, I
respectfully suggest, be an equitable, or just rule. The basis of
such a rule, as indeed, of all the conduct of a neutral during war, is
equal and impartial justice to all the belligerents, without inclining
to the side of either ; and this should be a substantial and practi
cal justice, and not exist in terms merely, which may be deceptive.
Now, a little reflection will, I think, show your Excellency that the
rule in question — the exclusion of the prizes of both belligerents
from neutral ports — cannot be applied in the present war, without
operating with great injustice to the Confederate States. It is well
known to your Excellency, that the United States are a manufac
turing and commercial people, whilst the Confederate States are an
agricultural people. The consequence of this dissimilarity of pur
suits was, that at the breaking out of the war, the former had within
their limits, and control, almost all the naval force of the old gov
ernment. This naval force they have dishonestly seized, and turned
against the Confederate States, regardless of the just claims of the
latter to a large proportion of it, as tax-payers, out of whose con
tributions to the common Treasury it was created. The United
States, by this disseizin of the property of the Confederate States,
are enabled, in the first months of the war, to blockade all the ports
of the latter States. In this condition of things, observe the prac
tical working of the rule I am discussing, whatever may be the seem
ing fairness of its terms. It will be admitted that we have equal
belligerent rights with the enemy. One of the most important of
these rights, in a war against a commercial people, is that which I
have just exercised, of capturing his property, on the high seas. But
how are the Confederate States to enjoy, to its full extent, the
benefit of this right, if their cruisers are not permitted to enter neu
tral ports, with their prizes, and retain them there, in safe custody,
until they can be condemned, and disposed of? They cannot send
them into their own ports, for the reason already mentioned, viz. :
that those ports are hermetically sealed by the agency of their own
ships, forcibly wrested from them. If they cannot send them intc
neutral ports, where are they to send them ? Nowhere. Except
for the purpose of destruction, therefore, their right of capture
would be entirely defeated by the adoption of the rule in question,
whilst the opposite belligerent would not be inconvenienced by it,
at all, as all his own ports are open to him. I take it for granted,
that Spain will not think of acting upon so unjust, and unequal
a rule. But another question arises, indeed has already arisen, in the
cases of some of the very captures which I have brought into port.
The cargoes of several of the vessels are claimed, as appears by
certificates found among the papers, as Spanish property. This
fact cannot, of course, be verified, except by a judicial proceeding,
in the Prize Courts of the Confederate States. But if the prizes
¦cannot be sent either into the ports of the Confederate States, or

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 141
inlo neutral ports, how can this verification be made? Further —
supposing there to be no dispute about the title to the cargo, how
is it to be unladen, and delivered to the neutral claimant, unless
the captured ship can make a port ? Indeed, one of the motives
which influenced me in making a Spanish colonial port, was the
fact that these cargoes were claimed by Spanish subjects, whom I
was desirous of putting to as little inconvenience as possible, in the
unlading and reception of their property, should it be restored to
them, by a decree of the Confederate Courts. It will be for your
Excellency to consider, and act upon these grave questions, touch
ing alike the interests of both our governments.
I have the honor to be, &c, &c, Raphael Semmes.
I did not expect much to grow immediately out of the
above communication. Indeed, as the reader will probably
surmise, I had written it more for the eye of the Spanish Pre
mier, than for that of the Governor of a small provincial town,
who had no diplomatic power, and whom I knew to be timid,
as are all the subordinate officers of absolute governments. I
presumed that the Governor would telegraph it to the Captain-
General, at Havana, and that the latter would hold the subject
in abeyance, until he could hear from the Home Government.
Nor was I disappointed in this expectation, for Lieutenant Chap
man returned from Cienfuegos, the next morning, and brought
me intelligence to this effect.
To dispose of the questions raised, without the necessity of
again returning to them, the reader is informed, that Spain, in
due time, followed the lead of England and France, in the mat
ter of excluding prizes from her ports; and that my prizes
were delivered — to whom, do you think, reader? You will
naturally say, to myself, or my duly appointed agent, with in
structions to take them out of the Spanish port. This was the
result to be logically expected. The Captain-General had re
ceived them, in trust, as it were, to abide the decision of his
Government. If that decision should be in favor of receiving
the prizes of both belligerents, well ; if not, I expected to be
notified to take them away. But nothing was further, it seems,
from the intention of the Captain-General, than this simple and
just proceeding ; for as soon as the Queen's proclamation was
received, he deliberately handed back all my prizes to their
original owners! This was so barefaced a proceeding, that

142 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
it was necessary to allege some excuse for it, and the ex
cuse given was, that I had violated the neutral waters of
Cuba, and captured my three last prizes within the marine
league — my sympathizing friend, the Spanish pilot, and an
English sailor, on board the tug, being v®uched as the re
spectable witnesses to the fact! Such was the power of
Spanish gold, and Yankee unscrupulousness in the use of it.
When I heard of these transactions a few months afterward,
I planned a very pretty little quarrel between the Confed
erate States and Spain, in case the former should be success
ful in establishing their independence. Cuba, I thought,
would make us a couple of very respectable States, with her
staples of sugar and tobacco, and with her similar system of
labor; and if Spain refused to foot our bill for the robbery
of these vessels, we would foot it ourselves, at her expense.
But poor old Spain ! I ought perhaps to forgive thee, for thou
wast afterward kicked, and cuffed by the very Power to
which thou didst truckle — the Federal steamers of war making
a free use of thy coast of the "Ever Faithful Island of Cuba,"
chasing vessels on shore, and burning them, in contempt of
thy jurisdiction, and in spite of thy remonstrances. And
the day is not far distant, when the school-ma'am and the
carpet-bag missionary will encamp on thy plantations, and
hold joint conventicles with thy freedmen, in the interests
of Godliness, and the said ma'am and missionary.
Great excitement was produced, as may be supposed, by the
arrival of the Sumter, with her six prizes, at the quiet little
town of Cienfuegos. Lieutenant Chapman was met by a host
of sympathizers, and carried to their club, and afterward to
the house of one of the principal citizens, who would not hear of
his spending the night at a hotel, and installed as his honored
guest. Neighbors were called in, and the night was made merry,
to a late hour, by the popping of champagne-corks and the
story, and the song ; and when the festivities had ceased, my
tempest-tossed lieutentant was laid away in the sweetest and
whitest of sheets, to dream of the eyes of the houries of the
household, that had beamed upon him so kindly, that he was
in danger of forgetting that he was a married man. For weeks
afterward, his messmates could get nothing out of him, but some-

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 143
thing abo ut Don this, and Dona that. There was a hurrying to and
fro, too, of the stewards, and mess boys, as the cutter in which he
returned, came alongside of the ship, for there were sundry
boxes, marked Bordeaux, and Cette, and sundry baskets
branded with anchors ; and there were fruits, and flowers, and
squalling chickens to be passed up.
The principal coffee-house of the place had been agog with
wonders ; the billiard-players had rested idly on their cues, to
listen to Madam Rumor with her thousand tongues — how the
fort had fired into the Sumter, and how the Sumter had fired
back at the fort, and how the matter had finally been settled
by the Pirata and the Commandante, over a bottle of champagne.
Yankee captains, and consignees, supercargoes, and consuls
passed in, and out, in consultation, like so many ants whose
nest had been trodden upon, and nothing could be talked of
but freights, and insurance, with, and without the war risk ;
bills of lading, invoices, consul's certificates to cover cargoes,
and last, though not least, where the d — 1 all the Federal gun
boats were, that this Confederate hawk should be permitted to
make such a flutter in the Yankee dove-cot.
10

CHAPTER XIY.
THE SUMTER ON THE WING AGAIN  IS PUT UNDER 8AH
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 fol
lowing 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. j
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, touch
ing the property of the vessels, and cargoes ; and ma-king 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. 144

MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT. 145
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 pre
pare for sea, with some dispatch, as there was a line of tele
graph, 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 satisfac
tion 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

146 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
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, uncon
scious 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 1, 1861. j"
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 Gov
ernor, 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

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 147
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 bis^
cuit" 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 Cay
mans, 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 navi
gators on their guard.
The morning of the ninth of July dawned clear, and beau
tifully, 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
jAunged into, and struggled with them, in her vain attempt

148 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
to make headway. All the force of her engine was incapab.e
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 compara
tively 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 Barbado.es, 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' sup
ply of fuel,. Steaming was no longer to be thought of, and
we must make some port under sail. The Dutch island of
Curagoa 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 al6ft 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

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 149
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 chil
dren of the deep, when the pitiless hurricane was scourging their
beloved ship, and threatening her with destruction. The greater v
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 mo
ment, 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 ser
vice. 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 Colling woods, and no more such
venerable " bulwarks upon the deep," as the Victory, and the

150 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
Royal Sovereign. In future wars upon the ocean, all combat
ants 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 influ
ence 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 Curagoa, on the port bow. We doubled the north
west end of the island, at about four p. M. and hauling up on the

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 151
south side of it we soon brought the wind ahead, when it be
came necessary tu 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 perpendicu
larly 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 imme
diately 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 satis
fied, 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

152 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
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 frac
tion. They knew his tastes, and pandered to them, accord
ingly. 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 bel
ligerent 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 appear
ance 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 Cura-
50a, to any other place, where coal was to be had. I immedi
ately sent for Lieutenant Chapman, and directed him to pre
pare 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. j
His Excellency Governor Crol: —
I was surprised to receive, by the pilot, this morning, a message

DURING THE WAE BETWEEN THE STATES. 153
from your Excellency, to the effect that this ship would not be per
mitted to enter the harbor, unless she was in distress, as your Ex
cellency, had received orders from his Government not to admit
vessels of war of the Confederate States of America, to the hospi
tality 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 Confede
rate States Navy, for the purpose of an explanation. Your Ex
cellency 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 ad
mitted 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 dif
ferent 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 Confede
rate 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 tc
that held in New Amsterdam in colonial days, as described by
the renowned historian Diederick Knickerbocker, at which
Woutter Yan 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 Yirginia
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

154 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT.
gravity, all the arguments, pro and con, that were offered, and
weighed my despatch, along with the "recent order from Hol
land," 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 prac
tised 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 prox
imity, to the target. Sundry heads were seen immediately to
pop out of the windows of the chamber, and then to be with
drawn 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 ofthe 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.

CHAPTER XV.
THE SUMTER AT CURACOA  HER SURROUNDINGS 
PREPARATIONS FOR SEA, AND DEPARTURE — THE
CAPTURE OF OTHER PRIZES — PUERTO CABELLO, AND
WHAT OCCURRED THERE.
THE Sumter had scarcely swung to her anchors, in the
small land-locked harbor described, before she was sur
rounded by a fleet of bum-boats, laden with a profusion of
tropical fruits, and filled with men, and women, indifferently
— the women rather preponderating. These bum-boat women
are an institution in Curagoa; the profession descends from
mother to daughter, and time seems to operate no change
among them. It had been nearly a generation since I was last
at Curagoa. I was then a gay, rollicking young midshipman, in
the " old " Navy, and it seemed as though I were looking upon
the same faces, and listening to the same confusion of voices
as before. The individual women had passed away, of course,
but the bum-boat women remained. They wore the same
parti-colored handkerchiefs wound gracefully around their
heads, the same gingham or muslin dresses, and exposed simi
lar, if not the same, bare arms, and unstockinged legs. They
were admitted freely on board, with their stocks in trade, and
pretty soon Jack was on capital terms with them, converting
his small change into fragrant bananas, and blood-red oranges,
and replenishing his tobacco-pouch for the next cruise. As
Jack is a gallant fellow, a little flirtation was going on too
with the purchasing, and I was occasionally highly amused at
these joint efforts at trade and love-making. No one but a
bum-boat woman is ever a sailor's blanchiseuse, et par consequence
a number of well-filled clothes'-bags soon made their appear
ance, on deck, from the different apartments of the ship, and
were passed into the boats alongside. 165

156 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
These people all speak excellent English, though with a
drawl, which is not unmusical, when the speaker is a sprightly
young woman. Jack has a great fondness for pets, and no
wonder, poor fellow, debarred, as he is, from all family ties,
and with no place he can call his home, but his ship ; and
pretty soon my good-natured first lieutenant had been sedun,ed
into giving him leave to bring sundry monkeys, and parrots on
board, the former of which were now gambolling about the rig
ging, and the latter waking the echoes of the harbor with their
squalling. Such was the crowd upon our decks, and so serious
was the interruption to business, that we were soon obliged to
lay restrictions upon the bum-boat fleet, by prohibiting it from
coming alongside, except at meal - hours, which we always
designated by hoisting a red pennant, at the mizzen. It was
curious to watch the movements of the fleet, as these hours
approached. Some twenty or thirty boats would be lying
upon their oars, a few yards from the ship, each with from two
to half a dozen inmates, eagerly watching the old quarter
master, whose duty it was to hoist the pennant ; the women
chattering, and the parrots squalling, whilst the oarsmen were
poising their oars, that they might get the first stroke over
their competitors in the race. At length, away goes the flag 1
and then what a rushing and clattering, and bespattering until
the boats are alongside.
In an hour after our anchor had been let go, the business of
the ship, for the next few days, had all been arranged. The first
lieutenant had visited a neighboring ship-yard, and contracted
for a new foretop-mast, to supply the place of the old one which
had been sprung ; the paymaster had contracted for a supply
of coal, and fresh provisions, daily, for the crew, and for having
the ship watered ; the latter no unimportant matter, in this
rainless region, and I had sent an officer to call on the Gover
nor, with my card, being too unwell to make the visit, in per
son. Upon visiting the shore the next day, I found that we were
in a quasi enemy's territory, for besides the Federal Consul
before spoken of, a Boston man had intrenched himself in the
best hotel in the place, as proprietor, and was doing a thriving
business, far away from " war's alarms," and a New Yorker had
the monopolj of taking all the phizes of the staid old Dutchmen

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 157
— "John Smith, of New York, Photographer," hanging high
above the artist's windows, on a sign-board that evidently had
not been painted by a Curagoan. Mr. Smith had already taken
an excellent photograph of the Sumter, which he naively
enough told me, was intended for the New York illustrated
papers. If I had had ever so much objection, to having the
likeness of my ship hung up in such a "rogues' gallery," I had
no means of preventing it. Besides, it could do us but little
damage, in the way of identification, as we had the art of
disguising the Sumter so that we would not know her, our
selves, at half a dozen miles distance.
I was surprised, one morning, during our stay here, whilst I
was lounging, listlessly, in my cabin, making a vain attempt to
read, under the infliction of the caulkers overhead, who were
striking their caulking-irons with a vigor, and rapidity, that
made the tympanum of my ears ring again, at the announce
ment that Don somebody or other, the private secretary of
President Castro, desired to see me. The caulkers were sent
away, and his Excellency's private secretary brought below.
President Castro was one of those unfortunate South American
chiefs, who had been beaten in a battle of ragamuffins, and com
pelled to fly his country. He was President of Venezuela, and
had been deprived of his office, before the expiration of his
term, by some military aspirant, who had seated himself in the
presidential chair, instead, and was now in exile in Curagoa,
with four of the members of his cabinet. The object of the
visit of his secretary was to propose to me to reinstate the
exiled President, in his lost position, by engaging in a military
expedition, with him, to the mainland.
Here was a chance, now, for an ambitious man ! I might
become the Warwick of Venezuela, and put the crown on
another's head, if I might not wear it myself. I might hoist
my admiral's flag, on board the Sumter, and take charge of all
the piraguas, and canoes, that composed the Venezuelan navy,
whilst my colleague mustered those men in buckram, so graphi
cally described by Sir John Falstaff, and made an onslaught
upon his despoiler. But unfortunately for friend Castro, I was
like one of those damsels who had already plighted her faith
to another, before the new wooer appeared — I was not in the

158 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
market. I listened courteously, however, to what the secretary
had to say ; told him, that I felt flattered by the offer of his
chief, but that I was unable to accept it. " I cannot," I con
tinued, "consistently with my obligations to my own country,
engage in any of the revolutionary movements of other coun
tries." " But," said he, "Seflor Castro is the dejure President
of Venezuela, and you would be upholding the right in assist
ing him ; — can you not, at least, land us, with some arms and
ammunition, on the main land?" I replied that, " as a Confed
erate States officer, I could not look into dejure claims. These
questions were for the Venezuelans, themselves, to decide. The
only government I could know in Venezuela was the de facto
government, for the time being, and that, by his own showing,
was in the hands of his antagonists." Here the conversation
closed, and my visitor, who had the bearing and speech of a
cultivated gentleman, departed. The jottings of my diary for
the next few days, will perhaps now inform the reader, of our
movements, better than any other form of narrative.
July 19th. — Wind unusually blustering this morning, with
partial obscuration of the heavens. The engineers are busy,
overhauling and repairing damages to their engine and boil
ers ; the gunner is at work, polishing up his battery and ven
tilating his magazine, and the sailors aTe busy renewing rat
lines and tarring down their rigging. An English bark
entered the harbor to-day from Liverpool.
July 20th. — Painting and refitting ship ; got off the new fore-
topmast from the shore. It is a good pine stick, evidently
from our Southern States, and has been well fashioned. The
monthly packet from the island of St. Thomas arrived, to-day,
bringing newspapers from the enemy's country as late as the
26th of June. We get nothing new from these papers, except
that the Northern bee-hive is all agog, with the marching and
countermarching of troops.
July 21st. — Fresh trade- winds, with flying clouds — atmos-
phere highly charged with moisture, but no rain. This being
Sunday, we mustered and inspected the crew. The washer
women have decidedly improved the appearance of the young
officers, the glistening of white shirt-bosoms and collars hav
ing been somewhat unusual on board of the Sumter, of late.

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 159
The crew look improved too, by their change of diet, and the
use of antiscorbutics, which have been supplied to them, at
the request of the surgeon ; though some of them, having been
on shore, "on liberty," have brought off a blackened eye. No
matter — the more frequently Jack settles his accounts, on shore,
the fewer he will have to settle on board ship, in breach of
discipline. We read, at the muster, to-day, the finding and
sentence of the first court-martial, that has sat on board the
Sumter, since she reached the high seas.
July 22d. — Warped alongside a wharf, in the edge of the
town, and commenced receiving coal on board. Refitting, and
repainting ship. In the afternoon, I took a lonely stroll
through the town, mainly in the suburbs. It is a quaint, pic
turesque old place, with some few modern houses, but the
general air is that of dilapidation, and a decay of trade. The
lower classes are simple, and primitive in their habits, and but
little suffices to supply their wants. The St. Thomas packet
sailed, to-day, and, as a consequence, the Federal cruisers, in
and about that island, will have intelligence of our where
abouts, in four or five days. To mislead them, I have told the
pilot, and several gentlemen from the shore, in great confidence,
that I am going back to cruise on the coast of Cuba. The
packet will of course take that intelligence to St. Thomas.
July 23d. — Still coaling, refitting and painting. Weather
more cloudy, and wind not so constantly fresh, within the last
few days. Having taken sights for our chronometers, on the
morning after our arrival, and again to-day, I have been ena
bled to verify their rates. They are running very well. The
chronometer of the Golden Rocket proves to be a good instru
ment. We fix the longitude of Curacoa to be 68° 58' 30",
west of Greenwich.
July 24:th. — Sky occasionally obscured, with a moderate
trade-wind. Our men have all returned from their visits to
the shore, except one, a simple lad named Orr, who, as I
learn, has been seduced away, by a Yankee skipper, in port,
aided by the Boston hotel-keeper, and our particular friend,
the consul. As these persons have tampered with my whole
crew, I am gratified to know, that there has been but one trai
tor found among them.
11 /

160 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE 4.FLOAT.
We had now been a week in Curagoa, during whiVh timej
besides recruiting, and refreshing my crew, I had made all the
necessary preparations for another cruise. The ship had been
thoroughly overhauled, inside and out, and her coal-bunkers
were full of good English coal. It only remained for us to
put to sea. Accordingly, at twelve o'clock precisely, on the
day last above mentioned, as had been previously appointed,
the Sumter, bidding farewell to her new-made friends, moved
gracefully out of the harbor — this time, amid the waving of
handkerchiefs, in female hands, as well as of hats in the hands
of the males ; the quay being lined, as before, to see us depart.
The photographer took a last shot at the ship, as she glided
past his sanctum, and we looked with some little interest to
the future numbers of that " Journal of Civilization," vulgarly
yclept " Harper's Weekly," for the interesting portrait ; which
came along in due time, accompanied by a lengthy description,
veracious, of course, of the "Pirate."
Curagoa lies a short distance off the coast of Venezuela, be
tween Laguayra, and Puerto Cabello, and as both of these
places had some commerce with the United States, I resolved
to look into them. The morning after our departure found us
on a smooth sea, with a light breeze off the land. The moun
tains, back of Laguayra, loomed up blue, mystic, and majestic,
at a distance of about thirty miles, and the lookout, at the
mast-head, was on the qui vive for strange sails. He had not
to wait long. In the tropics, there is very little of that be
witching portion of the twenty-four hours, which, in other
parts of the world, is called twilight. Day passes into night,
and night into day, almost at a single bound. The rapidly
approaching dawn had scarcely revealed to us the bold out
line of the coast, above mentioned, when sail ho ! resounded
from the mast-head. The sail bore on our port-bow, and
was standing obliquely toward us. We at once gave chase,
and at half-past six A. M., came up with, and captured the
schooner Abby Bradford, from New York, bound for Puerto
Cabello. We knew our prize to be American, long before she showed
us her colors. She was a " down-East," fore-and-aft schooner.
and there are no other such vessels in the world. They are

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 161
as thoroughly marked, as the Puritans who build them, and
there is no more mistaking the " cut of their jib." The little
schooner was provision laden, and there was no attempt to
cover her cargo. The news of the escape of the Sumter had
not reached New York, at the date of her sailing, and the few
privateers that we had put afloat, at the beginning of the war,
had confined their operations to our own, and the enemy's
coasts. Hence the neglect of the owners of the Bradford, in
not providing her with some good English, or Spanish certifi
cates, protesting that her cargo was neutral. The " old flag "
was treated very tenderly on the present occasion. The
"flaunting lie," which Mr. Horace Greeley had told us, should
"insult no sunny sky," was hauled down, and stowed away in
the quartermaster's bag described a few pages back.
The Bradford being bound for Puerto Cabello, and that
port being but a short distance, under my lee, I resolved to
run down, with the prize, and try my hand with my friend
Castro's opponent, the de facto President of Venezuela, to see
whether I could not prevail upon him, to admit my prizes into
his ports. I thought, surely, an arrangement could be made
with some of these beggarly South American republics, the rev
enue of which did not amount to a cargo of provisions, annu
ally, and which were too weak, besides, to be worth kicking by
the stronger powers. What right had they, thought I, to be
putting on the airs of nations, and talking about acknowledg
ing other people, when they had lived a whole generation,
themselves, without the acknowledgment of Spain.
But, as the reader will see, I reckoned without my host. I
found that they had a wholesome fear of the Federal gun
boats, and that even their cupidity could not tempt them to be
just, or generous. If they had admitted my prizes into their
ports, I could, in the course of a few months, have made those
same ports more busy with the hum and thrift of commerce,
than they had ever been before ; I could have given a new
impulse to their revolutions, and made them rich enough to
indulge in the luxury of a pronunciamiento, once a week. The
bait was tempting, but there stood the great lion in their
path — the model Republic. The fact is, I must do this model
Republic the justice to say, that it not only bullied the little

*t2 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
South American republics, but all the world besides. Even
old John Bull, grown rich, and plethoric, and asthmatic and
gouty, trembled when he thought of his rich argosies, and of
the possibility of Yankee privateers chasing them.
Taking the Bradford in tow, then, we squared away for
Puerto Cabello, but darkness came on before we could reach
the entrance of the harbor, and we were compelled to stand
off and on, during the night — the schooner being cast off, and
taking care of herself, under sail. The Sumter lay on the still
waters, all night, like a huge monster asleep, with the light
from the light-house, on the battlements of the fort, glaring
full upon her, and in plain hearing of the shrill cry of
"Alerta!" from the sentinels. So quietly did she repose,
with banked fires, being fanned, but not moved, by the gentle
land-breeze that was blowing, that she scarcely needed to turn
over her propeller during the night, to preserve her relative
position with the light. There was no occasion to be in a
hurry to run in, the next morning, as no business could be
transacted before ten, or eleven o'clock, and so I waited until
the sun, with his broad disk glaring upon us, like an angry
furnace, had rolled away the mists of the morning, and the
first lieutenant had holy-stoned his decks, and arranged his
hammock-nettings, with his neat, white hammocks stowed in
them, before we put the ship in motion.
We had, some time before, hoisted the Confederate States
flag, and the Venezuelan colors were flying from the fort in
response. The prize accompanied us in, and we both anchored,
within a stone's throw of the town, the latter looking like
some old Moorish city, that had been transported by magic to
the new world, gallinazos, and all. Whilst my clerk was copy
ing my despatch to the Governor, and the lieutenant was pre
paring himself, and his boat's crew, to take it on shore, I made
a hasty reconnaissance of the fort, which had a few iron pieces,
of small calibre mounted on it, well eaten by rust, and
whose carriages had rotted from under them. The following
is a copy of my letter to his Excellency.

during the war between the states. 163
Confederate States Steamer Sumter,)
Puerto Cabello, July 26, 1861. j
His Excellency, the Governor: —
I have the honor to inform your Excellency of my arrival at this
place, in this ship, under my command, with the prize schooner,
Abby Bradford, in company, captured by me about seventy miles
to the northward and eastward. The Abby Bradford is the prop
erty of citizens of the United States, with which States, as your
Excellency is aware, the Confederate States, which I have the
honor to represent, are at war, and the cargo would appear to
belong, also, to citizens of the United States, who have shipped it,
on consignment, to a house in Puerto Cabello. Should any claim,
however, be given for the cargo, or any part of it, the question of
ownership can only be decided by the Prize Courts of the Con
federate States. In the meantime, I have the honor to request,
that your Excellency will permit me to leave this prize vessel, with
her cargo, in the port of Puerto Cabello, until the question of prize
can be adjudicated by the proper tribunals of my country. This
will be a convenience to all parties ; as well to any citizens of
Venezuela, who may have an interest in the cargo, as to the
captors, who have also valuable interests to protect.
In making this request, I do not propose that the Venezuelan
government shall depart from a strict neutrality between the bel
ligerents, as the same rule it applies to us, it can give the other
party the benefit of, also. In other words, with the most scrupu
lous regard for her neutrality, she may permit both belligerents to
bring their prizes into her waters ; and, of this, neither belligerent
could complain, since whatever justice is extended to its enemy, is
extended also to itself. * * * [Here follows a repetition of the
facts with regard to the seizure of the Navy by the Federal authori
ties, and the establishment of the blockade of the Southern ports,
already stated in my letter to the Governor of Cienfuegos.] * * *
Thus, your Excellency sees, that under the rule of exclusion, the
enemy could enjoy his right of capture, to its full extent — all his
own ports being open to him — whilst the cruisers of the Confed
erate States could enjoy it, sub modo, only ; that is, for the purpose
of destroying their prizes. A rule which would produce such
unequal results as this, is not a just rule (although it might, in terms,
be extended to both parties), and as equality and justice, are of the
essence of neutrality, I take it for granted, that Venezuela will not
adopt it.
On the other hand, the rule admitting both parties, alike, with
their prizes into your ports, until the prize courts of the respective
countries could have time to adjudicate the cases, would work equal
and exact justice to both ; and this is all that the Confederate States
demand. With reference to the present case, as the cargo consists chiefly
of provisions, which are perishable, I would ask leave to sell them,
at public auction, for the benefit of " whom it may concern," deposit-

164 MEMOIRS of service afloat
ing the proceeds with a suitable prize agent, until the decision of
the court can be known. With regard to the vessel, I request that
she may remain in the custody of the same agent, until condemned
and sold.
When the Sumter entered Puerto Cabello, with her prize, she
found an empty harbor, there being only two or three coasting
schooners anchored along the coast ; there was a general dearth
of business, and the quiet little city was panting for an excite
ment. A bomb-shell, thrown into the midst of the stagnant
commercial community, could not have startled them more,
than the rattling of the chain cable of the Sumter through her
hawse-hole, as she let go her anchor ; and when my missive
was handed to the Governor, there was a racing, and chasing
of bare-footed orderlies, that indicated a prospective gathering
of the clans, similar to the one which had occurred at Curagoa.
A grand council was held, at which the Confederate States had
not the honor to be represented.
That the reader may understand the odds against which we
now had to struggle, he must recollect, that all these small
South American towns are, more- or less, dependent upon
American trade. The New England States, and New York
supply them with their domestic cottons, flour, bacon, and
potions ; sell them all their worthless old muskets, and dam
aged ammunition, and now and then, smuggle out a small craft
to them, for naval purposes. The American Consul, who is
also a merchant, represents not only those " grand moral ideas,"
that characterize our Northern people, but Sand's sarsaparilla,
and Smith's wooden clocks. He is, par excellence, the big dog
of the village. The big dog was present on the present occa
sion, looking portentous, and savage, and when he ope'd his
mouth, all the little dogs were silent. Of course, the poor
Sumter, anchored away off in the bay, could have no chance
before so august an assemblage, and, pretty soon, an orderly
came down to the boat, where my patient lieutenant was wait
ing, bearing a most ominous-looking letter, put up in true
South American style, about a foot square, and bearing on it,
'Bios y Libertad."
When I came to break the seal of this letter, I found it to
purport, that the Governor had not the necessary funciones, to
reply to me, diplomatically, but that he would elevate my de-

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 165
spatch, to the Supreme Government ; and that, in the mean time,
I had better take the Abby Bradford and get out of Puerto Ca
bello, as soon as possible ! This was all said, very politely, for
your petty South American chieftain is
"Ab mild a mannered man, as ever cut a throat,"
but it was none the less strong for all that. The missive of
the Governor reached me early, in the afternoon, but I paid not
the least attention to it. I sent the paymaster on shore, to
purchase some fresh provisions, and fruits, for the crew, and
gave such of the officers " liberty," as desired it. The next
morning I sent a prize crew on board the Bradford, and deter
mined to send her to New Orleans. Being loth to part with
any more of my officers, after the experience I had had, with
the prize brig Cuba, I selected an intelligent quartermaster, who
had been mate of a merchantman, as prize-master. My men I
could replace — my officers I could not. The following letter
of instructions was prepared for the guidance of the prize-
master : Confederate States Steamer Sumter,")
Off Puerto Cabello, July 26, 1861. j
Quartermaster and Prize-Master, Eugene Ruhl :
You will take charge of the prize schooner, Abby Bradford, and
proceed with her, to New Orleans — making the land to the west
ward of the passes of the Mississippi, and endeavoring to run into
Barrataria Bay, Berwick's Bay, or some of the other small inlets.
Upon your arrival, you will proceed to the city of New Orleans, in
person, and report yourself to Commodore Rousseau, for orders.
You will take especial care of the accompanying package of papers,
as they are the papers of the captured schooner, and you will deliver
them, with the seals unbroken, to the judge ofthe Prize Court, Judge
Moise. You will batten down your hatches, and see that no part
of the cargo is touched, during the voyage, and you will deliver both
vessel, and cargo, to the proper law officers, in the condition in
which you find them, as nearly as possible.
I availed myself of this opportunity, to address the follow
ing letter to Mr. Mallory, the Secretary of the Navy ; having
nothing very important to communicate, I did not resort to tha
use of the cipher, that had been established between us.

166 memoirs of service afloat
Confederate States Steamer Sumter, >
Puerto Cabello, July 26, 1861. )
Sir: — Having captured a schooner of light draught, which, with
her cargo, I estimate to be worth some twenty-five thousand dollars,
and being denied the privilege of leaving her at this port, until she
could be adjudicated, I have resolved to dispatch her for New
Orleans, in charge of a prize crew, with the hope that she may be
able to elude the vigilance of the blockading squadron, of the
enemy, and run into some one of the shoal passes, to the westward
of the mouth of the Mississippi, as Barrataria, or Berwick's Bay.
In great haste, I avail myself of this opportunity to send you my
first despatch, since leaving New Orleans. I can do no more, for
want of time, than barely enumerate, without describing events.
We ran the blockade of Pass a L'Outre, by the Brooklyn, on the
30th of June, that ship giving us chase. On the morning of the
3d of July, I doubled Cape Antonio, the western extremity of Cuba,
and, on the same day, captured, off the Isle of Pines, the American
ship, Golden Rocket, belonging to parties in Bangor, in Maine. She
was a fine ship of 600 tons, and worth between thirty and forty
thousand dollars. I burned her. On the next day, the 4th, I cap
tured the brigantines Cuba and Machias, both of Maine, also.
They were laden with sugars. I sent them to Cienfuegos, Cuba.
On the 5th of July, I captured the brigs Ben. Dunning, and Albert
Adams, owned in New York, and Massachusetts. They were laden,
also, with sugars. I sent them to Cienfuegos. On the next day,
the 6th, I captured the barks West Wind, and Louisa Kilham,
and the brig Naiad, all owned in New York, Rhode Island, and
Massachusetts. I sent them, also, to Cienfuegos.
On the same day, I ran into that port, myself, reported my cap
tures to the authorities, and asked leave for them to remain, until
they could be adjudicated. The Government took them in charge,
until the Home Government should give directions concerning them.
I coaled ship, and sailed, again, on the fan. On the ltth I arrived
at the Island of Curagoa, without having fallen in with any of the
enemy's ships. I coaled again, here — having had some little diffi
culty with the Governor, about entering — and sailed on the 24th.
On the morning of the 25th, I captured, off Laguayra, the schooner
Abby Bradford, which is the vessel, by which I send this despatch.
I do not deem it prudent to speak, here, of my future movements,
lest my despatch should fall into the hands of the enemy. We are
all well, and " doing a pretty fair business," in mercantile parlance,
having made nine captures in twenty-six days.
The Bradford reached the coast of Louisiana, in due time,
but approaching too near to the principal passes of the Missis
sippi, against which I had warned her, she was re-captured, by
one of the enemy's steamers, and my prize crew were made
prisoners, Dut soon afterward released, though they did not

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 167
rejoin me. I am thus particular, in giving the reader an ac
count of these, my first transactions, for the purpose of show
ing him, that I made every effort to avoid the necessity of
destroying my prizes, at sea ; and that I only resorted to this
practice, when it became evident that there was nothing else to
be done. Not that I had not the right to burn them, under the
laws of war, when there was no dispute about the property —
as was the case with the Golden Rocket, she having had no cargo
on board — but because I desired to avoid all possible compli
cation with neutrals.
Having dispatched the Bradford, we got under way, in the
Sumter, to continue our cruise. We had scarcely gotten clear
of the harbor, before a sail was discovered, in plain sight, from
the deck. The breeze was light, and she was running down
the coast, with all her studding sails set. Her taunt and grace
ful spars, and her whitest of cotton sails, glistening in the
morning's sun, revealed at once the secret of her nationality.
We chased, and, at the distance of full seven miles from the
land, came up with, and captured her. She proved to be the
bark Joseph Maxwell, of Philadelphia, last from Laguayra, where
she had touched, to land a part of her cargo. The remainder
she was bringing to Puerto Cabello. Upon inspection of her
papers, I ascertained that one-half of the cargo, remaining on
board of her, belonged to a neutral owner, doing business in
Puerto Cabello.
Heaving the bark to, in charge of a prize crew, beyond
the marine league, I took her master on board the Sumter,
and steaming back into the harbor, sent Paymaster Myers on •
shore with him, to see if some arrangement could not be made,
by which the interests of the neutral half-owner of the cargo
could be protected ; to see, in other words, whether this prize,
in which a Venezuelan citizen was interested, would not be
permitted to enter, and remain until she could be adjudicated.
Much to my surprise, upon the return of my boat, the pay
master handed me a written command from the Governor, to
bring the Maxwell in, and deliver her to him, until the Vene
zuelan courts could determine whether she had been captured
within the marine league, or not ! This insolence was refresh
ing. I scarcely knew whether to laugh, or be angry at it. I

168 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
believe I indulged in both emotions. The Sumter had not let go*
her anchor, but had been waiting for the return of her boat, under
steam. She was lying close under the guns of the fort, and we
could see that the tompions had been taken out of the guns,
and that they were manned by some half-naked soldiers. Not
knowing but the foolish Governor might order his command
ant to fire upon me, in case I should attempt to proceed to sea,
in my ship, before I had sent a boat out to bring in the Max
well, I beat to quarters, and with my crew standing by my
guns, steamed out to rejoin my prize. When I had a little
leisure to converse with my paymaster, he told me, that the
Federal consul had been consulted, on the occasion, and that
the nice little ruse of the Governor's order had been resorted
to in the hope of intimidating me. I would have burned the
Maxwell, on the spot, but, unfortunately, as the reader has seen,
she had some neutral cargo on board, and this I had no right to
destroy. I resolved, therefore, to send her in ; not to the Con
federate States, for she drew too much water to enter any,
except the principal ports, and these being all blockaded, by
steamers, it was useless for her to make the attempt. The
following letter of instructions to her prize-master, will show
what disposition was made of her.
Confederate States Steamer Sumter,)
At Sea, July 27, 1861. j
Midshipman and Prize-Master Wm. A. Hicks : —
You will take charge of the prize bark, Joseph Maxwell, and
proceed, with her, to some port on the south side of the island of
Cuba, say St. Jago, Trinidad, or Cienfuegos. I think it would be
safest for you to go into Cienfuegos, as the enemy, from the very
fact of our having been there, recently, will scarcely be on the look
for us a second time. The steamers which were probably sent
thither from Havana in pursuit of the Sumter must, long since,
have departed, to hunt her in some other quarter.
Upon your arrival, you will inform the Governor, or Command
ant of the Port, of the fact, state to him that your vessel is the
prize of a ship of war, and not of a privateer, and ask leave for
her to remain in port, in charge of a prize agent, until she can be
adjudicated by a prize court of the Confederate States. Should he
grant you this request, you will, if you go into Cienfuegos, put the
vessel in charge of Don Mariano Dias, our agent for the other
prizes ; but should you go into either of the other ports, you will
appoint some reliable person to take charge of the prize, but
without power to sell, until further orders— taking from him a

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 169
bond, with sufficient sureties for the faithful performance of his
duties. Should the Governor decline to permit the prize to remain, you
will store the cargo, with some responsible person, if permitted to
land it, taking his receipt therefor, and then take the ship outside
the port, beyond the marine league, and burn her. Should you
need funds for the unlading and storage of the cargo, you are au
thorized to sell so much of it as may be necessary for this purpose.
You will then make the best of your way to the Confederate
States, and report yourself to the Secretary of the Navy. You will
keep in close custody the accompanying sealed package of papers,
being the papers of the captured vessel, and deliver it, in person,
to the Judge of the Admiralty Court, in New Orleans. The pay
master will hand you the sum of one hundred dollars, and you are
authorized to draw on the Secretary of the Navy for such further
sum as you may need, to defray the expenses of yourself, and crew,
to the Confederate States.
I had not yet seen the proclamation of neutrality by Spain,
and the reader will perceive, from the above letter, that I still
clung to the hope that that Power would dare to be just, even
in the face of the truckling of England and France. The
master of the Maxwell had his wife on board, and the sea being
smooth, I made him a present of one of the best of his boats,
and sent him and his wife on shore in her. He repaid my
kindness by stealing the ship's chronometer, which he falsely
told the midshipman in charge of the prize I had given him
leave to take with him. At three p. M., taking a final leave
of Puerto Cabello, there being neither waving of hats or hand
kerchiefs, or regrets on either side, we shaped our course to
the eastward, and put our ship under a full head of steam.

CHAPTER XVI.
STEAMING ALONG THE COAST OF VENEZUELA  THE CORAL
INSECT, AND THE WONDERS OF THE DEEP  THE ANDES
AND THE RAINY SEASON — THE SUMTER ENTERS THE
PORT OF SPAIN, IN THE BRITISH ISLAND OF TRINIDAD,
AND COALS, AND SAILS AGAIN.
THERE was a fresh trade-wind blowing, and some sea on,
as the Sumter brought her head around to the eastward,
and commenced buffeting her way, again, to windward. She
had, in addition, a current to contend with, which sets along
this coast in the direction of the trade-wind, at the rate of
about a knot an hour. We were steaming at a distance of
seven or eight miles from the land, and, as the shades of even
ing closed in, we descried a Federal brigantine, running down
the coast — probably for the port we had just left — hugging
the bold shore very affectionately, to keep within the charmed
marine league, within which she knew she was safe from cap
ture. We did not, of course, molest her, as I made it a point
always to respect the jurisdiction of neutrals, though never so
weak. I might have offended against the sovereignty of Ven
ezuela, by capturing this vessel, with impunity, so far as Ven
ezuela was herself concerned, but then I should have com
mitted an offence against the laws of nations, and it was these
laws that I was, myself, looking to, for protection. Besides,
the Secretary of the Navy, in preparing my instructions, had
been particular to enjoin upon me, not 'only to respect the
rights of neutrals, but to conciliate their good will.
As we were running along the land, sufficiently near for its
influence to be felt upon the trade-winds, it became nearly calm
during the night, the land and sea breezes, each struggling for
the mastery, and thus neutralizing each other's forces. The
170

MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT. 171
steamer sprang forward with renewed speed, and when the day
dawned the next morning, we were far to windward of La
guayra. The sun rose in a sky, without a cloud, and the wind
did not freshen, as the day advanced, so much as it had done
the day before. The mountains of Venezuela lay sleeping in
the distance, robed in a mantle of heavenly blue, numerous
sea-birds were on the wing, and the sail of a fishing-boat, here
and there, added picturesqueness to the scene. At half-past
nine, we gave chase to a fore-and-aft schooner, which proved
to be a Venezuela coaster.
In the afternoon, we passed sufficiently near the island of
Tortuga, to run over some of its coral banks. The sun was
declining behind the yet visible mountains, and the sea breeze
had died away to nearly a calm, leaving the bright, and spark
ling waters, with a mirrored surface. We now entered upon
a scene of transcendent beauty, but the beauty was that of the
deep, and not of the surface landscape. The reader is familiar with
the history of the coral insect, that patient little stone-mason
of the deep, which, though scarcely visible through the micro
scope, lays the foundations of islands, and of continents. The
little coralline sometimes commences its work, hundreds of
fathoms down in the deep sea, and working patiently, and
laboriously, day and night, night and day, week after week,
month after month, year after year, and century after century,
finally brings its structure to the surface.
When its tiny blocks of lime-stone, which it has secreted
from the salts of the sea, have been piled so high, that the
tides now cover the structure, and now leave it dry, the little
toiler of the sea, having performed the functions prescribed
to it by its Creator, dies, and is entombed in a mausoleum more
proud than any that could be reared by human hands. The
winds, and the clouds now take charge of the new island, or
continent, and begin to prepare it for vegetation, and the habita
tion of man, and animals. The Pacific Ocean, within the tropics
is, par excellence, the coral sea, and the navigator of that ocean
is familiar with the phenomenon, which I am about to describe.
In the midst of a clear sky, the mariner sometimes discovers
on the verge of the horizon, a light, fleecy cloud, and as he
sails toward it, he is surprised to find that it scarcely alters its

172 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
position. It rises a little, and a little higher, as he approaches
it, pretty much as the land would appear to rise, if he were
sailing toward it, but that is all. He sails on, and on, and
when he has come near the cloud, he is surprised to see under
it, a white line of foam, or, maybe a breaker, if there is any
undulation in the sea, in a spot where all is represented a3
deep water on his chart. Examining with his telescope, he
now discovers, in the intervals of the foam, caused by the
rising and falling of the long, lazy swell, a coral bank, so
white as scarcely to be distinguished from the seething and
boiling foam. He has discovered the germ of a new island,
which in the course of time, and the decrees of Providence,
will be covered with forests, and inhabited by men, and ani
mals. The cloud, as a sort of " pillar by day," has conducted him
to the spot, whilst it has, at the same time, warned him of his
danger. But the cloud — 'how came it there, why does it remain
so faithfully at its post, and what are its functions ? One of
the most beautiful of the phenomena of tropical countries is
the alternation, with the regularity of clock-work, of the land
and sea breezes ; by day, the sea breeze blowing toward the
land, and by night the land breeze blowing toward the sea.
The reason of this is as follows. The land absorbs heat, and
radiates it, more rapidly than the sea. The consequence is,
that when the sun has risen, an hour or two, the land becomes
warmer than the surrounding sea, and there is an in-draught
toward it; in other words, the sea breeze begins to blow.
When, on the contrary, the sun has set, and withdrawn his
rays from both land and sea, and radiation begins, the land,
parting with its absorbed heat, more rapidly than the sea, soon
becomes cooler than the sea. As a consequence, there is an
out-draught from the land ; in other words, the land breeze has
commenced to blow. The reader now sees how it is, that the
" pillar by day " hangs over the little coral island ; the bank
of coral absorbing heat by day more rapidly than the sur
rounding sea, there is an in-draught setting toward it, and as
the lazy trade-winds approach it, they themselves become
heated, and ascend into the upper air. There is thus a con
stantly ascending column of heated atmosphere over these

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATE8. 173
banks. This ascending column of atmosphere, when it reaches
a certain point, is condensed into cumuli of beautiful, fleecy
clouds, often piled up in the most fantastic and gorgeous shapes.
It is thus that the cloud becomes stationary. It is ever form
ing, and ever passing off; retaining, it may be, its original
form, but its nebulae constantly changing.
When a cooler blast of trade-wind than usual comes along,
the condensation is more rapid, and perfect, and showers of
rain fall. The sea-birds are already hovering, in clouds, over
the inchoate little island, fishing, and wading in its shallow
waters, and roosting on it, when they can get a sufficient foot
hold. Vegetation soon ensues, and, in the course of a few
more ages, nature completes her work.
But to return from this digression, into which we were led
by a view of the coral bank over which we were passing.
The little insect, which is at work under our feet, has not yet
brought its structure sufficiently near the surface, to obstruct
our passage over it. We are in five or six fathoms of water,
but this water is so clear, that we are enabled to see the most
minute object, quite distinctly. We have " slowed" the engine
the better to enjoy the beautiful sub-marine landscape; and
look I we are passing over a miniature forest, instinct with
life. There are beautifully branching trees of madrepores,
whose prongs are from one to two feet in length, and some
times curiously interlaced. Each one of the branches, as well
as the trunk, has a number of little notches in it. These are the
cells in which the little stone-mason is at work. Adhering to
the branches of these miniature trees, like mosses, and lichens,
you see sundry formations that you might mistake for leaves.
These are also cellular, and are the workshops of the little
masons. Scattered around, among the trees, are waving the
most gorgeous of fans, and, what we might call sea-ferns, and
palms. These are of a variety of brilliant colors, purple pre
dominating. Lying on the smooth, white sand, are boulders of coral in a
variety of shapes — some, like the domes of miniature cathe
drals; some, perfectly spherical; some, cylindrical. These,
and the trees, are mostly of a creamy white, though occasion
ally, pink, violet, and green are discovered. As the passage

174 . MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
of the steamer gives motion to the otherwise smooth sea, the
fans, fern's, and palms wave, gracefully, changing their tints.
as the light flashes upon them, through the pellucid waters.
The beholder looks entranced, as though he were gazing upon
a fairy scene, by moonlight ; and to add to the illusion, there
is a movement of life, all new to the eye, in every direction.
The beautiful star-fish, with its five points, as equally, and
regularly arranged, as though it had been done by the rule of
the mathematician, with great worm-like molluscs, lie torpid
on the white sand. Jelly-fish, polypi, and other nondescript
shapes, float about in the miniature forest ; and darting hither
and thither, among the many-tinted ferns, some apparently in
sport, and some in pursuit of their prey, are hundreds of little
fishes, sparkling, and gleaming in silver, and gold, and green,
and scarlet.
The most curious of these is the parrot-fish, whose head is
shaped like the beak of the parrot, and whose color is ligdt
green. How wonderfully full is the sea of animal life ! All
this picture is animal life ; for what appears to be the vegetable
portion of this sub-marine landscape, is scarcely vegetable at
all. The waving ferns, fans, and palms are all instinct with
animal life. The patient little toiler of the sea, the coralline
insect, is busy with them, as he is with his limestone trees.
He is helping on their formation by his secretions, and it is
difficult to say what portion of them is vegetable, what, min
eral, and what, animal.
I had been an hour, and more, entranced by the fairy sub
marine forest, and its denizens, which I have so imperfectly
described, when the sun sank behind the Andes, and night
threw her mantle upon the waters, changing all the sparkling
colors of forest, and fish, to sombre gray, and admonishing me,
that it was time to return to every-day life, and the duties of -
the ship. " Let her have the steam," said I to the officer of the
deck, as I arose from my bent posture over the ship's rail;
and, in a moment more, the propeller was thundering us along
at our usual speed.
At eleven p. M., we were up with the island of Margarita
and as I designed to run the passage between it, and the main
land, I preferred daylight for the operation ; and so, sounding

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 175
in thirty-two fathoms of water, I hove the ship to, under her
trysails for the night, permitting her steam to go down. The
next day, the weather still continued clear and pleasant, the
trade-wind being sufficiently light not to impede our head
way, for we were steaming, as the reader will recollect, nearly
head to wind. We had experienced but little adverse current
during the last twenty-four hours, and were making very
satisfactory progress. I was now making a passage, rather
than cruising, as a sail is a rare sight, in the part of the ocean
I was traversing.
At meridian we passed that singular group of islands called
the Frayles — Anglice, friars — jutting up from the sea in
cones of different shapes, and looking, at a distance, not unlike
so many hooded monks. With the exception of a transient
fisherman, who now and then hauls up his boat out of the
reach of the surf, on these harborless islands, and pitches his
tent, made of his boat's sail, for a few days of rest and refresh
ment, they have no inhabitants.
July 30th. — "Thick, cloudy weather, with incessant, and
heavy rains ; hauling in for the coast of Venezuela, near the
entrance to the Gulf of Paria. So thick is the weather, that to
'hold on to the land,' I am obliged to run the coast within a
mile, and this is close running on a coast not minutely sur
veyed." So said my journal. Indeed the day in question was a
memorable one, from its scenery, and surroundings. Few
landscapes present so bold, and imposing a picture as this part
of the South American coast. The Andes here rise abruptly
out of the sea, to a great height. Our little craft running
along their base, in the bluest and deepest of water, looked
like a mere cockle-shell, or nautilus. Besides the torrents of
rain, that were coming down upon our decks, and through
which, at times, we could barely catch a glimpse of the majestic,
and sombre-looking mountains, we were blinded by the most
vivid flashes of lightning, simultaneously with which, the roll
ing and crashing of the thunder deafened our ears. I had
stood on the banks of the Lake of Geneva, and witnessed a
storm in the Alps, during which Byron's celebrated lines
occurred to me. They occurred to me more forcibly here, for
literally —
12

17(* MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
" Far along
From peak to peak, the rattling crags among,
Leaps the live thunder ! Not from one eloud,
But every mountain now had found a tongue,
And Jura answers, through her misty shroud,
Back to the joyous Alps, who call to her aloud ! "
That word "joyous" was well chosen by the poet, for tha
mountains did indeed seem to rejoice in this grand display of
nature. Of wind there was scarcely any — what little there
was, was frequently off the land, and even blew in the direc
tion opposite to that of the trade- wind. We were in the rainy
season, along this coast, and all the vegetable kingdom was in
full luxuriance. The cocoanut, and other palms, giving an
Eastern aspect to the scenery, waved the greenest of feathery
branches, and every shrub, and almost every tree rejoiced in
its flower. It was delightful to inhale the fragrance, as the
whirling aerial current brought us an occasional puff from the
land. On board the ship, we looked like so many half-drowned rats.
The officer of the deck, trumpet in hand, was ensconced, to his
ears, in his india-rubber pea-jacket, his long beard looking like
a wet mop, and little rills of rain trickling down his neck, and
shoulders, from his slouched " Sou'wester." The midshipman
of the watch had taken off his shoes, and rolled up his trousers,
and was paddling about in the pools on deck, as well pleased
as a young duck. And as for the old salt, he was in his ele
ment. There was plenty of fresh water to wash his clothes in,
and accordingly the decks were filled with industrious washers,
or rather scrubbers, each with his scrubbing-brush, and bit of
soap, and a little pile of soiled duck frocks and trousers by
his side.
The reader has been informed, that we were running along
the coast, within a mile of it, to enable us to keep sight of the
land. The object of this was to make the proper landfall for
running into the Gulf of Paria, on which is situated the Port
of Spain, in the island of Trinidad, to which we were bound.
We opened the gulf as early as nine A. m., and soon afterward
identified the three islands that form the Bocas del Br ago, or
dragon's mouth. The scenery is remarkably bold and striking
at the entrance of this gulf or bay. The islands rise to tha

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 177
height of mountains, in abrupt and sheer precipices, out of
the now muddy waters — for the great Orinoco, traversing its
thousands of miles of alluvial soil, disembogues near by.
Indeed, we may be said to have been already within the delta
of that great stream.
Memory was busy with me, as the Sumter passed through
the Dragon's Mouth. I had made my first cruise to this iden
tical island of Trinidad, when a green midshipman in the
Federal Navy. A few years before, the elder Commodore
Perry — he of Lake Erie memory — had died of yellow fever,
when on a visit, in one of the small schooners of his squadron,
up the Orinoco. The old sloop- of- war Lexington, under the
command of Commander, now Rear- Admiral Shubrick, was
sent to the Port of Spain to bring home his remains. I was
one of the midshipmen of that ship. A generation had since
elapsed. An infant people had, in that short space of time,
grown old and decrepid, and its government had broken in
twain. But there stood the everlasting mountains, as I remem
bered them, unchanged ! I could not help again recurring to
the poet : — " Man has another day to swell the past,
And lead him near to little but his last ;
But mighty Nature bounds as from her birth.
The sun is in the heavens, and life on earth ;
Flowers in the valley, splendor in the beam,
Health on the gale, and freshness in the stream.
Immortal man ! behold her glories shine,
And cry, exulting inly, ' they are thine ! '
Gaze on, while yet thy gladdened eye may see ;
A morrow comes when they are not for thee :
And grieve what may above thy senseless bier,
Nor earth, nor sky shall yield a single tear ;
Nor cloud shall gather more, nor leaf shall fall,
Nor gale breathe forth one sigh for thee, for all ;
But creeping things shall revel in their spoil,
And fit thy clay to fertilize the soil."
We entered through the Huevo passage — named from its
egg-shaped island — and striking soundings, pretty soon after
ward, ran up by our chart and lead-line, there being no pilot-
boat in sight. We anchored off the Port of Spain a little after

178 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
mid-day — an English merchant brig paying us the complr-
ment of a salute.
I dispatched a lieutenant to call on the Governor. The
orders of neutrality of the English government had already
been received, and his Excellency informed me that, in accord
ance therewith, he would extend to me the same hospitality
that he would show, in similar circumstances, to the enemy ;
which was nothing more, of course, than I had a right to ex
pect. The Paymaster was dispatched to the shore, to see about
getting a supply of coal, and send off some fresh provisions
and fruit for the crew ; and such of the officers as desired went
on liberty.
The first thing to be thought of was the discharge of our
prisoners, for, with the exception of the Captain, whom I had
permitted to land in Puerto Cabello, with his wife, I had the
crew of the Joseph Maxwell, prize-ship, still on board. I had
given these men, eight in number, to understand that they
were hostages, and that their discharge, their close confine
ment, or their execution, as the case might be, depended upon
the action of their own Government, in the case of the Savan
nah prisoners. The reader will probably recollect the case to
which I allude. President Lincoln, of the Federal States, in
issuing his proclamation of the 15th of April, 1861, calling
out 75,000 troops to revenge the disaster of Fort Sumter,
inserted the following paragraph: —
" And I hereby proclaim, and declare, that, if any person, under
the pretended authority of said States, or under any other pretence,
shall molest a vessel of the United States, or the persons, or cargo
on board of her, such persons will be held amenable to the laws of
the United States, for the prevention, and punishment of piracy."
On the 6th of May following, the Congress of the Confeder
ate States, passed the following act, in reply, as it were, to this
manifesto of Mr. Lincoln : —
" Whereas, The earnest efforts made by this Government, to estab
lish friendly relations between the Government of the United States,
and the Confederate States, and to settle all questions of disagree
ment between the two Governments, upon principles of right, equity,
justice, and good faith, have proved unavailing, by reason of the
refusal of the Government of the United States to hold any inter-

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 179
course with the Commissioners appointed by this Government, for
the purposes aforesaid, or to listen to any proposal they had to
make, for the peaceful solution of all causes of difficulty between
the two Governments ; and whereas, the President of ' he United
States of America has issued his proclamation, making requisition
upon the States of the American Union, for 75,000 men, for the
purpose, as therein indicated, of capturing forts, and other strong
holds within the jurisdiction of, and belonging to the Confederate
States of America, and raised, organized, and equipped a large
military force, to execute the purpose aforesaid, and has issued his
other proclamation, announcing his purpose to set on foot a block
ade of the ports of the Confederate States ; and whereas, the State
of Virginia has seceded from the Federal Union, and entered into a
convention of alliance, offensive and defensive, with the Confederate
States, and has adopted the Provisional Constitution of said States,
and the States of Maryland, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky,
Arkansas and Missouri have refused, and it is believed, that the State
of Delaware, and the inhabitants of the Territories of Arizona, and
New Mexico, and the Indian Territory, south of Kansas will refuse
to co-operate with the Government of the United States, in these
acts of hostility, and wanton aggression, which are plainly intended
to overawe, oppress, and finally subjugate the people of the Con
federate States; and whereas, by the acts, and means aforesaid, war
exists between the Confederate States, and the Government of the
United States, and the States and Territories thereof, excepting the
States of Maryland, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkan
sas, Missouri, and Delaware, and the Territories of Arizona, and
New Mexico, and the Indian Territory south of Kansas : Therefore,
" Sec. 1 . The Congress of the Confederate States of America do
enact, That the President of the Confederate States is hereby au
thorized to use the whole land, and naval force of the Confederate
States, to meet the war thus commenced, and to issue to private
armed vessels, commissions, or letters-of-marque, and general repri
sal, in such form, as he shall think proper, under the seal of the Con
federate States, against the vessels, goods, and effects of the Govern
ment of the United States, and of the citizens, or inhabitants of the
States, and Territories thereof, except the States and Territories
hereinbefore named. Provided, however, that the property of the
enemy, (unless it be contraband of war,) laden on board a neutral
vessel, shall not be subject to seizure, under this Act ; and pro
vided further, that the vessels of the citizens, or inhabitants of the
United States, now in the ports of the Confederate States, except
such as have been since the 15th of April last, or may hereafter be,
in the service of the Government of the United States, shall be
allowed thirty days, after the publication of this Act, to leave said
ports, and reach their destination ; and such vessels, and their car
goes, excepting articles contraband of war, shall not be subject to
capture, under this Act, during said period, unless they shall pre
viously have reached the destination for which they were bound, on
leaving said ports."

180 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
Among the private armed vessels which took out commis
sions under this Act, was the schooner Savannah, formerly a
pilot-boat out of Charleston. She carried one small gun, and
about twenty men. During the month of June, this adventu
rous little cruiser was captured by the U. S. brig Bainbridge,
and her crew were hurried off to New York, confined in cells,
like convicted felons, and afterward brought to trial, and con
victed of piracy, under Mr. Lincoln's proclamation. I had in
formed myself of these proceedings from newspapers captured
on board the enemy's ships, and hence the announcement I had
made to the prisoners of the Joseph Maxwell. The reader may
imagine the delight of those men, and my own satisfaction, as
well, when my lieutenant brought back with him, from the
shore, after his visit to the Governor, an American newspaper,
of late date, stating that the Savannah prisoners had been
released from close confinement, and were to be treated as
prisoners of war. I was stretching a point, in undertaking
retaliation of this serious character without instructions from
my Government, but the case was pressing, and we of the Sum
ter were vitally interested in the issue. The commission of the
Savannah, though she was only a privateer, was as lawful as
our own, and, judging by the abuse that had already been
heaped upon us, by the Northern newspapers, we had no reason
to expect any better treatment, at the hands of well-paid New
York District- Attorneys, and well-packed New York juries.
I was gratified to learn, as I did soon afterward, that my
Government had taken a proper stand on this question. Presi
dent Davis, as soon as he heard of the treatment to which the
Savannah prisoners had been subjected, wrote a letter of remon
strance to President Lincoln, threatening retaliation, if he dared
execute his threat of treating them as pirates. In that letter
so worthy of the Christian statesman, and so opposite to the
coarse fulminations of the enemy, Mr. Davis used the follow
ing expressions: "It is the desire of this Government so to
conduct the war, now existing, as to mitigate its horrors, as far
as may be possible ; and with this intent, its treatment of the
prisoners captured by its forces has been marked, by the great
est humanity, and leniency, consistent with public obligation.
Some have been permitted to return home, on parole, others to

DURING- THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 181
remain at large, under similar conditions, within the Confed
eracy, and all have been furnished with rations for their subsist
ence, such as are allowed to our own troops. It is only since
the news has been received, of the treatment of the prisoners
taken on the Savannah, that I have been compelled to with
draw those indulgences, and to hold the prisoners taken by us,
in strict confinement. A just regard to humanity, and to the
honor of this Government, now requires me to state, explicitly.
that, painful as will be the necessity, this Government will deal
out to the prisoners held by it, the same treatment, and the
same fate, as shall be experienced by those captured on the
Savannah; and if driven to the terrible necessity of retaliation,
by your execution of any of the officers, or crew of the Savan
nah, that retaliation will be extended so far, as shall be requi
site to secure the abandonment of a practice, unknown to the
warfare of civilized men, and so barbarous, as to disgrace the
nation which shall be guilty of inaugurating it."
Shortly before the conviction of the Savannah prisoners, a
seaman named Smith, captured on board the privateer Jeffer
son Davis, was tried, and convicted of piracy, in Philadelphia.
There were fourteen of these men, in all, and the following
order from Mr. Benjamin, the Acting Secretary of War of
the Confederate States, to General Winder, in charge of Federal
prisoners, in Richmond, will show how much in earnest Presi
dent Davis was, when he wrote the above letter to President
Lincoln : —
"Sir: — You are hereby instructed to choose, by lot, from among
the prisoners of war, of highest rank, one who is to be confined in a
cell appropriated to convicted felons, and who is to be treated, in all
respects, as if such convict, and to be held for execution, in the same
manner as may be adopted by the enemy for the execution of the
prisoner of war, Smith, recently condemned to death in Phila
delphia. " You will, also, select thirteen other prisoners of war, the high
est in rank of those captured by our forces, to be confined in cells,
reserved for prisoners accused of infamous crimes, and will treat
them as such, so long as the enemy shall continue so to treat the
like number of prisoners of war, captured by them at sea, and now
held for trial in New York as pirates.
" As these measures are intended to repress the infamous attempt
now made by the enemy, to commit judicial murder on prisoners of
war, you will execute them, strictly, as the mode best calculated to
prevent the commission of so heinous a crime."

182 MEMOIRb OF SERVICE AFLOAT
The list of hostages, as returned by General Winder, was as fol
lows: Colonels Corcoran, Lee, Cogswell, Wilcox, Woodruff, and
Wood; Lieutenant-Colonels Bowman, and Neff ; Majors Potter,
Revere, and Vogdes, and Captains Ricketts, McQuade, and
Rockwood. These measures had the desired effect; the neces
sity, that the Federal Government was under of conciliating the
Irish interest, contributing powerfully thereto — Colonel Cor
coran, the first hostage named, being an Irishman of some
note and influence, in New York. President Lincoln was
accordingly obliged to take back his proclamation, and the
Savannah prisoners, and Smith, were put on the footing of
prisoners of war. But this recantation of an attempted bar
barism had not been honestly made. It was not the generous
taking back of a wrong principle, by a high-minded people.
The tiger, which had come out of his jungle, in quest of blood,
had only been driven back by fear; his feline, and blood
thirsty disposition would, of course, crop out again, as soon as
he ceased to dread the huntsman's rifle. Whilst we were
strong, but little more was heard of "pirates," and "piracy,"
except through Mr. Seward's long-winded and frantic de
spatches to the British Government, on the subject of the Ala
bama, but when we became weak, the slogan was taken up
again, and rung, in all its changes, by an infuriated people.
To return now to the Sumter. Our decks were crowded
with visitors, on the afternoon of our arrival ; some of these
coming off to shake us warmly by the hand, out of genuine
sympathy, whilst others had no higher motive than that of
mere curiosity. The officers of the garrison were very civil to
us, but we were amused at their diplomatic precaution, in com
ing to visit us in citizens' dress. There are no people in the
world, perhaps, who attach so much importance to matters of
mere form and ceremony, bluff and hearty as John Bull is, as
the English people. Lord Russell had dubbed us a "so-called"
government, and this expression had become a law to all his
subordinates ; no official visits could be exchanged, no salutes
reciprocated, and none other of the thousand and one courte
sies of red-tapedom observed toward us ; and, strange to say,
whilst all this nonsense of form was being practised, the
substance of nationality, that is to say, the acknowledgment

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 183
that we possessed belligerent rights, had been frankly and
freely accorded to us. It was like saying to a man, " I should
like, above all things, to have you come and dine with me,
but as you hav n't got the right sort of a dining-dress, you
can't come, you know ! " Some ridiculous consequences resulted
from this etiquette of nations. Important matters of business
frequently remained unattended to, because the parties could
not address each other officially. An informal note would take
the place of an official despatch.
The advent of the Sumter invariably caused more, or less
commotion, in official circles ; the small colonial officials fear
ing lest she might complicate them with their governments.
There was now another important council to be held. The
opinion of the " law-officers of the crown " was to be taken by
his Excellency, upon the question, whether the Sumter was
entitled to be coaled in her Majesty's dominions. The pay
master had found a lot of indifferent coal, on shore, which
could be purchased at about double its value, but nothing
could be done until the "council" moved; and it is proverbial
that large bodies like provincial councils, move slowly. The
Attorney-General of the Colony, and other big wigs got
together, however, after due ceremony, and, thanks to the fact,
that the steamer is an infernal machine of modern invention,
they were not very long in coming to a decision. If there had
been anything about a steamer, in Coke upon Littleton, Bacon,
or Bracton, or any other of those old fellows who deal in black
letter, I am afraid the Sumter would have been blockaded by
the enemy, before she could have gotten to sea. The pros and
cons being discussed — I had too much respect for the calibre
of certain guns on shore, to throw any shells across the windows
of the council-chamber — it was decided that coal was not con
traband of war, and that the Sumter might purchase the neces
sary article in the market.
But though she might purchase it, it was not so easy to get
it on board. It was hard to move the good people on shore.
The climate was relaxing, the rainy season had set in, and
there was only negro labor to be had, about the wharves and
quays. We were four tedious days in filling our coal-bunkers.
It had rained, off and on, the whole time. I did not visit the

184 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
shore, but I amused myself frequently by inspecting the mag
nificent scenery by which I was surrounded, through an excel
lent telescope. The vegetation of Trinidad is varied, and luxuri
ant beyond description. As the clouds would break away, and
the sun light up the wilderness of waving palms, and other tropi
cal trees and plants of strange and rich foliage, amid which
the little town lay embowered, the imagination was enchanted
with the picture.
The emancipation of the slave ruined this, as it did the other
West India islands. As a predial laborer, the freedman was
nearly worthless, and the sugar crop, which is the staple, went
down to zero. In despair, the planters resorted to the intro
duction of the coolie; large numbers of them have been
imported, and under their skilful and industrious cultivation,
the island is regaining a share of its lost prosperity.
A day or two after my arrival, I had a visit from the mas
ter of a Baltimore brig, lying in the port. He was ready for
sea, he said, and had come on board, to learn whether I would
capture him. I told him to make himself easy, that I should
not molest him, and referred him to the act of the Confederate
Congress, declaring that a state of war existed, to show him
4hat, as yet, we regarded Maryland as a friend. He went
;away rejoicing, and sailed the next day.
We had, as usual, some little refitting of the ship to do.
Off Puerto Cabello, we had carried away our main yard, by
coming in contact with the Abby Bradford, and the first lieu
tenant having ordered another on our arrival, it was now towed
off, and gotten on board, fitted, and sent aloft.
Sunday, August 4=th. — Morning calm and clear. The chime3
of the church-bells fall pleasantly and suggestively on the ear.
An American schooner came in from some point, up the bay,
and anchored well in shore, some distance from us, as though
distrustful of our good faith, and of our respect for British neu
trality. Being all ready for sea, at half-past ten A. m., I gave
the order to get up steam ; but the paymaster reporting to me
that his vouchers were not all complete, the order was counter
manded, and we remained another day.
Her Majesty's steam-frigate Cadmus having come in, from
one of the neighboring islands, I sent a lieutenant on board to

DURING THE WAE BETWEEN THE STATES. 185
call on her captain. This was the first foreign ship of war to
which I had extended the courtesy of a visit, and, in a few
hours afterward, my visit was returned. I had, from this time
onward, much agreeable intercourse with the naval officers of
the several nations, with whom I came in contact. I found
them much more independent, than the civil, and military offi
cers. They did not seem to care a straw, about defactos, or de
jures, and had a sailor's contempt for red tape and unmeaning
forms. They invariably received my officers, and myself, when
we visited their ships, with the honors of the side, appropriate
to our rank, without stopping to ask, in the jargon of Lord
Russell, whether we were " So-Called," or Simon Pure. After
the usual courtesies had passed between the lieutenant of the
Cadmus and myself, I invited him into my cabin, when, upon
being seated, he said his captain had desired him to say to me,
that, as the Sumter was the first ship of the Confederate States
he had fallen in with, he would take it, as a favor, if I would
show him my commission. I replied, " Certainly, but there is
a little ceremony to be complied with, on your part, first."
" What is that? " said he. " How do I know," I rejoined, " that
you have any authority to demand a sight of my commission
— the flag at your peak may be a cheat, and you may be no
better than you take me for, a ship of war of some hitherto
unknown government — you must show me your commission
first." This was said, pleasantly, on my part, for the idea was
quite ludicrous, that a large, and stately steam-frigate, bearing
the proud cross of St. George, could be such as I had hypo-
thetically described her. But I was right as to the point I
had made, to wit, that one ship of war has no right to demand
a sight of the commission of another, without first showing
her own. Indeed, this principle is so well known among naval
men, that the lieutenant had come prepared for my demand,
having brought his commission with him. Smiling, himself,
now, in return, he said: "Certainly, your request is but rea
sonable ; here is her Majesty's commission," unrolling, at the
same time, a large square parchment, beautifully engraved with
nautical devices, and with sundry seals, pendent therefrom.
In return, I handed him a small piece of coarse, and rather
dingy Confederate paper, at the bottom of which was inscribed

186 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
the name of Jefferson Davis. He read the commission care
fully, and when he had done, remarked, as he handed it back
to me, "Mr. Davis's is a smooth, bold signature." I replied
" You are an observer of signatures, and you have hit it ex
actly, in the present instance. I could not describe his char
acter to you more correctly, if I were to try — our President
has all the smoothness, and polish of the ripe scholar and
refined gentleman, with the boldness of a man, who dares
strike for the right, against odds."
Monday, August 5th. — Weather clear, and fine. Flocks of
parrots are flying overhead, and all nature is rejoicing in the
sunshine, after the long, drenching rains. Far as the eye can
reach, there is but one sea of verdure, giving evidence, at once,
of the fruitfulness of the soil, and the ardor of the sun. At
eleven A. M., Captain Hillyar, of the Cadmus, came on board,
to visit me, and we had a long and pleasant conversation on
American affairs. He considerately brought me a New York
newspaper, of as late a date, as the 12th of July. "I must
confess," said he, as he handed me this paper, "that your
American war puzzles me — it cannot possibly last long."
" You are probably mistaken, as to its duration," I replied ; " I
fear it will be long and bloody. As to its being a puzzle, it
should puzzle every honest man. If our late co-partners had
practised toward us the most common rules of honesty, we
should not have quarrelled with them ; but we are only defend
ing ourselves against robbers, with knives at our throats."
"You surprise me," rejoined the Captain; "how is that?"
"Simply, that the machinery of the Federal Government,
under which we have lived, and which was designed for the
common benefit, has been made the means of despoiling the
South, to enrich the North;" and I explained to him the
workings of the iniquitous tariffs, under the operation of
which the South had, in effect, been reduced to a dependent
colonial condition, almost as abject, as that of the Roman
provinces, under their proconsuls ; the only difference being,
that smooth-faced hypocrisy had been added to robbery, inas
much as we had been plundered under the forms of law.
"All this is new to me, I assure you," replied the Captain ;
" I thought that your war had arisen out of the slavery ques-

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 187
tion." "That is a common mistake of foreigners. The enemy
has taken pains to impress foreign nations with this false view
of the case. With the exception of a few honest zealots, the
canting, hypocritical Yankee cares as little for our slaves, as
he does for our draught animals. The war which he has been
making upon slavery, for the last forty years, is only an inter
lude, or by-play, to help on the main action of the drama,
which is Empire ; and it is a curious coincidence, that it was
commenced about the time the North began to rob the South,
by means of its tariffs. When a burglar designs to enter a
dwelling, for the purpose of robbery, he provides himself with
the necessary implements. The slavery question was one of
the implements employed, to help on the robbery of the South.
It strengthened the Northern party, and enabled them to get
their tariffs through Congress ; and when, at length, the South,
driven to the wall, turned, as even the crushed worm will turn,
it was cunningly perceived by the Northern men, that 'No
Slavery ' would be a popular war-cry, and hence they used it.
It is true, we are defending our slave property, but we are
defending it no more than any other species of our property —
it is all endangered, under a general system of robbery. We
are, in fact, fighting for independence. Our forefathers made
great mistake, when they warmed the Puritan serpent in
their bosom ; and we, their descendants, are endeavoring to
remedy it."
The Captain now rose to depart. I accompanied him on
deck, and when he had shoved off, I ordered the ship to be
gotten under way — -'the fires having been started some time
before, the steam was already up. The Sumter, as she moved
out of the harbor of the Port of Spain, looked more like a
comfortable passenger steamer, bound on a voyage, than a ship
of war, her stern nettings, and stern and quarter boats being
filled with oranges, and bananas, and all the other luscious
fruits that are produced so abundantly in this rich tropical
island. Other luxuries were added, for Jack had brought, on
board, one or two more sad-looking old monkeys, and a score
more of squalling parrots.

CHAPTER XVII.
ON THE WAY TO MARANHAM  THE WEATHER AND THE
WINDS — THE SUMTER RUNS SHORT OF COAL, AND IS
OBLIGED TO "BEAR UP" — CAYENNE AND PARAMARIBO,
JN FRENCH AND DUTCH GUIANA — SAILS AGAIN, AND
ARRIVES IN MARANHAM, BRAZIL.
WE passed out of the Gulf of Paria, through the eastern,
or Mona passage, a deep strait, not more than a third of
a mile in width, with the land rising, on both sides, to a great
height, almost perpendicularly. The water of the Orinoco
here begins to mix with the sea-water, and the two waters, as
they come into unwilling contact, carry on a perpetual strug
gle, whirling about in small circles, and writhing and twisting
like a serpent in pain.
We met the first heave of the sea at about two o'clock in
the afternoon, and turning our head again to the eastward, we
continued to run along the mountainous and picturesque coast
of Trinidad, until an hour or two after nightfall. The coast
is quite precipitous, but, steep as it is, a number of negro
cabins had climbed the hill-sides, and now revealed their pres
ence to us by the twinkle of their lights, as the shades of even
ing fell over the scene. These cabins were quite invisible,
by daylight, so dense was the foliage of the trees amid which
they nestled. This must, indeed, be the very paradise of the
negro. The climate is so genial, that he requires little or no
clothing, and bountiful Nature supplies him with food, all the
year round, almost unasked. In this land of the sun, a con
stant succession of fruits is pendent from the trees, and the
dwellers in the huts beneath their sheltering arms, have only
to reach out their hands when hunger presses. I was reminded,
by this scene, of a visit I had once made to the island of St.
Domingo, and of the indolence in which the negro lives in
188

MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT. 189
that soft and voluptuous climate. I landed at the bay of
Samana, from the ship of war to which I was attached, and
taking a stroll, one evening, I came upon the hut of an Amer
ican negress. Some years before, Boyer, the President of the
island, had invited the immigration of free negroes, from the
United States. A colony from the city of Baltimore had ac
cepted his invitation, and settled at Samana. In the course
of a very few years, all the men of the colony had run off, and
found their way back, in various capacities, on board of trad
ing vessels, to the land of their birth ; leaving their wives
and daughters behind to shift for themselves. The negro
woman, whose hut I had stumbled upon, was one of these grass
widows. She had become quite old, but was living without
apparent effort. The cocoanut waved its feathery branches
over her humble domicil, and the juicy mango and fragrant
banana hung within tempting reach. A little plot of ground
had been picketed in with crooked sticks, and in this primitive
garden were growing some squashes and watermelons, barely
visible under the rank weeds. I said to her, " My good woman,
you don't seem to have much use for the plough or the hoe in
your garden." "La! master," said she, "no need of much
work in this country — we have only to put in the seed, and
the Lord, he gives the increase."
In time, no doubt, all the West India islands will lapse into
just such luxuriant wildernesses, as we were now coasting
along, in the Sumter. Amalgamation, by slow, but sure pro
cesses, will corrupt what little of European blood remains in
them, until every trace of the white man shall disappear. The
first process will be the mulatto ; but the mulatto, as the name
imports, is a mule, and must finally die out ; and the mass of
the population will become pure African. This is the fate
which England has prepared, for some of her own blood, in
her colonies. I will not stop here to moralize on it. If we
are beaten in this war,' what will be our fate in the Southern
States? Shall we, too, become mongrelized, and disappear
from the face of the earth ? Can this be the ultimate design
of the Yankee? The night was quite light, and taking a
fresh departure, at about ten p. M., from the east end of Trin
idad, we passed through the strait between it and the island

190 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
of Tobago, and soon afterward emerged from the Caribbean
Sea upon the broad bosom of the South Atlantic. Judging
by the tide rips, that were quite visible in the moonlight
there must have been considerable current setting through
this strait, to the westward. The next day the weather was
still fine, and the wind light from about E. N. E., and
the Sumter made good speed through the smooth sea. At
about ten A. M. a sail was descried, some twelve or fourteen
miles distant. She was away off on our port beam, run
ning before the trade-wind, and I forbore to chase. As be
fore remarked, I was not now cruising, but anxious to make
a passage, and could not afford the fuel to chase, away from
the track I was pursuing, the few straggling sail . might
discover in this lonely sea. Once in the track of commerce,
where the sails would come fast and thick, I could make
up for lost time. At noon, we observed in latitude 9° 14';
the longitude, by chronometer, being 59° 10'.
Wednesday, August 7th. — Weather clear, and delightful, and
the sea smooth. Nothing but the broad expanse of the ocean
visible, except, indeed, numerous flocks of flying- fish, which
we are flushing, now and then like so many flocks of par
tridges, as we disturb the still waters. These little creatures
have about the flight of the partridge, and it is a pretty sight
to see them skim away over the billows with their transparent
finny wings glistening in the sun, until they drop again into
their "cover," as suddenly as they rose. Our crew having been
somewhat broken in upon, by the sending away of so many
prize crews, the first lieutenant is re-arranging his watch and
quarter-bills, and the men are being exercised at the guns, to
accustom them to the changes which have become necessary, in
their stations. Officers and men are enjoying, alike, the fine
weather. With the fore-castle, and quarter-deck awnings
spread, we do not feel the heat, though the sun is nearly perpen
dicular at noon. Jack is "overhauling" his clothes'-bag, and
busy with his needle and thread, stopping, now and then, to
have a "lark " with his monkey, or to listen to the prattle of
his parrot. The boys of the ship are taking lessons, in knot
ting, and splicing, and listening to the "yarn" of some old salt,
as he indoctrinates them in these mysteries. The midshipmen

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 191
have their books of navigation spread out before them, and
slate in hand, are discussing sine and tangent, base, and hypo-
thenuse. The only place in which a lounger is not seen is the
quarter-deck. This precinct is always sacred to duty, and eti
quette. No one ever presumes to seat himself upon it, not
even the Commander. Here the officer of the deck is pacing
to and fro, swinging his trumpet idly about, for the want of
something to do. But hold a moment ! he has at last found
a job. It is seven bells (half-past eleven) and the ship's
cook has come to the mast, to report dinner. The cook is a
darkey, and see how he grins, as the officer of the deck, having
tasted of the fat pork, in his tin pan, and mashed some of his
beans, with a spoon, to see if they are done, tells him, "that
will do." The Commander now comes on deck, with his sex
tant, having been informed that it is time to " look out for the
sun." See, he gathers the midshipmen around him, each also
with his instrument, and, from time to time, asks them what
"altitude they have on," and compares the altitude which they
give him with his own, to see if they are making satisfactory
progress as observers. The latitude being obtained, and re
ported to the officer of the deck, that officer now comes up to
the Commander, and touching his hat, reports twelve o'clock, as
though the Commander didn't know it already. The Com
mander says to him, sententiously, "make it so," as though the
sun could not make it so, without the Commander's leave. See,
now what a stir there is about the hitherto silent decks. Since
we last cast a glance at them, Jack has put up his clothes'-bag,
and the sweepers have "swept down," fore and aft, and the
boatswain having piped to dinner, the cooks of the different
messes are spreading their "mess-cloths" on the deck, and ar
ranging their viands. The drum has rolled, "to grog," and the
master's mate of the spirit-room, muster-book in hand, is call
ing over the names of the crew, each man as his name is called,
waddling up to the tub, and taking the "tot" that is handed to
him, by the " Jack-of-the-dust," who is the master-mate's assist
ant. Dinner now proceeds with somewhat noisy jest and
joke, and the hands are not "turned to," that is, set to work
again, until one o'clock.
We have averaged, in the last twenty-four hours, eight knots
13

192 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
and a h a,lf, and have not, as yet, experienced any adverse cur-
rent, though we are daily on the lookout for this enemy ; lati
tude 8° 31' ; longitude 56° 12'. In the course of the afternoon,
a brigantine passing near us, we hove her to, with a blank car
tridge, when she showed us the Dutch colors. She was from
Dutch Surinam, bound for Europe. Toward nightfall, it be
came quite calm, and naught was heard but the thumping of
the ship's propeller, as she urged her ceaseless way through
the vast expanse of waters.
August 8th. — Weather stiJ beautifully clear, with an occa
sional rain squall enclosing us as in a gauze veil, and shutting
out from view for a few minutes, at a time, the distant hori
zon. The wind is light, and variable, but always from the
Eastern board ; following the sun as the chariot follows the
steed. We are making good speed through the water, but
we have at length encountered our dreaded enemy, the great
equatorial current, which sets, with such regularity, along
this coast. Its set is about W. N. W., and its drift about
one knot per hour. Nothing has been seen to-day. The
water has changed its deep blue color, to green, indicating
that we are on soundings. We are about ninety miles from
the coast of Guiana. The sun went down behind banks, or
rather cumuli of pink and lilac clouds. We are fast sinking
the north polar star, and new constellations arise, nightly,
above the southern horizon. Amid other starry wonders, we
had a fine view this evening, of the southern cross ; latitude
7° 19'; longitude 53° 04'.
The next day was cloudy, and the direction of the current,
was somewhat changed, for its set was now N. W., half N.
This current is proving a serious drawback, and I begin to
fear, that I shall not be able to make the run to Maranham, as
I had hoped. Not only are the elements adverse, but my engi
neer tells me, that we were badly cheated, in our coal measure,
at Trinidad, the sharp coal-dealer having failed to put on
board of us as many tons as he had been paid for ; for which
the said engineer got a rowing. We observed, to-day, in lati
tude 6° 01' and longitude 50° 48'.
August 10th. — Weather clear, with a deep blue sea, and a
fresh breeze, from the south-east. The south-east trade-winda

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 193
have thus crossed the equator, and reached us in latitude 5°
north, which is our latitude to-day. I was apprehensive of
this, for we are in the middle of August, and in this month
these winds frequently drive back the north-east trades, and
usurp their place, to a considerable extent, until the sun
crosses back into the southern hemisphere. We thus have
both wind, and current ahead ; the current alone has retarded
us fifty miles, or a fraction over two knots an hour ; which is
about equal to the drift of the Gulf Stream off Cape Hatteras.
Things were beginning now to look decidedly serious. I
had but three days of fuel on board, and, upon consulting my
chart, I found that I was still 550 miles from my port, current
taken into account. It was not possible for the dull little
Sumter to make this distance, in the given time, if the wind,
and current should continue of the same strength. I resolved
to try her, however, another night, hoping that some change
for the better might take place. My journal tells the tale of
that night as follows : —
August 11th. — "The morning has dawned with a fresh breeze,
and rather rough sea, into which we have been plunging all
night, making but little headway. The genius of the east wind
refuses to permit even steam to invade his domain, and drives
us back, with disdain. His ally, the current, has retarded us
sixty miles in the last twenty -four hours ! " I now no longer
hesitated, but directing the engineer to let his fires go down,
turned my ship's head, to the westward, and made sail; it
being my intention to run down the coast to Cayenne in
French Guiana, with the hope of obtaining a fresh supply of
fuel at that place. We soon had the studding sails on the
ship, and were rolling along to the northward and westward.
with more grace than speed, our rate of sailing being only four
knots. The afternoon proved to be remarkably fine, and we
should have enjoyed this far niente change, but for our dis
appointment. Our chief regret was that we were losing so
much valuable time, in the midst of the stirring events of the
war. /
Hauling in for the coast, in the vicinity of Cape Orange, we
struck soundings about nightfall. The sea now became quite
smooth and the wind fell very light during the night — the

194 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
current, however, is hurrying us on, though its set is not ex
actly in the right direction. Its tendency is to drive us too far
from the coast. The iiext day, it became perfectly calm, and
so continued all day. We were in twenty-three fathoms of
water, and could see by the lead line that we were drifting
over the bottom at the rate of about two knots an hour. We
got out our fishing-lines, and caught some deep sea-fish, of the
grouper species. The sea was alive with the nautilus, and the
curious sea-nettle, with its warps and hawsers thrown out, and
its semi-transparent, gelatinous disc contracting and expand
ing, as the little animal extracted its food from the water.
Schools of fish, large and small, were playing about in every
direction, and flocks of sea-gulls, and other marine birds of
prey, were hovering over them, and making occasional forays
in their midst. During the day, a sail was descried, far in
shore, but we were unable to make it out ; indeed sails were
of the least importance to us now, as we were unable to chase.
Just before sunset, we had a fine view of the Silver Mountains,
some forty or fifty miles distant, in the south-west.
August 15th. — During the past night, we made the "Great
Constable," a small island, off the coast, and one of the land
marks for Cayenne. The night was fine, and moonlit, and we
ran in, and anchored about midnight, in fourteen fathoms of
water. At daylight, the next morning, after waiting for the
passage of a rain-squall, we got under way, and proceeding
along the coast, came up with the Remize Islands, in the course
of the afternoon, where we found a French pilot-lugger lying
to, waiting for us. We were off Cayenne, and the lugger had
come out to show us the way into the anchorage. A pilot
jumping on board, we ran in, and anchored to the north-west
of the " Child " — a small island — in three and a quarter
fathoms of water. I could scarcely realize, that this was the
famous penal settlement of Cayenne, painted in French history,
as the very abode of death, and fraught with all other human
horrors, so beautiful, and picturesque did it appear. The out
lying islands are high, rising, generally, in a conical form, and
are densely wooded, to their very summits. Sweet little nooks
and coves, overhung by the waving foliage of strange-looking
tropical trees, indent their shores, and invite the fisherman, or

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 195
pleasure-seeker to explore their recesses. The main land is
equally rich in vegetation, and though the sea-coast is low, dis
tant ranges of mountains, inland, break in, agreeably, upon the
monotony. A perennial summer prevails, and storms, and hurri
canes are unknown. It was here that some of the most desperate
and bloodthirsty of the French revolutionists of 1790, were
banished. Many of them died of yellow fever ; others escaped,
and wandered off to find inhospitable graves, in other coun
tries ; few of them ever returned to France. Shortly after we
came to anchor, the batteries ofthe town, and some small French
steamers of war, that lay in the harbor, fired salutes in honor ofthe
birthday of Louis Napoleon — this being the 15th of August.
The next morning, at daylight, I dispatched Lieutenant
Evans, and Paymaster Myers, to the town — the former to call
on the Governor, and the latter to see if any coal could be
had. Their errand was fruitless. Not only was there no coal
to be purchased, but my officers thought that they had been
received rather ungraciously. The fact is, we found here, as
in Curacoa, that the enemy was in possession of the neutral
territory. There was a Federal Consul resident in the place,
who was the principal contractor, for supplying the French
garrison with fresh beef! and there were three, or four Yankee
schooners in the harbor, whose skippers had a monopoly of
the trade in flour and notions. What could the Sumter effect
against such odds ?
In the course of an hour after my boat returned, we were
again under way, running down the coast, in the direction of
Surinam, to see if the Dutchmen would prove more propitious,
than the Frenchmen had done. About six p. M., we passed
the " Salut " Islands, three in number, on the summit of one
of which shone the white walls of a French military hospital,
contrasting prettily with the deep-green foliage of the shade-
trees around it. It was surrounded by low walls, on which
were mounted some small guns en barbette. Hither are sent all
the sick sailors, and soldiers from Cayenne.
August 17th. — Morning clear, and beautiful, as usual, in this
delightful climate, with a fresh breeze from the south-east.
We are now in latitude 6° north, and still the south-east trade-
wind is following us — the calm belt having been pushes

196 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
farther and farther to the northward. We are running along
in ten fathoms of water, at an average distance of seven, or
eight miles, from the land, with the soundings surprisingly
regular. Passed the mouth of the small river Maroni, at noon.
At four p. m., ran across a bank, in very muddy water, some
fifteen miles to the northward and eastward, of the entrance
of this river, with only three fathoms of water on it ; rather
close shaving on a strange coast, having but six feet of water
under our keel. Becoming a little nervous, we " hauled out,"
and soon deepened into five fathoms. There is little danger
of shipwreck, on this coast, however, owing to the regularity
of the soundings, and the almost perpetual smoothness of the
sea. The bars off the mouths of the rivers, too, are, for the
most part, of mud, where a ship sticks, rather than thumps.
Hence, the temerity with which we ran into shallow waters.
Sunday, August 18th. — The south-east wind came to us, as
softly, and almost as sweetly, this morning, as if it were
"breathing o'er a bed of violets;" but it freshened as the
day advanced, in obedience to the mandate of its master, the
sun, and we had a fresh breeze, toward nightfall. After pass
ing Post Orange, we ran over another three-fathom bank, the
water deepening beyond, and enabling us to haul in toward
the coast, as we approached Bram's Point, at the mouth of the
Surinam River, off which we anchored, (near the buoy on the
bar,) at twenty minutes past five P. M., in four fathoms of
water. This being Sunday, as we were running along the
coast, we had mustered and inspected the crew, and caused the
clerk to read the articles " for the better government of the
Navy" to them — the same old articles, though not read under
the same old flag, as formerly. This was my invariable prac
tice on the Sabbath. It broke in, pleasantly, and agreeably,
upon the routine duties of the week, pretty much as church-
going does, on shore, and had a capital effect, besides, upon disci
pline, reminding the sailor of his responsibility to the laws, and
that there were such merciless tribunals, as Courts-Martial, for
their enforcement. The very shaving, and washing, and dress
ing, of a Sunday morning, contributed to the sailor's self-
respect. The "muster" gratified, too, one of his passions, as
it gave him the opportunity of displaying all those anchors,

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 197
and stars, which he had so industriously embroidered, in floss
silk, on his ample shirt-collar, and on the sleeve of his jacket.
We had some dandies on board the Sumter, and it was amus
ing to witness the self-complacent air, with which these gentle
men would move around the capstan, with the blackest, and
most carefully polished of pumps, and the whitest, and finest
of sinnott hats, from which would be streaming yards enough
of ribbon, to make the ship a pennant.
I had had considerable difficulty in identifying the mouth of
the Surinam River, so low and uniform in appearance was the
coast, as seen from the distance at which we had been com
pelled to run along it, by the shallowness of the water.
There is great similarity between these shelving banks, run
ning off to a great distance, at sea, and the banks on the coast
of West Florida. The rule of soundings, on some parts of
the latter coast, is a foot to the mile, so that, when the naviga
tor is in ten feet of water, he is ten miles from the land. This
is not quite the case, on the coast of Guiana, but on some parts
of it, a large ship can scarcely come within sight of the land.
A small craft, drawing but a few feet of water, has no need of
making a harbor, on either coast, for the whole coast is a har
bor — the sea, in bad weather, breaking in from three to five
fathoms of water, miles outside of her, leaving all smooth and
calm within. There is a difference, however, between the two
coasts — the Florida coast is scourged by the hurricane, whilst
the Guiana coast is entirely free from storms.
Soon after we came to anchor, as related, we descried a
steamer in the west, steering for the mouth of the river. No
thing was more likely than that, by this time, the enemy
should have sent some of his fast gun-boats in pursuit of
us, and the smoke of a steamer on the horizon, therefore,
caused me some uneasiness. I knew that I had not a chivalrous
enemy to deal with, who would be likely to give me a fair
fight. The captures made by the Sumter had not only touched
the Yankee in a very tender spot — his pocket — they had ad
ministered, also, a well-merited rebuke to his ridiculous self-
conceit. It was monstrous, indeed, in his estimation that any
one should have the audacity, in the face of Mr. Lincoln's
proclamation of prompt vengeance, to molest one of his ships.

198 ' MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT.
A malignant press, from Maine to Maryland, had denounced
the Sumter as a pirate, and no quarter was to be shown her.
The steamer, now approaching, having been descried, at a great
distance, by the curling of her black smoke high into the
still air, night set in before she was near enough to be made
out. We could see her form indistinctly, in the darkness, but
no certain conclusion could be arrived at as to her size or na
tionality. I, at once, caused my fires to be lighted, and, beat
ing to quarters, prepared my ship for action. We stood at
our guns for some time, but seeing, about ten p. M., that the
strange steamer came to anchor, some three or four miles out
side of us, I permitted the men to leave their quarters, caution
ing the officer of the watch, however, to keep a bright look
out, during the night, for the approach of boats, and to call
me if there should be any cause for alarm. As I turned in,
I thought things looked a little squally. If the strange ves
sel were a mail-steamer, she would, of course, be familiar
with the waters in which she plied, and, instead of anchor
ing outside, would have run boldly into the river without
waiting for daylight. Besides, she had no lights about her
as she approached, and packet steamers always go well lighted
up. That she was a steamer of war, therefore, appeared quite
certain: but, of course, it was of no use to speculate upon
the chances of her being an enemy; daylight only could re
veal that. In the meantime, the best thing we could do would
be to get a good night's rest, so as to rise refreshed for the
morning's work, if work there should be.
At daylight, all hands were again summoned to their quar
ters; and pretty soon the strange steamer was observed to be
under way, and standing toward us. We got up our own an
chor in a trice — the men running around the capstan in
"double-quick," — and putting the ship under steam, started to
meet her. Neither of us had, as yet, any colors hoisted. We
soon perceived that the stranger was no heavier than our
selves. This greatly encouraged me, and [ could see a corre
sponding lighting up of the faces of my crew, all standing
silently at their guns. Desiring to make the stranger reveal
her nationality to me first, I now hoisted the French colors —
a fine new flag, that I had had made in New Orleans. To my

DURING THE AVAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 199
astonishment, and no little perplexity, up went the same colors,
on board the stranger ! I was alongside of a French ship of war,
pretending to be a Frenchman myself! Of course, there was
but one thing to be done, and that was, to haul down the
French flag and hoist my own, which was done in an instant,
when we mutually hailed. A colloquy ensued, when the names
of the two ships were interchanged, and we ascertained that
the stranger was bound into the Surinam, like ourselves. We
now both ran in for the light-ship, and the Frenchman receiv
ing a pilot on board from her, I permitted him to take the lead,
and we followed him up the long and narrow channel, having
sometimes scarcely a foot of water to spare under our keel.
After we had passed inside of Bram's Point, the tide being
out, both ships anchored to wait for the returning flood. I
took advantage of the opportunity, and sent a lieutenant to
visit the French ship. The Vulture, for such was her name, was
one of the old-fashioned, side-wheel steamers, mounting only
oarronades, and was last from Martinique, with convicts on
board, for Cayenne. Running short of coal, she was putting
into Paramaribo, for a supply. Getting under way again, soon
after mid-day, we continued our course up the river. We were
much reminded, by the scenery of the Surinam, of that of some
of our Southern rivers — the Mississippi, for instance, after the
voyager from the Gulf has left the marshes behind him, and is
approaching New Orleans. The bottom lands, near the river,
are cleared, and occupied by sugar, and other plantations, the
back-ground of the picture presenting a dense, and unbroken
forest. As we passed the well-known sugar-house, with its
tall chimney, emitting volumes of black smoke, and saw gangs
of slaves, cutting, and hauling in the cane, the illusion was
quite perfect. Nothing can exceed the fertility of these
alluvial lands. They are absolutely inexhaustible, yielding
crop after crop, in continual succession, without rest oi interval;
there being no frosts to interfere with vegetation, in this genial
climate. Some of the planters' dwellings were tasteful, and
even elegant, surrounded by galleries whose green Venetian
blinds gave promise of coolness within, and sheltered besides
by the umbrageous arms of giant forest-trees. Cattle wandered
over the pasture lands, the negroes were well clothed, and

200 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
there was a general air of abundance, and contentment. Sla
very is held by a very precarious tenure, here, and will doubt
less soon disappear, there being a strong party, in Holland, in
favor of its abolition. Our consort, the Vulture, and ourselves
anchored almost at the same moment, off the town of Para
maribo, in the middle of the afternoon. There were two, or
three American brigantines in the harbor, and a couple of
Dutch ships of war. I sent a lieutenant to call on the Gov
ernor, and to request permission to coal, and refit; both of
which requests were granted, with the usual conditions, viz. :
that I should not increase my crew or armament, or receive
ammunition on board. The Captain ofthe Vulture now came on
board, to return the visit I had made him, through my lieu
tenant, and the commanding Dutch naval officer also called.
But, what was more important, several coal merchants came
off to negotiate with my paymaster, about supplying the ship
with the very necessary article in which they dealt. The suc
cessful bidder for our contract was a " gentleman of color," that
is to say, a quadroon, who talked freely about whites, and
blacks, always putting himself, of course, in the former category,
by the use of the pronoun " we," and seemed to have no sort
of objection to our flag, or the cause it was supposed to repre
sent. I wined this "gentleman," along with my other visitors,
and though I paid him a remunerative price for his coal, I
am under many obligations to him, for his kindness, and assist
ance to us, during our stay. I take great pleasure in con
trasting the conduct and bearing of this person, with those of
the Federal Consul, at Paramaribo. This latter gentleman was
a Connecticut man, who had probably worn white cravats, and
delivered quarter-dollar lectures, in his native village, against
slavery, as a means of obtaining an "honest living." Coming
to Paramaribo, he had married a mulatto wife, and through
her, become a slave-holder. This virtuous representative of
"great moral ideas," at once threw himself into the breach,
between the Sumter, and the coal-market, and did all he could
to prevent her from coaling. He was one of Mr. Seward's men,
and taking up the refrain about "piracy," went first to the Gov
ernor, to see what could be effected, in that quarter. Being told
that Holland had followed the lead '.f the great powers, and

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 201
recognized the ponfederates as belligerents, he next went to
our quadroon contractor, and endeavoied to bluff him off, by
threatening him with the loss of any Yankee trade, that he
might possess. Being equally unsuccessful here, he next
tried to seduce the lightermen, to prevent them from delivering
the coal to us. All would not do, however, the Sumter, or
what is more likely, the Sumter's gold — that talisman that
works so many miracles in this virtuous world of ours —
was too strong for him, and, pretty soon, the black diamonds
— the most precious of jewels to men in our condition — came
tumbling into our coal-bunkers. Failing to prevent us from
coaling, the little Connecticut official next tampered with the
pilot, and endeavored to prevail on him, to refuse to take us
to sea. But the pilot was a sailor, with all the generous in •
stincts that belong to his class, and he not only refused to be
seduced, but presented me with some local charts of the coast,
which I found very useful.
The Consul had his triumph at last, however. When I was
fitting out the Sumter in New Orleans, a friend, and relative
resident in that city, had kindly permitted me to take with me,
as my steward, a valuable slave of his who had been brought
up as a dining-room servant. Ned was as black as the ace of
spades, and being a good-tempered, docile lad, had become my
right-hand man, taking the best of care of my cabin, and keeping
my table supplied with all the delicacies of the different mar
kets, to which we had had access. He was as happy as the days
were long, a great favorite with the crew, and when there was
any fun going on, on the forecastle, he was sure to be in the
midst of it. But the tempter came along. The Connecticut mis-
cegenist (and slave-holder, at the same time) had seen Ned's
shining and happy face going to market, of mornings, and, like
the serpent of old, whispered in his ear. One morning Ned was
missing, but the market-basket came off, piled up as usual with
luxuries for dinner. The lad had been bred in an honest house
hold, and though his poor brain had been bewildered, he was
still above theft. His market-basket fully balanced his ac
count. Poor Ned! his after-fate was a sad one. He was taken
to the country, by his Mephistophiles, and set at work, with
the slaves of that pious Puritan, on a small plantation that

202 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
belonged to his negro wife. Ned's head was rather too woolly
to enable him to understand much about the absti actions of
freedom and slavery, but he had sense enough to see, ere long,
that he had been beguiled, and cheated, by the smooth Yankee ;
and when, in course of time, he saw himself reduced to yam
diet and ragged clothing, he began, like the prodigal child, to
remember the abundance of his master's house, and to long to
return to it. Accordingly, he was missing, again, one fine
morning, and was heard of no more in Paramaribo. He had
embarked on board a vessel bound to Europe, and next turned
up in Southampton. The poor negro had wandered off at a
hazard in quest of the Sumter, but hearing nothing of her, and
learning that the Confederate States steamer Nashville, Com
mander Pegram, was at Southampton, he made his way on
board of that ship, and told his tale to the officers. He afterward
found his way to the United States, and died miserably, of
cholera, in some of the negro suburbs of Washington City
August 23d. — Weather clear, during the day, but we had
some heavy showers of rain, with thunder, and lightning during
the night. We are receiving coal rather slowly — a small
lighter-load at a time. We are making some changes in the in
ternal arrangements of the ship. Finding, by experience, that
we have more tank -room, for water, than is requisite, we are
landing a couple of our larger tanks, and extending the bulk
heads of the coal-bunkers. By this means, we shall be en
abled to increase our coal-carrying capacity by at least a third,
carrying twelve days of fuel, instead of eight. Still the Sum
ter remains fundamentally defective, as a cruiser, in her inability
to lift her screw.
August 24:th. — Weather clear, and pleasant, with some pass
ing clouds, and light showers of rain. The Dutch mail-
steamer, from Demerara, arrived, to-day. We are looking
anxiously for news from home, as, at last accounts — July
20th from New York — a battle near Manassas Junction,
seemed imminent. Demerara papers of the 19th of August
contain nothing, except that some skirmishing had taken
place, between the two armies. The French steamer-of-war
Abeille arrived, and anchored near us.
Sunday, August 25th. — Morning cloudy. At half-past eight

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 203
I went on shore to church. The good old Mother has her
churches, and clergymen, even in this remote Dutch colony.
The music of her choirs is like the "drum-beat" of England;
it encircles the earth, with its never-ending melody. As the
sun, "keeping company with the hours," lights up, with his
newly risen beams, one degree of longitude after another, he
awakens the priest to the performance of the never-ending
mass. The church was a neat, well-arranged wooden building,
of large dimensions, and filled to overflowing with devout
worshippers. All the shades of color, from "snowy white to
sooty" were there, and there did not seem to be any order in
the seating of the congregation, the shades being promiscu
ously mixed. The preacher was fluent, and earnest in action,
but his sermon, which seemed to impress the congregation,
being in that beautiful and harmonious language, which we
call "low Dutch," was entirely unintelligible to me. The Latin
mass, and ceremonies — which are the same all over the world
— were, of course, quite familiar, and awoke many ten
der reminiscences. I had heard, and seen them, in my own
country, under the domes of grand cathedrals, and in the
quiet retreat of the country house, where the good wife her
self had improvised the altar. A detachment of the Govern
ment troops was present. .
Some Dutch naval lieutenants visited the ship to-day. We
learn, by late papers from Barbadoes, politely brought us by
these gentlemen, that the enemy's steamer, Keystone State, was
in that island, in search of us, on the 21st of July. She prob
ably heard, there, of my intention to go back to cruise off the
island of Cuba, which, as the reader has seen, I confidentially
communicated to my friends at Curacoa, and has turned back
herself. If she were on the right track she should be here
before this. There was great commotion, too, as we learn by
these papers, at Key West, on the 8th of July, when the news
reached there of our being at Cienfuegos. Consul Shufeldt,
at Havana, had been prompt, as I had foreseen. We entered
Cienfuegos on the 6th, and on the 8th, he had two heavy and
fast steamers, the Niagara and the Crusader, in pursuit of us.
They, too, seem to have lost the trail.
August 28th. — Bright, elastic morning, with a gentle breeze

204 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
from the south-east. There was a grand fandango, on shore,
last night, at which some of my officers were present. Tha
fun grew "fast and furious," as the night waned, and what with
the popping of champagne-corks, and the flashing of the bright
eyes of the waltzers, as they were whirled in the giddy dance,
my young fellows have come off looking a little red about the
eyes, and inclined to be poetical.
Rumors have been rife, for some days past, of a Confederate
victory at Manassas. There seems now to be no longer any
doubt about the fact. Private letters have been received, from
Demerara, which state that the enemy was not only beaten, but
shamefully routed, flying in confusion and dismay from the
battle-field, and seeking refuge, pell-mell, in the Federal capi- -
tal. With the exception of the Federal Consul, and Yankee
skippers in the port, and a small knot of shop-keepers, inter
ested in the American trade, all countenances are beaming
with joy at this intelligence. This splendid victory was won
by General Beauregard. McDowell was the commander of
the enemy's forces, assisted, as it would seem, by the poor old
superannuated Winfield Scott — this renegade soldier lending
his now feeble intellect to the Northern Vandal, to assist in
stabbing to the heart his mother State — Virginia ! Alas ! what
an ignoble end of, a once proud and honored soldier.
August 29th. — We have, at length, finished coaling, after a
tedious delay of ten days. A rumor prevailed in the town,
yesterday, that there were two enemy's ships of war off the
bar — keeping themselves cunningly out of sight, to waylay
the Sumter. The rumor comes with circumstance, for it is said
that the fisherman, who brought the news, supplied one of the
ships with fish, and said that the other ship was getting water
on board from one of the coast plantations. To-day, the rumor
dwindles ; but one ship, it seems, has been seen, and she a mer
chant ship. The story is probably like that of the three white
crows. August 30th. — The pilot having come on board, we got un-
ier way, at two P. M., and steamed down to the mouth of the
river, where we came to anchor. A ship, going to sea, is like
a woman going on a journey — many last things remaining to
be attended to, at the moment of departure. I have always

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 205
found it best, to shove off shore-boats, expel all visitors, " drop
down " out of the influences of the port, and send an officer or
two back, to arrange these last things. A boat was now ac
cordingly dispatched back to the town, for this purpose, and
as she would not return until late in the night, inviting the
surgeon and paymaster, and my clerk to accompany me, I
pulled on shore, in my gig, to make a visit to an adjoining
sugar plantation, that lay close by, tempting us to a stroll un
der its fine avenues of cocoanut and acacia trees. We were re
ceived very hospitably at the planter's mansion, where we found
some agreeable ladies, and with whom we stayed late enough,
to take tea, at their pressing solicitation. It was a Hollandese
household, but all the inmates spoke excellent English.
Whilst tea was being prepared, we wandered over the prem
ises, the sugar-house included, where we witnessed all the pro
cesses of sugar making, from the expression of the juice from
the cane, to the crystallization of the syrup. There were
crowds of negroes on the place, old and young, male and fe
male — some at work, and some at play; the players being
rather the more numerous of the two classes. The grounds
around the dwelling were tastefully laid out, in serpentine
walks, winding through a wilderness of rare tropical shrub
bery, redolent of the most exquisite of perfumes. True to the
Dutch instinct for the water, the river, or rather the bay, for
the river has now disembogued into an arm of the sea, washed
the very walls of the flower-garden, and the plash, or rather the
monotonous fretting of the tiny waves, at their base, formed no
unmusical accompaniment to the hum of conversation, as the
evening wore away. Among other plants, we noticed the giant
maguey, and a great variety of the cactus, that favorite child
of the sun. Our visit being over, we took a warm leave of our
hospitable entertainers, and pulled on board the Sumter, by
moonlight, deeply impressed, and softened as well by the harmo
nies of nature, and feeling as little like "pirates," as possible.
The next morning, having run up our boats, and taken a
final leave of the waters of the Surinam, we steamed out to sea,
crossing the bar about meridian ; the weather being fine, and
the wind fresh from the north-east. Having given it out that
we were bound to Barbadoes, to look for the Keystone State,

206 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
we stood north, until we had run the land out of sight, to give
color to this idea, when we changed our course to E., half S.
We ran along, for the next two or three days, on soundings,
with a view to break the force of the current, doubling Cape
Orange, on the 2d of September, and hauling more to the
southward, with the trending of the coast. On the next day,
we had regained the position from which we had been com
pelled to bear up, and my journal remarks: — "We have thus
lost three days and a half of steaming, or about fifty tons of
coal, but what is worse, we have lost twenty-three days of
valuable time, — but this time can scarcely be said to have
been wholly lost, either, since the display of the flag of our
young republic, in Cayenne and Paramaribo, has had a most
excellent effect."
Sept. Ath. — Weather fine, with a fresh breeze, from about
E. by S. During most of the day, we have carried fore and
aft sails, and have made an excellent run, for a dull ship — 175
miles. We have experienced no current. We passed the
mouths of the great Amazon, to-day, bearing on its bosom the
waters of a continent. We were running along in the deepest
and bluest of sea-water, whilst at no great distance from us,
we could plainly perceive, through our telescopes, the turbid
waters of the great stream, mixing and mingling, by slow de
grees, with the ocean. Numerous tide rips marked the uncon
genial meeting of the waters, and the sea gull and penguin
were busy diving in them, as though this neutral ground, or
rather I should say, battle-ground, was a favorite resort for
the small fish, on which they prey. A drift log with sedate
water-fowl seated upon it, would now and then come along,
and schools of porpoises were disporting themselves, now in
the blue, now in the muddy waters. Unlike the mouths of the
Mississippi, there were no white sails of commerce dotting the
waters, in the offing, and no giant tow-boats throwing their
volumes of black smoke into the air, and, with their huge
side-wheels, beating time to the pulsations of the steam-engine.
All was nature. The giant stream ran through a wilderness,
scarcely yet opened to civilization. It disembogues a little
south of the equator, and runs from west to east, nearly
entirely across the continent.

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 207
We crossed the equator in the Sumter, on the meridian of 46°
40', and sounded in twenty fathoms of water, bringing up from
the bottom of the sea, for the first time, some of the sand, and
shells of the Southern Hemisphere. We hoisted the Confed
erate flag, though there were no eyes to look upon it outside
of our ship, to vindicate, symbolically, our right to enter this
new domain of Neptune, in spite of Abraham Lincoln, and the
Federal gun-boats.
September 5th. — Wind fresh from E. S. E. Doubled Cape
Garupi, during the early morning, and sounded, at meridian, in
eight fathoms of water, without any land in sight, though the
day was clear. Hauled out from the coast a little. At half-
past three, p. M., made the island of San Joao, for which we had
been running, a little on the starboard bow. We now hauled
in close with this island, and running along its white sand
beach, which reminded us much of the Florida coast, about
Pensacola, we doubled its north-eastern end, in six, and seven
fathoms of water. Night now set in, and, shaping our course
S. E. by S., we ran into some very broken ground— the sound
ings frequently changing, in a single cast of the lead, from
seven to four fathoms. Four fathoms being rather uncom
fortably shoal, on an open coast, we again hauled out, until we
deepened our water to eight fathoms, in which we ran along, still
in very equal soundings, until we made the light on Mount Ita-
colomi, nearly ahead. In half an hour afterward, we anchored
in six and a half fathoms of water, to wait for daylight.
When I afterward told some Brazilian officers, who came
on board, to visit me, in Marauham, of this eventful night's
run, they held up their hands in astonishment, telling me that
the chances were a hundred to one, that I had been wrecked,
for, many parts of the broken ground over which I had run,
were almost dry, at low water. Their steamers never attempt
it, they said, with the best pilots onboard. It is a pity this coast
is not better surveyed, for the charts by which I was running, rep
resented it free from danger. The Brazilian is a coral coast, and,
as before remarked, all coral coasts are dangerous. The inequal
ity of soundings was due to the greater industry of the little stone
mason, of which we read some pages back, in some spots than
in others. This little worker of the sea will sometimes pierce
14

208 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
a ship's bottom, with a cone, which it has brought near the
surface, from' surrounding deep waters. As it is constantly at
work, the bottom of the sea is constantly changing, and hence,
on coral coasts, surveying steamers should be almost always at
work. Having anchored in the open sea, and the sea being a
little rough, we found, when we came to heave up our anchor,
the next morning, that we brought up only the ring, and a
small piece of the shank. It had probably been caught in the
rocky bottom, and broken by the force of the windlass, aided
by the pitching of the ship.
There was, much to my regret, no pilot-boat in sight. The
entrance to Maranham is quite difficult, but difficult as it was,
I was forced to attempt it. We rounded safely, the shoals of
Mount Itacolomi, and passed the middle ground of the Meio,
and I was already congratulating myself that the danger was
past, when the ship ran plump upon a sand-bank, and stopped !
She went on, at full speed, and the shock, to those standing on
deck, was almost sufficient to throw them off their feet. We
had a skilful leadsman in the chains, and at his last cast, he
had found no bottom, with eight fathoms of line — all that the
speed of the ship would allow him to sink. Here was a catas
trophe I Were the bones of the Sumter to be laid to rest, on
the coast of Brazil, and her Commander, and crew to return to
the Confederate States, and report to the Government, that they
had lost its only ship of war! This idea flashed through my
mind for an instant, but ' only for an instant, for the work of
the moment pressed. The engineer on duty had stopped his
engine, without waiting for orders, as soon as he felt the ship
strike, and I now ordered it reversed. In a moment more the
screw was revolving in the opposite direction, and the strong
tide, which was running out, catching the ship, on the port
bow, at the same time, she swung round to starboard, and slid
off the almost perpendicular edge of the bank into deep water,
pretty much as a turtle will drop off a log. The first thing I
did was to draw a long breath, and the second was to put on
an air of indifference, as if nothing had happened, and tell the
officer of the deck, in the coolest manner possible, to " let her
go ahead." We now proceeded more cautiously, under low
gteam, giving the leadsman plenty of time to get his sound-

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 209
ings, accurately. These soon proving very irregular, and there
being some fishermen on the coast, half a mile distant, throw
ing up their arms, and gesticulating to us, as though to warn
us of danger, we anchored, and sending a boat on shore,
brought one of them off, who volunteered to pilot us up to the
town. Upon sounding the pumps, we found that the ship had
suffered no damage from the concussion. We anchored in the
port of Maranham, in three or four hours afterward, and the
Confederate States flag waved in the Empire of Brazil. The
Port Admiral sent a lieutenant to call on us, soon after anchor
ing, and I dispatched one of my own lieutenants, to call on
the Governor ; returning the Admiral's visit, myself, in the
course of the afternoon, at his place of business on shore.

CHAPTER XVIII.
THE SUMTER AT MARANHAM — MORE DIPLOMACY NECES
SARY — THE HOTEL PORTO AND ITS PROPRIETOR — A
WEEK ON SHORE — SHIP COALS AND SAILS AGAIN.
THE day after our arrival in Maranham, was a day of feast
ing and rejoicing by the townspeople — all business being
suspended. It was the 7th of September, the anniversary of
the day on which Brazil had severed her political connection
with Portugal — in other words, it was her Independence-day.
The forts and ships of war fired salutes, and the latter were
gayly draped in flags and signals, presenting a very pretty ap
pearance. It is customary, on such occasions, for the ships of
war of other nations, in the port, to participate in the ceremo
nies and merry-making. We abstained from all participation,
on board the Sumter, our flag being, as yet, unrecognized, for
the purposes of form and ceremony. In the evening, a grand
ball was given, at the Government House, by the President of
the Province, to which all the world, except the Sumter, was
invited — the etiquette of nations, before referred to, requiring
that she should be ruled out. The only feeling excited in us,
by this official slight, was one of contempt for the silliness of
the proceeding — a contempt heightened by the reflection that
we were a race of Anglo-Saxons, proud of our lineage, and
proud of our strength, frowned upon by a set of half-breeds.
The Government House being situated on the river bank, near
our anchorage, the lights of the brilliantly illuminated halls
and chambers, shone full upon our decks, and the music ofthe
bands, and even the confused hum of the voices of the merry
makers, and the muffled shuffling of the dancers' feet, came to
us, very distinctly, to a late hour. The Sumter lay dark, and
motionless, and silent, amid this scene of merriment; the only
answer which she sent back to the revellers, being the sonorous 210

MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT. 211
and startling cry, every half hour, of her marine sentinels on
post, of "All's well!"
Having suffered, somewhat, in health, from the fatigue and
excitement of the last few weeks, I removed on shore the
next day, and took up my quarters at the hotel Porto, kept by
one of those nondescripts one sometimes meets with in the
larger South American cities, whose nationality it is impossi
ble to guess at, except that he belongs to the Latin race. My
landlord had followed the sea, among his thousand and one oc
cupations, spoke half a dozen languages, and was "running" —
to use a slang Americanism — a theatre and one or two fash
ionable restaurants, in beautifully laid out pleasure-grounds
in the suburbs, in addition to his hotel. He drove a pair of
fast horses, was on capital terms with all the pretty women in
the town, smashed champagne-bottles, right and left, and
smoked the best of Havana cigars. The reader will thus see,
that being an invalid, and requiring a little nursing, I had
fallen into capital hands. Whether it was that Senhor Porto —
for he had given his own name to his hotel — had chased and
captured merchant-ships, in former days, himself, or from some
other motive, I could never tell, but he took quite a fancy to
me at once, and I rode with him daily, during my stay, behind
his fast ponies, and visited all the places of amusement, of
which he was the padron. The consequence was, that I visibly
improved in health, and at the end of the week which I spent
with him, returned on board the Sumter, quite set up again;
in requital whereof, I have permitted the gallant Captain to
sit tor his portrait in these pages.
My first duty, after being installed in my new apartments
on shore, was, of course, to call on the President of the De
partment — the town of Maranham being the seat of govern
ment of the province of the same name. The President de
clined to see me then, but appointed noon, the next day, to
receive me. Soon after I had returned to my hotel, Senhor
Porta entered my room, to inform me that Captain Pinto, of
the Brazilian Navy, the commanding naval officer on the sta
tion, accompanied by the Chief of Police, had called to see
me. " What does this mean ? " said I, " the Chief of Police,
in our cities, is a very questionable sort of gentleman, and is

212 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
usually supposed to be on the scent of malefactors." " Oh I he
is a very respectable gentleman, I assure you," replied Porto,
"and, as you see, he has called with the Port Admiral, so that
he is in good company, at least. Indeed he is reputed to be
the confidential friend of the President." Thus reassured,
and making a virtue of necessity, I desired Porto, very com
placently, to admit the visitors. The Port Admiral had done
me the honor to visit me, immediately upon my arrival,
and I had returned his visit, so that we were not strangers.
He introduced the Chief of Police to me, who proved to be,
as Porto had represented him, an agreeable gentleman, holding
military rank, and, after the two had been seated, they
opened their business to me. They had come, they said, on
behalf of the President, to present me with a copy of a
paper, which had been handed him, by the United States
Consul, protesting against my being permitted to coal, or
receive any other supplies in the port of Maranham. Oh
ho! thought I, here is another of Mr. Seward's small fry
turned up. I read the paper, and found it full of ignorance
and falsehoods — ignorance of the most common principles
of international law, and barefaced misrepresentations with
regard to my ship ; the whole composed in such execrable
English, as to be highly creditable to Mr. Seward's Depart
ment. I characterized the paper, as it deserved, and said to
the gentlemen, that as I had made an appointment to call on
the President, on the morrow, I would take that opportunity
of replying to the slanderous document. The conversation
then turned on general topics, and my visitors soon after
withdrew. As I rode out, that afternoon, with Porto, he said, " Never
mind I I know all that is going on, at the palace, and you will
get all the coal, and everything else you want." The pay of
the Federal Consul at Maranham, was, I believe, at the time I
visited the town, about twelve hundred dollars, per annum.
As was to be expected, a small man filled the small place. He
was quite young, and with commendable Yankee thrift, was
exercising, in the consular dwelling, the occupation of a den
tist ; the " old flag " flying over his files, false teeth, and spit
toons. He probably wrote the despatch, a copy of which had

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 213
been handed me, in the intervals between the entrance, and
exit of his customers. It was not wonderful, therefore, that
this semi-diplomat, charged with the affairs of the Great Re
public, and with the decayed teeth of the young ladies of
Maranham, at one and the same time, should be a little con
fused, as to points of international law, and the rules of Lind-
ley Murray. That he should misrepresent me was both natural,
and Federal.
At the appointed hour, the next day, I called to see his Ex
cellency, the President, and being ushered, by an orderly in
waiting, into a suite of spacious, and elegantly furnished apart
ments, I found Captain Pinto, and his Excellency, both pre
pared to receive me. We proceeded, at once, to business. I
exhibited to his Excellency the same little piece of brownish
paper, with Mr. Jefferson Davis's signature at the bottom of
it, that I had shown to Captain Hillyer of the Cadmus —
unasked, however, as no doubts had been raised as to the
verity of the character of my ship. I then read to his Excel
lency an extract or two from the letter of instructions, which
had been sent me by the Secretary of the Navy, directing me
to pay all proper respect to the territory, and property of neu
trals. I next read the proclamations of England and France,
acknowledging us to be in the possession of belligerent rights,
and said to his Excellency, that although I had not seen the
proclamation of Brazil, I presumed she had followed the lead
of the European powers — to which he assented. I then
" rested my case," as the lawyers say, seeing, by the expression
,of his Excellency's countenance, that ever}' lick had told, and
that I had nothing now to fear. " But, what about coal being
contraband of war," said his Excellency, at this stage of the
proceeding. " The United States Consul, in the protest ad
dressed to me, a copy of which I sent you, yesterday, by Cap
tain Pinto, and the Chief of Police, states that you had not
been permitted to coal, in any of the ports, which you have
hitherto visited." The reader will recollect, that, at the British
Island of Trinidad, the question of my being permitted to coal
had been submitted to the " law officers of the Crown." The
newspaper, at that place, had published a copy of the opinion
of these officers, and also a copy of the decision of the Gov

214 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
ernor, thereupon. Having brought a copy of this paper, in my
pocket, for the occasion, I now rejoined to his Excellency :
" The United States Consul has made you a false statement. 1
have coaled, already, in the colonies of no less than three
Powers — Spain, Holland, and England" — and drawing from
my pocket the newspaper, and handing it to him, I continued
" and your Excellency will find, in this paper, the decision of
the English authorities, upon the point in question — that is to
say, that coal is not contraband of war, and may be supplied
by neutrals to belligerents." Captain Pinto, to whom his Ex
cellency handed the paper, read aloud the decision, putting it
into very good Portuguese, as he went along, and when he had
finished the reading, his Excellency turned again to me,
and said: "I have no longer any doubts on the question.
You can have free access to the markets, and purchase what
soever you may desire — munitions of war alone excepted." I
have been thus particular in describing these proceedings to
the reader, to show him with what sleuth-hound perseverance
I was followed up, by these small consuls, taken from the
political kennel in the Northern States, who never hesitated to
use the most unblushing falsehoods, if they thought these
would serve their purposes better than the truth. The official
portion of my interview with the President being ended, I
ventured upon some general remarks with regard to the unnat
ural, and wicked war which was being waged upon us, and
soon afterward took my leave.
In an hour after I had left the President's quarters, my
paymaster had contracted for a supply of coal, and lighters
were being prepared to take it on board. The sailors were
now permitted to visit the shore, in detachments, " on liberty,"
and the officers wandered about, in twos and threes, wherever
inclination prompted. We soon found that wherever we
moved, we were objects of much curiosity, the people fre
quently turning to stare at us; but we were always treated
with respect. Nothing was thought, or talked of, during our
stay, but the American war. The Provincial Congress was in
session, and several of its members boarded at the hotel Porto.
I found them intelligent, well-informed men. There were
political parties here, as elsewhere, of course ; among others

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 215
as might be expected, in a slave-holding country, there was an
abolition party, and this party sympathized with the North.
It was very small, however, for it was quite evident, from the
popular demonstrations, that the great mass of the people were
with us. This state of the public feeling not only rendered
our stay, very pleasant, but facilitated us in getting off our
supplies. Invitations to the houses of the citizens were fre
quent, and we had free access to all the clubs, and other places
of public resort.
I must not omit to mention here, a very agreeable fellow-
countryman, whom we met in Maranham — Mr. J. Wetson,
from Texas. He had been several years in Brazil. His pro
fession was that of a steam-engineer, and mill-wright. This
worthy young mechanic, full of love, and enthusiasm for his
section, loaned the paymaster two thousand dollars, on a bill
against the Secretary of the Navy ; and during the whole of
our stay, his rooms were the head-quarters of my younger
officers, where he dispensed to them true Southern hospitality.
We were gratified to find him a great favorite with the towns
people, and we took leave of him with regret.
Maranham lies in latitude 2° S. and we visited it, during
the dry season ; the sun having carried the equatorial cloud-
ring, which gives it rain, farther north. We had perpetual
sunshine, during our stay, but the heat was tempered by
the trade-wind, which blew sometimes half a gale, so that we
did not feel it oppressive. Toward night the sea-breeze would
moderate, and the most heavenly of bright skies, and most
balmy of atmospheres would envelop the landscape. At this
witching hour, the beauties of Maranham made their appear
ance, at the street-doors, and at open windows, and the tinkle
of the guitar and the gentle hum of conversation would be
heard. Later in the night, there would arise from different
parts ofthe town — somewhat removed from the haunts of the
upper-tendom — the rumbling, and jingling of the tambourine,
and the merry notes of the violin, as the national fandango
was danced, with a vigor, and at the same time with a poetry
of motion unknown to colder climes. The wine flowed freely
on these occasions, and not unfrequently the red knife of the
assassin found the heart's blood of a rival in love ; for there

216 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
are other climes besides those of which the poet sang, whew
" The rage of the vulture, the love of the turtle
Now melt into sorrow, now madden to crime."
The trade of Maranham is mostly monopolized by Portugal,
France, and Spain, though there is some little carried on with
the United States — an occasional ship from New York, or
Boston, bringing a cargo of flour, cheap but gaudy furniture,
clocks, and domestic cottons, and other Yankee staples, and
notions. The shop-keepers are mostly French and Germans.
An excellent staple of cotton is produced in the province of
Maranham. On the 15th of September, the Sumter was ready for sea,
having been refitted, and repainted, besides being coaled, and
provisioned ; and there being, as usual, according to rumor, a
couple of enemy's ships waiting for her outside, we received a
pilot on board, and getting up steam, took leave of Maranham,
carrying with us many kindly recollections of the hospitality
of the people. We swept the sea horizon, with our glasses, as
we approached the bar, but the enemy's cruisers were nowhere
to be seen, and at three P. M., we were again in blue water ; our
little craft rising, and falling gently, to the undulations of the
sea, as she ploughed her way through it.
The question now was, in what direction should we steer ?
I was within striking distance of the cruising-ground, for
which I had set out — Cape St. Roque; but we had been so
long delayed, that we should reach it, if we proceeded thither
at all, at a most unpropitious season — the sailing, and steam
ing qualities of the Sumter considered. The trade-winds were
sweeping round the'-Cape, blowing half a gale, on the wings
of which the dullest ship would be able to run away from us,
if we trusted to sail, alone ; and steam, in the present state of
my exchequer, was out of the question. I had paid $17.50
per ton for the coal I had taken in, at Maranham, and but for
the timely loan of Mr. Wetson, should have exhausted my
treasury entirely. The trade-winds would continue to blow,
with equal force, until some time in December ; they would
then moderate, and from that time, onward, until March, we
might expect more gentle weather. This, then, was the only

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 217
season, in which the Sumter could opeiate off the Cape, to
advantage. On the other hand, the calm belt of the equator lay before
me — its southern edge, at this season of the year, being in
latitude of about 5° N. All the homeward-bound trade of
the enemy passed through this calm belt, or used to pass through
it before the war, at a well-known crossing. At that crossing,
there would be a calm sea, light, and variable winds, and rain.
In such weather, I could lie in wait for my prey, under sail,
and, if surprise, and stratagem did not effect my purpose, I
could, when a sail appeared, get up steam and chase and
capture, without the expenditure of much fuel. In this way,
with the coal I had on board, I could prolong my cruise, prob
ably, for a couple of months. I did not hesitate long, there
fore, between the two schemes. I turned my ship's head to
the northward, and eastward, for the calm belt, and before sun
set, we had run the coast of Brazil out of sight.
We recrossed the equator, the next day. In five days more,
the sun would have reached the equator, when we should have
had the grand spectacle, at noon, of being able to sweep him,
with our instruments, entirely around the horizon, with his
lower limb just touching it, at all points. We could nearly
do this, as it was, and so rapidly did he dip, at noon, that we
were obliged to watch him, with constant vigilance, to ascer
tain the precise moment of twelve o'clock.
September 17th. — The sea is of a deep, indigo blue, and we
have a bright, and exceedingly transparent atmosphere, with a
fresh breeze from the south-east. At half-past eleven A. M., we
let the steam go down, uncoupled the propeller, and put the
ship under sail. Observed at noon, in latitude 2° 19' N. ;
longitude, 41° 29'
For the next few days, we encountered a remarkable easterly
current — the current, in this part of the ocean, being almost
constantly to the westward. This current — which we were now
stemming, for we were sailing toward the north-west — retarded
us, as much as fifty miles, in a single day ! So remarkable did
the phenomenon appear, that if I had noticed it, for but a
single day, I should have been inclined to think that I had
made some mistake in my observations, or that there was some

218 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
error in my instrument, but we noticed it, day after day, for
four or five days.
Contemporaneously with this phenomenon, another, and
even more wonderful one appeared. This was a succession of
tide-rips, so remarkable, that they deserve special description.
The Sumter lay nearly stationary, during the whole of these
phenomena — the easterly current setting her back, nearly as
much as she gained under sail. She was in the average latitude
of 5° N., and average longitude of 42° W. For the first
three days, the rips appeared with wonderful regularity — there
being an interval of just twelve hours between them. They
approached us from the south, and travelled toward the north.
At first, only a line of foam would be seen, on the distant hori
zon, approaching the ship very rapidly. As it came nearer,
an almost perpendicular wall of water, extending east and
west, as far as the eye could reach, would be seen, the top of
the wall boiling and foaming, like a breaker rolling over a
rocky bottom. As the ridge approached nearer and nearer, it
assumed the form of a series of rough billows, jostling against,
and struggling with each other, producing a scene of the
utmost confusion, the noise resembling that of a distant cata
ract. Reaching the ship, these billows would strike her with
such force, as to send their spray to the deck, and cause her to
roll and pitch, as though she were amid breakers. The phe
nomenon was, indeed, that of breakers, only the cause was not
apparent — there being no shoal water to account for it. The
Sumter sometimes rolled so violently in these breakers, when
broadside to, that we were obliged to keep her off her course,
several points, to bring the sea on her quarter, and thus mitigate
the effect. The belt of rips would not be broad, and as it trav
elled very rapidly — fifteen or twenty miles the hour — the
ship would not be long within its influence. In the course of
three quarters of an hour, it would disappear, entirely, on the
distant northern horizon. So curious was the whole phenome
non, that the sailors, as well as the officers, assembled, as if by
common consent, to witness it. "There come the tide rips!"
some would exclaim, and, in a moment there would be a de
mand for the telescopes, and a rush to the ship's side, to wit
ness the curious spectacle. These rips have frequently been

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 21S
noticed by navigators, and discussed by philosophers, but
hitherto, no satisfactory explanation has been given of them.
They are like the bores, at the mouths of great rivers ; as at
the mouth of the Amazon, in the western hemisphere, and of
the Ganges, in the eastern ; great breathings, or convulsions of
the sea, the causes of which elude our research. These bores
sometimes come in, in great perpendicular walls, sweeping
everything before them, and causing immense destruction of
life, and property. I was, at first, inclined to attribute these
tide rips to the lunar influence, as they appeared twice in
twenty-four hours, like the tides, and each time near the pass
ing of the meridian, by the moon ; but, in a few days, they
varied their times of appearance, and came on quite irregularly,
sometimes with an interval of five or six hours, only. And
then the tidal wave, for it is evidently this, and not a current,
should be from east to west, if it were due to lunar influence ;
and we have seen that it travelled from south to north. Nor
could I connect it with the easterly current that was prevailing
— for it travelled at right angles to the. current, and not with, or
against it. It was, evidently, due to some pretty uniform law,
as it always travelled in the same direction.
We reached the calm belt, on the 24th of September, for, on
this day, having lost the south-east trade, we had light and baf
fling winds from the south-west, and rain-clouds began to mus
ter overhead. On the next day, the weather being in its nor
mal condition of cloud, the welcome cry of "sail ho!" came
resounding from the mast-head, with a more prolonged, and
musical cadence than usual — the look-out, with the rest of the
crew, having become tired of the inactivity of the last few
days. All was bustle, immediately, about the decks ; and in
half an hour, with the sails snugly furled, and the ship under
steam, we were in hot pursuit. The stranger was a brigantine,
and was standing to the north-west, pursuing the usual cross
ing of the calm belt, as best he might, in the light winds, that
were blowing, sometimes this way, sometimes that. We came
up with him quite rapidly, there being scarcely a ripple on
the surface of the smooth sea, to impede our progress, and
when we had come sufficiently near to enable him to make it
out, distinctly, we showed him the enemy's flag. He was evi-

220 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
dently prepared with his own flag, for, in less than a minute,
the lazy breeze was toying and playing with it, and presently
blew it out sufficiently, to enable us to make out the well-known
and welcome stars and stripes. We hove him to, by "hail," and
hauling down the false colors, and hoisting our own, we sent
a boat on board of him, and captured him. He proved to be
the Joseph Parke, of Boston, last from Pernambuco, and six
days out, in ballast. The Parke had been unable to procure
a return cargo; the merchants of Pernambuco having heard
of the arrival of the Sumter, at Maranham, in rather uncom
fortable proximity.
We transferred the crew of the captured vessel to the Sum
ter, replacing it with a prize crew, and got on board from her
such articles of provisions, cordage, and sails as we required;
but instead of burning her, we transformed her, for the present,
into a scout vessel, to assist us in discovering other prizes. I
sent Lieutenant Evans on board to command her, and gave
him a couple of midshipmen, as watch officers. The following
was his commission: —
"Sir: — You will take charge of the prize-brig Joseph Parke,
and cruise in company with this vessel, until further orders.
During the day, you will keep from seven to eight miles, to the
westward, and to windward, and keep a bright look-out, from your
top-gallant yard, for sails — signalling to us, such as you may de
scry. Toward evening, every day, you will draw in toward this
vessel, so as to be within three, or four miles of her, at dark ; and,
during the night you will keep close company with her, to guard
against the possibility of separation. Should you, however, be
separated from her, by any accident, you will make the best of
your way to latitude 8° N., and longitude 45° W., where you will
await her a reasonable time. Should you not join her again, you
will make the best of your way to some port in the Confederate
States. "
In obedience to these instructions, the Parke drew off to her
station, and letting our fires go down on board the Sumter, we
put her under sail, again. Long before night, the excitement
of the chase and capture had died away, and things had re
sumed their wonted course. The two ships hovered about
the " crossing," for several days, keeping a bright look-out, but
nothing more appeared; and on the 29th of September tha
Parke having been called alongside, by signal, her prize crew

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. ?21
was taken out, and the ship burned, after having been made a
target, for a few hours, for the practice of the crew. It was
evidently no longer of any use to bother ourselves about tbe
crossing of the calm-belt, for, instead of falling in with a con
stant stream of the enemy's ships, returning home, from differ -
ferent parts of the world, we had been cruising in it, some
ten days, and had sighted but a single sail! We had kept
ourselves between the parallels of 2° 30' N., and 9° 30' N.,
and between the meridians of 41° 30' W., and 47° 30' W. ;
and if the reader have any curiosity on the subject, by refer
ring to the map, he will perceive, that the north-western diago
nal of the quadrilateral figure, formed by these parallels, and
meridians, is the direct course between Cape St. Roque, and
New York. But the wary sea-birds had, evidently, all taken
the alarm, and winged their way, home, by other routes. I
was the more convinced of this, by an intercepted letter which
I captured in the letter-bag of the Parke, which was written
by the master of the ship, Asteroid, to his owner, and which
ran as follows: —
" The Asteroid arrived off this port [Pernambuco], last evening,
seventy-five days from Baker's Island, and came to anchor in the
outer roads, this morning. I found yours of August 9th, and noted
the contents, which, I must say, have made me rather blue. I think
you had better insure, even at the extra premium, as the Asteroid
is not a clipper, and will be a bon prize for the Southerners. I
shall sail this evening [September 1 6th, three days before the Joseph
Parke"] and take a new route, for Hampton Roads."
The Asteroid escaped us, as no doubt many more had done,
by avoiding the "beaten track," and taking a new road home;
thus verifying, in a very pointed manner, the old adage, that
"the longest way round is the shortest way home."
We now made sail for the West India Islands, designing,
after a short cruise among them, to run into the French island
of Martinique, and coal. We still kept along on the beaten
track of homeward-bound ships, but with little expectation of
making any prizes, and for some days overhauled none but
neutral ships. Many of these had cargoes for the United
States, but not having the same motive to avoid me, that the
enemy's ships had, they were content to travel the usual high
way. Although many of them had enemy's property on board

222 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
they were perfectly safe from molestation — the Confederate
States' Government having adopted, as the reader has seen, in
its Act declaring, that, by the conduct of the enemy, a state
of war existed, the liberal principle, that "Free ships make
free goods."
Among the neutrals overhauled by us, was an English Drig
called the Spartan, from Rio Janeiro, for St. Thomas, in the
West Indies. We had an exciting chase after this fellow.
We pursued him, under United States colors, and as the wind
was blowing fresh, and the chase was a " stern-chase," it
proved, as usual, to be a long one, although the Sumter was
doing her best, under both steam and sail. John Bull evi
dently mistook us for the Yankee we pretended to be, and
seemed determined to prevent us from overhauling him, if pos
sible. His brig, as we soon discovered, had light heels, and he
made the best possible use of them, by giving her every inch
of canvas he could spread. Still,1 we gained on him, and as we
came sufficiently near, we gave him a blank cartridge, to make
him show his colors, and heave to. He showed his colors —
the English red — but refused to heave to. The unprofessional
reader may be informed, that when a merchant-ship is undei
full sail, and especially when she is running before a fresh
breeze, as the Spartan was, it puts her to no little inconvenience,
to come to the wind. She has to take in her sails, one by one,
owing to her being short-handed, and "the clewing up," and
" hauling down " occupy some minutes. The captain of the
Spartan was loth to subject himself to this inconvenience,
especially at the command of the hated Yankee. Coming up
a little nearer, we now fired a shotted gun at him, taking care
not to strike him, but throwing the shot so near as to give him
the benefit of its rather ominous music, as it whistled past.
As soon as the smoke from the gun, which obscured him for a
moment, rolled away before the breeze, we could see him start
ing his "sheets," and "halliards," and pretty soon the saucy
little Spartan rounded to, with her main top-sail to the mast.
The reader may be curious to know, why I had been so per
sistent in heaving to a neutral. The answer is, that I was not
sure she was neutral. The jaunty little brig looked rather
more American, than English, in all but the flag that was fly-

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 223
ing at her peak. She had not only the grace and beauty of
hull that characterize our American-built ships, but the long,
tapering spars on which American ship-masters especially
pride themselves. She did, indeed, prove to be American, in
a certain sense, as we found her to hail from Halifax, in Nova
Scotia. The master of the Spartan was in an ill-humor when
my boarding-officer jumped on board of him. It was difficult
to extract a civil answer from him. " What is .the news ? "
said the boarding-officer. " Capital news ! " replied the mas
ter ; " you Yankees are getting whipped like h — 11 ; you beat
the Derby boys at the Manassas races." " But what 's the news
from Rio ? " now inquired the supposed Yankee boarding-offi
cer. "Well, there 's good news from that quarter too — all the
Yankee ships are laid up, for want of freights." " You are
rather hard upon us, my friend," now rejoined the boarding-
officer ; " why should you take such an interest in the Confed
erate cause ? " " Simply, because there is a little man fighting
against an overgrown bully, and I like pluck."
The Spartan being bound to St. Thomas, and we ourselves
intending to go, soon, into the West Indies, it was highly im
portant that we should preserve our incognito, to which end, I
had charged the boarding-officer, to represent his ship as a
Federal cruiser, in search of the Sumter. The boarding-officer
having done this, found the master of the Spartan complimen
tary to the last ; for as he was stepping over the brig's side,
into his boat, the master said, " I hope you will find the Sumter,
but I rather think you will hunt for her, as the man did for
the tax-collector, hoping all the time he might n't find him."
The weather now, again, became calm, and we had " cat's-
paws " from all the points of the compass. The breeze, with
which we had chased the Spartan, was a mere spasmodic effort
of Nature, for we were still in the calm-belt, or, as the sailors
expressively call it, the " doldrums." For the next few days,
it rained almost incessantly, the heavily charged clouds some
times settling so low, as scarcely to sweep clear of our mast
heads. It did not simply rain ; the water fell in torrents,, and
the lightning flashed, and the thunder rolled, with a magnifi
cence and grandeur that were truly wonderful to witness. In
the intervals of these drenching rains, the clouds, like so many
15

224 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
half-wrung sponges, would lift themselves, and move about
with great rapidity, in every direction — now toward, and now
from, each other — convolving, in the most curious disorder,
as though they were so many huge, black serpents, writhing
and twisting in the powerful grasp of some invisible hand.
Anon, a water-spout would appear upon the scene, with its
inverted cone, sometimes travelling rapidly, but more fre
quently at rest. At times, so ominous, and threatening would
be the aspect of the heavens, with its armies of black clouds
in battle-array, its forked lightning, and crashing thunder, the
perfect stillness of the atmosphere, and the rapid flight of scared
water-fowl, that a hurricane would seem imminent, until we
would cast our eyes upon the barometer, standing unmoved,
at near the marking of thirty inches, amid all the signs, and
portents around it. In half an hour, sometimes, all this para
phernalia of clouds would break in twain, and retreat, in oppo
site directions, to the horizon, and the sun would throw down
a flood of golden light, and scalding heat upon our decks ; on
which would be paddling about the half-drowned sailors. The
first lieutenant took advantage of these rains, to fill, anew, his
water-tanks, "tenting" his awnings, during the heaviest of the
showers, and catching more water than he needed; and the
sailors had another such jubilee of washing, as they had had,
when we were running along the Venezuelan coast.
Sunday, September 29th. — Beautiful, clear morning, with a
gentle breeze from the south-east, and a smooth sea. At eleven
A. M., mustered the crew, and inspected the ship. Latitude,
6° 55' N. ; longitude, 45° 08' W. Evening set in, squally, and
rainy. Running along to the north-west, under topsails.
October 2d. — This morning, when I took my seat, at the
breakfast-table, I was surprised to find a very tempting-look
ing dish of fried fish set out before, me, and upon inquiring of
my faithful steward, John, (a Malayan, who had taken the place
of Ned,) to what good fortune he was indebted, for the prize,
his little black eyes twinkled, as he said, " Him jump aboard,
last night!" Upon further inquiry, I found that it was a
small sword-fish, that had honored us with a visit ; the active
little creature having leaped no less than fifteen feet, to reach
the deck of the Sumter. It was lucky that its keen spear did

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 225
not come in contact with any of the crew during the leap — a
loss of life might have been the consequence. The full-grown
sword-fish has been known to pierce a ship's bottom, floor-tim
ber and all, with its most formidable weapon.
October 4th. — Weather clear, and beautiful, with trade-clouds,
white and fleecy, and a light breeze from the eastward. The
bosom of the gently heaving sea is scarcely ruffled. Schools
of fish are playing around us, and the sailors have just hauled,
on board, a large shark, which they have caught with hook
and line. The sailor has a great antipathy to the shark,
regarding him as his hereditary enemy. Accordingly, the
monster receives no mercy when he falls into Jack's hands.
See how Jack is tormenting him now ! and how fiercely the
monster is snapping, and grinding his teeth together, and
beating the deck with his powerful tail, as though he would
crush in the planks. He is tenacious of life, and will be a
long time in dying, and, during all this time, Jack will be cut
ting, and slashing him, without mercy, with his long sheath-
knife. The comparatively calm sea is covered, in every direc
tion, for miles, with a golden or straw-colored dust. Whence
comes it? We are four hundred miles from any land! It
has, doubtless, been dropped by the trade-winds, as they have
been neutralized over our heads, in this calm belt of the
equator, and, in a future page, we shall have further occasion
to refer to it. We have observed, to-day, in latitude 8° ; the
longitude being 46° 58'.
October 11th. — Morning clear and calm, after a couple of days
of tempestuous weather, during which the barometer settled a
little. Toward noon it clouded up again, and there were
squally appearances in the south-east. The phenomenon of the
tide-rips has reappeared. Malay John was in luck, again,
this morning, a covey of flying-fish having fallen on the deck,
last night, during the storm. He has served me a plate full
of them for breakfast. The largest of them are about the size
of a half-grown Potomac herring, and they are somewhat sim
ilar in taste — being a delicate, but not highly flavored fish.
October 14th. — At noon, to-day, we plotted precisely upon
the diagonal between St. Roque and New York ; our latitude
being 8° 31', and longitude 45° 56'. We now made more sail,

226 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
and on the 17th bf October we had reached the latitude of
11° 37'. From this time, until the 22d, we had a constant
series of bad weather, the barometer settling to 29.80, and the
wind blowing half a gale, most of the time. Sometimes the
wind would go all around the compass, and the weather
would change half a dozen times, in twenty-four hours. On
the last-mentioned day, the weather became again settled, and
beiug now in latitude 14°, we had passed out of the calm belt,
and began to receive the first breathings of the north-east
trade- wind.
On the 24th, we chased and hove to a French brig, called
La Mouche Noire, from Nantes, bound for Martinique. She
had been out forty-two days, had no newspapers on board, and
had no news to communicate. We boarded her under the
United States flag, and when the boarding-officer apologized
to the master for the trouble we had given him, in heaving him
to, in the exercise of our belligerent right of search, he said,
with an admirable naivetS, he had heard the United States were
at war, but he did not recollect with whom! Admirable
Frenchman ! wonderful simplicity, to care nothing about news
papers, and to know nothing about wars!
On the 25th, we overhauled that rara avis in mare, a Prus
sian ship. The 27th was Sunday ; we had a gentle breeze
from the north-east, with a smooth sea, and were enjoying the fine
morning, with our awnings spread, scarcely expecting to be
disturbed, when the cry of " Sail ho ! " again rang from the
mast-head. We had been making preparations for Sunday
muster; Jack having already taken down from its hiding-
place his Sunday hat, and adjusted its ribbons, and now being
in the act of " overhauling " his bag, for the " mustering-shirt
and trousers." All these preparations were at once sus
pended, the firemen were ordered below, there was a passing to
and fro of engineers, and in a few minutes more the welcome
black smoke came pouring out of the Sumter's chimney.
Bounding away over the sea, we soon began to raise the strange
sail from the deck. She was a fore-and-aft schooner of that
peculiar model and rig already described as belonging to the
New Englander, and nobody else, and we felt certain, at once,
that we had flushed the enemy. The little craft was "close-

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 227
hauled," or, may be, she had the wind a point free, which was
her best point of sailing, had the whitest kind of cotton can
vas, and carried very taunt gaff-topsails. We found her ex
ceedingly fast, and came up with her very slowly. The chase
commenced at nine A. m., and it was three p. M. before we were
near enough to heave her to with the accustomed blank car
tridge. At the report of our gun — the Confederate States flag
being at our peak — the little craft, which had probably been
in an agony of apprehension, for some hours past, saw that her
fate was sealed, and without further ado, put her helm down,
lowered her foresail, hauled down her flying-jib, drew her jib-
sheet over to windward — and was hove to; the stars and
stripes streaming out from her main-topmast head. Upon
being boarded, she proved to be the Daniel Trowbridge, of New
Haven, Connecticut, last from New York, and bound to Deme
rara, in British Guiana.
This was a most opportune capture for us, for the little craft
was laden with an assorted cargo of provisions, and our own
provisions had been nearly exhausted. With true Yankee
thrift, she had economized even the available space on her deck,
and had a number of sheep, geese, and pigs, on board, for the
Demerara market. Another sail being discovered, almost at
the moment of this capture, we hastily threw a prize crew on
board the Trowbridge, and directing her to follow us, sped off
in pursuit of the newly discovered sail. It was dark before
we came up with this second chase. She proved to be an
English brigantine, from Nova Scotia, for Demerara. We now
stood back to rejoin our prize, and banking our fires, and hoist
ing a light at the peak, the better to enable the prize to keep
sight of us, during the night, we lay to, until daylight. The
next day, and the day after, were busy days, on board the
Sumter, for we devoted both of them, to getting on board pro
visions, from the prize. The weather proved propitious, the
breeze being gentle, and the sea smooth. We hoisted out the
Tallapoosa — our launch — and employed her, and the quarter-
boats — the gig included, for war admits of little ceremony —
in transporting barrels, bales, boxes, and every other conceiv
able kind of package, to the Sumter. The paymaster was in
ecstasy, for, upon examination, he found the Trowbridge's cargo

228 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
to be all that he could desire — the beef, pork, canvased hama,
ship-bread, fancy crackers, cheese, flour, everything being of
the very best quality. We were, indeed, under many obliga
tions to our Connecticut friends. To get at the cargo, we were
obliged to throw overboard many articles, that we had no use
for, and treated old Ocean to a gayly painted fleet of Connecticut
woodenware, buckets, foot-tubs, bath-tubs, wash-tubs, churns.
We found the sheep, pigs, and poultry in excellent condition ;
and sending the butcher on board each evening, we caused those
innocents to be slaughtered, in sufficient numbers to supply
all hands. Jack was in his glory. He had passed suddenly,
from mouldy and worm-eaten bread, and the toughest and
leanest of " old horse," to the enjoyment of all these luxuries.
My Malayan steward's eyes fairly danced, as he stowed away
in the cabin lockers, sundry cans of preserved meats, lobster»
milk, and fruits. John was a real artist, in his line, and knew
the value of such things ; and as he busied himself, arranging
his luxuries, on the different shelves, I could hear him mutter
ing to himself, "Dem Connecticut mans, bery good mans — me
wish we find him often." We laid in, from the Trowbridge,
full five months' provisions, and getting on board, from her,
besides, as much of the live stock, as we could manage to take
care of, we delivered her to the flames, on the morning of the
80th of October. On the same day, we chased, and boarded
the Danish brig, Una, from Copenhagen, bound to Santa
Cruz. Being sixty-six days out, she had no news to communi
cate. We showed her the United States colors, and when she
arrived, at Santa Cruz, she reported that she had fallen in with a
Federal cruiser. The brig Spartan, which we boarded, a few
pages back, made the same report, at St. Thomas ; so that the
enemy's cruisers, that were in pursuit of us, had not, as yet,
the least idea that we had returned to the West Indies.
For the next few days, we chased and overhauled a number
of ships, but they were all neutral. The enemy's West India
trade seemed to have disappeared almost entirely. Many of his
ships had been laid up, in alarm, in his own ports, and a num
ber of others had found it more to their advantage, to enter
the public service, as transports. The Federal Government
had already entered upon that career of corrupt, and reckless

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 229
expenditure which has resulted in the most gigantic national
debt of modern times. The entire value of a ship was often
paid to her owners, for a charter-party, of a few months only ;
the quartermasters, commissaries, and other public swindlers
frequently dividing the spoils, with the lucky ship-owners.
Many indifferent vessels were sold to the Federal Navy Depart
ment, at double, and treble their value, and agencies to purchase
such ships were conferred, by the Secretary, upon relatives,
and other inexperienced favorites. The corruptions of the
war, soon made the war popular, with the great mass of the
people. As has been remarked, in a former page, many of
these nouveau-riche men, whose love of country, and hatred of
''rebels" boiled over, in proportion as their pockets became
filled, had offered to sell themselves, and all they possessed, to the
writer, when he was in the New England States, as a Confeder
ate States agent. Powder-mills, manufactories of arms and
accoutrements, foundries for the casting and boring of cannon
machines for rifling cannon — all were put at his disposal, by
patriotic Yankees, on the very eve of the war — for a con
sideration. November 2d. — Morning, heavy clouds, with rain, breaking
away partially, toward noon, and giving us some fitful sun
shine. Sail ho! at early dawn. Got up steam, and chased,
and at 7 A. m. came up with, and sent a boat on beard of
the English brigantine, Falcon, from Halifax, for Barbadoes.
Banked fires. Latitude 16° 32'; longtitude 56° 55'. Wore
ship to the northward, at meridian. Received some news
papers, by the Falcon, from which we learn, that the enemy's
cruiser Keystone State, which, when last heard from, was at
Barbadoes, had gone to Trinidad, in pursuit of us. At Trini
dad, she lost the trail, and, instead of pursuing us to Parama
ribo, and Maranham, turned back to the westward. We learn
from the same papers, that the enemy's steam-frigate, Pow
hatan, Lieutenant Porter, with more sagacity, pursued us
to Maranham, arriving just one week after our departure. At
a subsequent date, Lieutenant — now Admiral — Porter's offi
cial report fell into my hands, and, plotting his track, I found
that, on one occasion, we had been within forty miles of each
other ; almost near enough, on a still day, to see each other's
smoke.

230 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
November 3d. — Weather fine, with a smooth sea, and a light
breeze from the north-east. A sail being reported from tha
mast-head, we got up steam, and chased, and upon coming near
enough to make out the chase, found her to be a large steamer.
We approached her, very warily, of course, until it was dis
covered that she was English, when we altered our course, and
banked fires. Our live-stock still gives us fresh provisions,
and the abundant supply of Irish potatoes, that we received
on board, at the same time, is beginning to have a very bene
ficial effect, upon the health of the crew — some scorbutic symp
toms having previously appeared.
Nov. 5th. — Weather fine, with the wind light from the east
ward, and a smooth sea. At daylight, a sail was descried in
the north-eacst, to which we immediately gave chase. Coming
up with her, about nine A. M., we sent a boat on board of her.
She proved to be the English brigantine, Rothsay, from Ber-
bice, on the coast of Guiana, bound for Liverpool. Whilst we
had been pursuing the Rothsay, a second sail had been re
ported. We now pursued this second sail, and, coming up
with her, found her to be a French brigantine, called Le
Pauvre Orphelin, from St. Pierre (in France) bound for Mar
tinique. We had scarcely turned away from the Orphelin,
before a third sail was announced. This latter sail was a
large ship, standing, close-hauled, to the N. N. W., and we
chased her rather reluctantly, as she led us away from our
intended course. She, too, proved to be neutral, being the
Plover, from Barbadoes, for London. The Sumter being, by
Tthis time out of breath, and no more sails being reported, we
llet the steam go down, and gave her a little rest. We ob
served, to-day, in latitude 17° 10' N. ; the longitude being
59° 06' W. We had shown the United States colors to all
these ships to preserve our incognito, as long as possible. We
found them all impatient, at being " hove to," and no doubt
many curses escaped, sotto voce, against the d — d Yankee, as
our boats shoved off, from their sides. We observed that
none of them saluted the venerable " old flag," which was fly
ing at our peak, whereas, whenever we had shown the Con
federate flag to neutrals, down went, at once, the neutral flag,
in compliment — showing the estimate, which generous sea-

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 231
men, the world over, put upon this ruthless war, which the
strong were waging against the weak.
The 6th of November passed without incident. On the 7th,
we overhauled three more neutral ships — the English schooner
Weymouth, from Weymouth, in Nova Scotia, for Martinique ;
an English barque, which we refrained from boarding, as there
was no mistaking her bluff English bows, and stump top-gal
lant masts ; and a French brig, called the Fhur de Bois, last
from Martinique, and bound for Bordeaux. In the afternoon
of the same day, we made the islands, first of Marie Galante,
and then of Guadeloupe, and the Saints. At ten p. m., we
doubled the north end of the island of Dominica, and, banking
our fires, ran off some thirty or forty miles to the south-west,
to throw ourselves in the track of the enemy's vessels, home
ward bound from the Windward Islands. The next day, after
overhauling an English brigantine, from Demerara, for Yar
mouth, we got up steam, and ran for the island of Martinique
approaching the town of St. Pierre near enough, by eight p.
M., to hear the evening gun-fire. A number of small schoon
ers and sail-boats were plying along the coast, and as night
threw her mantle over the scene, the twinkling lights of the
town appeared, one by one, until there was quite an illumina
tion, relieved by the sombre back-ground of the mountain.
The Sumter, as was usual with her, when she had no work in
hand, lay off, and on, under sail, all night. The next morning
at daylight, we again got up steam, and drawing in with the
coast, ran along down it, near enough to enjoy its beautiful
scenery, with its waving palms, fields of sugar-cane, and pic
turesque country houses, until we reached the quiet little town
of Fort de France, where we anchored.

CHAPTER XIX.
THE SUMTER AT MARTINIQUE  PROCEEDS FROM FORT DE
FRANCE TO ST. PIERRE  IS AN OBJECT OF MUCH CURI
OSITY WITH THE ISLANDERS  NEWS OF THE ARREST OF
MESSRS. MASON AND SLIDELL, ON BOARD THE BRITISH
MAIL STEAMER, THE TRENT  MR. SEWARD'S EXTRAOR
DINARY COURSE ON THE OCCASION.
THE Sumter having sailed from Maranham, on the 15th of
September, and arrived at Martinique, on the 9th of No
vember, had been nearly two months at sea, during all of which
time, she had been actively cruising in the track of the
enemy's commerce. She had overhauled a great many vessels,
but, for reasons already explained, most of these were neutral.
But the damage which she did the enemy's commerce, must
not be estimated by the amount of property actually destroyed.
She had caused consternation, and alarm among the enemy's
ship-masters, and they were making, as we have seen, long and
circuitous voyages, to avoid her. Insurance had risen to a
high rate, and, for want of freights, the enemy's ships — such
of them, at least, as could not purchase those lucrative con
tracts from the Government, of which I have spoken in a for
mer page — were beginning to be tied up, at his wharves,
where they must rot, unless they could be sold, at a sacrifice,
to neutrals. As a consequence, the little Sumter was denounced,
without stint, by the Yankee press. She was called a " pirate,"
and other hard names, and the most summary vengeance was
denounced against her commander, and all who served under
him. Venal scribblers asserted all kinds of falsehoods con
cerning him, and the elegant pages of " Journals of Civiliza
tion " pandered to the taste of the " b'hoys," in the work-shops,
by publishing malicious caricatures of him. Even the Fed
eral Government denounced him, in grave state papers ; Mr.
232

MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT. 233
Welles, the Federal Secretary of the Navy, forgetting his inter
national law, if he ever knew any, and the courtesies, and pro
prieties of official speech, and taking up in his "annual
reports," the refrain of " pirate." This was all very natural,
however. Men will cry aloud, when they are in pain, and, on
such occasions, above all others, they will be very apt to use
the language that is most natural to them — be it gentle, or
ungentle. Unfortunately for the Great Republic, political
power has descended so low, that the public officer, however
high his station, must, of necessity, be little better than the
b'hoy, from whom he receives his power of attorney. When
mobs rule, gentlemen must retire to private life. Accordingly,
the Commander of the Sumter, who had witnessed the facile
descensus of which he has spoken, was not at all surprised,
when he received a batch of late Northern newspapers, at see
ing himself called hard names — whether by the mob or offi- •
cials. Knowing his late fellow-citizens well, he knew that it
was of no use for them to
" Strive to expel strong nature, 'tis in vain ;
With redoubled force, she will return again."
Immediately after anchoring, in Fort de France, I sent a
lieutenant on shore, to call on the Governor, report our arri
val, and ask for the usual hospitalities of the port, — these hos
pitalities being, as the reader is aware, such as Goldsmith de
scribed as welcoming him at his inn, the more cheerfully
rendered, for being paid for. I directed my lieutenant to use
rather the language of demand — courteously, of course — than
of petition, for I had seen the French proclamation of neu
trality, and knew that I was entitled, under the orders of the
Emperor, to the same treatment, that a Federal cruiser might
receive. I called, the next day, on the Governor myself. I
found him a very affable, and agreeable gentleman. He was
a rear admiral, in the French Navy, and bore the aristocratic
name of Conde*. Having observed a large supply of excellent
coal in the government dock-yard, as I pulled in to the land
ing, I proposed to his Excellency that he should supply me
from that source, upon my paying cost, and expenses. He
declined doing this, but said that I might have free access to

t/
234 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
the market, for this and other supplies. Mentioning that I had
a number of prisoners on board, he at once gafe me permis
sion to land them, provided the United States Consul, who
lived at St. Pierre, the commercial metropolis of the island,
would consent to become responsible for their maintenance
during their stay in the island. There being no difference of
opinion between the Governor and myself, as to our respective
rights and duties, our business- matters were soon arranged,
and an agreeable chat of half an hour ensued, on general
topics, when I withdrew, much pleased with my visit.
Returning on board the Sumter, I dispatched the paymaster
to St. Pierre — there was a small passenger-steamer plying
between the two ports — to contract for coal and some articles
of clothing for the crew. Of provisions we had plenty, as the
reader has seen. Lieutenant Chapman accompanied him, and
I sent up, also, the masters of the two captured ships, that
were on board, that they might see their Consul and arrange
for their release.
The next day was Sunday, and I went on shore, with Mr.
Guerin, a French gentleman, who had been educated in the
United States, and who had called on board to see me, to the
Governor's mass. In this burning climate the church-hours
are early, and we found ourselves comfortably seated in our
pews as early as eight o'clock. The building was spacious
and well ventilated. The Governor and his staff entered
punctually at the hour, as did, also, a detachment of troops —
the latter taking their stations, in double lines, in the main
aisle. A military band gave us excellent sacred music from
the choir. The whole service was concluded in three-quar
ters of an hour. The whites and blacks occupied pews pro
miscuously, as at Paramaribo, though there was no social
admixture of races visible. 1 mean to say that the pews were
mixed, though the people were not — each pew was all white
or all black ; the mulattoes, and others of mixed blood, being
counted as blacks. I returned on board for " muster," which
took place at the usual hour of eleven o'clock. Already the
ship was full of visitors, and I was struck with the absorbed
attention with which they witnessed the calling of the names
of the crew, and the reading of the articles of war by the

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 235
clerk. They were evidently not prepared foi so interesting
a spectacle. The officers were all dressed in bright and new
uniforms of navy blue — we had not yet been put in gray
along with the army — the gorgeous epaulettes of the lieu
tenants flashing in the sun, and the midshipmen rejoicing in
their gold-embroidered anchors and stars. The men attracted
no less attention than the officers, with their lithe and active
forms and bronzed countenances, heavy, well-kept beards, and
whitest of duck frocks and trousers. One of my visitors,
turning to me, after the muster was over, said, pleasantly, in
allusion to the denunciations of us by the Yankee news
papers, which he had been reading, " Ces hommes sont des
pirates bienpolis, Monsieur Capitaine."
In the afternoon, one watch of the crew was permitted to
visit the shore, on liberty. To each seaman was given a sover
eign, for pocket-money. They waked up the echoes of the
quaint old town, drank dry all the grog-shops, fagged out the
fiddlers, with the constant music that was demanded of them,
and "turned up Jack" generally; coming off, the next morn
ing, looking rather solemn and seedy, and not quite so polis as
when the Frenchman had seen them the day before. The United
States Consul having come down from St. Pierre to receive his
imprisoned countrymen, himself, I caused them all — except
three of them, who had signed articles for service on board the
Sumter — to be parolled and sent on shore to him. Before
landing them, I caused them to be mustered on the quarter
deck, and questioned them, in person, as to the treatment they
had received on board — addressing myself, especially, to the
two masters. They replied, without exception, that they had
been well treated, and thanked me for my kindness. From the
next batch of Northern newspapers I captured, I learned that
some of these fellows had been telling wonderful stories, about
the hardships they had endured on board the " pirate " Sumter. It
will not be very difficult for the reader, if he have any knowl
edge of the sailor-character, to imagine how these falsehoods
had been wheedled out of them. The whole country of the
enemy was on the qui vive for excitement. The Yankee was
more greedy for news than the old Athenian. The war had
been a god-send for newspaperdom. The more extraordinary

236 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
were the stories that were told by the venal and corrupt news
papers, the more greedily were they devoured by the craving
and prurient multitude. The consequence was, a race between
the newspaper reporters after the sensational, without the least
regard to the truth. The moment a sailor landed, who had
been a prisoner on board the Sumter, he was surrounded by
these vampires of the press, who drank him and greenbacked
him until parturition was comparatively easy. The next morn
ing, the cry of "News from the Pirate Sumter" rang
sharp and clear upon the streets, from the throats of the news
boys, and Jack found himself a hero and in print! He had
actually been on board the "pirate," and escaped to tell the
tale! More drinks, and more greenbacks now followed from
his admiring countrymen. Your old salt has an eye to fun, as
well as drinks, and when it was noised about, among the sail
ors, that some cock-and-a-bull story or other, about the Sumter,
was as good as "fractional" for drinks, the thing ran like wild
fire, and every sailor who landed, thereafter, from that famous
craft, made his way straight to a newspaper office, in quest of
a reporter, drinks, and greenbacks. Such is the stuff out of
which a good deal of the Yankee histories of the late war will
be made.
My paymaster, and lieutenant returned, in good time, from
St. Pierre, and reported that they had found an abundance of
excellent coal, at reasonable rates, in the market, but that the
Collector of the Customs had interposed, to prevent it from
being sold to them. Knowing that this officer had acted with
out authority, I addressed a note to the Governor, reminding
him of the conversation we had had the day before, and ask
ing him for the necessary order to overrule the action of his
subordinate. My messenger brought back with him the fol
lowing reply : — Fort de France, November 12, 1861.
To the Captain: —
I have the honor to send you the enclosed letter, which I ask you
to hand to the Collector of Customs, at St. Pierre, in which I re
quest him to permit you to embark freely, as much coal as you wish
to purchase, in the market. * * *
With the expression of my highest regard for the Captain,
Matjssion de Conde.

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 237
I remained a few days longer, at Fort de France, for the con
venience of watering ship, from the public reservoir, and to
enable the rest of my crew to have their run on shore. Unless
Jack has his periodical frolic, he is very apt to become moody,
and discontented ; and my sailors had now been cooped up, in
their ship, a couple of months. This giving of "liberty" to
them is a little troublesome, to be sure, as some of them will
come off drunk, and noisy, and others, overstaying their time,
have to be hunted up, in the grog-shops, and other sailor
haunts, and brought off by force. My men behaved tolerably
well, on the present occasion. No complaint came to me from
the shore, though a good many " bills," for " nights' lodgings,"
and "drinks," followed them on board. Poor Jack! how
strong upon him is the thirst for drink ! We had an illustra
tion of this, whilst we were lying at Fort de France. It was
about nine P. M., and I was below in my cabin, making prepara
tions to retire. Presently, I heard a plunge into the water, a
hail, and almost simultaneously, a shot fired from one of the
sentinels' rifles. The boatswain's-mate's whistle now sounded,
as a boat " was called away," and a rapid shuffling of feet was
heard overhead, as the boat was being lowered. Upon reach
ing the deck, I found that one of the firemen, who had come
off from " liberty," a little tight, had jumped overboard, and,
in defiance of the hail, and shot of the sentinel, struck out,
lustily, for the shore. The moon was shining brightly, and an
amusing scene now occurred. The boat was in hot pursuit,
and soon came upon the swimmer; /but the latter, who dived
like a duck, had no notion of being taken. As the boat would
come up with him, and " back all," for the purpose of picking
him up, he would dive under her bottom, and presently would
be seen, either abeam, or astern, " striking out," like a good
fellow, again. By the time the boat could turn, and get head
way once more, the swimmer would have some yards the start
of her, and when she again came up with him, the same tactics
would follow. The crew, hearing what was going on, had all
turned out of their hammocks, and come on deck to witness
the fun ; and fun it really was for some minutes, as the doub
ling, and diving, and twisting, and turning went on — the boat
now being sure she had him, and now sure she had n't. The

238 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
fellow finally escaped, and probably a more chop-fallen boat's
crew never returned alongside of a ship, than was the Sumter's
that night. An officer was now sent on shore in pursuit of
the fugitive. He had no difficulty in finding him. In half
an hour after the performance of his clever feat, the fireman
was lying — dead drunk — in one of the cabarets, in the sailor
quarter of the town. He had had no intention of deserting,
but had braved the sentinel's bullet, the shark — which
abounds in these waters — and discipline — all for the sake of
a glass of grog !
Our time was made remarkably pleasant, during our stay ;
the inhabitants showing us every mark of respect and polite
ness, and the officers of the garrison, and of a couple of small
French vessels of war, in the port, extending to us the cour
tesies of their clubs, and mess-rooms. I declined all invita
tions, myself, but my officers frequently dined on shore ; and
on the evening before our departure, they returned the hospi
talities of their friends, by an elegant supper in the ward
room, at which the festivities were kept up to a late hour.
Riding, and breakfast-parties, in the country, were frequent,
and bright eyes, peeping out of pretty French bonnets, shone
benignantly upon my young "pirates." The war was fre
quently the topic of conversation, when such expressions as
"les barbares du NordI" would escape, not unmusically, from
the prettiest of pouting lips. I passed several agreeable even
ings, at the hospitable mansion of my friend, Mr. Guerin, the
ladies of whose family were accomplished musicians. The
sailor is, above all others of his sex, susceptible of female in
fluences. The difference arises, naturally, out of his mode of
life, which removes him so often, and so long, from the affec
tions, ahd refinements of home. After roughing it, for months,
upon the deep, in contact only with coarse male creatures, how
delightful I found it to sink into a luxurious seat, by the side
of a pretty woman, and listen to the sweet notes of her guitar,
accompanied by the sweeter notes, still, of her voice, as she
warbled, rather than sang some lay of the sea.
In these delightful tropical climates, night is turned into
day. The sun, beating down his fierce rays upon heated walls
and streets, drives all but the busy merchant and the laborer

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 239
in-doors during the day. Windows are raised, blinds closed
and all the members of the household, not compelled to exer
tion, betake themselves to their fauteuils, and luxurious ham
mocks. Dinner is partaken of at five or six o'clock, in the
afternoon. When the sun goes down, and the shades of even
ing begin to fall, and the first gentle stirring of the trees and
shrubbery, by the land breeze begins to awaken the katydid,
and the myriads of other insects, which have been dozing in
the heat, the human world is also awakened. The lazy beauty
now arises from her couch, and seeking her bath-room, and
tire-woman, begins to prepare for the duties of the day. She is
coiffed, and arranged for conquest, and sallies forth to the Place
d'Armes, to listen to the music of the military bands, if there
be no other special entertainment on hand. The Place d'Armes
of Fort de France is charmingly situated, on the very margin
of the bay, where, in the intervals of the music, or of the hum
of conversation, the ripple of the tide beats time, as it breaks
upon the smooth, pebbly beach. Ships are anchored in front,
and far away to the left, rises a range of blue, and misty hills,
which are pointed out to the stranger, as the birth-place of the
Empress Josephine. The statue of the Empress also adorns
the grounds, and the inhabitants are fond of referring to her
history. I was quite surprised at the throng that the quiet
little town of Fort de France was capable of turning out, upon
the Place d'Armes ; and even more at the quality, than the
quantity of the throng. What with military and naval offi
cers, in their gay uniforms, the multitudes of well-dressed
men and women, the ecclesiastics in the habits of their several
orders, the flower-girls, the venders of fruits, sherbets, and ice
creams — for the universal Yankee has invaded the colony
with his ice-ships — and the delightful music of the bands, it
would be difficult to find a more delightful place, in which to
while away an hour.
Whilst we were still at Fort de France, a rather startling
piece of intelligence reached us. A vessel came in, from St.
Thomas, and brought the news, that the English mail-steamer,
Trent, had arrived there from Havana, and reported that Messrs.
Mason and Slidell had been forcibly taken out of her, by the
United States steamer. San Jacinto, Captain Wilkes. A few
16

240 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
days afterward, 1 received a French newspaper, giving a de
tailed account of the affair. It was indeed a very extraordi
nary proceeding, and could not fail to attract much attention.
I had known friend Wilkes, in former years, and gave him
credit for more sagacity, than this act of his\ seemed to indi
cate. "A little learning is a dangerous thing," and the Fed
eral Captain had read, it would seem, just enough of interna
tional law to get himself into trouble, instead of keeping him
self out of it. He had read of "contraband persons," and of
" enemy's despatches," and how it was prohibited to neutrals, to
carry either ; but he had failed to take notice of a very impor
tant distinction, to wit, that the neutral vessel, on the present
occasion, was bound from one neutral port to another ; and
that, as between neutral ports, there is no such thing as con
traband of war ; for the simple reason that contraband of war
is a person, or thing, going to, or from an enemy's country
I was glad to hear this news, of course. The Great Republio
would have to stand up to its work, and Great Britain would
be no less bound to demand a retraxit. If things came to a dead
lock, we might have an ally, in the war, sooner than we expected.
It would be a curious revolution of the wheel of fortune I
thought, to have John Bull helping us to beat the Yankee, on
a point — to wit, the right of self-government — on which we
had helped the Yankee to beat Bull, less than a century 'be
fore. I will ask the reader's permission, to dispose of this
little quarrel between Bull and the Yankee, to avoid the ne
cessity of again recurring to it ; although at the expense of a
slight anachronism.
When the news of Wilkes' exploit reached the United
States, the b'hoys went into ecstasies. Such a shouting, and
throwing up of caps had never been heard of before. The
multitude, who were, of course, incapable of reasoning upon the
act, only knew that England had been bearded and insulted ;
but that was enough. Their national antipathies, and their
ridiculous self-conceit had both been pandered to. The news
papers were filled with laudatory editorials, and "plate," and
"resolutions," were showered upon unfortunate friend Wilkes,
without mercy. If he had been an American Nelson, return
ing from an American Nile, or Trafalgar, he could not have

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 241
been received with more honor. State legislatures bowed
down before him, and even the American Congress — the
House of Representatives ; the Senate had not quite lost its
wits — gave him a vote of thanks. It was not, perhaps, so
much to be wondered at, that the multitude should go mad,
with joy, for multitudes, everywhere, are composed of unrea
soning animals, but men, who should have known better, per
mitted themselves to be carried away by the popular halluci
nation. The Executive Government approved of Captain
Wilkes' conduct — the Secretary of the Navy, whose insane
hatred of England was quite remarkable, making haste to
write the Captain a congratulatory letter. But an awful
collapse was at hand. Mr. Seward, as though he already
heard the ominous rumbling of the distant English thunder,
which was, anon, to break over his head, in tones that would
startle him, on the 30th of November — the outrage had been
committed on the 7th, — wrote, as follows, to his faithful senti
nel, at the Court of London, Mr. Charles Francis Adams.
"We have done nothing, on the subject, to anticipate the dis
cussion, and we have not furnished you with any explanation.
We adhere to that course now, because we think it more prudent,
that the ground taken by the British Government should be first
made known to us, here. It is proper, however, that you should
know one fact, in the case, without indicating that we attach much
importance to it, namely, that in the capture of Messrs. Mason and
Slidell, on board a British vessel, Captain Wilkes having acted
without any instructions from the Government, the subject is
therefore free from the embarrassment, which might have resulted,
if the act had been especially directed by us."
If no " explanation " had been thought of by Mr. Seward,
up to this time, it was high time that he was getting one ready,
for, on the same day, on which the above despatch was written,
Loid John Russell, then charged with the duties of the foreign
office, in England, under the administration of Lord Palmerston,
wrote as follows, to Lord Lyons, his Minister at Washington :
" Her Majesty's Government, bearing in mind the friendly rela
tions which have long subsisted between Great Britain, and the
United States, are willing to believe, that the United States naval
officer who committed the aggression, was not acting in compli
ance with any authority from his Government, or that, if he con-
ctfived himself to be so authorized, he greatly misunderstood the

242 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
instructions, which he had received. For the Government of the
United States must be fully aware, that the British Government
could not allow such an affront to the national honor, to pass with
out full reparation, and her Majesty's Government are unwilling
to believe that it could be the deliberate intention of the Govern
ment of the United States, unnecessarily to force into discussion,
between the two Governments, a question of so grave a character,
and with regard to which, the whole British nation would be sure
to entertain such unanimity of feeling. Her Majesty's Government,
therefore, trust that, when this matter shall have been brought
under the consideration of the Government of the United States,
that Government will, of its own accord, offer to the British Gov
ernment such redress as alone, could satisfy the British nation,
namely, the liberation of the four gentlemen [the two Secretaries
of Legation were also captured], and their delivery to your lord
ship, in order that they may again be placed under British protec
tion, and a suitable apology for the aggression, which has been
committed. Should these terms not be offered, by Mr. Seward,
you will propose them to him."
Mr. Seward had no notion of proposing any teims to Lord
Lyons. The shouts of the b'hoys had scarcely jut ceased to
ring in his ears, and it would be an awkward step to take.
Besides, he could have no terms to offer, for the Government
had, in fact, approved of Captain Wilkes' act, through its Sec
retary of the Navy. The back door, which Mr. Seward inti
mated to Mr. Adams was open for retreat, when he told him,
that Captain Wilkes' act had not been authorized by the Gov
ernment, was not honorably open, for the act had afterward
been approved by the Government, and this amounted to the
same thing. Later on the same day on which Earl Russell'
wrote his despatch to Lord Lyons he added a postscript to it, as
follows : —
" In my previous despatch of this date, I have instructed you, by
command of her Majesty, to make certain demands of the Govern
ment of the United States. Should Mr. Seward ask for delay, in
order that this grave and painful matter should be deliberately con
sidered, you will consent to a delay, not exceeding seven days. If,
at the end of that time, no answer is given, or if any other answer
is given, except that of a compliance with the demands of her
Majesty's Government, your lordship is instructed to leave Wash
ington, with all the members of your legation, bringing with you
the archives of the legation, and to repair immediately to London.
If, however, you should be of opinion that the requirements of her

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 243
Majesty's Government are substantially complied with, you may
report the facts to her Majesty's Government, for their considera
tion, and remain at your post, until you receive further orders."
This was indeed bringing matters to a focus. Mr. Seward
was required to liberate the prisoners, and make an apol
ogy, and that within seven days. This was putting it lather
offensively. It is bad enough to make a man apologize,
especially, if he has been "blowing" a short while before, but
to tell him that he must do it at once, that was, indeed, rubbing
the humiliation in. And then, where was the Congress, and
the Massachusetts legislature, and Mr. Secretary Welles, and
all the "plate," and all the "resolutions"? Posterity will
wonder, when it comes to read the elaborate, and lengthy de
spatch, which Mr. Seward prepared on this occasion, how it was
possible for him to prepare it in seven days. But it will won
der still more, after having patiently waded through it, to find
how little it contains. I cannot deny myself the pleasure of
giving a few of its choicest paragraphs to the reader. Do not
start ! gentle reader, the paragraphs will be short ; but short
as they are, you shall have the gist of this seven days' labor,
of the American diplomatist. David wrote seven penitential
psalms. I wonder if Lord John Russell had a little fun in his
eye, when he gave Mr. Seward just seven days for his peniten
tial performance. But to the paragraphs. Mr. Seward is
addressing himself, the reader will observe, to Lord Lyons.
After stating the case, he proceeds : —
" Your lordship will now perceive, that the case before us, in
stead of presenting a merely flagrant act of violence, on the part of
Captain Wilkes, as might well be inferred, from the incomplete
statement of it, that went up to the British Government, was
undertaken as a simple, legal, and customary belligerent proceeding,
by Captain Wilkes, to arrest and capture a neutral vessel, engaged
in carrying contraband of war, for the uses and benefit of the in
surgents." This point was so utterly untenable, that it is astonishing
that Mr. Seward should have thought of defending it. If it
were defensible, he ought not to have given up the prisoners,
or made an apology; for the law is clear, that contraband of

244 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
war may be seized, and taken out of a neutral vessel, on tha
high seas. It was not because contraband of war had been
taken out of one of their vessels, that Great Britain demanded
an apology, but because persons, and things, not contraband of
war, under the circumstances under which they were found,
had been taken out. If the Trent had been overhauled in the
act of sailing from one of the Confederate ports, blockaded or
not blockaded, with Messrs. Mason and Slidell, and their de
spatches on board, and the San Jancintoh&i taken them out of
her, permitting the ship to proceed on her voyage, Great Bri
tain would never have thought of complaining — waiving, for
the sake of the present argument, the diplomatic character of
the passengers. And why would she not have complained ?
Simply, because one of her ships had been found with con
traband of war, on board, and the least penalty, namely, the
seizure of the contraband, that the laws of war imposed upon
her, had been exacted. But her ship the Trent, neither having
sailed from, or being bound for a Confederate port, it matters
not whom, or what she might have on board, the question of
contraband could not arise, at all; for, as we have seen, it is
of the essence of contraband, that the person, or thing should be
going to, or from an enemy's port. Wilkes' act being utterly
and entirely indefensible, the Federal Government should have
saved its honor, the moment the affair came to its notice, by a
frank disavowal of it. But, as we have seen, the b'hoys had
shouted; Mr. Welles had spoken approvingly; Congress had
resolved that their officer was deserving of thanks, and even
Mr. Seward, himself, had gloried over the capture of "rebels,"
and "traitors;" the said "rebels," and "traitors" having fre
quently, in former years, snubbed, and humbled him in the
Senate of the United States. Hence the indecent language, in
which he now spoke of them. The reader, having seen that
Mr. Seward justified Captain Wilkes' conduct, as a "simple,
legal, and customary belligerent proceeding, to arrest and cap
ture a neutral vessel engaged in carrying contraband of war,
for the use and benefit of the insurgents," he will be curious
to know, on what ground it was, that Mr. Seward based his
apology. This ground was curious enough. It was, not that
Captain Wilkes had gone too far, but that he had not gone far

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 245
enough. If, said he, Captain Wilkes had taken the Trent into
port, for adjudication, instead of letting her go, his justification
would be complete, and there would be no apology to make.
Adjudication presupposes something to adjudicate; but if
there was no contraband of war, on board the Trent, what was
there to adjudicate? The British Government did not com
plain, that the question had not been presented for adjudica
tion to the proper prize tribunals, but that their vessel had
been boarded, and outraged, without there being any grounds
for adjudication, at all. If the Trent had been taken into port,
a prize-court must have liberated the prisoners. It would
then, if not before, have been apparent, that there was no
ground for the seizure. The act still remaining to be atoned
for, what was there to be gained, by sending the vessel in ? It
is not denied that, as a rule, neutrals are entitled to have their
vessels, when captured, sent in for adjudication, but Mr.
Seward knew, very well, that no question of this nature had
arisen, between the British Government and himself, and he
was only trifling with the common sense of mankind, when he
endeavored to turn the issue in this direction.
One cannot help sympathizing with a diplomatist, who be
ing required to eat a certain amount of dirt, gags at it, so pain
fully, and yet pretends, all the while, that he really likes it, as
Mr. Seward does in the following paragraph : —
"I have not been unaware that, in examining this question, I
have fallen into an argument, for what seems to be the British side
of it, against my own country [what a deal of humiliation it would
have saved his country, if he had fallen into this train of argument,
before the dirt-pie had been presented to him]. But I am relieved
from all embarrassment, on that subject. I had hardly fallen into
that line of argument, when I discovered, that I was really defend
ing and maintaining, not an exclusively British interest, but an old,
honored, and cherished American cause, not upon British authori
ties, but upon principles that constitute a large portion of the dis
tinctive policy, by which the United States have developed the
resources of a continent, and thus becoming a considerable mari
time power, have won the respect and confidence of many nations."
Like an adroit circus-man, the venerable Federal Secretary
of State has now gotten upon the backs of two ponies. He
continues : —

246 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
" These principles were laid down, for us, by James Madison, in
1804 ; when Secretary of State, in the administration of Thomas
Jefferson, in instructions given to James Monroe, our minister to
England." These instructions had relation to the old dispute, between
the two Governments, about the impressment of seamen from
American ships, and were as follows: —
" Whenever property found in a neutral vessel is supposed to be
liable, on any ground, to capture and condemnation, the rule in all
cases, is, that the question shall not be decided by the captor, but
be carried before a legal tribunal, where a regular trial may be had,
and where the captor himself is liable for damages, for an abuse of
his power. Can it be reasonable then, or just, that a belligerent
commander, who is thus restricted, and thus responsible, in a case
of mere property, of trivial amount, should be permitted, without
recurring to any tribunal, whatever, to examine the crew of a neu
tral vessel, to decide the important question of their respective alle
giances, and to carry that decision into execution, by forcing every
individual, he may choose, into a service abhorrent to his feelings,
cutting him off from his most tender connections, exposing his
mind and person to the most humiliating discipline, and his life,
itself, to the greatest danger. Reason, justice, and humanity unite
in protesting against so extravagant a proceeding."
Mr. Seward after thus quoting, continues : —
" If I decide this case in favor of my own Government, I must
disavow its most cherished principles, and reverse, and forever
abandon its essential policy. The country cannot afford the sacri
fice. If I maintain these principles, and adhere to that policy, I
must surrender the case itself. It will be seen, therefore, that this
Government could not deny the justice of the claim presented to
us, in this respect, upon its merits. We are asked to do to the
British nation, just what we have always insisted, all nations
ought to do to us."
That is " coming down with the corn," now, handsomely,
but in view of the antecedents of the question, and of the
'seven days'" pressure under which Mr. Seward's despatch
was written, one cannot help pitying Mr. Seward. We not
only pity him, but he absolutely surprises us by the fertility
of his imagination, in discovering any resemblance between
the Madison precedent, and the case he had in hand. The
British Government was not insisting that Mr. Seward should
send the Trent in for adjudication. It did not mean that there
should be any adjudication about the matter, except such as it

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 247
had itself already passed upon the case. Had it not said to its
minister, at Washington, " If, at the end of that time, no answer
is given, or, if any other answer is given, except that of a com
pliance with the demands of her Majesty's Government, your lord
ship is instructed to leave Washington, &c. " ? To be logical,
Mr. Seward should have said, " Our officer having made a mis
take, by doing a right thing, in a wrong way, namely, by seiz
ing contraband of war, on board a neutral ship, without send
ing the ship in, for adjudication, we will send the prisoners
back to the Trent, if you will send the Trent into one of our
ports for adjudication." But Mr. Seward knew better than to
say any such thing, for the simple reason, that this was not
the thing which was demanded of him, although he had written
a lengthy despatch to prove that it was.
I was in Europe when Mr. Seward's despatch arrived there.
Every one was astonished, both at the paper, and the act of
humiliation performed by it. The act needed not to be hu
miliating. A great wrong had been done a neutral. It could
be neither justified, nor palliated. A statesman, at the head of
the Federal State Department, would have made haste to atone
for it, before any demand for reparation could be made. To
pander to a vitiated public taste, and gain a little temporary
eclat, by appearing to beard the British lion, hoping that the
lion would submit, in silence to the indignity, Mr. Seward
committed one of those blunders which was equivalent to a
great crime, since it humiliated an entire people, and put on
record against them one of those damaging pages that histo
rians cannot, if they would, forget. The following were the
closing lines of this famous despatch: —
" The four persons in question are now held in military custody,
at Fort Warren, in the State of Massachusetts. They will be
cheerfully liberated. Your lordship will please indicate a time, and
place, for receiving them."
When I read this paragraph, I experienced two sen
sations — one, of disappointment at the loss of an ally,
with whose aid we would be sure to gain the independence
for which we were struggling, and one, of mortifioation, that
an American nation had been so greatly humbled, before an
European Pow^r; for though the Federal States were my

248 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
enemies, as between them and foreign nations, I could not but
feel something like family attachment. Whilst I would
humble them, and whip them into a sense of justice and decent
behavior, myself, I was loth, to see strangers kick them, and
themselves submit to the kicking.
So very one-sided was the question, which Mr. Seward had
permitted himself to argue, with so much zeal, and so little
discrimination, that all the principal nations of Europe ral
lied, as if by common consent, to the side of Great Britain.
Russia, France, Spain, and other Powers, all took the same
view of the case that Earl Russell had done, and made haste,
through their respective ministers at Washington, so to ex
press themselves. I will let France speak for them all. The
reasons which influenced the action of the French Government
are thus assigned: —
" The desire to contribute to prevent a conflict, perhaps immi
nent, between two Powers, for which the French Government is
animated with sentiments equally friendly, and the duty to uphold,
for the purpose of placing the right of its own flag under shelter
from any attack, certain principles essential to the security of neu
trals, have, after mature reflection, convinced it, that it could not,
.under the circumstances, remain entirely silent."
The French Minister for Foreign Affairs then goes on to
¦examine the arguments which could be set up in defence of
the Federal Captain, concluding as follows : —
"There remains, therefore, to invoke, in explanation of their cap
ture, only the pretext that they were the bearers of official des
patches from the enemy ; but this is the moment to recall a circum
stance, that governs all this affair, and which renders the conduct
of the American cruiser unjustifiable. The Trentwas not destined
to a point belonging to one of the belligerents. She was carrying to
a neutral country her cargo and her passengers ; and moreover, it
was in a neutral port that they were taken. The Cabinet at Wash
ington could not, without striking a blow at principles, which all
neutral nations are alike interested in holding in respect, nor with
out taking the attitude of contradiction to its own course, up to this
time, give its approbation to the proceedings of the commander of
the San Jacinto. In this state of things, it evidently should not,
according to our views, hesitate about the determination to be
taken."

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 249
The excuse which I have to offer to the reader, for per
mitting so much of my space to be occupied with this "affair,"
is, that it deeply interested every Confederate States naval
officer, afloat at the time. I, myself, made several pas
sages, in neutral vessels, between neutral ports, and might
have been captured with as much propriety, even when pass
ing from Dover to Calais, as Messrs. Mason and Slidell had
been. On the 13th of November, my water-tanks being full, and my
crew having all returned from "liberty" — none of them hav
ing shown any disposition to desert — we got up steam, and pro
ceeded to the town of St. Pierre, for the purpose of coaling ;
arriving at the early hour of 8 A. m., and anchoring at the
man-of-war anchorage, south of the town. I immediately dis
patched a lieutenant to call on the military commandant, accom
panied by the paymaster, to make the necessary arrangements
for coaling. St. Pierre was quite a different place, from the
quiet old town we had left. A number of merchant-ships
were anchored in the harbor, and there was quite an air of stir,
and thrift, about the quays. Busy commerce was carrying on
her exchanges, and with commerce there is always life. There
were not so many idle people here, to be awakened from their
noon-tide slumbers, by the katydid, as in Fort de France. A
number of visitors came off, at once, to see us; rumor having
preceded us, and blown the trumpet of our fame, much more
than we deserved. Among the rest, there were several custom
house officers, but if these had any office of espionage to per
form, they performed it, so delicately, as not to give offence.
Indeed they took pains to explain to us, that they had only
come on board out of civility, and as a mere matter of curi
osity. I never permit myself to be out-done in politeness, and
treated them with all consideration.
The Collector of the Customs gave prompt obedience to the
Governor's despatch — commanding him not to throw any ob
stacle in the way of our coaling — by withdrawing the inter
dict of sale which he had put upon the coal-merchants; and
the paymaster returning, after a short absence, with news that
he had made satisfactory arrangements with the said merchants,
the ship was warped up to the coal-depot, and some thirty tons

250 memoirs of service afloat
of coal received, on board, the same afternoon. This was verj
satisfactory progress. We sent down the fore-yard, for repairs,
and the engineer finding some good machinists on shore, with
more facilities in the way of shop, and tools, than he had ex
pected, took some of his own jobs, of which there are always
more or less, in a steamer, on shore.
As the sun dipped his broad red disk into the sea, I landed
with my clerk, and we took a delightful evening stroll, along
one of the country roads, leading to the northern end of the
island, and winding, occasionally, within a stone's throw of
the beach. The air was soft, and filled with perfume, and we
were much interested in inspecting the low- roofed and red-tiled
country houses, and their half-naked inmates, of all colors, that
presented themselves, from time to time, as we strolled on.
We were here, as we had been in Maranham, objects of much
curiosity, and the curiosity was evinced in the same way, re
spectfully. Wherever we stopped for water — for walking in
this sultry climate produces constant thirst — the coolest "mon
keys " — a sort of porous jug, or jar — and calabashes, were handed
us, often accompanied by fruits and an invitation to be seated.
Fields of sugar-cane stretched away on either hand, and an
elaborate cultivation seemed everywhere to prevail. The
sland of Martinique is mountainous, and all mountainous
countries are beautiful, where vegetation abounds. Within
the tropics, when the soil is good, vegetation runs riot in very
wantonness ; and so it did here. The eye was constantly charmed
with a great variety of shade and forest trees, of new and
beautiful foliage, and with shrubs, and flowers, without num
ber, ever forming new combinations, and new groups, as the
road meandered now through a plane, and now through a
rocky ravine, up whose precipitous sides a goat could scarcely
clamber. " As the shades of eve came slowly down,
The hills were clothed with deeper brown,"
and the twinkle of the lantern at the Sumter's peak denoting
that her Captain was out of the ship, caught my eye, at one of
the turnings of the road, and reminded me, that we had wan
dered far enough. We retraced our steps just in time to
escape a shower, and sat down, upon our arrival on board, to

DURING THE WAE BETWEEN THE STATES. 251
the evening's repast, which John had prepared for us, with
appetites much invigorated by the exercise. We found the
market-place, situated near the ship, both upon landing and
returning, filled with a curious throng, gazing eagerly upon
the Sumter. This throng seemed never to abate during our
stay — jit was the first thing seen in the morning, and the last
thing at night. The next mdrning, John brought me off a
French newspaper; for St. Pierre is sufficiently large, and
prosperous, to indulge in a tri- weekly. With true island mar
vel, a column was devoted to the Sumter, predicating of her,
many curious exploits, and cunning devices by means of
which she had escaped from the enemy, of which the little
craft had never heard, and affirming, as a fact beyond dispute,
that her Commander was a Frenchman, he having served, in
formeT years, as a lieutenant on board of the French brig-of-
war Mercure ! I felt duly grateful for the compliment, for a
compliment indeed it was, to be claimed as a Frenchman, by ft
Frenchman — the little foible of Gallic vanity considered.

CHAPTER XX.
ARRIVAL AT ST. PIERRE OF THE ENEMY'S STEAM-SLOOP
IROQUOIS — HOW SHE VIOLATES THE NEUTRALITY OF
THE PORT — ARRIVAL OF THE FRENCH STEAMER-OF-WAR
ACHERON — THE IROQUOIS BLOCKADES THE SUMTER 
CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE GOVERNOR — ESCAPE OF
THE SUMTER.
MANY rumors were now afloat as to the prospective pre
sence, at Martinique, of the enemy's ships of war. It
was known that the enemy's steam-sloop, Iroquois, Cap
tain James S. Palmer, had been at the island of Trinidad,
on the second of the then current month of November, whence
she had returned to St. Thomas — this neutral island being
unscrupulously used by the enemy, as a regular naval station,
at which there was always at anchor one or more of his ships
of war, and where he had a coal-depot. St. Thomas was a free
port, and an important centre of trade, both for the West India
Islands and the Spanish Main, and had the advantage, besides,
of being a general rendezvous of the mail-steamers that plied
in those seas. One of these steamers, bound to St. Thomas,
had touched at Martinique, soon after the Sumter's arrival
there, and, as a matter of course, we might expect the presence
of the enemy very soon. I used every possible diligence to
avoid being blockaded by the enemy, and twenty-four hours
more would have enabled me to accomplish my purpose, but
the Fates would have it otherwise ; for at about two p. M., on
the very next day after the delightful evening's stroll de
scribed in the last chapter, the Iroquois appeared off the north
end of the island. She had purposely approached the island
on the side opposite to that on which the town of St. Pierre
lies, the better to keep herself out of sight, until the last mo
ment; and when she did come in sight, it was ludicrous to
252

MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT. 253
witness her appearance. Her commander's idea seemingly
was, that the moment the Sumter caught sight of him, she
would, if he were recognized, immediately attempt to escape.
Hence it was necessary to surprise her; and to this end, he had
made some most ludicrous attempts to disguise his ship. The
Danish colors were flying from his peak, his yards were hang
ing, some this way, some that, and his guns had all been run
in, and his ports closed. But the finely proportioned, taunt,
saucy-looking Iroquois, looked no more like a merchant-ship,
for this disguise, than a gay Lothario would look like a saint,
by donning a cassock. The very disguise only made the cheat
more apparent. We caught sight of the enemy first. He was
crawling slowly from behind the land, which had hidden him
from view, and we could see a number of curious human
forms, above his rail, bending eagerly in our direction. The
quarter-deck, in particular, was filled with officers, and we were
near enough to see that some of these had telescopes in their
hands, with which they were scanning the shipping in the har
bor. We had a small Confederate States flag flying, and it was
amusing to witness the movements on board the Iroquois, the
moment this was discovered. A rapid passing to and fro of
officers was observable, as if orders were being carried, in a
great hurry, and the steamer, which had been hitherto cau
tiously creeping along, as a stealthy tiger might be supposed
to skirt a jungle, in which he had scented, but not yet seen a
human victim, sprang forward under a full head of steam. At
the same moment, down came the Danish and up went the
United States flag. "There she comes, with a bone in her
mouth!" said the old quartermaster on the look-out; and, no
doubt. Captain Palmer thought to see, every moment, the little
Sumter flying from her anchors. But the Sumter went on coal
ing, and receiving on board some rum and sugar, as though no
enemy were in sight, and at nine P. M. was ready for sea. The
men were given their hammocks, as usual, and I turned in,
myself, at my usual hour, not dreaming that the Iroquois would
cut up such antics during the night as she did.
During the afternoon, she had run into the harbor, — without
anchoring, however, — and sent a boat on shore to communi
cate, probably, with her consul, and receive any intelligence

254 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
he might have to communicate. She then steamed off, seaward,
a mile, or two, and moved to and fro, in front of the port until
dark. At half-past one o'clock, the officer of the deck came
down in great haste, to say, that the Iroquois had again entered
the harbor, and was steaming directly for us. I ordered him
to get the men immediately to their quarters, and followed him
on deck, as soon as I could throw on a necessary garment or
two. In a very few minutes, the battery had been cast loose,
the decks lighted, and the other preparations usual for battle
made. It was moonlight, and the movements of the enemy
could be distinctly seen. He came along, under low steam,
but, so steadily, and aiming so directly for us, that I could
not doubt it was his intention to board us. The men were
called to " repel boarders ;" and for a moment or two, a pin
might have been heard to drop, on the Sumter's deck, so silent
was the harbor, and so still was the scene on board both
ships. Presently, however, a couple of strokes on the enemy's
steam gong were heard, and, in a moment more, he sheered
a little, and lay off our quarter, motionless. It was as though
a great sea-monster had crawled in under cover of the night,
and was eying its prey, and licking its chops, in anticipation
of a delicious repast. After a few minutes of apparent hesita
tion, and doubt, the gong was again struck, and the leviathan —
for such the Iroquois appeared alongside the little Sumter —
moving in a slow, and graceful curve, turned, and went back
whence it came. This operation, much to my astonishment,
was repeated several times during the night. Captain Palmer
was evidently in great tribulation. He had found the hated
"pirate " at last — so called by his own Secretary of the Navy,
and by his own Secretary of State. Captain Wilkes had just
set him a glorious example of a disregard of neutral rights ;
and the seven days' penitential psalms had not yet been ordered
to be written. If a ship might be violated, why not territory ?
Besides, the press, the press ! a rabid, and infuriate press was
thundering in the ears of the luckless Federal Captain.
Honors were before him, terrors behind him! But there
loomed up, high above the Sumter, the mountains of the
French island of Martinique. Nations, like individuals, some
times know whom to kick — though they have occasionally to

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 255
take the kicking back, as we have just seen. It might do,
doubtless thought Captain Palmer, to kick some small power,
but France ! there was the rub. If the Sumter were only in
Bahia, where the Florida afterward was, how easily and
securely the kicking might be done ? A gallant captain, with
a heavy ship, might run into her, cut her down to the water's
edge, fire into her crew, struggling in the water, killing, and
wounding, and drowning a great many of them, and bear off
his prize in triumph ! And then, Mr. Seward, if he should be
called upon, not by Brazil alone, but by the 'sentiment of all
mankind, to make restitution of the ship, could he not have
her run into, by accident, in Hampton Roads, and sunk ; and
would not this be another feather in his diplomatic cap —
Yankee feather though it might be? What is a diplomat
fit for, unless he can be a little cunning, upon occasion?
The b'hoys will shout for him, if history does not. The
reader need no longer wonder at the "backing and filling " ofthe
Iroquois, around the little Sumter; or at the sleepless night
passed by Captain Palmer.
The next morning, the Governor having heard of what had
been done ; how the neutral waters of France had been vio
lated by manoeuvre and by menace, though the actual attack
had been withheld, sent up from Fort de France the steamer-
of-war Acheron, Captain Duchatel, with orders to Captain
Palmer, either to anchor, if he desired to enter the harbor, or
to withdraw beyond the marine league, if it was his object to
blockade the Sumter ; annexing to his anchoring, if he should
choose this alternative, the condition imposed by the laws of
nations, of giving the Sumter twenty-four hours the start, in
case she should desire to proceed to sea. Soon after the Ache
ron came to anchor, the Iroquois herself ran in and anchored.
The French boat then communicated with her, when she im
mediately hove up her anchor again! She had committed
herself to the twenty-four hours' rule the moment she dropped
her anchor; but being ignorant of the rule, she had not hesi
tated to get her anchor again, the moment that she was in
formed of it, and to claim that she was not bound by her mis
take. I did not insist upon the point. The Iroquois now
withdrew beyond the marine league, by day, but, by night,
17

256 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
invariably crept in, a mile or two nearer, fearing that she
might lose sight of me, and that I might thus be enabled to
escape. She kept up a constant communication, too, with the
shore, both by means of her own boats, and those from the
shore, in violation of the restraints imposed upon her by the
laws of nations — these laws requiring, that if she would com
municate, she must anchor ; when, of course, the twenty-four
hours' rule would attach. I had written a letter to the Gov
ernor, informing him of the conduct of Captain Palmer, on
the first night after his arrival, and claiming the neutral
protection to which I was entitled. His Excellency having
replied to this letter, through Captain Duchatel, in a man
ner but little satisfactory to me. I addressed him, through
that officer, the following, in rejoinder : —
Confederate States Steamer Sumter, ">
St. Pierre, November 22, 1861. j
Sir: — I have had the honor to receive your letter of yesterday,
in which you communicate to me the views of the Governor of
Martinique, relative to the protection of my right of asylum, in the
waters of this island ; and I regret to say, that those views do not
appear to me to come up to the requirements of the international
code. The Governor says, that "it does not enter into his intentions,
to exercise toward the Iroquois, either by night, or by day, so active
a surveillance as you [I] desire " ; and you tell me, that I ought to
have "confidence in the strict execution of a promise, made by a com
mander in the military marine of the American Union, so long as
he has not shown to me the evidence that this engagement has not
been scrupulously fulfilled." It would appear from these expres
sions, that the only protection I am to receive against the blockade
of the enemy, is a simple promise exacted by you, from that enemy,
that he will keep himself without the marine league, the Gover
nor, in the meantime, exercising no watch, by night or by day, to
see whether this promise is complied with. In addition to the vio
lations of neutrality reported by me, yesterday, I have, this morning,
to report, that one of my officers being on shore, in the northern
environs of the town, last night, between eight and nine o'clock,
saw two boats, each pulling eight oars, the men dressed in dark
blue clothing, with the caps usually worn by the sailors of the
Federal Navy, pulling quietly in toward the beach ; and that he
distinctly heard a conversation, in English, between them — one of
them saying to the other, " Look Harry ! there she is, I see her," —
in allusion, doubtless, to this ship. These boats are neither more
nor less than scout, or sentinel boats, sent to watch the movements,
within neutral waters, of their enemy. Now, with all due defer
ence to his Excellency, I cannot see the difference between the vio-

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 257
lation of the neutrality of these waters, by the enemy's boats, and
by his ship ; and if no surveillance is to be exercised, either by
night or by day, I am receiving very much such protection as the
wolf would accord to the lamb.
It is an act of war for the enemy to approach me, with his boats,
for the purpose of reconnoissance, or watch, and especially during
the night, and I have the same right to demand that he keep his
boats Beyond the marine league, as that he keep his ship, at that
distance. Nor am I willing to rely upon his promise, that he will
not infringe my rights, in this particular. If France owes me pro
tection, it is her duty to accord it to me, herself, and not remit me
to the good faith, or bad faith, of my enemy ; in other words, I
respectfully suggest, that it is her duty, to exercise surveillance
over her own waters, both " by night, and by day," when one bel
ligerent is blockading another, in those waters. I have, therefore,
respectfully to request, that you will keep a watch, by means of
guard boats, at both points of the harbor, to prevent a repetition
of the hostile act, which was committed against me last night ; or
if you will not do this, that you will permit me to arm boats, and
capture the enemy, when so approaching me. It would seem quite
plain, either that I should be protected, or be permitted to protect
myself. Further: it is in plain violation of neutrality for the enemy
to be in daily communication with the shore, whether by means of
his own boats, or boat's from the shore. If he needs supplies, it is
his duty to come in for them ; and if he comes in, he must anchor ;
and if he anchors, he must accept the condition of remaining twenty-
four hours after my departure. It is a mere subterfuge for him to
remain in the offing, and supply himself with all he needs, besides
reconnoitring, me closely, by means of his boats, and I protest
against this act also. I trust you will excuse me, for having occu
pied so much of your time, by so lengthy a communication, but I
deem it my duty to place myself right, upon the record, in this mat
ter. I shall seize an early opportunity to sail from these waters,
and if I shall be brought to a bloody conflict, with an enemy, of
twice my force, by means of signals given to him, in the waters of
France, either by his own boats, or others, I wish my Government
to know, that I protested against the unfriendly ground assumed
by the Governor of Martinique, that ' it does not enter into his
intentions, to exercise toward the Iroquois, either by night, or by
day, so active a surveillance as you [I] desire.'
Mr. Duchatel, commanding H. I. F. M's steamer Acheron."
As the lawyers say, "I took nothing by my motion," witn
Governor Conde'. The United States were strong at sea, and
the Confederate States weak, and this difference was sufficient
to insure the ruling against me of all but the plainest points,
about which there could be no dispute, either of principle, or
of fact. Whilst the Governor would probably hc/ve protected

258 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
me, by force, if necessary, against an actual assault, by the Iro
quois, he had not the moral courage to risk the ire of his mas
ter, by offending the Great Republic, on a point about which
there could be any question.
The Iroquois was very much in earnest in endeavoring to
capture me, and Captain Palmer spent many sleepless nights,
and labored very zealously to accomplish his object ; notwith
standing which, when my escape became known to his coun
trymen, he had all Yankeeland down on him. It was charged,
among other things, by one indignant Yankee captain, that
Palmer and myself had been school-mates, and that treachery
had done the work. I must do my late opponent the justice
to say, that he did all that vigilance and skill could do, and a
great deal more, than the laws of war authorized him to do.
H3 made a free use of the neutral territory, and of his own
merchant-ships that were within its waters. He had left St.
Thomas in a great hurry, upon getting news of the Sumter,
without waiting to coal. In a day or two after his arrival at
St. Pierre, he chartered a Yankee schooner, and sent her to St.
Thomas, for a supply of coal ; and taking virtual possession
of another — a small lumber schooner, from Maine, that lay
discharging her cargo, a short distance from the Sumter — he
used her as a signal, and look-out ship. Sending his pilot on
shore, he arranged with the Yankee master — one of your
long, lean, slab-sided fellows, that looked like the planks he
handled — a set of signals, by which the Sum,ter was to be
circumvented. The anchorage of St. Pierre is a wide, open bay, with an
exit around half the points of the compass. The Iroquois, as
she kept watch and ward over the Sumter, generally lay off
the centre of this sheet of water. As the Sumter might run
out either north of her, or south of her, it was highly impor
tant that the Iroquois should know, as promptly as possible,
which of the passages the little craft intended to take. To
this end, the signals were arranged. Certain lights were to
be exhibited, in certain positions, on board the Yankee
schooner, to indicate to her consort, that the Sumter was
under way, and the course she was running. I knew nothing,
positively, of this arrangement. I only knew that the pilot

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 259
of the Iroquois had frequently been seen on board the Yankee.
To the mind of a seaman, the rest followed, as a matter of
course. I could not know what the precise signals were, but
I knew what signals I should require to be made to me, if I
were in Captain Palmer's place. As the sequel will prove, I
judged correctly.
I now communicated my suspicions to the Governor, and
requested him to have a guard stationed near the schooner,
to prevent this contemplated breach of ' neutrality. But the
Governor paid no more attention to this complaint, than to
the others I had made. It was quite evident that I must ex
pect to take care of myself, without the exercise of any sur
veillance, "by night or by day," by Monsieur Conde. This
being the case, I bethought myself of turning the enemy's
signals to my own account, and the reader will see, by and
by, how this was accomplished.
In the meantime, the plot was thickening, and becoming
very interesting, as well to the islanders, as to ourselves. Not
only was the town agog, but the simple country people, hav
ing heard what was going on, and that a naval combat was
expected, came in, in great numbers, to see the show. The
1 crowd increased, daily, in the market-place, and it was won
derful to witness the patience of these people. They would
come down to the beach, and gaze at us for hours, together,
seeming never to grow weary of the sight. Two parties were
formed, the Sumter party, and the froquois party ; the former
composed of the whites, with a small sprinkling of blacks ;
the latter of the blacks, with a small sprinkling of whites.
The Governor, himself, came up from Fort de France, in a
little sail-schooner of war, which he used as a yacht. The
Mayor, and sundry councilmen, came off to see me, and talk
over the crisis. The young men boarded me in scores, and
volunteered to help me whip the barbare. I had no thought
of fighting, but of running ; but of course I did not tell them so
— I should have lost the French nationality, they had con
ferred upon me.
The Iroquois had arrived, on the 14th of November. It was
now the 23d, and I had waited all this time, for a dark night ;
the moon not only persisting in shining, but the stars looking,

260 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOA1
we thought, unusually bright. Venus was still three hours
high, at sunset, and looked provokingly beautiful, and bril
liant, shedding as much light as a miniature moon. To-night
— the 28d — the moon would not rise until seven minutes past
eleven, and this would be ample time, in which to escape, or
be captured. I had some anxiety about the weather, however,
independently of the phase of the moon, as in this climate of
the gods, there is no such thing as a dark night, if the sky be
clear. The morning of the 23d of November dawned pro
vokingly clear. It clouded a little toward noon, but, long
before sunset, the clouds had blown off, and the afternoon be
came as bright, and beautiful, as the most ardent lover of
nature in her smiling moods, could desire. But time pressed,
and it was absolutely necessary to be moving. Messengers
had been sent hither, and thither, by the enemy, to hunt up a
reinforcement of gun-boats, and if several of these should ar
rive, escape would be almost out of the question. Fortune
had favored us, thus far, but we must now help ourselves.
The Iroquois was not only twice as heavy as the Sumter, in
men, and metal, as the reader has seen, but she had as much
as two or three knots, the hour, the speed of her. We must
escape, if at all, unseen of the enemy, and as the latter drew
close in with the harbor, every night, in fraud of the promise
he had made, and in violation of the laws of war, this would
be difficult to do. Running all these reasons rapidly through
my mind, I resolved to make the attempt, without further
delay. I gave orders to the first lieutenant, to see that every person
belonging to the ship was on board, at sundown, and directed
him to make all the necessary preparations for getting his anchor,
and putting the ship under steam, at eight p. M. — the hour
of gun-fire ; the gun at the garrison to be the signal for mov
ing. The ship was put in her best sailing trim, by removing
some barrels of wet provisions aft, on the quarter-deck ; use
less spars were sent down from aloft, and the sails all "mended,"
that is, snugly furled. Every man was assigned his station, and
the crew were all to be at quarters, a few minutes before the
appointed hour of moving. I well recollect the tout ensemble
of that scene. The waters of the bay were of glassy smooth-

DURIITG THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 261
ness. The sun had gone down in a sky so clear, that there was
not a cloud to make a bank of violets, or a golden pyramid of.
Twilight had come and gone ; the insects were in full chorus —
we were lying within a hundred yards of the shore — and night,
friendly, and at the same time unfriendly, had thrown no more
than a semi-transparent mantle over the face of nature.
The market-place, as though it had some secret sympathy
with what was to happen, was more densely thronged than
ever, the hum of voices being quite audible. The muffled
windlass on board the Sumter was quietly heaving up her an
chor. It is already up, and the " cat hooked," and the men
" walking away with the cat." The engineer is standing, lever
in hand, ready to start the engine, and a seaman, with an
uplifted axe, is standing near the taffarel, to cut the sternfast.
One minute more and the gun will fire ! Every one is listen
ing eagerly for the sound. The Iroquois is quite visible, through
our glasses, watching for the Sumter, like the spider for the
fly. A flash ! and the almost simultaneous boom of the eight
o'clock gun, and, without one word being uttered on board the
Sumter, the axe descends upon the fast, the engineer's lever is
turned, and the ship bounds forward, under a full head of
steam. A prolonged, and deafening cheer at once arose from the.
assembled multitude, in the market-place. Skilful and trusty
helmsmen, under the direction of the "master," bring the Sum-
Wr's head around to the south, where they hold it, so steadily,
that she does not swerve a hair's breadth. There is not a light
visible on board. The lantern in the captain's cabin has a
jacket on it, and even the binnacle is screened, so that no one
but the old quartermaster at the "con" can see the light, or
the compass. The French steamer-of-war, Acheron, lay almost.
directly in our course, and, as we bounded past her, nearly
grazing her guns, officers and men rushed to the side, and in
momentary forgetfulness of their neutrality, wayed hats and
hands at us. As the reader may suppose, I had stationed a
quick-sighted and active young officer, to look out for the sig
nals, which I knew the Yankee schooner was to make. This
young officer now came running aft to me, and said, "I see
them, sir! I see them ! — look, sir, there are two red lights, one

262 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
above the other, at the Yankee schooner's mast-head." Sure
enough, there were the lights; and I knew as well as the
exhibitor of them, what they meant to say to the Iroquois, viz. :
"Look out for the Sumter, she is under way, standing south !"
I ran a few hundred yards farther, on my present course,
and then stopped. The island of Martinique is mountainous,
and near the south end of the town, where I now was, the
mountains run abruptly into the sea, and cast quite a shadow
upon the waters, for some distance out. I had the advantage
of operating within this shadow. I now directed my glass
toward the Iroquois. I have said that Captain Palmer was
anxious to catch me, and judging by the speed which the Iro
quois was now making, toward the south, in obedience to her
signals, his anxiety had not been at all abated by his patient
watching of nine days. I now did, what poor Reynard some
times does, when he is hard pressed by the hounds — I doubled.
Whilst the Iroquois was driving, like mad, under all steam, for
the south, wondering, no doubt, at every step, what the d  1
had become of the Sumter, this little craft was doing her level-
best, for the north end of the island. It is safe to say, that,
the next morning, the two vessels were one hundred and fifty
miles apart ! Poor Palmer ! he, no doubt, looked haggard
and careworn, when his steward handed him his dressing-
gown, and called him for breakfast on the 24th of November ;
the yell of Actseon's hounds must have sounded awfully dis
tinct in his ears. I was duly thankful to the slab-sided lum
berman, and to Governor Conde — the one for violating, and
the other for permitting the violation of the neutral waters of
France — the signals were of vast service to me.
Various little contre-temps occurred on board the Sumter, on
this night's run. We were obliged to stop some fifteen or twenty
precious minutes, opposite the very town, as we were retracing
our steps to the northward, to permit the engineer to cool the
bearings of his shaft, which had become heated by a little
eccentricity of movement. And poor D., a hitherto-favorite
quartermaster, lost his prestige, entirely, with the crew, on this
night. D. had been famous for his sharp sight. It was, in
deed, wonderful. When nobody else in the ship could " make
out '' a distant sail, D. was always sent aloft, glass in hand, to

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 263
tell us all about her. As a matter of course, when the. ques
tion came to be discussed, as to who the look-out should be,
on the occasion of running by the enemy, I thought of D. He
was, accordingly, stationed on the forecastle, with the best
night-glass in the ship. Poor D. ! if he saw one Iroquois, that
night, he must have seen fifty. Once, he reported her lying
right " athwart our fore-foot," and I even stopped the engine,
on his report, and went forward, myself, to look for her. She
was nowhere to be seen. Now she was bearing down upon
our bow, and now upon our quarter. I was obliged to degrade
him, in the first ten minutes of the run ; and, from that time,
onward, he never heard the last of the Iroquois. The young
foretop-men, in particular, whose duty it was to take the regular
look-out aloft, and who had become jealous of his being sent
up to their stations, so often, to make out sails, which they
could give no account of, were never tired of poking fun at
him, and asking him about the Iroquois.
The first half hour's run was a very anxious one for us,
as the reader may suppose. We could not know, of course,
at what moment the Iroquois, becoming sensible of her error,
might retrace her steps. It was a marvel, indeed, that she had
not seen us. Our chimney was vomiting forth dense volumes
of black smoke, that ought to have betrayed us, even if our hull
had been invisible. I was quite relieved, therefore, as I saw
the lights of the town fading, gradually, in the distance, and
no pursuer near; and when a friendly rain squall overtook us,
and enveloping us in its folds, travelled along with us, for
some distance, I felt assured that our run had been a success.
Coming up with the south end of the island of Dominica, we
hauled in for the coast, and ran along it, at a distance of four
or five miles. It was now half-past eleven, and the moon had
risen. The sea continued smooth, and nothing eould exceed
the beauty of that night-scene, as we ran along this picturesque
coast. The chief feature of the landscape was its weird-like
expression, and aspect of most profound repose. Mountain,
hill, and valley lay slumbering in the moonlight; no living
thing, except ourselves, and now and then, a coasting vessel
close in with the land, that seemed also to be asleep, being
seen. Even the town of Rousseau, whose white walls we could

264 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
see shimmering in the moonlight, seemed more like a city of
the dead, than of the living. Not a solitary light twinkled
from a window. To add to the illusion, wreaths of mist lay
upon the mountain-sides, and overhung the valleys, almost as
white, and solemn looking as winding-sheets.
We came up with the north end of Dominica, at about two
A. M., and a notable change now took place, in the weather.
Dense, black clouds rolled up, from every direction, and amid
the crashing, and rattling of thunder, and rapid, and blinding
lightning, the rain began to fall in torrents. I desired to
double the north end of the island, and to enable me to do this,
I endeavored, in sea phrase, to "hold on to the land." The
weather was so thick, and dark, at times, that we could scarcely
see the length of the ship, and we were obliged often to slow
down, and even stop the engine. For an hour or two, we
literally groped our way, like a blind man; an occasional flash
of lightning being our only guide. Presently the water began
to whiten, and we were startled to find that we were running
on shore, in Prince Rupert's Bay, instead of having doubled
the end of the island, as we had supposed. We hauled out in a
hurry. It was broad daylight, before we were through the
passage, when we were struck by a strong northeaster, blow
ing almost a gale. I now drew aft the try-sail sheets, and
heading the ship to the N. N. W., went below and turned in,
after, as the reader has seen, an eventful night. The sailor
has one advantage over the soldier. He has always a dry
hammock, and a comfortable roof over his head; and the
reader may imagine how I enjoyed both of these luxuries, as
stripping off my wet clothing, I consigned my weary head to
my pillow, and permitted myself to be sung to sleep by the
lullaby chanted by the storm.
We learned from the Yankee papers, subsequently captured,
that the Dacotah, one of the enemy's fast steam-sloops, of the
class of the Iroquois, arrived at St. Pierre, the day after we
"left" — time enough to condole with her consort, on the un
toward event. In due time, Captain Palmer was deprived of
his command — the Naval Department of the Federal Govern
ment obeying the insane clamors of the "unwashed," as often
as heads were called for.

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 265
The day after our escape from Martinique was Sunday, and
we made it, emphatically, a day of rest — even the Sunday
muster being omitted, in consideration of the crew having
been kept up nearly all the preceding night. I slept late,
nothi ag having been seen to render it necessary to call me.
When I came on deck, the weather still looked angry, with a
dense bank of rain-clouds hanging over the islands we had
left, and the stiff northeaster blowing as freshly as before.
We were now running by the island of Deseada, distant about
ten miles. At noon we observed in latitude 16° 12', and, dur
ing the day, we showed the French colors to a French bark,
running for Guadeloupe, and to a Swedish brig standing in for
the islands. Being in the track of commerce, and the night
being dark, we carried, for the first time, our side-lights, to
g aard against collision. It was a delightful sensation to breathe
the free air of heaven, and to feel the roll of the sea once more ;
and as I sat that evening, in the midst of my officers, and
smoked my accustomed cigar, I realized the sense of freedom,
expressed by the poet, in the couplet, —
" Far as the breeze can bear, the billow foam,
Survey our empire, and behold our home ! "
We had no occasion, here, to discuss jurisdictions, or talk
about marine leagues; or be bothered by Iroquois, or bam
boozled by French governors.
Monday, November 25th. — Morning clear, with trade-clouds
and a fresh breeze. We are still holding on to our steam, and
are pushing our way to the eastward ; my intention being to
cross the Atlantic, and see what can be accomplished in Euro
pean waters. We may be able to exchange the Sumter for a
better ship. At seven, this morning, we gave chase to a
Yankee-looking hermaphrodite brig. We showed her the
United States colors, and were disappointed to see her hoist
the English red in reply. In the afternoon, a large ship was
descried running down in our direction. When she approached
sufficiently near, we hoisted again the United States colors,
and hove her to with a gun. As she rounded to the wind, in
obedience to the signal, the stars and stripes were run up to
her peak. The wind was blowing quite fresh, but the master
and his papers were soon brought on board, when it appeared

266 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
that our prize was the ship Montmorency, of Bath, Maine, from
Newport, in Wales, and bound to St. Thomas, with a cargo of
coal, for the English mail-steamers rendezvousing at that
island. Her cargo being properly documented, as English
property, we could not destroy her, but put her under a ransom
bond, for her supposed value, and released her. We received
on board from her, however, some cordage and paints ; and
Captain Brown was civil enough to send me on board, with his
compliments, some bottles of port wine and a box of excellent
cigars. The master and crew were parolled, not to serve
against the Confederate States during the war, unless ex
changed. I began, now, to find that the Yankee masters, mates, and
sailors rather liked being parolled ; they would sometimes re
mind us of it, if they thought we were in danger of forgetting
it. It saved them from being conscripted, unless the enemy
was willing first to exchange them ; and nothing went so hard
with the enemy as to exchange a prisoner. With cold-blooded
cruelty, the enemy had already counted his chances of success,
as based upon the relative numbers of the two combatants, and
found that, by killing a given number of our prisoners by long
confinement — the same number of his being killed by us, by
the same process — he could beat us! In pursuance of this
diabolical policy, he threw every possible difficulty in the way
of exchanges, and toward the latter part of the war put a
stop to them nearly entirely. Our prisons were crowded with
his captured soldiers. We were hard pressed for provisions,
and found it difficult to feed them, and we were even destitute
of medicines and hospital stores, owing to the barbarous nature
of the war that was being made upon us. Not even a bottle
of quinine or an ounce of calomel was allowed to cross the
border, if the enemy could prevent it. With a full knowledge
of these facts, he permitted his soldiers to sigh and weep away
their lives in a hopeless captivity — coolly "calculating," that
one Confederate life was worth, when weighed in the balance
of final success, from three to four of the lives of his own men !
The enemy, since the war, has become alarmed at the atro
city of his coniuct, and at the judgment which posterity will
be likely to pass upon it, and has set himself at work, to fal

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 267
sify history, with his usual disregard of truth. Committees
have been raised, in the Federal Congress, composed of un
scrupulous partisans, whose sole object it was, to prepare the
false material, with which to mislead the future historian.
Perjured witnesses have been brought before these committees,
and their testimony recorded as truth. To show the partisan
nature of these committees, when it was moved by some mem
ber — Northern member, of course, for there are no Southern
members, at this present writing, in the Rump Parliament —
to extend the inquiry, so as to embrace the treatment of
Southern prisoners, in Northern prisons, the amendment was
rejected ! It was not the truth, but falsehood that was wanted.
Fortunately for the Southern people, there is one little record
which it is impossible to obliterate. More men perished in
Northern prisons, where food and medicines were abundant, than
in Southern prisons, where they were deficient — and this, too,
though the South held the greater number of prisoners. See report
qf Secretary Stanton.

CHAPTER XXI.
THE SUMTER PURSUES HER VOYAGE ACROSS THE AT
LANTIC — CAPTURE AND BURNING OF THE ARCADE,
VIGILANT, AND EBENEZER DODGE — A LEAKY SHIP,
AND A GALE — AN ALARM OF FIRE.
THE morning of the 26th of November dawned clear, with
the wind more moderate, and a smoother sea. A ship of
war being seen to windward, running down in our direction,
we beat to quarters, and hoisted the U. S. colors. She was a
heavy ship, but being a sailing vessel, we had nothing to fear,
even if she should prove to be an enemy. t Indeed, it would have
been only sport for us, to fall in with one of the enemy's old time
sailing-frigates. Our agile little steamer, with her single long-
range gun, could have knocked her into pie, as the printers
say, before the majestic old thing could turn round. It was
in the morning watch, when holystones and sand, and scrub
bing-brushes and soap were the order of the hour, and we
surprised the stranger, consequently, in her morning disha
bille, for her rigging was filled with scrubbed hammocks, and
a number of well-filled clothes-lines were stretched between
her main and mizzen shrouds. She proved to be Spani sh ; and
was steering apparently for the island of Cuba. We observed
to-day in latitude 20° 7' ; the longitude, as told by our faith
ful chronometer, being 57° 12'.
By the way, one of my amusements, now, was to wind and
compare a number of chronometers, daily. The nautical in
struments were almost the only things, except provisions, and
clothing for the crew, that we could remove from our prizes.
I never permitted any other species of property to be brought
on board. We had no room for it, and could not have disposed
of it, except by violating the laws of neutral nations, and con
verting our ship into a trader ; neither one of which comported
with the duties which I had in hand, viz., the rapid destruc-
" - 268

MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT. 269
tion of the enemy's commerce. I should have had no objec
tion to receiving, on deposit, for safe keeping, any funds that
I might have found on board the said prizes, but the beggarly
Yankee masters never carried any. A few hundred dollars
for ship's expenses was all that was ever found, and sometimes
not even this — the master having, generally, an order on his
consignee for what moneys he might need. I sometimes
captured these orders, and a stray bill of exchange for a
small amount, but of course I could make no use of them.
The steamship has not only revolutionized commerce, and
war, but exchanges. Long before the arrival of the tardy
sailing-ship, at her destined port, with her ponderous cargo,
the nimble mail steamer deposits a duplicate of her invoice,
and bill of lading, with the merchant to whom she is consigned;
and when the ship has landed her cargo, the same, or another
steamer, takes back a bill of exchange for the payment of
the freight.
The masters of my prizes frequently remonstrated against
my capturing their chronometers; in some instances claiming
them as their own individual property. When they would
talk to me about private property, I would ask to whom their
ships belonged — whether to a private person, or the Govern
ment ? They at once saw the drift of the question, and there
was an end of the argument. I was making war upon the
enemy's commerce — and especially upon the ship, the vehicle
of commerce, and the means and appliances by which she was
navigated. If her chronometers, sextants, telescopes, and charts
were left in possession of the master, they would be transferred
to, and used in the navigation of some other ship. The fact
that these instruments belonged to other parties, than the ship
owners, could not make the least difference — ship and instru
ments were all private property, alike, and alike subject to
capture. Silly newspaper editors have published a good deal
of nonsense, mixed with a good deal of malice, on this subject.
It is only their nonsense that I propose to correct — their abuse
was something to be expected under the circumstances. Being
dependent upon the patronage of ship-owners and ship-masters
for the prosperity of their papers, abuse of the Sumter, during
the war, came as naturally to them as whittling a stick.

270 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT.
No prisoner of mine was ever disturbed in the possession
of his strictly personal effects. Under this head were included
his watch, and his jewelry, as well as his wardrobe. Every
boarding officer had orders to respect these, nor do I believe
that the orders were ever violated. I will not detain the
reader to contrast this conduct with the shameful house-burn
ings, robberies, and pilferings, by both officers and men, that
accompanied the march of the enemy's armies through the
Southern States. It would be well for human nature, if the
record made by these men, lost to every sense of manliness
and shame, could be obliterated; but as the wicked deeds of
men live after them, our common history and our common
race will long have to bear the disgrace of their acts.
Soon after passing the Spanish ship, sail ho! was cried from
the mast-head, in a sharp, energetic voice, as though the look
out had, this time, scented real game. The chase was one of
those well-known schooners, twice before described in these
pages, as being unmistakable — hence the energy that had
been thrown into the voice of the look-out. She soon came
in sight from the deck, when we gave chase. In a couple of
hours we had come up with, and hove her to, with a gun.
She proved to be the Arcade, from Portland, Me., with a load of
staves, bound to Guadeloupe, where she intended to exchange
her staves for rum and sugar. The owner of the staves had
not thought it worth while to certify that his property was
neutral, and so we had no difficulty with the papers. We had
not made much of a prize. The little craft was sailed too
economically to afford us even a 6pare barrel of provisions.
The number of mouths on board were few, and the rations had
been carefully adjusted to the mouths. And so, having noth
ing to transfer to the Sttmter, except the master and crew, we
applied the torch to her in a very few minutes. The staves
being well seasoned, she made a beautiful bonfire, and lighted
us over the seas some hours after dark.
During the night, the wind lulled, and became variable, and
we hauled down the fore and aft sails, and brought the ship's
head to the north-east. The prize had no newspapers on board,
but we learned from the master, that the great naval expedi
tion, which the enemy had been sometime in preparing, and

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 271
about which there had been no little mystery, had at last struck
at Port Royal, in South Carolina. An immense fleet of ships
of war, with thirty-three transports, and an army of 15,000
men, had been sent to capture a couple of mud forts, armed
with 24 and 32-pounders, and garrisoned with three or four
hundred raw troops. Our next batch of newspapers from
New York, brought us the despatches of Commodore Dupont,
the commander of this expedition, exceeding in volume any
thing that Nelson or Collingwood had ever written. Plates,
and diagrams showed how the approaches had been buoyed,
and the order of battle was described, with minute prolixity.
I cannot forbear giving to the reader, the names of the ships,
that participated in this great naval victory, with their loss in
killed and wounded, after an engagement that lasted four mor
tal hours. The ships were the Wabash, the Susquehanna, the
Mohican, the Seminole, the Pawnee, the Unadilla, the Ottawa,
the Pembina, the Isaac Smith, the Bienville, the Seneca, the
Curlew, the Penguin, the Augusta, the R. B. Forbes, the Poca
hontas, the Mercury, the Vandalia, and the Vixen — total 19.
The killed were 8 — not quite half a man apiece; and the seri
ously wounded 6 !
November 27th. — Morning thick, with heavy clouds and rain,
clearing as the day advanced. Afternoon clear, bright weather,
with a deep blue sea, and the trade-wind blowing half a gale
from the north-east. At six p. M., put all sail on the ship, and
let the steam go down. We had already consumed half our
fuel, and it became necessary to make the rest of our way to
Europe under sail. Our boilers had been leaking for several
days, and the engineer availed himself of the opportunity to
repair them. The weather is sensibly changing in tempera
ture. We are in latitude 22° 22', and the thermometer has
gone down to 78° — for the first time, in five months. We
have crossed, to-day, the track of the homeward-bound ships,
both from the Cape of Good Hope, and Cape Horn, but have
seen no sail. We cannot delay to cruise in this track, as we
have barely water enough, on board, to last us across the
Atlantic. November 28th. — Weather changeable, and squally — wind
frequently shifting during the day, giving indications of ouj
18

272 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
approach to the northern limit of the trade-wind, crossing
which we shall pass into the variables.
November 29th. — Thick, ugly weather — this term ugly being
very expressive in the seaman's vocabulary. The wind is
veering, as before, blowing half a gale, all the time, and a cold
rain is pouring down, at intervals, causing the sailors to haul
on their woollen jackets, and hunt up their long- neglected
sou'westers. We observed in latitude 25° 51' to-day; the
longitude being 57° 36'.
November 30th. — The morning has dawned bright, and beau
tiful, with a perfectly clear sky. The boisterous wind of yes
terday has disappeared, and we have nearly a calm — the sea
wearing its darkest tint of azure. We are, in fact, in the calm-
belt of Cancer, and having no fuel to spare, we must be con
tent to creep through it under sail, as best we may. A sail
has been reported from aloft. \It is a long way off, and we for
bear to chase.
December 1st. — Another beautiful, bright, morning, with a
glassy sea, and a calm. This being the first of the month, the
sailors are drawing their clothing, and "small stores" from the
paymaster, under the supervision of the officers of the differ
ent divisions. The paymaster's steward is the shopman, on
the occasion, and he is "serving" a jacket to one, a shirt to
another, and a pair of shoes to a third. His assortment is quite
varied, for besides the requisite clothing, he has tobacco, and
pepper, and mustard; needles, thimbles, tape, thread, and spool-
cotton; ribbons, buttons, jack-knives, &c. Jack is not allowed
to indulge in all these luxuries, ad lib. He is like a school
boy, under the care of his preceptor; he must have his wants
approved by the officer of the division to which he belongs.
To enable this officer to act understandingly, Jack spreads out
his wardrobe before him, every month. If he is deficient a
shirt, or a pair of trousers, he is permitted to draw them; if he
has plenty, and still desires more, his extravagance is checked.
These articles are all charged to him, at cost, with the addi
tion of a small percentage, to save the Government from loss.
When the monthly requisitions are all' complete, they are
taken to the Captain, for his approval, who occasionally runs
his pencil through a third, or a fourth pound of tobacco, when

DUXCING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 273
an inveterate old chewer, or smoker is using the weed to
excess ; he rarely interferes in other respects. On the present
occasion, woollen garments are in demand; Jack, with a pru
dent forethought, preparing himself for the approaching change
in the climate. Much of the clothing, which the sailor wears,
is made up with his own hands. He is entirely independent
of the other sex, in this respect, and soon becomes very expert
with the needle.
The 3d of December brought us another prize. The wind
was light from the south-east, and the stranger was standing
in our direction. This was fortunate, as we might hope to
capture him by stratagem, without the use of steam. The
Sumter, when not under steam, and with her smoke-stack
lowered, might be taken for a clumsy -looking bark. Throw
ing a spare sail over the lowered smoke-stack, to prevent it
from betraying us, we hoisted the French flag, and stood on
our course, apparently unconscious of the approaching stranger.
We were running free, with the starboard studding-sails set,
and when the stranger, who, by this time, had hoisted the
United States colors, crossed our bows, we suddenly took in
all the studding-sails, braced sharp up, tacked, and fired a gun,
at the same moment. The stranger at once hauled up his
courses, and backed his main-topsail. He was already under
our guns. The clumsy appearance of the Sumter, and the
French flag had deceived him. The prize proved to be the
Vigilant, a fine new ship, from Bath, Maine, bound to the
guano island of Sombrero, in the West Indies; some New
Yorkers having made a lodgment on this barren little island,
and being then engaged in working it for certain phosphates
of lime, which they called mineral guano. We captured
a rifled 9 -pounder gun, with a supply of fixed ammunition,
on board the Vigilant, and some small arms. We fired the
ship at three P.M., and made sail on our course. The most
welcome part of this capture was a large batch of New
York newspapers, as late as the 21st of November. The
Yankees of that ilk had heard of the blockade of the "Pirate
Sumter," by the Iroquois, but they had n't heard of Captain
Palmer's rueful breakfast on the morning of the 24th of
November.

274 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
These papers brought us a graphic description of the gallant
ram exploit, of Commodore Hollins, of the Confederate Navy,
at the mouth of the Mississippi, on the 12th of October. This
exploit is remarkable as being the first practical application of
the iron-clad ram to the purposes of war. Some ingenious
steamboat-men, in New Orleans, with the consent of the Navy
Department, had converted the hull of a steam-tug into an iron
clad, by means of bars of railroad iron fastened to the hull of
the boat, and to a frame- work above the deck fitted to receive
them ; a stout iron prow being secured to the bow of the boat,
several feet below the water-line. In this curious nondescript,
which the enemy likened to a smoking mud-turtle, the gallant
Commodore assaulted the enemy's fleet, lying at the old anchor
age of the Sumter, at the "Head of the Passes," consisting of
the Richmond, Vincennes, Preble, and Water Witch. The assault
was made at four o'clock in the morning, and caused great con
sternation and alarm among the enemy. The Richmond, lying
higher up the Pass than the other ships, was first assaulted —
some of her planks being started, below the water-line, by the
concussion of the ram, though the blow was broken by a coal-
schooner, which, fortunately for her, was lying alongside. As
the ram drew off, a broadside of the Richmond's guns was
fired into her, without effect. After this harmless broadside,
the ships all got under way, in great haste, and fled down the
Pass, the ram pursuing them, but Hollins was unable, from the
effect of the current, and the speed of the fleeing ships, to get
another blow at them. The Richmond and the Vincennes
grounded, for a short time, on the bar, in their hurry to get out,
but the former was soon got afloat again. In the confusion and
panic of the moment, the Vincennes was abandoned by her cap
tain, who left a slow match burning. Commodore Hollins, finding
that nothing more could be accomplished, threw a few shells at
the alarmed fleet, and withdrew. The Vincennes, not blowing
up, and the enemy recovering from his panic, her captain was
ordered to return to her, and she was finally saved with the
rest of the fleet. This little experiment was the avant courier
of a great change, in naval warfare — especially for harbor and
coast defence. The enemy, with his abundant resources, greatly
improved upon it, and his " monitor " system was the result.

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 275
December 4th. — Weather clear, and becoming cool — ther
mometer, 76°. We have run some 140 miles to the eastward,
during the last twenty-four hours, under sail, and as we are
dragging our propeller through the water, I need not tell the
reader what a smacking breeze we have had. It is delightful to
be making so much easting, under sail, after having been buffeted
so spitefully, by the east wind, for the last five months, when
ever we have turned our head in that direction. Ten of the
crew of the Vigilant are blacks, and as our ship is leaking so
badly that the constant pumping is fagging to the crew, I have
set the blacks at the pumps, with their own consent. The fact
is, some of these fellows, who are runaway slaves, have already
recognized "master," and whenever I pass them, grin pleasantly,
and show the whites of their eyes. They are agreeably disap
pointed, that they are not " drawn, hung, and quartered," and
rather enjoy the change to the Sumter, where they have plenty
of time to bask in the sun, and the greasiest of pork and beans
without stint. In arranging the Vigilant's crew into messes, a
white bean and a black bean have been placed, side by side,
at the mess-cloth, my first lieutenant naturally concluding, that
the white sailors of the Yankee ship would like to be near
their colored brethren. Caesar and Pompey, having an eye to
fan, enjoy this arrangement hugely, and my own crew are not
a little amused, as the boatswain pipes to dinner, to see the
gravity with which the darkies take their seats by the side of
their white comrades. This was the only mark of "citizen
ship," however, which I bestowed upon these sons of Ham. I
never regarded them as prisoners of war — always discharging
them, when the other prisoners were discharged, without put
ting them under parole.
December 5th. — Weather thick and ugly — the wind hauling to
the north, and blowing very fresh for a while. Reefed the top
sails. At noon, the weather was so thick, that no observations
could be had for fixing the position of the ship — latitude, by
dead reckoning, 30° 19'; longitude 53° 02'. During the after
noon and night, it blew a gale from N. E. to E. N. E. Furled
the mainsail, and set the reefed trysail instead ; and the wind
still increasing, before morning we hauled up and furled the fore
sail. For the next two or three days, we had a series of east

276 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
eny gales, compelling me to run somewhat farther north than
I had intended. We carried very short sail, and most of the
time we were shut down below — that is, such of the crew as
were not on watch — with tarpaulin-covered hatches, and a cold,
driving rain falling almost incessantly. What with the howl
ing of the gale, as it tears through the rigging, the rolling and
pitching of the ship, in the confused, irregular sea, and the jog,
jog, jog of the pumps, through half the night, I have had but
little rest.
December 8th. — This is an anniversary with me. On this
day, fifteen years ago, the United States brig-of-war Somers, of
which I was the commander, was capsized and sunk, off Vera
Cruz, having half her crew, of 120 officers and men, drowned.
It occurred during the Mexican war. I was left alone to block
ade the port of Vera Cruz — Commodore Connor, the com
mander of the squadron, having gone with his other ships on
an expedition to Tampico. There being every appearance of
a norther on that eventful morning, I was still at my anchors,
under Isla Verde, or Green Island, where I had sought refuge
the preceding night. Suddenly a sail was reported, running
down the northern coast, as though she would force the block
ade. It would never do to permit this; and so the little
Somers — these ten-gun brigs were called coffins in that day —
was gotten under way, and under her topsails and courses, com
menced beating up the coast, to intercept the stranger. I had
gone below, for a moment, when the officer of the deck, com
ing to the companion-way, called to me, and said that " the
water looked black and roughened ahead, as though more wind
than usual was coming." I sprang upon deck, and saw, at the
first glance, that a norther was upon us. I immediately ordered
everything clewed down and brailed up, but before the order
could be executed, the gale came sweeping on with the fury of
a whirlwind, and in less time than I have been describing the
event, the little craft was thrown on her beam-ends, her masts
and sails lying flat upon the surface of the sea, and the water
pouring in at every hatchway and scuttle. I clambered to the
weather side of the ship, and seeing that she must go down in
a few minutes, set my first lieutenant at work to extricate the
only boat that was available — the weather-quarter boat, all

DURING iHE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 277
the others being submerged — from her fastenings, to save as
much life as possible. This was fortunately done, and the boat
being put in charge of a midshipman, the non-combatant offi
cers, as the surgeon and paymaster ; the midshipmen, and such
of the boys of the ship as could not swim, were permitted to
get into her. So perfect was the discipline, though death,
within the next ten minutes, stared every man in the face, that
there was no rush for this boat. A large man was even
ordered out of her, to make room for two lads, who could not
swim, and he obeyed the order as a matter of course ! This
boat having shoved off from the sinking ship, the order was
given, " Every man save himself, who can ! " whereupon there
was a simultaneous plunge into the now raging sea, of a hun
dred men and more, each struggling for his life. The ship
sank out of sight in a moment afterward. We were in twenty
fathoms of water. Divesting myself of all my clothing, ex
cept my shirt and drawers, I plunged into the sea with the
rest, and, being a good swimmer, struck out for and reached
a piece of grating, which had floated away from the ship as
she went down. Swimming along, with one arm resting on
this grating, I felt one of my feet touch something, and, at the
same moment, heard a voice exclaiming, " It is I, Captain ; it is
Parker, the second lieutenant — give me a part of your grating,
I am a good swimmer, and we shall get along the better toge
ther." I, accordingly, shared my grating with Parker, and we
both struck out, manfully, for the shore, distant no more than
about a mile ; but, unfortunately, the now raging gale was
sweeping down parallel with the coast, and we were compelled
to swim at right angles with the waves and the wind, if we would
save ourselves ; for once swept past the coast of the island,
and the open sea lay before us, whence there was no rescue !
As we would rise upon the top of a wave, and get a view
of the "promised land," the reader may imagine how anxious
our consultations were, as to whether we were gaining, or los
ing ground ! In the meantime, the boat, which had shoved
off from the ship, as described, had reached the island, half-
swamped, and discharging her passengers, and freeing herself
from water as soon as possible, pushed out again into the
raging caldron of waters, under the gallant midshipman, who

278 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
had charge of her, in the endeavor to rescue some of the
drowning crew. She came, by the merest accident, upon Par
ker and myself! We were hauled into her more dead than
alive, and after she had picked up two, or three others — all
that could now be seen — she again returned to the shore. My
first lieutenant, Mr. G. L. Claiborne, was saved, as by a
miracle, being dashed on shore — he having struck out, in the
opposite direction, for the mainland — between two ledges of
rock, separated only by a span of sand beach. If he had
been driven upon the rocks, instead of the beach, he must
have been instantly dashed in pieces. The reader will, per
haps, pardon me, for having remembered these eventful scenes
of my life, as I wrote in my journal, on board the leaky little
Sumter, amid the howling of another gale, the " eighth day of
December." On this eighth day of December, 1861, however, the record
is very different, it being as follows : " At ten A. M. descried a
sail from the deck, startlingly close to ; so thick has been the
weather. The stranger being a bark, taunt-rigged, with sky-
sail poles, and under top-sails, we mistook him at first for
a cruiser, and raised our smoke-stack, and started the fires in
the furnaces. Having done this, we approached him some
what cautiously, keeping the weather-gauge of him, and
showed him the United States colors. He soon hoisted the
same. Getting a nearer view of him, we now discovered him
to be a whaler. The engineer at once discontinued his " firing
up," and the smoke-stack was again lowered, to its accustomed
place. Upon being boarded, the bark proved to be the
Eben. Dodge, twelve days out, from New Bedford, and bound
on a whaling voyage to the Pacific Ocean. She had experi
enced a heavy gale, had sprung some of her spars, and was
leaking badly — hence the easy sail she had been under. Al
though the sea was still very rough, and the weather lowering,
we got on board from the prize, some water, and provisions,
clothing, and small stores. The supply of pea-jackets, whalers'
boots, and flannel over-shirts, which our paymaster had been
unable to procure in the West Indies, was particularly accept
able to us, battling, as we now were, with the gales of the
North Atlantic, in the month of Decembpr. We brought

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 279
away from her, also, two of her fine whale-boats, so valuable
in rough weather ; making room for them on deck, by the side
of the Sumter's launch. The crew of the Dodge, consisting of
twenty -two persons, made a considerable addition to our small
sommunity. We fired the prize at half-past six, p. M., as the
shades of evening were closing in, and made sail on our course.
The flames burned red and lurid in the murky atmosphere,
like some Jack-o'-lantern ; now appearing, and now disappear
ing, as the doomed ship rose upon the top, or descended into
the abyss of the waves.
Having now forty-three prisoners on board, and there never
being, at one time, so many of the Sumter's crew on watch, it
became necessary for me to think of precautions. It would
be easy for forty-three courageous men, to rise upon a smaller
number, sleeping carelessly about the decks, and wrest from
them the command of the ship. Hitherto I had given the
prisoners the run of the ship, putting no more restrictions
upon them, than upon my own men, but this could no longer
be. I therefore directed my first lieutenant to put one-half
ofthe prisoners in single irons — that is, with manacles on the
wrists only — alternately, for twenty -four hours at a time.
The prisoners, themselves, seeing the necessity of this precau
tion, submitted cheerfully to the restraint — for as such only
they viewed it — and not as an indignity.
We received another supply of late newspapers, by the
Dodge. They were still filled with jubilations over Dupont's
great naval victory. We learned, too, that New England had
been keeping, with more than usual piety and pomp, the great
National festival of " Thanksgiving," which the Puritan has
substituted for the Christian Christmas. The pulpit thundered
war and glory, the press dilated upon the wealth and resources
of the Universal Yankee Nation, and hecatombs of fat pigs
and turkeys fed the hungry multitudes — pulpit, press, pig,
and turkey, all thanking God, that the Puritan is " not like
unto other men."
December 10th. — The weather remains still unsettled. The
wind, during the last five or six days, has gone twice around
the compass, never stopping in the west, but lingering in the
east. The barometer has been in a constant state of fluctua
tion, and there will doubtless, be a grand climax before the

280 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
atmosphere regains its equilibrium. These easterly winds are
retarding our passage very much, and taxing our patience.
Observed, to-day, in latitude 32° 39' ; the longitude being
49° 57'.
The next day, the weather culminated, sure enough, in a
gale. The barometer began to settle, in the morning watch,
and dense black clouds, looking ragged and windy, soon
obscured the sun, and spread an ominous pall over the entire
heavens. I at once put the ship under easy sail ; that is to
¦say, clewed up everything but the topsails and trysails, and
awaited the further progress of the storm. The wind was as
yet light, but the barometer, which had stood at 29° 70' at
eight o'clock, had fallen to 29° 59' by two P. M. The dense
canopy of clouds now settled lower and lower, circumscribing
more and more our horizon, and presently fitful gusts of wind
would strike the sails, pressing the ship over a little. It was
time to reef. All hands were turned up, and the close reefs
were taken, both in topsails and trysails ; the jib hauled down
and stowed, and the top-gallant yards sent down from aloft.
The squalls increasing in frequency and force, the gale became
fully developed by three P. M. The wind, which we first took
:from about E. S. E., backed to the N. E., but did not remain
¦long in that quarter, returning to east. It now began to blow
furiously from this latter quarter, the squalls being accom
panied by a driving, blinding rain ; the barometer going down,
ominously down, all the while.
As the night closed in, an awful scene presented itself. The
aspect of the heavens was terrific. The black clouds over
head were advancing and retreating like squadrons of oppos
ing armies, whilst loud peals of thunder, and blinding flashes
of lightning that would now and then run down the con
ductor, and hiss as they leaped into the sea, added to the ele
mental strife. A streaming scud, which you could almost
touch with your hand, was meanwhile hurrying past, screech
ing and screaming, like so many demons, as it rushed through
the rigging. The sea was mountainous, and would now and
then strike the little Sumter with such force as to make her
tremble in every fibre of her frame. I had remained on deck
during most of the first watch, looking anxiously on, to see
what sort of weather we were going to make. The ship

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 281
behaved nobly, but I had no confidence in her strength. Her
upper works, in particular, were very defective. Her bends,
above the main deck, were composed of light pine stanchions and
inch plank, somewhat strengthened in the bows. Seeing the
fury of the gale, and that the barometer was still settling, I
went below about midnight, and turned in to get a little rest,
with many misgivings. I had scarcely fallen into an uneasy
slumber, when an old quartermaster, looking himself like the
demon of the storm, with his dishevelled hair and beard drip
ping water, and his eyes blinking in the light of his lantern,
shook my cot, and said, " We 've stove in the starboard bow-
port, sir, and the gun-deck is all afloat with water ! " Here
was what I had feared ; unless we could keep the water out of
the between-decks, all the upper works, and the masts along
with them, would be gone in a trice. I hurried at once to the
scene of disaster, but before I could reach it, my energetic and
skilful first lieutenant had already, by the aid of some planks
and spare spars, erected a barricade that would be likely to
answer our purpose.
The gale lulled somewhat in an hour or two afterward,
and I now got some sleep. I was on deck again, however,
at daylight. The same thick gloom overspread the heavens,
the scud was flying as furiously, and as low as before, and the
gale was raging as fiercely as ever. But we had one great
comfort, and that was daylight. We could see the ship and
the heavens — there was nothing else visible — and this alone
divested the gale of half its terrors. At last, at six A. M., the
barometer reached its lowest point, 29.32, which, in the lati
tude we were in, was a very low barometer. Any one who
has watched a barometer under similar circumstances, will
understand the satisfaction with which I saw the little tell-tale
begin to rise. It whispered to me as intelligibly as if it had
been a living thing, "the gale is broken!" We had been
lying to, all this time, under a close-reefed main-topsail. We
now bore up under a reefed foresail, and kept the ship on her
course, east by south. She scudded as beautifully as she had
lain to, darting ahead like an arrow, on the tops of the huge
waves that followed her like so many hungry wolves, and
shaking the foam and spray from her bows, as if in disdain
and contempt of the lately howling storm.

282 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT.
December 13th. — Weather clear, with passing clouds. Wind
fresh from the south-west, but abating, with a rapidly rising
barometer. The cyclone, for such evidently the late gale was,
had a diameter of from three hundred and fifty to four hun
dred miles. We took it in its northern hemisphere — the
gale travelling north. Hence it passed over us in nearly its
entire diameter — the vortex at no great distance from us.
Observed in latitude 33° 28'; the longitude being 47° 03'.
Repairing damages. The ship leaks so badly as to require to
be pumped out twice in each watch. During the heaviest of
the gale, the masters and mates of the captured ships offered
their services, like gallant men, to assist in taking care of the
ship. We thanked them, but were sufficiently strong-handed
ourselves. December 14th. — We had an alarm of fire on the berth deck
last night. The fire-bell, sounded suddenly in a sleeping city,
has a startling effect upon the aroused sleepers, but he who
has not heard it, can have no conception of the knell-like
sound of the cry of fire ! shouted from the lungs of an alarmed
sailor on board a ship, hundreds of mile3 away from any land.
It is the suddenness with which the idea of danger presents
itself, quite as much as the extent of the danger, which intimi
dates. Hence the panics which often ensue, when a ship is
discovered to be on fire. Ships of war, as a rule, are not the
subjects of panics. Discipline keeps all the passions and
emotions under control, as well those which arise from fear, as
from lawlessness. We had no panic on board the Sumter,
although appearances were sufficiently alarming for a few
moments. A smoke was suddenly seen arising through one
of the ventilators forward, in the dead hour of the night, when
except the sentry's lantern and the lamp in the binnacle,
there should be no other fire in the ship. The midshipman
of the watch, upon rushing below, found one of the prisoners'
mattresses on fire. The flames were soon smothered, and the
whole danger was over before the ship's crew were fairly
aroused. Some prisoner, in violation of orders, had lighted
his pipe for a smoke, after hours, and probably gone to sleep
with it in his mouth. The prisoner could not be identified,
but there were two sentinels on post, and these in due tima
paid the penalty of their neglect.

CHAPTER XXII.
VOYAGE ACROSS THE ATLANTIC PURSUED  CHRISTMAS-
DAY ON BOARD THE SUMTER  CAPE FLY-AWAY, AND
THE CURIOUS ILLUSION PRODUCED BY IT  THE SUM
TER PASSES FROM THE DESERT PARTS OF THE SEA,
INTO A TRACT OF COMMERCE ONCE MORE — BOARDS A
LARGE FLEET OF SHIPS IN ONE DAY, BUT FINDS NO
ENEMY AMONG THEM — ARRIVAL AT CADIZ.
THE punishment administered to the two delinquent sen
tinels mentioned in the last chapter, had the most salutary
effect. Seamen are very much like children, requiring the
reins to be tightened upon them from time to time. I made
it a rule on board the Sumter, that punishment should follow
the offence, with promptitude, and certainty, rather than sever
ity ; and this excellent rule had already performed marvels, in
the matter of disciplining my ship.
Sunday, December 15th. — A fine bright morning, with a
moderate breeze from the north-west, and the weather just
cool enough to be delightfully bracing. We mustered the
crew this morning, and read the articles of war for the first
time in three weeks, owing to the bad weather. I did not
inspect the ship below, according to custom, the sea being still
rough, and the water ankle-deep on the gun-deck in conse
quence. Our new prisoners always looked upon the muster
ceremonies on board the Sumter, with curiosity, as though
they were surprised to find so much order and discipline, and
so much attention to dress and ceremony, on board the "pi
rate " of which they had read, and whose " cut " they had so
often admired, in their truth-loving and truth-telling newspa
pers. The latitude, to-day, is 34°, and the longitude 42° 05'.
We were quite surprised to find so much bad weather in
283

284 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
the parallel, on which we were crossing the Atlantic. I had
purposely chosen this parallel, that my little cock-boat of a
ship might not be knocked in pieces, by the storms of the
North Atlantic, and yet the reader has seen how roughly we
have been handled. Nor were the fates more propitious for
the next few days. Gale followed gale, with angry skies, and
cloud and rain ; there sometimes being lightning around the
entire horizon, with now rolling, now crashing thunder. I
had intended when I left the West Indies to touch at Fayal,
in the Azores, for coal and water, but I found these islands so
guarded and defended, by the Genius of the storm, that it
would require several days of patience and toil, to enable me
to reach an anchorage in one of them. I therefore determined
to pass them, and haul up for the southern coast of Spain,
running finally into Cadiz.
Christmas day was passed by us on the lonely sea, in as
doleful a manner as can well be conceived. The weather is
thus described in my journal. " Thermometer 63° ; barometer
29.80. Heavy rain squalls — weather dirty, with lightning all
around the horizon, indicating a change of wind at any mo
ment. Under short sail during the night." The only other
record of the day was that we " spliced the main brace ; " that
is, gave Jack an extra glass of grog. Groups of idle sailors
layabout the decks, "overhauling a range of their memories;"
how they had spent the last Christmas-day, in some " Wapping,"
or " Wide Water street," with the brimming goblet in hand,
and the merry music, of the dance sounding in their ears. Nor
were the memories of the officers idle. They clasped in fancy
their loved ones, now sad and lonely, to their bosoms once
more, and listened to the prattle of the little ones they had left
behind. Not the least curious of the changes that had taken
place since the last Christmas day, was the change in their
own official positions. They were, most of them, on that day,
afloat under the " old flag." That flag now looked to them
strange and foreign. They had some of their own countrymen
on board ; not, as of yore, as welcome visitors, but as prisoners.
These, too, wore a changed aspect — enemy, instead of friend,
being written upon their faces. The two "rival nations,''
spoken of by De Tocqueville, stood face to face. Nature is

DURING TIIE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 285
stronger than man. She will not permit her laws to be vio
lated with impunity, and if this war does not separate these
two nations, other wars will. If we succeed in preserving the
principle of State sovereignty — the only principle which can
save this whole country, North and South, from utter wreck
and ruin — all will be well, whatever combinations of par
ticular States may be made, from time to time. The States
being free, liberty will be saved, and they will gravitate natu
rally, like unto like — the Puritan clinging to the Puritan, and
the Cavalier to the Cavalier. But if this principle be over
thrown, if the mad idea be carried out, that all the American
people must be moulded into a common mass, and form one
consolidated government, under the rule of a majority — for no
constitution will then restrain them — Constitutional liberty
will disappear, and no man can predict the future — except in
so far, that it is impossible for the Puritan, and the Cavalier to
live together in peace.
On the next day, we witnessed a curious natural illusion.
The look-out called land ho ! from the mast-head. The officer
of the watch saw the land at the same time from the deck, and
sent a midshipman below to inform me that we had made "high
land, right ahead." I came at once upon deck, and there, sure
enough, was the land — a beautiful island, with its blue moun
tains, its plains, its wood-lands, its coast, all perfect. It was
afternoon. The weather had been stormy, but had partially
cleared. The sun was near his setting, and threw his depart
ing rays full upon the newly discovered island, hanging over
it, as a symbol that, for a time, there was to be a truce with
the storm, a magnificent rainbow. So beautiful was the scene,
and so perfect the illusion — there being no land within a
couple of hundred miles of us — that all the crew had come on
deck to witness it; and there was not one of them who would
not have bet a month's pay that what he looked upon was a
reality. The chief engineer was standing by me looking upon the
supposed landscape, with perfect rapture. Lowering the tele
scope through which 1 had been viewing it, I1 said to him,
You see, now, Mr. F., how often men are deceived. You
would no doubt swear that that is land." "Why should I not,

286 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
sir?" said he. "Simply," rejoined I, "because it is Cape Fly
away." He turned and looked at me with astonishment, as
though I were quizzing him, and said, "You surely do not
mean to say, Captain, that that is not land ; it is not possible
that one's senses can be so much deceived." "Like yourself, I
should have sworn it was land, if I did not know, from the
position of the ship, that there is no land within a couple of
hundred miles of us." Reaching out his hand for my glass, I
gave it to him, and as he viewed the island through it, I was
much amused at his ejaculations of admiration, now at this
beauty, and now at that. "Why," said he, "there is the very
coast, sand beach and all, with beautiful bays and indentations,
as though inviting the Sumter to run in and anchor." As the
sun sank lower and lower, withdrawing now one ray, and now
another, first the rainbow began to disappear, and then the
lower strata of the island to grow a little gray, and then
the upper, until, as the sun dipped, the whole gorgeous fabric,
of mountain, woodland, plain, and coast, was converted into a
leaden-colored cloud-bank. The engineer handing me my
glass, said, " Captain, I will be a cautious witness hereafter, in
a court of justice, when I am questioned as to a fact, which
has only been revealed to me through a single sense." "I see,"
I replied, "that you are becoming a philosopher. Many meta
physicians have maintained that all nature is a mere phantas
magoria, so far as our senses are capable of informing us."
For the last two weeks, we had been crossing a desert tract
of the ocean, where a sail is seldom seen. We now began to
approach one of the beaten highways, over which a constant
stream of travel is passing — the road leading from the vari
ous ports of Europe to the equator and the coast of Brazil,
and thence east and west, as may be the destination of the way
farer. December 28th. — A fine, bright day, with the wind light from
the south-west. At daylight, "Sail ho!" came ringing from
the mast-head. The sail crossing our bows, we took in our
studding-sails, hauled up south-east, to intercept her, and
got up steam. Our latitude being 35° 17', and longitude
20° 53', we were within striking distance of Cadiz or Gibral
tar, and could afford now to use a little steam. The chase did

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 287
not reward us, however, as she proved to be English — being
the ship Richibucto, from Liverpool, for Vera Cruz, laden with
salt. We received from her some English newspapers, which
gave us several items of interesting intelligence. All England
was in mourning for the death of Prince Albert. The Trent
affair was causing great excitement, and the Confederate States
steamer Nashville, Captain Pegram, had arrived at Southamp
ton, having burned a large Yankee ship, the Harvey Birch.
This ship having been burned in the English Channel, much
attention was attracted to the act; especially as the ship was
tea-laden, and supposed to be worth near half a million of
dollars. The next day was rainy, with a light wind from the south
east. Only two sails were seen, and to neither of them did we
give chase ; but on the morning of the 30th of December, we
fell in with a perfect stream of ships. " Sail ho! " was shouted
at daylight from the mast-head, and repeated at short intervals,
until as many as twenty-five were reported. We at once got
up steam, and commenced chasing; but though we chased
diligently, one ship after another, from eight o'clock in the
morning until four in the afternoon, we did not overhaul a
single ship of the enemy ! We actually boarded sixteen sail,
a number of others showing us their colors. The ships
boarded were of the following nationalities: — Four Dutch,
seven English, two French, one Swedish, one Prussian, one
Hamburg. Here was quite a representation of the nations of
Europe, and I amused myself taking the vote of these ships,
according to our American fashion, upon the war. Their sen
timents were elicited as follows : — I would first show them the
United States colors, pretending to be a Federal cruiser; I
would then haul down these colors, and show them the. Con
federate flag. The result was that but one ship — the Prus
sian — saluted the United States flag, and that all the other
ships, with one or two exceptions, saluted the Confederate States
flag. We were then beating the enemy, and the nations of the
earth were worshipping success.
So large a fleet of ships — not being a convoy — so far out
&. sea, was quite a curiosity, and may serve to show the lands
man how accurately we have mapped out upon the ocean, the
19

288 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
principal highways of commerce. Th-.fre were no mile-posts
on the road these ships were travelling, it is true, but the road
was none the less "blazed" out, for all that — the blazes being
on the wind and current charts. The night succeeding this
busy day set in cloudy and ugly, with a fresh breeze blowing
from the eastward ; and so continuous was the stream of ships,
all sailing in the contrary direction from ourselves, that we
had serious apprehensions of being run over. To guard
against this, we set our side-lights, and stationed extra look
outs. Several ships passed us during the night, hurrying
forward on the wings of the wind, at a rapid rate, and some
times coming so close, in the darkness, as almost to make
one's hair stand on end. The next morning the weather be
came clear and beautiful, and the stream of ships had ceased.
The reader may be curious to know the explanation of this
current of ships. It is simple enough. They were all Me
diterranean ships. At the strait of Gibraltar there is a con
stant current setting into the Mediterranean. This current
is of considerable strength, and the consequence is, that when
the wind also sets into the strait — that is to say, when it is
from the westward — it is impossible for a sailing-ship to
get oulLof the strait into the Atlantic. She is obliged to come
to anchor in the bay of Gibraltar, and wait for a change of
wind. This is sometimes a long time in coming — the west
erly winds continuing here, not unfrequently, two and three
weeks at a time. As a matter of course, a large number of
ships collect in the bay, waiting for an opportunity of exit. I
have seen as many as a hundred sail at one time. In a few
hours after a change of wind takes place, this immense fleet
will all be under way, and such of them as are bound to the
equator and the coast of Brazil, the United States, West
Indies, and South America, will be found travelling the blazed
road of which I have spoken ; some taking the forks of the
road, at their respective branching-off places, and others
keeping the main track to the equator. Hence the exodus
the reader has witnessed.
Perhaps the reader needs another explanation — how it was,
that amid all that fleet of ships, there was not one Yankee.
This explanation is almost as easy as the other. Commerce

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 289
is a sensitive plant, and at the rude touch of war it had con
tracted its branches. The enemy was fast losing his Mediter
ranean trade, under the operation of high premiums for war
risks. We began now to observe a notable change in the weather,
as affectfed by the winds. Along the entire length of the
American coast, the clear winds are the west winds, the rain-
winds being the east winds. Here the rule is reversed ; the
west winds bringing us rains, and the east winds clear weather.
The reason is quite obvious. The east winds, sweeping over
the continent of Europe, have nearly all of their moisture
wrung out of them before they reach the sea ; hence the dry
ness of these winds, when they salute the mariner cruising
along the European coasts. Starting now from the European
seas as dry winds, they traverse a large extent of water before
they reach the coasts of the United States. During the whole
of this travel, these thirsty winds are drinking their fill from
the sea, and by the time they reach Portland or Boston, they
are heavily laden with moisture, which they now begin to let
down again upon the land. Hence, those long, gloomy, rainy,
rheumatic, easterly storms, that prevail along our coast in the
fall and winter months. The reader has now only to take up
the west wind, as it leaves the Pacific Ocean, as a wet wind,
and follow it across the American continent, and see how dry
the mountains wring it before it reaches the Atlantic, to see
why it should bring us fair weather. The change was very
curious to us at first, until we became a little used to it.
Another change was quite remarkable, and that was the
great difference in temperature which we experienced with ref
erence to latitude. Here we were, in midwinter, or near it,
off the south coast of Spain, in latitude 36°, nearly that of Cape
Henry at the entrance of the Chesapeake Bay, and unless the
weather was wet, we had not felt the necessity of a pea-jacket.
Whence this difference ? The cause, or causes, whatever they
are, mu3t, of course, be local; for other things being equal,
the heat should be the same, on the same parallel of latitude,
all around the globe which we inhabit. Captain Matthew F.
Mauiy, of the late Confederate States' Navy, to whom all
nations accord, as by common consent, tbe title of Philosopher

290 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
of the Seas, accounts for this difference of tempera, ure in the
following manner : "Modern ingenuity has suggested a beau
tiful mode of warming houses in winter. It is done by means
of hot water. The furnace and the caldron are sometimes
placed at a distance from the apartment to be warmed. It is
so at the Observatory. In this case, pipes are used to conduct
the heated water from the caldron under the Superintendent's
dwelling, over into one of the basement rooms of the Obser
vatory, a distance of one hundred feet. These pipes are then
flared out, so as to present a large cooling surface; after which
they are united into one again, through which the water, being
now cooled, returns of its own accord to the caldron. Thus,
cool water is returning all the time, and flowing in at the bot
tom of the caldron, while hot water is continually flowing out
at the top. The ventilation of the Observatory is so arranged
that the circulation of the atmosphere through it is led from
this basement room, where the pipes are, to all parts of the
building; and in the process of this circulation, the warmth
conveyed by the water to the basement, is taken thence by the
air, and distributed all over the rooms.
" Now, to compare small things with great, we have, in the
warm waters which are confined in the Gulf of Mexico, just
such a heating apparatus for Great Britain, the North Atlantic,
and Western Europe. The furnace is the torrid zone; the
Mexican Gulf and Caribbean Sea are the caldrons ; the Gulf
Stream is the conducting-pipe. From the Grand Banks of
New Foundland to the shores of Europe is the basement — the
hot-air chambers — in which this pipe is flared out so as to pre
sent a large cooling surface. Here the circulation of the atmo
sphere is arranged by nature, and it is such that the warmth
conveyed into this warm-air chamber of mid-ocean is taken up
by the genial west winds, and dispensed in the most benign
manner, throughout Great Britain and the west of Europe.
The maximum temperature of the water-heated air-chamber of
the Observatory, is about 90°. The maximum temperature of
the Gulf Stream is 86°, or about 9° in excess of the ocean tem
perature due the latitude. Increasing its latitude, 10°, it losea
but 2° of temperature ; and after having run three thousand
miles toward the EDrth, it still preserves, even in winter, tha
heat of summer.

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 291
* With this temperature it crosses the 40th degree of North
latitude, and there, overflowing its liquid banks, it spreads it
self out for thousands of square leagues over the cold waters
around, and covers the ocean with a mantle of warmth that
serves so much to mitigate in Europe, the rigors of winter.
Moving now slowly, but dispensing its genial influences more
freely, it finally meets the British Islands. By these it is di
vided, one part going into the polar basin of Spitzbergen, the
other entering the Bay of Biscay, but each with a warmth con
siderably above the ocean temperature. Such an immense
volume of heated water cannot fail to carry with it beyond the
seas a mild and moist atmosphere. And this it is which so
much softens climates there. We know not, except approxi
mately in one or two places, what the depth or the under
temperature of the Gulf Stream may be ; but assuming the
temperature and velocity, at the depth of two hundred fathoms
to be those of the surface, and taking the well-known differ
ence between the capacity of air, and of water for specific heat
as the argument, a simple calculation will show that the quan
tity of heat discharged over the Atlantic from the waters of
the Gulf Stream in a winter's day would be sufficient to raise
the whole column of atmosphere that rests upon France, and
the British Islands from the freezing-point to summer heat.
Every west wind that blows, crosses the stream on its way to
Europe, and carries with it a portion of this heat to temper
there the northern winds of winter. It is the influence of this
stream upon climates, that makes Erin the 'Emerald Isle of
the Sea,' and that clothes the shores of Albion in evergreen
robes; while in the same latitude on this side, the coasts of
Labrador are fast bound in fetters of ice."
To pursue Captain Maury's theory a little farther: the flow
of tepid waters does not cease at the Bay of Biscay, but con
tinues along the coasts of Spain and Portugal, thence along
the coast of Africa, past Madeira and the Canaries, to the Cape
de Verdes; where it joins the great equatorial current flowing
westward, with which it returns again into the Gulf of Mexico.
The Sumter, being between Madeira and the coast of Spain,
was within its influence. One word before I part with my
friend Ms ary. In common with thousands of mariners all

292 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
over the world, I owe him a debt of gratitude, for h:'is gigantic
labors in the scientific fields of our profession ; for the sailor
may claim the philosophy of the seas as a part of his profes
sion. A knowledge of the winds and the waves, and the laws
which govern their motions is as necessary to the seaman as
is the art of handling his ship, and to no man so much as to
Maury is he indebted for a knowledge of these laws. Other
distinguished co-laborers, as Reid, Redfield, Espy, have contri
buted to the science, but none in so eminent a degree. They
dealt in specialties — as, for instance, the storm — but he has
grasped the whole science of meteorology — dealing as well in
the meteorology of the water, if I may use the expression, as
in that of the atmosphere.
A Tennesseean by birth, he did not hesitate when the hour
came, "that tried men's souls." Poor, and with a large family,
he gave up the comfortable position of Superintendent of the
National Observatory, which he held under the Federal Gov
ernment, and cast his fortunes with the people of his State.
He had not the courage to be a traitor, and sell himself for
gold. The State of Tennessee gave him birth; she carried
him into the Federal Union, and she brought him out of
it. Scarcely any man who withdrew from the old service has
been so vindictively, and furiously assailed as Maury. The
nationalists of the North, — and I mean by nationalists, the
whole body of the Northern people, who ignored the rights
of the States, and claimed that the Federal Government was
paramount, — had taken especial pride in Maury and his labors.
He, as well as the country at large, belonged to them. They
petted and caressed him, and pitted him against the philoso
phers of the world, with true Yankee conceit. They had the
biggest country, and the cleverest men in the world, and Maury
was one of these.
But Maury, resisting all these blandishments, showed, to
their horror, when the hour of trial came, that he was a
Southern gentleman, and not a Puritan. The change of senti
ment was instantaneous and ludicrous. Their self-conceit had
received an awful blow, and there is no wound so damaging
as that which has been given to self-conceit. Almost every
thing else may be forgiven, but tiiis never can. Maury became

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATE.I. 293
at once a "rebel" and a "traitor," and everything else that was
vile. He was not even a philosopher any longer, but a hum
bug and a cheat. In science, as in other pursuits," there are
rivalries and jealousies. The writer of these pages, having
been stationed at the seat of the Federal Government for a
year or two preceding the war, was witness of some of the
rivalries and jealousies of Maury, on the part of certain small
philosophers, who thought the world had not done justice to
themselves. These now opened upon the dethroned monarch of
the seas, as live asses will kick at dead lions, and there was no
end to the partisan abuse that was heaped upon the late Chief
of the National Observatory.
Maury had been a Federal naval officer, as well as philoso
pher, and some of his late confreres of the Federal service,
who, in former years, had picked up intellectual crumbs from
the table of the philosopher, 'and were content to move in
orbits at a very respectful distance from him ; now, raised
by capricious fortune to place, joined in the malignant outcry
against him. Philosopher of the Seas ! Thou mayest afford
to smile at these vain attempts to humble thee. Science,
which can never be appreciated by small natures, has no na
tionality. Thou art a citizen of the world, and thy historic
fame does not depend upon the vile traducers of whom I have
spoken. These creatures, in the course of a few short years,
will rot in unknown graves; thy fame will be immortal!
Thou hast revealed to us the secrets of the depths of the
ocean, traced its currents, discoursed to us of its storms and
its calms, and taught us which of its roads to travel, and which
to avoid. Every mariner, for countless ages to come, as he
takes down his chart, to shape his course across the seas, will
think of thee ! He will think of thee as he casts his lead into
the deep sea ; he will think of thee, as he draws a bucket of
water from it, to examine its animalculae ; he will think of
thee as he sees the storm gathering thick and ominous ; he will
think of thee as he approaches the calm-belts, and especially
the calm-belt of the equator, with its mysterious cloud-ring ;
he will think of thee as he is scudding before the "brave west
winds " of the Southern hemisphere ; in short, there is no phe
nomenon of the sea that will not recall to him thine image.

294 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLC tT
This is the living monument which thou hast constructed for
thyself, and which all the rage of the Puritan cannot shake.
December 31st. — The last day of the year, as though
would atone to us for some of the bad weather its previous
days had given us, is charming. There is not a cloud, as big
as a man's hat, anywhere to be seen, and the air is so elastic
that it is a positive pleasure to breathe it. The temperature is
just cool enough to be comfortable, though the wind is from
the north. At daylight, a couple of sail were* reported from
aloft, but, as they were at a great distance, and out of our
course, we did not chase. Indeed, we have become quite dis
couraged since our experience of yesterday. A third sail was
seen at noon, also at a great distance. These are probably the
laggards of the great Mediterranean wind-bound fleet. We
observed, to-day, in latitude 35° 22'; the longitude being
16° 27'. It becoming quite calm at eight p. M., I put the ship
under steam ; being about 490 miles from Cadiz.
January 1st, 1862. — Nearly calm; wind light from the
south-west, and sky partially overcast. The sea is smooth,
and we are making nine knots, the hour. We made an excel
lent run during the past night, and are approaching the Span
ish coast very rapidly. Nothing seen during the day. At
snine p. M. a sail passed us, a gleam of whose light we caught
for a moment in the darkness. The light being lost almost
as soon as seen, we did not attempt to chase. Latitude 35°
•53' ; longitude 13° 14'.
On the next day we overhauled a French, and a Spanish
ship. It had been my intention, when leaving Martinique, to
cruise a few days off Cadiz, before entering the port, and for
this purpose I had reserved a three days' supply of fuel ; but,
unfortunately, the day before our arrival we took another gale
of wind, which shook us so severely, that the ship's leak in
creased very rapidly ; the engineer reporting that it was as
much as he could do to keep her free, with the bilge pumps,
under short steam. The leak was evidently through the sleeve
of the propeller, and was becoming alarming. I therefore
abandoned the idea of cruising, and ran directly for the land.
Night set in before anything could be seen, but having every
confidence in my chronometers, I ran without any hesitation

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 295
for the Light, although we had been forty-one days at sea,
without testing our instruments by a sight of land. We made
the light — a fine Fresnel, with a red flash — during the mid-
watch, and soon afterward got soundings. We now slowed
down the engine, and ran in by the lead, until we judged our
selves four or five miles distant from the light, when we hove
to. The next morning revealed Cadiz, fraught with so many
ancient, and modern memories, in all its glory, though the
weather was gloomy and the clouds dripping rain.
" Fair Cadiz, rising o'er the dark blue sea ! "
as Byron calls thee, thou art indeed lovely! with thy white
Moresque-looking houses, and gayly curtained balconies, thy
church-domes which carry us back in architecture a thousand
years, and thy harbor thronged with shipping. Once the
Gades of the Phoenician, now the Cadiz of the nineteenth cen
tury, thou art perhaps the only living city that can run thy
record back so far into the past.
We fired a gun, and hoisted a jack for a pilot, and one
boarding us soon afterward, we steamed into the harbor.
The Confederate States' flag was flying from our peak, and we
could see that there were many curious telescopes turned
upon us, as we passed successively the forts and the different
quays lined with shipping. As the harbor opened upon us, a
magnificent spectacle presented itself. On our left was the
somewhat distant coast of Andalusia, whose name is synony
mous with all that is lovely in scenery, or beautiful in woman.
One almost fancies as he looks upon it, that he hears the amo
rous tinkle of the guitar, and inhales the fragrance of the
orange grove. Seville is its chief city, and who has not read
the couplet, " Quien no ha visto Sevilla
No ha visto maravilla,"
which may be rendered into the vernacular thus :
" He who hath not Seville seen,
Hath not seen wonders, I ween."
The landscape, still green in mid- winter, was dotted with villas
and villages, all white, contrasting prettily with the groves
in which they were embowered. Casting the eye forward, it

296 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT.
rested upon the picturesque hills of the far-famed wir.e district
of Xeres, with its vineyards, wine-presses, and pack-mules.
Some famous old wine estates were pointed out to us by the
pilot. We ran through a fleet of shipping before reaching our
anchorage off the main quay, the latter lined on both sides with
market-boats ; and as much more shipping lay beyond us. I was,
indeed, quite surprised to find the harbor, which is spacious, so
thronged. It spoke well for the reviving industry of Spain.
With a little fancy one might imagine her still the mistress of
the "Indies," and that these were her galleons come to pour
the mineral treasures of half a world in her lap. All nations
were represented, though the Spanish flag predominated.
Wearing this flag there were many fine specimens of naval
architecture — especially lines of steamships plying between
Cadiz, the West Indies, and South America. A number of
the merchant-ships of different nations hoisted their flags in
honor of the Sumter as she passed ; and one Yankee ship —
there being three or four of them in the harbor — hoisted hers,
as much as to say, " You see we are not afraid to show it."

CHAPTER XXIII
ANNOYANCE OF THE SPANISH OFFICIALS — SHORT CORRE
SPONDENCE WITH THE UNITED STATES CONSUL — THE
TELEGRAPH PUT IN OPERATION BY THE OFFICIALS
BETWEEN CADIZ AND MADRID  THE SUMTER IS OR
DERED TO LEAVE IN TWENTY-FOUR HOURS — DECLINES
OBEDIENCE TO THE ORDER — PRISONERS LANDED, AND
SHIP DOCKED AFTER MUCH ADO — DESERTERS  SUM
TER LEAVES CADIZ.
THE Spanish officials began to annoy us even before we let
go our anchor — a health officer boarding us, and telling
us that he should have to quarantine us for three days, unless
we could show him a clean bill of health. We told him that
our health was clean enough, but that we had no bill to estab
lish the fact, whereupon he went on shore to consult his
superiors. I sent by him, the following communication to the
United States Consul, whose name was Eggleston : —
Confederate States Steamer Sumter, \
Cadiz, January 4, 1862. J
Sir: — I have the honor to inform you, that I have on board this
ship forty-three prisoners of war — late the crews of a ship, a
bark, and a schooner, property of citizens of the United States,
burned by me on the high seas. These men having elected to be
discharged on parole, I am ready to deliver them to you.
Mr. Eggleston, proving to be quite a diplomat, refused to
give me my official title, in replying to my note; and of
course, I could have no further communication with him. In
the afternoon, the Health Officer again came off to inform us
that the important questions, of the cleanness of our health,
and the discharge of our prisoners, had been telegraphed to
Madrid, and that we might soon expect a reply from her
Majesty, the Queen. 297

298 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
The next morning I received, by the hands of the same
officer, a peremptory order, from the Military Governor, to
proceed to sea, within twenty-four hours! I sat down and
wrote him the following reply : —
Confederate States Steamer Sumter, \
Cadiz, January 5, 1862. J
Sir: — I have had the honor to receive through the health
officer of the port, an order purporting to come from the Govern
ment of Spain, directing me to proceed to sea within twenty-four
hours. I am greatly surprised at this unfriendly order. Although
my Government has not yet been formally recognized by Spain, as
a de jure government, it has been declared to be possessed of the
rights of a belligerent, in the war in which it is engaged, and
it is the duty of Spain to extend to my ship the same hospitality
that she would extend to a ship of war of the opposite bel
ligerent. It can make no difference that one of the belligerents is a
dejure nation, and the other a de facto nation, since it is only war
rights, or such as pertain to belligerents, which we are discussing.
I am aware of the rule adopted by Spain, in common with the
other great powers, prohibiting belligerents from bringing their
prizes into her ports, but this rule I have not violated. I have
entered the harbor of Cadiz, with my single ship, and I demand
only the hospitality to which I am entitled by the laws of
nations — the Confederate States being one of the de facto nations
of the earth, by Spain's own acknowledgment, as before stated.
I am sorry to be obliged to add, that my ship is in a crippled
condition. She is damaged in her hull, is leaking badly, is unsea-
worthy, and will require to be docked and repaired before it will be
possible for her to proceed to sea. I am therefore constrained, by
the force of circumstances, most respectfully to decline obedience to
the order which I have received, until the necessary repairs can be
made. Further : — I have on board forty- three prisoners, confined within
a small space greatly to their discomfort, and simple humanity
would seem to dictate, that I should be permitted to hand them
over to the care of their Consul on shore, without unnecessary delay.
Again, the telegraphic wires were put in operation, and my
Teply to the Military Commandant went up to Madrid. In a
few hours a reply came down, giving me permission to land
my prisoners, and to remain a sufficient time to put the neces
sary repairs upon my ship. In the meantime the most offen
sive espionage was exercised toward me. A guard-boat was
anchored near by, which overhauled all shore-boats which
passed between the Sumter and the shore ; and on the evening

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 299
of my arrival, a Spanish frigate came down from the dock
yard, and anchored near my ship. There are no private docks
in Cadiz, and I was obliged, therefore, to go into one of the
government docks for repairs. Charles Dickens has given us
an amusing account of an English Circumlocution Office, but
English red tape dwindles into insignificance by the side of
Spanish red tape. Getting into the hands of the Spanish offi
cials was like getting into a Chancery suit. I thought I should
never get out. The Military Commandant referred me to the
Captain of the Port, and the Captain of the Port referred me
back to the Military Commandant ; until finally they both toge
ther referred me to the Admiral of the Dock- Yard; to whom I
should have been referred at first. In the meantime, engineers
and sub-engineers, and other officials whose titles it were tedi
ous to enumerate, came on board, to measure the length of the
ship and the breadth of the ship, calculate her tonnage, inspect
her boilers, examine into the quantity of water she made during
the twenty-four hours, and to determine generally whether we
were really in the condition we had represented ourselves to
be in, or whether we were deceiving her Majesty and the Min
ister of the Universal Yankee Nation at Madrid, for some
sinister purpose.
The permission came for me, at length, to go into dock, and
landing our prisoners, we got up steam and proceeded to Carraca,
where the docks lie, distant some eight miles east of the city.
The Navy Yard at Carraca is an important building-yard ; it
lies at the head of the bay of Cadiz, and is approached by a
long, narrow, and somewhat tortuous channel, well buoyed.
The waters are deep and still, and the Yard is, in every other
respect, admirably situated. It reminded us much, in its gen
eral aspect and surroundings, ofthe Norfolk Navy Yard, in Vir
ginia. We were not long delayed in entering the dock. A
ship which had occupied the basin assigned to us — there were
several of them — was just being let out as we approached,
and in the course of an hour afterward, the Sumter was high
and dry ; so rapidly had the operation been performed. We
examined her bottom with much curiosity, after the thumping
she had had on the bar at Maranham, and were gratified to find
that she had received no material damage. A small portion

300 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
of her copper had been rubbed off, and one of her planks in
dented, rather than fractured. She was as sound and tight as
a bottle, in every part of her, except in her propeller sleeve.
It was here where the leak had been, as we had conjectured.
To the delight both of the Spanish officials, who were ex
ceedingly anxious to get rid of us, lest we should compromise
them in some way with the Great Republic, of whom thej
seemed to be exceedingly afraid, and ourselves, we found that
the needed repairs would be slight. The boilers were a good
deal out of condition, it is true, but as they were capable of
bearing a low pressure of steam, sufficient to take us to sea,
the officials would not listen to my proposals to repair them.
I had one or two interviews, whilst I lay here, with the Dock-
Admiral, whom I found to be a very different man from the
Military Commandant. He was a polite and refined gentle
man, expressed much sympathy for our people, and regretted
that his orders were such that he could not make my repairs
more thorough. He expressed some surprise at the back
down of the Federal Government, in the Trent affair, the news
of which had just arrived, and said that he had fully reckoned
upon our having Great Britain as an ally in the war. " Great
Britain seems, herself, to have been of this opinion," said he,
" as she has withdrawn all her ships of war from the Mediter
ranean station, for service on the American coast, and sent ten
thousand troops to Canada."
From the moment my ship entered within the precinct of the
Spanish Navy Yard, the very d — 1 seemed to have broken
loose among my crew. With rare exceptions, a common sailor
has no sense of nationality. He commences his sea-going
career at so tender an age, is so constantly at sea, and sails
under so many different flags, that he becomes eminently a
citizen of the world. Although I had sailed out of a Southern
port, I had not half a dozen Southern-born men among the
rank and file of my crew. They were mostly foreigners —
English and Irish preponderating. I had two or three Yan
kees on board, who had pretended to be very good South
ern men, but who, having failed to reap the rich harvest of
prize-money, which they had proposed to themselves, were
now about to develop their true characters. Some of my

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 301
boats' crews had visited the shore oh duty, and whilst their.
boats were lying at the pier waiting for the officers to transact
their business, the tempter had come along. Sundry Jack-
Tars, emissaries of the diplomatic Mr. Eggleston, the Federal
Consul, had rolled along down the pier, hitching up their
trousers, and replenishing their tobacco quids as they came
along. "Cadiz is a nice place," said they to my boats' crews,
" with plenty of grog, and lots of fun. We have gotten tired
of our ships, and are living at free quarters at the Consul's.
Come with us, and let us have a jolly good time together."
And they did come, or rather go, for, on one single night, nine
of my rascals deserted. This was whilst we were still in dock.
Being let out of dock, we dropped down to the city, and being
afloat again, we were enabled to prevent a general stampede,
by the exercise of firmness and vigilance. I directed an officer
to be sent in each boat, whenever one should have occasion to
communicate with the shore, armed with a revolver, and with
orders to shoot down any one who should attempt to desert.
Two or three other sailors slipped away, notwithstanding these
precautions, but there the matter ended. Hearing that my de
serters were harbored by the United States Consul, I addressed
the following letter on the subject to the Governor of the city : —
Confederate States Steamer Sumter,)
Cadiz, January 16, 1862. j
Sir: — I have the honor to inform you, that whilst my ship was
in dock at Carraca, nine of my seamen deserted, and I am in
formed that they are sheltered and protected by the United States
Consul. I respectfully request that you will cause these men to be
delivered up to me ; and to disembarrass this demand of any diffi
culty that may seem to attend it, permit me to make the following
observations. 1st. In the first place, my Government has been acknowledged
as a de facto government by Spain, and as such it is entitled to
all the rights of a belligerent, in its war with the Government of
the United States.
2d. All the rights and privileges, therefore, which would at
tach to the flag of the United States, should one of the ships of
that country enter this harbor, equally attach to the flag of the
Confederate States, mere ceremonial excepted.
3d. It has been and is the uniform custom of all nations to arrest,
upon request, and to hand over to their proper officers, deserters
from ships of war, and this without stopping to inquire into the
nationality of the deserter.

302 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
ith. If this be the practice in peace, much more necessary doea
such a practice become in war, since otherwise the operations of
war might be tolerated in a neutral territory, as will be seen from
my next position.
5th. Without a violation of neutrality, an enemy's consul in a
neutral territory cannot be permitted to entice away seamen, from
a ship of the opposite belligerent, or to shelter or protect the same :
for if he be permitted to do this, then his domicil becomes an
enemy's camp in a neutral territory.
6th. With reference to the question in hand, I respectfully sub
mit that the only facts, which your Excellency can take cognizance
of, are that these deserters entered the waters of Spain under my
flag, and that they formed a part of my crew. The inquiry cannot
pass a step beyond, and Spain cannot undertake to decide, as between
the United States Consul and myself, to which of us the deserters
in question more properly belong. In other words, she has no right
to look into any plea set up by a deserter, that he is a citizen of the
United States, and not of the Confederate States.
1th. I might, perhaps, admit, that if a Spanish subject, serving
under my flag, should escape to the shore, and should satisfy the
authorities that he was held by force, either without contract, or in
violation of contract, he might be set at liberty, but such is not the
present case. The nationality of the deserters not being Spanish,
Spain cannot, as I said before, inquire into it. To recapitulate : the
case which I present is simply this. Several of the crew serving
on board this ship, under voluntary contracts, have deserted, and
taken refuge in the Consulate of the United States. To deprive
me of the power, with the assistance of the police, to recapture
them, would in effect convert the Consulate into a camp, and enable
the Consul to exercise the rights of a belligerent in neutral terri
tory. He might cripple me as effectually by this indirect means,
as if he were to assault me by means of an armed expedition.
I took precisely what I expected by this remonstrance, that
is to say, nothing. I was fighting here, as I had been in so
many other places, against odds — the odds being the stationed
agents, spies, and pimps of a recognized government. Our
Southern movement, in the eyes of Spain, was a mere political
revolution, and like all absolute governments, she had no sym
pathy with revolutionists. It was on this principle that the
Czar of Russia had fraternized so warmly with the Federal
President. Another difficulty now awaited the Sumter. I had run the
blockade of New Orleans, as the reader has seen, with a very
slim exchequer ; that exchequer was now exhausted, and we
had no means with which to purchase coal. I had telegraphed

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 303
to Mr. Yancey, in London, immediately upon my arrival, for
funds, but none, as yet, had reached me, although I had been
here two weeks. In the meantime, the authorities, under the
perpetual goading of the United States Charge" in Madrid, Mr.
Perry, and of Mr. Consul Eggleston, were becoming very
restive, and were constantly sending me invitations to go to
sea. Before I had turned out on the morning of the 17th of
January, an aide-de-camp of the Governor came on board, to
bring me a peremptory order from his chief, to depart within
six hours. I went on shore, for the first time, to have an official
interview with the blockhead. I found him, contrary to all
Spanish rule, a large, thick-set, bull-necked fellow, with whom,
I saw at the first glance, it would be of but little use to reason.
I endeavored to make him understand the nature of the case ;
how it was that a steamer could no more go to sea without
fuel, than a sailing-ship without a mast ; but he was inexorable.
He was, in short, one of those dunder-headed military men,
who never look, or care to look, beyond the orders of their
superiors. The most that he would undertake to do, was to
telegraph to Madrid my statement, that I was out of fuel, but
expected momentarily to be supplied with funds to purchase
it. He added, however, "but if no reply comes within the
six hours, you must go to sea." I had retained enough coal on
board from my last cruise, to run me around to Gibraltar — a
run of a few hours only — and I now resolved to have nothing
more to do with Spain, or her surly officials.
I returned on board, without further delay, and gave orders
to get up steam, and make all the other necessary preparations
for sea. As we were weighing our anchor, an aide-de-camp of
the Governor came off in great haste to say, that his Excel
lency had heard from Madrid in reply to his telegram, and that
her Majesty had graciously given me permission to remain
another twenty-four hours ; but that at the end of that time I
must depart without fail. The aide-de-camp added that his Ex
cellency, seeing that we were getting up steam, had sent him
off to communicate the intelligence to me verbally, in advance
of the official communication of it by letter, which he was pre
paring. I directed the aide to say to his chief that he needn't
bother himself with the preparation of any letter, as I should
20

304 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
not avail myself of her Majesty's gracious permission — she hav
ing been a little too ungracious in meting out the hours to me.
He departed, and we got under way. As we passed abreast cf
the Government House, a boat shoved off in a great hurry, and
came pulling out to us, with a man standing up in the bow,
shaking a letter at us with great vehemence. It was the letter
the aide-de-camp had spoken of. We paid no attention what
ever to the signal, and the boat finding, after some vigorous
pulling, that she could not overtake us, turned back. In half
an hour afterward, we were outside the Cadiz bar, and had
discharged the pilot.
This was the second Spanish experiment we had made in the
Sumter. I never afterward troubled her Majesty, either in her
home ports, or those of any of her colonies. I had learned
by experience that all the weak powers were timid, and
henceforth, I rarely entered any but an English or a French
port. We should have had, during all this controversy, a
Commissioner at the Court of Madrid, one having been dis
patched thither at the same time that Mr. Yancey was sent to
London, and Mr. Mann to Brussels, but if there was one there, I
did not receive a line from him. The Federal Charge- seemed
to have had it all his own way. There is no proposition of inter
national law clearer, than that a disabled belligerent cruiser —
and a steamer without coal is disabled — cannot be expelled
from a neutral port, and yet the Sumter was, in fact, expelled
from Cadiz. As remarked some pages back, the Demos, and
the Carpet-bagger will revenge us in good time.
We did enjoy some good things in the harbor of Cadiz,
however. One was a superb dinner, given us at the principal
hotel by an English admirer, and another was the market.
The latter is unexcelled in any part of the world. Fine beef
and mutton from Andalusia, fish from the sea, and fruits and
wines from all parts of Spain, were present in profusion.
Although we were in midwinter, there were a variety of vege
tables, and luscious oranges and bananas that had ripened in
the open air — all produced by the agency of that Mexican
Gulf heating-apparatus, of which we spoke through the lips
of Professor Maury, a few pages back. Before leaving Cadiz
I saw the first annual report of the Federal Secretary of tha

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 305
Navy since the breaking out of the war. Old gentleman
Welles was eloquent, and denunciatory when he came to speak
of the Sumter. The vessel was a "pirate," and her com
mander everything that was odious. The latter " was cour
ageously capturing unarmed merchant-ships, and cowardly
fleeing from the Federal steamers sent in pursuit of him."
There were six of these ships in full hue and cry after the little
Sumter, any one of which could have hoisted her in upon deck.
At the same time that these denunciations were hurled
against the Captain of the Sumter, gallant naval officers, wear
ing Mr. Welles' shoulder-straps, and commanding Mr. Welles'
ships, were capturing little coasting-schooners laden with fire
wood, plundering the houses and hen-roosts of non-combatant
citizens along the Southern coast, destroying salt-works, and
intercepting medicines going in to our hospitals. But I must
be charitable. Mr. Welles was but rehearsing the lesson
which he had learned from Mr. Seward. What could he
know about " pirates " and the laws of nations, who had been
one half of his life editing a small newspaper, in a small town
in Connecticut, and the other half " serving out " to Jack his
frocks and trousers, and weighing out to him his sugar and
tea, as Chief of the Bureau of Provisions and Clothing ? It
was late in life before the old gentleman, on the rising tide of
the Demos, had been promoted, and allowance must be made
for the defects of his early training.

CHAPTER XXIV.
THE SUMTER OFF CADIZ  THE PILLARS OF HERCULES —
GIBRALTAR — CAPTURE OF THE ENEMY'S SHIPS NEA
POLITAN AND INVESTIGATOR  A CONFLAGRATION BE
TWEEN EUROPE AND AFRICA — THE SUMTER ANCHORS
IN THE HARBOR OF GIBRALTAR — THE ROCK; THE
TOWN; THE MILITARY; THE REVIEW AND THE ALA
MEDA.
THE afternoon was bright and beautiful as the Sumter,
emerging from the harbor of Cadiz, felt once more the
familiar heave of the sea. There was no sail in sight over the
vast expanse of waters, except a few small coasting-craft, and
yet what fleets had floated on the bosom of these romantic
waters! The names of Nelson, Collingwood, Jervis, and
others, came thronging upon the memory. Cape St. Vincent
and Trafalgar were both in the vicinity. The sun, as he
approached his setting, was lighting up a scene of beauty,
peace, and tranquillity, and it was difficult to conjure those
other scenes of the storm, and the flying ships, and the belch
ing cannon, so inseparably connected with those great names.
It was too late to attempt the run to Gibraltar that night,
with the hope of arriving at a seasonable hour, and so we
" held on," in nautical phrase, to the light — that beautiful red
flash which I have before described — until midnight, when we
gave the ship her steam, and turned her head in the direction
of the famous Strait, or Gut, as the sailors sometimes less
euphoniously call it. The weather, in the meantime, had
changed, the wind had died entirely away, and the sea was
calm, but rifts of cloud were passing over the moon, indicat
ing an upper current in the higher atmosphere, that might
portend storm or rain on the morrow. We steamed along the
306

MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT. 307
boid Spanish coast, at a distance of only a few miles, and
entered the Strait before daylight, passing the Tarifa light at
about five A. m.
The Pillars of Hercules, that for so many centuries bounded
the voyages of the ancient mariners, rose abruptly and ma
jestically on either hand of us, softened and beautified by the
moonlight. We had the Strait all to ourselves, there being no
sail visible. The Genius of the ancient time seemed to hover
over the scene, so solemn and mysterious did everything
appear. But no ! the Genius of the ancient time could not be
there, for the quiet waters were broken by the prow of the
steamship, from a hemisphere of which the Genius had not
conceived. And that steamship, what flag did she bear ? A
flag that neither Phoenician, nor Carthaginian, nor Roman had
dreamed of. It had arisen amid the wreck and ruin of a new
empire, that had decayed before its time, was floating above a
thousand dead nationalities, and was struggling, as the polished
Greek had struggled, long centuries before, against the "long
haired " barbarian of the North, who was repeating history by
overrunning the fair lands of the South.
We made the light at Gibraltar just as the day was dawning,
and, hurried on by the current, moved rapidly up the Strait.
Several sail that were coming down the Mediterranean became
plainly visible from the deck as the twilight developed into
day. We could not think of running into Gibraltar before
overhauling these sails ; we might, perchance, find an enemy
among them, and so we altered our course and gave chase ; as
so many barks, ancient and modern, heathen, Christian, and
Moor had done before us, in this famous old Strait. The tele
scope soon revealed the secret of the nationality of two of the
sails; they being, as plainly as symmetry and beauty of out
line, the taper and grace of spars, and whiteness of canvas —
produced upon our own cotton-fields — could speak, Ameri
can. To these, therefore, we directed our attention. It was a
couple of hours before we came up with the first of these
ships. She was standing over toward the African side of the
Strait, though still distant from the land, some six or seven
miles. We hoisted our own colors, and fired the usual gun.
She hauled up her courses, and backed her maintopsail at

308 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
once, and in a moment more, we could see the brightest of
stars and stripes fluttering in the breeze, and glittering, in very
joyousness, as it were, in the rays of the morning's sun ; for
the captain of the prize had evidently treated himself to a
new ensign. The cat ran close enough to parley with the
mouse, before she put her paw upon it. The bark, for such
the prize was, proved to be the Neapolitan, of Kingston, Mass.,
from Messina, in the island of Sicily, bound for Boston, with
a cargo of fruit, dried and fresh, and fifty tons of sulphur. She
had been freshly painted, with that old robber, the bald eagle,
surrounded by stars, gilded on her stern; her decks looked
white and sweet after the morning's ablution which she had
just undergone ; her sails were well hoisted, and her sheets
well home ; in short, she was a picture to look at, and the cat
looked at her, as a cat only can look at a sleek mouse. And
then only to think, that the sly little mouse, looking so pretty
and so innocent, should have so much of that villanous mate
rial called sulphur in its little pouch !
The master stated in his deposition, that the entire cargo
belonged to the British house of Baring Bros., it ,being con
signed to an agent of theirs in Boston. The object of so word
ing the deposition was, of course, to save the cargo as neutral
property, but as I happened to know that the Boston house
of the Barings, instead of being an agent merely, was a partner
of the London house, the master took nothing by his deposi
tion. Besides, if there had been no doubt as to the British
ownership, sulphur going to an enemy's country is contraband
of war ; and in this case the contraband of war was not only
condemnable of itself, but it tainted all the rest of the cargo,
which belonged to the same owner. The master, who was as
strongly marked in his Puritan nationality, as the Israelite is
in the seed of Abraham, feeling himself securely intrenched
behind the Baring Bros., was a little surprised when I told
him that I should burn his ship, and began to expostulate.
But I had no time for parley, for there was another ship de
manding my attention ; and so, transferring the prisoners from
the doomed ship to the Sumter, as speedily as possible, the
Neapolitan was burned; burned in the sight of Europe and
Africa, with the turbaned Moor looking upon the conflagra-

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 309
tion, on one hand, and the garrison of Gibraltar and the
Spaniard on the other. Previously to applying the torch, we
took a small liberty with some of the excellent fruit of the
Barings, transferring a number of drums of figs, boxes of rai
sins and oranges, to the cooks and stewards of the different
messes. We now steamed off in pursuit of the other sail. This sec
ond sail proved also to be American, as we had supposed. She
was the bark Investigator, of Searsport, Maine, from one of
the small ports of Spain, bound for Newport, in Wales, with a
cargo of iron ore. The cargo being properly documented as
British property, we could not destroy her, but were compelled
to release her under ransom bond. The capturing and dispos
ing of these two ships had occupied us several hours, during
which the in-draught of the Strait had set us some miles to the
eastward of the Rock. We now, at half-past two P. M., turned
our head in the direction of Gibraltar, and gave the ship all
steam. By this time the portent of last night had been veri
fied, and we had an overcast sky, with a strong northwester
blowing in our teeth. With the wind and current both ahead,
we had quite a struggle to gain the anchorage.
It was half-past seven p. M>, or some time after dark, that
we finally passed under the shadow of the historical rock,
with the brilliant light on Europa Point throwing its beams
upon our deck ; and it was a few minutes past eight o'clock,
or evening gun-fire, when we ran up to the man-of-war anchor
age, and came to. We had no occasion to tell the people of
Gibraltar who we were. They were familiar with our Cadiz
troubles, and had been expecting us for some days ; and ac
cordingly, when the signal-man on the top of the Rock an
nounced the appearance of a Confederate States' steamer in the
Strait, every one knew that it was the Sumter. And when, a
short time afterward, it was announced that the little steamer
was in chase of a Yankee, the excitement became intense.
Half the town rushed to Europa Point and the signal-station,
to watch the chase and the capture ; and when the flames were
seen ascending from the doomed Neapolitan, sketch-books and
pencils were produced, and all the artists in the crowd went
busily to work to sketch the extraordinary spectacle ; extraor
dinary in any age, but still more extraordinary in this.

310 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
Here were two civilized nations at war, at the door of a
third, and that third nation, instead of mitigating and soften
ing, as much as. possible, the barbarities of war, had, by her
timidity, caution, or unfriendliness, whichever to the reader
may seem more probable, ordered, directed, and decreed that
one of the parties should burn all the ships of the other that it
should capture ! The spectacle of the burning ship which the
inhabitants of Gibraltar had witnessed from the top of their
renowned rock, was indirectly the work of their own Govern
ment. Why might not this Federal ship, when captured, have
been taken into Gibraltar, there to await the disposition which a
prize-court should make of her, instead of being burned?
Because Great Britain would not permit it. Why might she not
have been taken into some other neutral port, for this purpose ?
Because all the world had followed the lead of Great Britain,
the chief maritime power of the earth. Great Britain knew
when she issued her orders in council, prohibiting both the
belligerents in the American war, from bringing their prizes
into her ports, precisely what would be the effect of those
orders. She knew that the stronger belligerent would shut
out the weaker belligerent from his own ports, by means of a
blockade. She knew that if she denied this weaker belliger
ent access to her ports, with his prizes, all the other nations
of the earth would follow her lead. And she knew that if
this same weaker belligerent should have no ports whatever
into which to carry his prizes, he must burn them. Hence
ne spectacle her people had witnessed from the top of her
rock of Gibraltar.
In a few minutes after anchoring, we were boarded by a
boat from the English frigate, which had the guard for the
day. The officer made us the usual " tender of service " from
the Port Admiral. We sent a boat ourselves to report our
arrival on board the health ship, and to inquire if there would
be any quarantine ; and after a long day of excitement and
fatigue, — for I had not turned in since I left the Cadiz light,
the night before — I sought my berth, and slept soundly, nei
ther dreaming of Moor or Christian, Yankee or Confederate.
John spread me the next morning a sumptuous breakfast, and
brought me off glowing accounts of the Gibraltar market, filled

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 311
with all the delicacies both of Spain and Morocco. The prize
which we had liberated on ransom -bond, followed us in, and
was anchored not far from us. There was another large
American ship at anchor.
At an early hour a number of English officers, of the garri
son and navy, and citizens called on board to see us ; and at
ten o'clock I went on board the frigate whose boat had boarded
us the previous night, to return the commanding naval offi
cer's visit. He was not living on board, but at his quarters
on shore, whither I proceeded at two P. M. Landing at the
Navy Yard, an orderly conducted me thence to his neat little
cottage, perched halfway up the rock, and embowered by
shade trees, in the most charming little nook possible. I
found Captain — now Rear- Admiral — Sir Frederic Warden a
very clever specimen of an English naval officer ; and we had
a pleasant conversation of half an hour together. Having lost
one of my anchors, I asked the loan of one from him until 1
could supply myself in the market. He replied that he had
every disposition to oblige me, but that he must first submit
the question to the "law officers of the Crown." I said to him
playfully, "these 'law officers of the Crown' of yours must be
sturdy fellows, for they have some heavy burdens to carry;
when I was at Trinidad the Governor put a whole cargo of coal
on their shoulders, and now you propose to saddle them with
an anchor!" He said pleasantly, in return, "I have not the
least doubt of the propriety of your request, but we must walk
according to rule, you know." The next morning, bright and
early, a boat came alongside, bringing me an anchor.
From Captain Warden's, I proceeded to the residence of the
Governor and Military Commander of the Rock, Sir William
J. Codrington, K. C. B. His house was in the centre of the
town, and I had a very pleasant walk through shaded avenues
and streets, thronged with a gayly dressed population, every
third man of which was a soldier, to reach it. The same
orderly still accompanied me. I was in uniform, and all the sen
tinels saluted me as I passed ; and I may as well mention here,
that during the whole of my stay at this military and naval sta
tion, my officers and myself received all the honors and courte
sies due to our rank. No distinction whatever was drawn, that I

312 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
am aware of, between the Sumter, and any of the enemy's ships
of war that visited the station, except in the matter of the
national salute. Our flag not being yet recognized, except for
belligerent purposes, this honor was withheld. We dined at
the officers' messes, and they dined on board our ship ; the club
and reading-rooms were thrown open to us, and both military
and citizens were particular in inviting us to partake of all the
festivities that took place during our stay.
My conductor, the orderly, stopped before a large stone
mansion on the principal street, where there was a sentinel
walking in front of the door, and in a few minutes I was led
to a suite of large, airy, well-furnished rooms on the second
floor, to await his Excellency. It was Sunday, and he had
just returned from church. He entered, however, almost im
mediately. I had seen him a hundred times, in the portraits
of half the English generals I had ever looked upon, so pecu
liarly was he English and military. He was a polite gentleman
of the old school, though not a very old man, his age being
not more than about fifty-five. Governor Codrington was a
son of the Admiral of the same name, who, as the commander-
in-chief of the combined English, French, and Russian fleets,
had gained so signal a victory over the Turkish fleet, in the
Mediterranean, in 1827, which resulted in the independence of
Greece, and the transfer of Prince Otho of Bavaria to the
throne of that country. His rank was that of a lieutenant-
general in the British army. I reported my arrival to his
Excellency, and stated that my object in visiting Gibraltar was
to repair, and coal my ship, and that I should expect to have the
same facilities extended to me, that he would extend to an
enemy's cruiser under similar circumstances. He assented at
once to my proposition, saying that her Majesty was exceed
ingly anxious to preserve a strict neutrality in our unhappy
war, without leaning to the one side or the other. "There is
one thing, however," continued he, "that I must exact of you
during your stay, and that is, that you will not make Gibral
tar, a station, from which to watch for the approach of your
enemy, and sally out in pursuit of him." I replied, "Cer
tainly not; no belligerent has the right to make this use ofthe
territory of a neutral. Your own distinguished admiralty

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 313
judge, Sir William Scott, settled this point half a century and
more ago, and his decisions are implicitly followed in the
American States."
The Governor gave me permission to 'land my prisoners,
and they were paroled and sent on shore the same afternoon.
We could do nothing in the way of preparing the Sumter for
another cruise, until our funds should arrive, and these did not
reach us until the 3d of February, when Mr. Mason, who had
by this time relieved Mr. Yancey, as our Commissioner at the
Court of London, telegraphed me that I could draw on the
house of Frazer, Trenholm & Co., of Liverpool, for the sum I
needed. In the mean time, we had made ourselves very
much at home at Gibraltar, quite an intimacy springing up
between the naval and military officers and ourselves ; whereas,
as far as we could learn, the Yankee officers of the several
Federal ships of war, which by this time had arrived, were
kept at arm's-length, no other than the customary official
courtesies being extended to them. We certainly did not
meet any of them at the " club," or other public places. I had
visited Gibraltar when a young officer in the "old service,"
and I had often read, and laughed over Marryatt's humorous
description of the "Mess" of the garrison in his day; how,
after one of their roistering dinners, the naval officers who
had been present, would be wheeled down to the " sally-port,"
where their boats were waiting to take them on board their
ships, on wheel-barrows — the following colloquy taking place
between the sally-port sentinel (it being now some hours after
dark), and the wheeler of the wheel-barrow. Sentinel : — " Who
comes there?" Wheeler of wheel-barrow: — "Officer drunk
on a wheel-barrow!" Sentinel: — "Pass Officer drunk on a
wheel-barrow." The wheel-barrow days had passed, in the general improve
ment which had taken place in military and naval habits,
but in other respects, I did not find the " Mess " much changed.
The military " Mess " of a regiment is like the king ; it never
dies. There is a constant change of persons, but the " Mess "
is ever the same, with its history of this " field," and of that ;
its traditions, and its anecdotes. Every person who has been
in England knows how emphatically dinner is an institution

314 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
with the English people; with its orthodox hour, the punc
tual attendance of the guests, the scrupulous attention they
pay to dress, and the quantity of wine which they are capable
of putting under their vests, without losing sight of the gentle
manly proprieties.
It is still more an institution, if possible, with the garrisons of
the colonies. There they do the thing in a business-like way,
and the reader will perhaps be curious to know how the young
fellows stand such constant wear and tear upon their constitu
tions. It is done in the simplest manner possible. After a
late carouse over night, during which these fellows would drink
two bottles to my young men's one, the latter would get up next
morning on board the Sumter feeling seedy, and dry, and go on
shore in quest of "hock and soda-water." Meeting their late
companions, they would be surprised to see them looking so fresh
and rosy, with an air so jaunty, and a step so elastic. The secret,
upon explanation, would prove to be, that the debauchee of
the night was the early bird of the morning. Whilst my offi
cers were still lying in uneasy slumbers, with Queen Mab playing
pranks with their imaginations, the officer of the " Mess " would
be up, have taken his cold shower-bath, have mounted his " hun
ter," sometimes with, and sometimes without dogs, and would be
off scouring the country, and drinking in the fresh morning air,
miles away. Not a fume of the liquor of the overnight's debauch
would be left by the time the rider got back to breakfast.
On the day after my visit to the Governor, Colonel Free-
mantle, of the Coldstream Guards, the Governor's aide-de-camp
and military secretary, came off to call on me on behalf of the
Governor, and to read to me a memorandum, which the latter
had made of my conversation with him. There were but two
points in this memorandum : — " First : It is agreed that the
Sumter shall have free access to the work-shops and markets,
to make necessary repairs and supply herself with necessary
articles, contraband of war excepted. Secondly : The Sumter
shall not make Gibraltar a station, from which to sally out from
the Strait, for the purposes of war." I assented to the correct
ness of the conversation as recorded, and there the official por
tion of the interview ended. I could not but be amused here,
as I had been at other places, at the exceeding scrupulousness

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 315
of the authorities, lest they should compromise themselves in
some way with the belligerents.
I found Colonel Freemantle to be an ardent Confederate, ex
pressing himself without any reserve, and lauding in the high
est terms our people and cause. He had many questions to
ask me, which I took great pleasure in answering, and our in
terview ended by a very cordial invitation from him to visit,
in his company, the curiosities of the Rock. This is the same
Colonel Freemantle, who afterward visited our Southern States
during the war, and made the acquaintance of some of our
principal military men ; writing and publishing a very interest
ing account of his tour. I met him afterward in London,
more of a Confederate than ever. Freemantle was not an ex
ception. The army and navy of Great Britain were with us,
almost to a man, and many a hearty denunciation have I heard
from British military and naval lips, of the coldness and sel
fishness of the Palmerston-Russell government.
Gibraltar, being a station for several steam-lines, was quite
a thoroughfare of travel. The mixed character of its resident
population, too, was quite curious. All the nations of the
earth seemed to have assembled upon the Rock, for the pur
poses of traffic, and as each nationality preserved its costume
and its language, the quay, market-place, streets and shops pre
sented a picture witnessed in few, if in any other towns of the
globe. The attractions for traffic were twofold : first, Gibral
tar was a free port, and, secondly, there were seven thousand
troops stationed there. The consequence was, that Christian,
Moor, and Turk, Jew and Gentile, had assembled here from all
the four quarters of the earth, bringing with them their re
spective commodities. The London tailor had his shop along
side that of the Moor or Turk, and if, after having been mea
sured for a coat, to be made of cloth a few days only from a
Manchester loom, you desired Moorish slippers, or otto o±
roses, or Turkish embroidery, you had only to step into the
next door.
Even the shopmen and products of the far East were there;
a few days of travel only sufficing to bring from India, China,
and Japan, the turbaned and sandalled Hindoo, the close-shaved
and long-queued Chinaman, and the small-statured, deep-browp

316 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
Japanese, with their curious stuffs and wares, wrought with as
much ingenuity as taste. The market was indeed a curiosity.
Its beef and mutton, both of which are very fine, are brought
from the opposite Morocco coast, to and from which small
steamers ply regularly. But it is the fruits and vegetables that
more especially astonish the beholder. Here the horn of
plenty seems literally to have been emptied. The south of
Spain, and Morocco, both fine agricultural countries, have one
of those genial climates which enables them to produce all the
known fruits and vegetables of the earth. Whatever you de
sire, that you can have, whether it be the apple, the pear, or
the cherry of the North, or the orange, the banana, or the date
of the South. The Spaniards and Moors are the chief mar
ket people.
Nor must we forget the fishermen, with their picturesque
boats, rigged with their long, graceful latteen yards and pointed
sails, that come in laden with the contributions of the sea from
the shores of half a dozen kingdoms. Fleets of these little
craft crowd the quay day and night, and there is a perfect
Babel of voices in their vicinity, as the chaffering goes on
for the disposal of their precious freight, much of it still "alive
and kicking." By the way, one of the curiosities of this quay,
whilst the Sumter lay in Gibraltar, was the frequent proximity
of the Confederate and the Federal flag. When landing I
often ran my boat into the quay-steps, alongside of a boat
from a Federal ship of war ; the Kearsarge and the Tuscarora
taking turns in watching my movements — one of them being
generally anchored in the Bay of Gibraltar, and the other in
the Bay of Algeziras, a Spanish anchorage opposite. No
breach of the peace ever occurred ; the sailors of the two ser
vices seemed rather inclined to fraternize. They would have
fought each other like devils outside of the marine league,
but the neutral port was a powerful sedative, and made them
temporarily friends. They talked, and laughed and smoked,
and peeled oranges together, as though there was no war going
on. But the sailor is a cosmopolite, as remarked a few pages
back, and these boats' crews could probably have been ex
changed, without much detriment to each other's flag.
Sunday, January 26th. — A charming, balmy day, after tha

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 317
several days of storm and rain that we have had. At ten A. m.,
I went on shore to the Catholic church. The military attend
ance, especially of the rank and file, was very large. I should
judge that, at least, two thirds of the troops stationed here are
Irish, and there is no distinction, that I can discover, made be
tween creeds. Each soldier attends whatever church he pleases.
It is but a few years back, that no officer could serve in the
British army without subscribing to the Thirty-Nine Articles —
the creed of the "Established Church." After church, I
took a stroll "up the Rock," and was astonished to find so
much arable soil on its surface. The Rock runs north and
south. Its western face is an inclined plane, lying at an angle
of about thirty degrees with the sea-level. Ascending gradu
ally from the water, it rises to the height of fifteen hundred
feet. From this height, a plummet-line let down from its
eastern face would reach the sea without obstruction, so per
pendicular is the Rock in this direction. This -face is of solid
rock. On the western face, up which I was now walking, is situ
ated near the base, and extending up about half a mile, the
town. The town is walled, and after you have passed through
a massive gateway in the southern wall, you are in the country.
As you approach the Rock from the sea, it matters not from
what direction, you get the idea that it is nothing but a barren
rock. I now found it diversified with fields, full of clover
and fragrant grasses, long, well-shaded avenues, of sufficiently
gentle ascent for carriage-drives, beautifully laid-out pleasure-
grounds, and well-cultivated gardens. The parade-ground is
a level space just outside the southern wall, of sufficient capa
city for the manoeuvre and review of five thousand men ; and
rising just south of this is the Alameda, consisting of a series
of parterres of flowers, with shade-trees and shrubbery, among
which wind a number of serpentine walks. Here seats are
arranged for visitors, from which the exercise of the troops in
the parade-ground below may be conveniently witnessed. A
colossal statue of General Elliot, who defended the Rock in
the famous siege that was laid to it in the middle of the last
century by the Spaniards, is here erected.
The review of the troops, which takes place, I believe,

318 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
monthly, is par excellence, the grand spectacle of Gibraltar. I
had the good fortune to witness one of these reviews, and the
spectacle dwells vividly, still, in my imagination. Drill of the
soldiers, singly, and in squads, is the chief labor of the gar
rison. Skilful drill-sergeants, for the most part young, active,
intelligent men, having the port and bearing of gentlemen, are
constantly at work, morning and afternoon, breaking in the
raw material as it arrives, and rendering it fit to be moulded
into the common mass. Company officers move their com
panies, to and fro, unceasingly, lest the men should forget
what the drill-sergeant has taught them. Battalion and regi
mental drills occur less frequently.
These are the labors of the garrison ; now comes the pas
time, viz., the monthly drill, when the Governor turns out, and
inspects the troops. All is agog, on the Rock of Gibraltar, on
review days. There is no end to the pipe-claying, and brush
ing, and burnishing, in the different barracks, on the morning
of this day. The officers get out their new uniforms, and
horses are groomed with more than ordinary care. The citi
zens turn out, as well as the military, and all the beauty and
fashion of the town are collected on the Alameda. On the
occasion of the review which I witnessed, the troops — nearly
all young, fine-looking men — presented, indeed, a splendid
appearance. All the corps of the British army were there,
represented save only the cavalry ; and they were moved
hither and thither, at will ; long lines of them now being tied
into what seemed the most inextricable knots, and now untied
again, with an ease, grace, and skill, which called forth my
constant admiration.
But it was not so much the movements of the military that
attracted my attention, as the tout ensemble of the crowd. The
eye wandered over almost all the nationalities of the earth, in
their holiday costumes. The red fez cap of the Greek, the
white turban of the Moor and Turk, and the hat of the Chris
tian, all waved in a common sea of male humanity, and, when
the eye turned to the female portion of the crowd, there was
confusion worse confounded, for the fashions of Paris and
London, Athens and Constantinople, the isles and the conti
nents, all were there ! What with the waving plumes of the

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 319
generals, the galloping hither and thither of aides and order
lies, the flashing of the polished barrel of the rifle in the sun,
the music of the splendid bands, and the swaying and surging
of the civic multitude which I have attempted to describe, the
scene was fairly beyond description. A man might dream of
it, but could not desci'bf it.
21

CHAPTER XXV.
THE SUMTER STILL AT GIBRALTAR — SHIP CROWDED
WITH VISITORS — A RIDE OVER THE ROCK WITH
COLONEL FREEMANTLE  THE " GALLERIES " AND
OTHER SUBTERRANEAN WONDERS — A DIZZY HEIGHT,
AND THE QUEEN OF SPAIN'S CHAIR — THE MONKEYS
AND THE "NEUTRAL GROUND."
THE stream of visitors to the Sumter continued for some
days after our arrival. Almost every steamer from
England brought more or less tourists and curiosity-hunters,
and these did us the honor to visit us, and frequently to say
kind words of sympathy and encouragement. Among others,
the Duke of Beaufort and Sir John Inglis visited us, and
examined our ship with much curiosity. The latter, who had
earned for himself the title of the " hero of Lucknow," in that
most memorable and barbarous of all sieges, was on his way
to the Ionian Islands, of which he had recently been appointed
Governor. January 23d. — Weather clear and pleasant. We received
a visit from Captain Warden to-day, in return for the visit I
had made him upon my arrival. He came off in full uniform,
to show us that his visit was meant to be official, as well as
personal. Nothing would have pleased the gallant captain
better, than to have been able to salute the Confederate States'
flag, and welcome our new republic among the family of na
tions. We discussed a point of international law while he
was on board. He desired, he said, to call my attention to
the well-known rule that, in case of the meeting of two oppo
site belligerents in the same neutral port, twenty-four hours
must intervene between their departure. I assented readily
to this rule. It had been acted upon, I told him, by the
Governor of Martinique, when I was in that island — ths
320

MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT. 321
enemy's sloop Iroquois having been compelled to cruise in the
offing for fear of its application to her. I remarked, however,
that it was useless for us to discuss the rule here, as the enemy's
ships had adroitly taken measures to evade it. " How is that?"
he inquired. " Why, simply," I replied, " by stationing one
of his ships in Gibraltar, and another in Algeziras. If I go
to sea from Gibraltar, the Algeziras ship follows me, and if I
go to sea from Algeziras, the Gibraltar ship foHows me."
" True," rejoined the captain, " I did not think of that." " I
cannot say," continued I, "that I complain of this. It is one
of those chances in war which perhaps nine men in ten would
take advantage of; and then these Federal captains cannot
afford to be over-scrupulous; they have an angry mob at
their heels, shouting, in their fury and ignorance, 'Pirate!
pirate!'" The Southampton steamer brought us late news, to-day, from
London. We are becoming somewhat apprehensive for the
safety of Messrs. Mason and Slidell, who, having embarked on
board the British steam-sloop Rinaldo, at Provincetown, Mass.,
on the 2d inst., bound to Halifax, distant only a few hundred
miles, had not been heard from as late as the 10th inst. A
heavy gale followed their embarcation. I received a letter,
to-day, too, from Mr. Yancey. He writes despondently as to
the action of the European powers. They are cold, distrust
ful, and cautious, and he has no hope of an early recognition.
I am pained to remark here, that this distinguished statesman
died soon after his return to the United States. He was one
of the able men of the South, who, like Patrick Henry, and
John C. Calhoun, seemed to be gifted with the spirit of
prophecy ; or, rather, to speak more correctly, his superior
mental powers, and knowledge of men and of governments,
enabled him, like his great predecessors, to arrive at conclu
sions, natural and easy enough to himself, but which, viewed
in the light of subsequent events, seemed like prophecy to his
less gifted countrymen. Mr. Yancey much resembled Patrick
Henry in the simplicity and honesty of his character, and in
the fervidness and power of his eloquence.
January 30th. — A fine, clear day, with the wind from the
eastward. Having received a note last evening, from Colonel

322 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
Freemantle, informing me that horses would be in readiness
for us, this morning, at the Government House, to visit the
fortifications, I went on shore the first thing after breakfast,
and finding the Colonel in readiness, we mounted, and accom
panied by an orderly to take care of our horses, rode at a brisk
pace out of the western gate, and commenced our tour of inspec
tion. Arriving at the entrance of the famous "galleries"
situated about half-way up the Rock, we dismounted, and dived
into the bowels of mother Earth.
The Spaniards have been celebrated above all other people
for fortifications. They have left monuments of their patience,
diligence, and skill all over the world, wherever they have
obtained a foothold. The only other people who have ever
equalled them, in this particular, though in a somewhat differ
ent way, are the people of these Northern States, during the
late war. No Spaniard was ever half so diligent in his hand
ling of stone, and mortar, as was the Yankee soldier in throw
ing up his "earth-work." His industry in this regard was
truly wonderful. If the Confederate soldier ever gave him
half an hour's breathing-time, he was safe. With pick and
spade he would burrow in the ground like a rabbit. When
the time comes for that New-Zealander, foretold by Macaulay,
to sit on the ruins of London bridge, and wonder what people
had passed away, leaving such gigantic ruins behind them, we
would recommend him to come over to these States, and view
the miles of hillocks that the industrious Yankee moles threw
up during our late war ; and speculate upon the genus of the
animal gifted with such wonderful instincts.
But to return to our tour of inspection. The famous under
ground " galleries " of the Rock of Gibraltar, are huge tunnels,
blasted and bored, foot by foot, in the living rock, sufficiently
wide and deep to admit of the placing, and working of heavy
artillery. They are from one third of a mile, to half a mile in
length, and there are three tiers of them, rising one above the
other; the embrasures or port-holes of which resemble, when
viewed from a distance, those of an old-time two-decker.
Besides these galleries for the artillery, there have also been
excavated in the solid rock, ample magazines, and store and
provision rooms, and tanks for the reception of water. These

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 323
receptacles are kept constantly well supplied with munitions,
both de guerre, and de bouche, so that if the garrison should be
driven from the fortifications below, it could retreat to this
citadel, close the massive doors behind them, and withstand
a siege. We passed through all the galleries, ascending from one to
the other, through a long, rough-hewn stairway — the Colonel
frequently stopping, and explaining to me the history of some
particular nook or battlement — until we finally emerged into
the open air through a port-hole, or doorway at the very top
of the Rock, and stood upon a narrow footway or platform,
looking down a sheer precipice of fifteen hundred feet, upon
the sea breaking in miniature waves at the base of the Rock.
There was no rail to guard one from the precipice below, and
I could but wonder at the nonchalance with which the Colonel
stepped out upon this narrow ledge, and walked some yards to
get a view of the distant coast of Spain, expecting me to follow
him. I did follow him, but I planted my feet very firmly and
carefully, feeling all the while some such emptiness in the
region of the "bread-basket," as Marryatt describes Peter
Simple to have experienced when the first shot whistled past
that young gentleman in his first naval engagement.
The object of the Colonel, in this flank movement, was to
show me a famous height some distance inland, called the
"Queen of Spain's Chair," and to relate to me the legend in
connection with it. The Rock of Gibraltar has always been
the darling of Spain. It has been twice wrested from her,
once by the Moors, and once by the English. She regained it
from the Moors, when she drove them out of her Southern
provinces, after an occupation of eight hundred years ! Some
of the remains of the old Moorish castles are still visible.
Afterward, an English naval captain, returning from some
expedition up the Mediterranean, in which he had been unsuc
cessful, stormed and captured the Rock with a handful of
sailors. Spain, mortified beyond measure, at the result, made
strenuous efforts to recover it. In 1752 she bent all her ener
gies in this direction, and fitted out large expeditions, by land
and by sea, for the purpose. The Queen came down from
Madrid to witness the siege, and causing her tent to be pitched

324 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
near athe " Chair," vowed she would never leave it, until sha
saw the flag of Spain floating once more from the coveted
battlements. But General Elliot, with only a small garrison,
beat back the immense armaments, and the Spaniards wero
compelled to raise the siege. But the poor Queen of Spain i
what was to become of her, and her vow ? English gallantry
came to her relief. The Spanish flag was raised for a single
day from the Rock, to enable the Queen to descend from her
chair ! The reader will judge whether this legend was worth
the emptiness in the " bread-basket " which I had experienced,
in order to get at it.
Descending back through the galleries, to where we had left
our horses, we remounted, and following a zigzag path, filled
with loose stones, and running occasionally along the edges of
precipices, down which we should have been instantly dashed in
pieces, if our sure-footed animals had stumbled, we reached the
signal-station. On the very apex of the rock, nature seemed to
have prepared a little plateau, of a few yards square, as if for the
very purpose for which it was occupied — that of over-looking
the approaches from every direction, to the famous Rock. A
neat little box of a house, with a signal-mast and yard, and a
small plot of ground, about as large as a pocket-handkerchief,
used as a garden, occupied the whole space. Europe, and
Africa, the Mediterranean, and the Atlantic were all visible
from this eyry. The day was clear, and we could see to great
distances. There were ships in the east coming down the
Mediterranean, and ships in the west coming through the
famous Strait; they all looked like mere specks. Fleets that
might shake nations with their thunder, would be here mere
cock-boats. The country is mountainous on both sides of the
Strait, and these mountains now lay sleeping in the sunshine,
covered with a thin, gauzy veil, blue and mysterious, and
wearing that air of enchantment which distance always lends
to bold scenery.
" We had a fine view of your ship, the other day," said the
signal-man to me, " when you were chasing the Yankee. The
latter was hereaway, when you set fire to her" — pointing in
the direction. "Are there many Yankee ships passing the
Rock now?" I inquired. "No. Very few since the war ccm-

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 325
menced." "It would not pay me, then, to cruise in these seas? "
"Scarcely." As we turned to go to our horses, we were attracted by the
appearance of three large apes, that had come out of their
lodging-place in the Rock, to Sun themselves. These apes are
one of the curiosities of the Rock, and many journeys have been
made in vain to the signal-station, to see them. The Colonel had
never seen them before, himself, and the signal-man congratu
lated us both on our good fortune. "Those are three old
widows," said he, " the only near neighbors I have, and we
are very friendly ; but as you are strangers, you must not move
if you would have a good look at them, or they will run
away." He then gave us the history of his neighbors. Years
ago there was quite a colony of these counterfeit presentments
of human nature on the Rock, but the whole colony has dis
appeared except these three. " When I first came to the signal-
station," continued our informant, "these three old widows
were gay, and dashing young damsels, with plenty of sweet
hearts, but unfortunately for them, there were more males than
females, and a war ensued in the colony in consequence. First
one of the young males would disappear, and then another,
until I at last noticed that there were only four of the whole
colony left: one very large old male, and these three females.
Peace now ensued, and the old fellow lived apparently very
happily with his wives, but no children were born to him, and
finally he died, leaving these three disconsolate widows, who
have since grown old — you can see that they are quite gray —
to mourn his loss." And they did indeed look sad and discon
solate enough. They eyed us very curiously, and when we
moved toward our horses, they scampered off. They sub
sist upon wild dates, and a few other wild fruits that grow
upon the Rock.
We passed down the mountain-side to the south end of the
Rock, where we exchanged salutations with the General and
Mrs. Codrington, who had come out to superintend some re
pairs upon a country house which they had at this end ; and
reaching the town, I began to congratulate myself that my
long and fatiguing visit of inspection was drawing to a close.
Not so, however. These Englishmen are a sort of cross between

326 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
the Centaur and the North American Indian. They can rida
you, or walk you to death, whichever you please; and so
Freemantle said to me, "Now, Captain, we will just take a little
gallop out past the 'neutral ground,' and then I think I will
have shown you all the curiosities." The "neutral ground"
was about three miles distant, and " a gallop " out and back,
would be six miles! Imagine a sailor who had not been on
horseback before, for six months ; who had been riding for
half a day one of those accursed English horses, with their
long stride, and swinging trot, throwing a man up, and catching
him again, as if he were a trap-ball; who was galled, and sore,
and jaded, having such a proposition made to him! It was
worse than taking me out on that narrow ledge of rock fif
teen hundred feet above the sea, to look at* the Queen of
Spain's Chair. But I could not retreat. How could an Ameri
can, who had been talking of his big country, its long rivers,
the immense distances traversed by its railroads and steam
boats, and the capacity for endurance of its people in the pres
ent war, knock under to an Englishman, and a Coldstream
Guardsman at that, on this very question of endurance? And
so we rode to the "neutral ground."
This is a narrow strip of territory, accurately set off by
metes and bounds, on the isthmus that separates the Rock
from the Spanish territory. As its name implies, neither
party claims jurisdiction over it. On one side are posted the
English sentinels, and on the other, the Spanish; and the all's-
well! of the one mingles strangely, at night, with the alerta!
of the other. We frequently heard them both on board the
Sumter, when the night was still. I got back to- my ship just
in time for a six o'clock dinner, astonished John by drinking
an extra glass of sherry, and could hardly walk for a week
afterward. A day or two after my visit to the Rock, I received a visit
from a Spanish naval lieutenant, sent over, as he stated, by the
Admiral from Algeziras, to remonstrate with me against the
burning of the ship Neapolitan within Spanish jurisdiction.
fhe reader who has read the description of the burning of
that ship, will be as much astonished as I was at this visit.
The Spanish Government owns the fortress of Oeuta, on tha

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 327
African shore opposite Gibraltar, and by virtue of this owner
ship claims, as it would appear, jurisdiction for a marine
league at sea, in the neighborhood of the fortress. It was
claimed that the Neapolitan had been captured within this
league. The lieutenant having thus stated his case, I de
manded to know on what testimony the Admiral relied, to
establish the fact of the burning within the league. He re
plied that the United States Consul at Gibraltar had made the
statement to the Admiral. Here was the "cat out of the bag"
again ; another United States Consul had turned up, with his
intrigues and false statements. The nice little piece of diplo
macy had probably been helped on, too, by the commanders
of the Federal ships of war, that had made Algeziras a rendez
vous, since I • had been anchored in the Bay of Gibraltar.
When the Spanish officer had done stating his case, I said to
him : — "I do not recognize the right of your Admiral to raise
any question with me, as to my capture of the Neapolitan.
The capture of that ship is an accomplished fact, and if any
injury has been done thereby to Spain, the Spanish Govern
ment can complain of it to the Government of the Confederate
States. It has passed beyond the stage, when the Admiral
and I could manage it, and has become an affair entirely
between our two Governments."
This was all the official answer I had to make, and the lieu
tenant, whose bearing was that of an intelligent gentleman,
assented to the correctness of my position. I then said to
him : — " But aside from the official aspect of the case, I desire
to show you, that your Admiral has had his credulity played
upon by his informant, the Consul, and whatever other parties
may have approached him on this subject. They have made
false statements to him. It is not only well known to hun
dreds of citizens of the Rock, who were eye-witnesses of the
burning of the Neapolitan, that that vessel was burned at a
distance of from six to seven miles from the African coast,
but I have the testimony of the master of the captured ves
sel himself, to the same effect." I then sent for my clerk,
whom I directed to produce and read the deposition of the
master, which, according to custom, we had taken immedi
ately upon effecting the capture. In that deposition, after

328 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT.
having been duly sworn, the master had stated that the cap
ture was made about five miles from Europa Point, the
southern extremity of the Rock of Gibraltar. The Strait is
about fourteen miles wide at this point, which would put
the ship, when captured, nine miles from Ceuta ! The lieu
tenant, at the conclusion of the reading, raised both hands,
and with an expressive smile, ejaculated, "Es possible ? " " Yes,"
I replied, "all things are possible to Federal Consuls, and
other Federal pimps and spies, when the Sumter and Yankee
ships are concerned."

CHAPTER XXVI.
THE SUMTER IN TROUBLE  FINDS IT IMPOSSIBLE TO COAL,
BY REASON OF A COMBINATION AGAINST HER, HEADED
BY THE FEDERAL CONSUL  APPLIES TO THE BRITISH
GOVERNMENT FOR COAL, BUT IS REFUSED  SENDS HER
PAYMASTER AND EX-CONSUL TUNSTALL TO CADIZ 
THEY ARE ARRESTED AND IMPRISONED AT TANGIER —
CORRESPONDENCE ON THE SUBJECT  THE SUMTER LAID
UP AND SOLD.
THE Sumter's boilers were very much out of condition when
she arrived at Gibraltar, and we had hoped, from the fact
that Gibraltar was a touching-point for several lines of steamers,
that we should find here, machine and boiler shops sufficiently
extensive to enable us to have a new set of boilers made. We
were disappointed in this ; and so were compelled to patch up
the old boilers as best we could, hoping that when our funds
should arrive, we might be enabled to coal, and run around to
London or Liverpool, where we would find all the facilities we
could desire. My funds arrived, as before stated, on the 3d of
February, and I at once set about supplying myself with coal.
I sent my first lieutenant and paymaster on shore, and after
ward my engineer, to purchase it, authorizing them to pay
more than the market-price, if it should be necessary. The
reader will judge of my surprise when these officers returned,
and informed me that they found the market closed against
them, and that it was impossible to purchase a pound of coal
in any direction !
It has been seen, in the course of these pages, how often I
have had occasion to complain of the conduct of the Federal
Consuls, and one can scarcely conceive the trouble and annoy
ance which these well-drilled officials of Mr. Seward gave
329

330 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
me. I could not, of course, have complained, if their bearing
toward me had been simply that of open enemies. This was
to be expected. But they descended to bribery, trickery, and
fraud, and to all the other arts of petty intrigue, so unworthy
of an honorable enemy. Our Southern people can scarcely
conceive how little our non-commercial Southern States were
known, in the marts of traffic and trade of the world. Beyond
a few of our principal ports, whence our staple of cotton was
shipped to Europe, our nomenclature even was unknown to
the mass of mere traders. The Yankee Consul and the Yankee
shipmaster were everywhere. Yankee ships carried out oar-
goes of cotton, and Yankee ships brought back the goods
which were purchased with the proceeds. All the American
trade with Europe was Yankee trade — a ship here and there
excepted. Commercial men, everywhere, were thus more or
less connected with the enemy ; and trade being the breath of
their nostrils, it is not wonderful that I found them inimical to
me. With rare exceptions, they had no trade to lose with the
South, and much to lose with the North; and this was the
string played upon by the Federal Consuls. If a neutral mer
chant showed any inclination to supply the Sumter with any
thing she needed, a runner was forthwith sent round to him by
the Federal Consul, to threaten him with the loss of his Ameri
can — i. e. Yankee — trade, unless he desisted.
Such was the game now being played in Gibraltar, to pre
vent the Sumter from coaling. The same Federal Consul, who,
as the reader has seen a few pages back, stated in an official
letter to the Spanish Admiral, that the Neapolitan had been
captured within the marine league of the Spanish- African
coast, whilst the captain of the same ship had sworn posi
tively that she was distant from it, nine miles, was now brib
ing and threatening the coal-dealers of Gibraltar, to prevent
them from supplying me with coal. Whilst I was pondering
my dilemma, I was agreeably surprised, one morning, to re
ceive a visit from an English shipmaster, whose ship had just
arrived with some coal on board. He was willing, he said, to
supply me, naming his price, which I at once agreed to give
him. I congratulated myself that I had at last found an inde
pendent Englishman, who had no fear of tbe loss of Yankee

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 331
trade, and expressed as much to him. "If there is anything,"
said he, "of which I am proud, it is just that thing, that I am
an independent man." It was arranged that I should get up
steam, and go alongside of him the next day. In the mean
time, however, " a change came o'er the spirit " of the English
man's dream. He visited the shore. What took place there,
we do not know ; but the next morning, whilst I was weigh
ing my anchor t© go alongside of him, according to agree
ment, a boat came from the ship of my "independent " friend
to say, that I could not have the coal, unless I would pay him
double the price agreed upon ! He, too, had fallen into the
hands of the enemy. The steam was blown off, and the anchor
not weighed.
Finding that I could do nothing with the merchants, I had
recourse to the Government. There was some coal in the
Dock-Yard, and I addressed the following note to my friend,
Captain Warden, to see if he would not supply me : —
Confederate States Steamer Sumter,")
February 10, 1862. |
Sir: — I have the honor to inform you, that I have made every
effort to procure a supply of coal, without success. The British
and other merchants of Gibraltar, instigated I learn by the United
States Consul, have entered into the unneutral combination of de
clining to supply the Sumter with coal on any terms. Under these
circumstances I trust the Government of her Majesty will find no
difficulty in supplying me. By the recent letter of Earl Russell —
31st of January, 1862 — it is not inconsistent with neutrality, for a
belligerent to supply himself with coal in a British port. In other
words, this article has been pronounced, like provisions, innoxious ;
and this being the case, it can make no difference whether it be sup
plied by the Government or an individual (the Government being
reimbursed the expense), and this even though the market were
open to me. Much more then may the Government supply me with
an innocent article, the market not being open to me. Suppose I
had come into port destitute of provisions, and the same illegal
combination had shut me out from the market, would the British
Government permit my crew to starve? Or suppose I had been a
sailing-ship, and had come in dismasted from the effects of a recent
gale, and the dock-yard of her Majesty was the only place where I
could be refitted, would you deny, me a mast ? The laws of nations
are positive on this last point, and it would be your duty to allow
me to refit in the public dock. And if you would not, under the
circumstances stated, deny me a mast, on what principle will you
deny me coal — the latter being as necessary to a steamer as a mast
to a eai'ing-ship, and both being alike innoxious?

332 iiEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
The true criterion is, not whether the Government or an indi
vidual may supply the article, but whether the article itself be nox
ious or innoxious. The Government may not supply me with
powder — why? Not because I may have recourse to the mar
ket, but because the article itself is interdicted. A case in point
occurred when I was in Cadiz recently. My ship was admitted
into a Government dock, and there repaired. The reasons were,
first, the repairs, themselves, were such as were authorized by the
laws of nations; and secondly, there were no private docks in
Cadiz. So here, the article is innocent, and there .is none in the
market — or rather none accessible to me, which is the same thing.
Why, then, may not the Government supply me? In conclusion,
I respectfully request that you will supply me with 150 tons of
coal, for which I will pay the cash ; or, if you prefer it, I will de
posit the money with an agent, who can have no difficulty, I sup
pose, in purchasing the same quantity of the material from some
of the coal-hulks, and returning it to her Majesty's dock-yard."
This application was telegraphed to the Secretary for For
eign Affairs, in London, and after the lapse of a week — for it
took the " law-officers of the Crown " a week, it seems, to de
cide the question — was denied. On the same day on which I
wrote the above letter, I performed the very pleasant duty of
paying to the Spanish Consul at Gibraltar, on account of the
authorities at Cadiz, the amount of the bill which the dock
yard officers at Caracca had rendered me, for docking my ship.
The dock-yard Admiral had behaved very handsomely about
it. I was entirely destitute of funds. He docked my ship,
with a knowledge of this fact, and was kind enough to say
that I might pay at my convenience. I take pleasure in re
cording this conduct on the part of a Spanish gentleman, who
held a high position in the Spanish Navy, as a set-off to the
coarse and unfriendly conduct of the Military Governor of
Cadiz, of whom I have before spoken.
Failing with the British Government, as I had done with
the merchants of Gibraltar, to obtain a supply of coal, I next
dispatched my paymaster for Cadiz, with instructions to pur
chase in that port, and ship the article around to me. A Mr.
Tunstall, who had been the United States Consul at Cadiz,
before the war, was then in Gibraltar, and at his request, I
sent him along with the paymaster. They embarked on
board a small French steamer plying between some of the
Mediterranean ports, and Cadiz. Tangier, a small Moorish

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 333
town on the opposite side of the Strait of Gibraltar, lies in
the route, and the steamer stopped there for a few hours to
land and receive passengers, and to put off, and take on freight.
Messrs. Myers and Tunstall, during this delay, went up into the
town, to take a walk, and as they were returning, were set upon
by a guard of Moorish soldiers, and made prisoners! Upon
demanding an explanation, they were informed that they had
been arrested upon a requisition of the United States Consul,
resident in that town.
By special treaties between the Christian powers, and the
Moorish and other non-Christian powers on the borders of the
Mediterranean, it is provided that the consuls of the different
Christian powers shall have jurisdiction, both civil and crimi
nal, over their respective citizens. It was under such a treaty
between the United States and Morocco, that the United States
Consul had demanded the arrest of Messrs. Myers and Tunstall,
as citizens of the United States, alleging that they had com
mitted high crimes against the said States, on the high seas !
The ignorant Moorish officials knew nothing, and cared no
thing, about the laws of nations ; nor did they puzzle their
small brains with what was going on, on the American conti
nent. All they knew was, that one " Christian dog," had de
manded other "Christian dogs," as his prisoners, and troops
were sent to the Consul, to enable him to make the arrest as a
matter of course.
The Consul, hoping to recommend himself to the mad popu
lace of the United States, who were just then denouncing the
Sumter as a " pirate," and howling for the blood of all em
barked on board of her, — with as little brains as their Moor
ish allies, — acted like the brute he was, took the prisoners to
his consular residence, ironed them heavily, and kept them in
close confinement ! He guarded them as he would the apple
of his eye, for had he not a prize which might make him Con
sul for life at Tangier ? Alas for human hop?s ! I have since
learned that he was kicked out of his place, to make room for
another Sans Gulotte, even more hungry, and more "truly loil"
than himself.
Intelligence of the rich prizes which he had made, having
been conveyed by the Consul, to the commanding United

.534 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
States naval officer, in the Bay of Algeziras, which bay had
by this time become a regular naval station of the enemy, that
officer, instead of releasing the prisoners at once, as he should
have done, on every principle of honor, if not out of regard for
the laws of nations, which he was bound to respect and obey,
sent the sailing bark Ino, one of his armed vessels, to Tan
gier, which received the prisoners on board, and brought them
over to Algeziras — the doughty Consul accompanying them.
There was great rejoicing on board the Yankee ships of
war, in that Spanish port, when the Consul and his pris
oners arrived. They had blockaded the Sumter in the Missis
sippi, they had blockaded her in Martinique, they had chased
her hither and thither ; Wilkes, Porter, and Palmer, had all
been in pursuit of her, but they had all been baffled. At last,
the little Tangier Consul appears upon the scene, and waylay
ing, not the Sumter, but her paymaster, unarmed, and unsus
picious of Yankee fraud, and Yankee trickery, captures him
in the streets of a Moorish town, and hurries him over to Al
geziras, ironed like a felon, and delivers him to Captain Cra
ven, of the United States Navy, who receives the prisoner, irons
and all, and applauds the act !
In a day or two, after the Consul's trophies had been duly
exhibited in the Bay of Algeziras; after the rejoicings were
over, and lengthy despatches had been written, announcing the
capture to the Washington Government, the Ino sets sail for
Cadiz, and there transfers her prisoners to a merchant-ship,
called the Harvest Home, bound for the goodly port of Boston.
The prisoners were gentlemen, — one of them had been an
officer ofthe Federal Navy, and the other a Consul, — but this
did not deter the master of the Yankee merchant-ship from
practising upon them the cruelty and malignity of a cowardly
nature. His first act was to shave the heads of his prisoners,
and his second, to put them in close confinement, still ironed,
though there was no possibility of their escape. The captain
of the Ino, or of the Harvest Home, I am not sure which, — they
may settle it between them, — robbed my paymaster of his
watch, so as not to be behindhand with their countrymen on the
land, who were just then beginning to practise the art of
watch and spoon stealing, in which, under the lead of illus-

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 335
trious chiefs, they soon afterward became adepts. I blush, as
an American, to be called upon to record such transactions. It
were well for the American name, if they could be buried a
thousand fathoms deep, and along with them the perpetrators.
At first, a rumor only of the capture and imprisonment of
my paymaster, and his companion, reached me. It appeared
so extraordinary, that I could not credit it. And even if it
were true, I took it for granted, that the silly act of the Federal
Consul would be set aside by the commander of the Federal
naval forces, in the Mediterranean. The rumor soon ripened,
however, into a fact, and the illusion which I had labored
under as to the course of the Federal naval officer, was almost as
speedily dispelled. I had judged him by the old standard, the
standard which had prevailed when I myself knew something
of the personnel of the United States Navy. But old things
had passed away, and new things had come to take their places.
A violent, revolutionary faction had possessed itself of the
once honored Government of the United States, and, as is the
case in all revolutions, coarse and vulgar men had risen to the
surface, thrusting the jnore gentle classes into the background.
The Army and the Navy were soon brought under the influence
of these coarser and ruder men, and the necessary consequence
ensued — the Army and the Navy themselves became coarser
and ruder. Some few fine natures resisted the unholy influ
ences, but the mass of them went, as masses will always go,
with the current.
As soon as the misfortunes of my agents were known to
me, I resorted to all the means within my reach, to endeavor to
effect their release, but in vain, as they were carried to Boston,
and there imprisoned. I first addressed a note to General Cod
rington, the Governor of Gibraltar, requesting him to intercede
with her Britannic Majesty's Charge-, at the Court of Morocco,
for their release. This latter gentleman, whose name was Hay,
resided at Tangier, where the Court of Morocco then was, and
was naid to have great influence with it ; indeed, to be all-pow
erful I then wrote to the Morocco Government direct, and also
to Mr. Hay. I give so much of this correspondence below as
is necessary to inform the reader of the facts and circumstances
of the case, and of the conduct of the several functionaries to
whom I addressed myself.
22

336 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
Confederate States Steamer Sumter, ")
Bay of Gibraltar, February 22, 1862.)
Sir: — I have the honor to ask the good offices of his Excellency;
the Governor of Gibraltar [this letter was addressed to the Colo
nial Secretary, who conducted all the Governor's official correspon
dence], in a matter purely my own. On Wednesday last, I dispatched
from this port, in a French passenger-steamer for Cadiz, on busi
ness connected with this ship, my paymaster, Mr. Henry Myers,
and Mr. T. T. Tunstall, a citizen of the Confederate States, and
ex-United States Consul at Cadiz. The steamer having stopped on
her way, at Tangier, and these gentlemen having gone on shore for
a walk during her temporary delay there, they were seized by the
authorities, at the instigation of the United States Consul, and
imprisoned. A note from Paymaster Myers informs me that they are both
heavily ironed, and otherwise treated in a barbarous manner. * * *
An occurrence of this kind could not have happened, of course,
in a civilized community. The political ignorance of the Moorish
Government has been shamefully practised upon by the unscrupu
lous Consul. I understand that the British Government has a diplo
matic agent resident at Tangier, and a word from that gentleman
would, no doubt, set the matter right, and insure the release of the
unfortunate prisoners. And it is to interest this gentleman in this
humane task, that I address myself to his Excellency. May I not
ask the favor of his Excellency, under the peculiar circumstances
of the case, to address Mr. Hay a note on the subject, explaining
to him the facts, and asking his interposition ? If any official
scruples present themselves, the thing might be done in his charac
ter of a private gentleman. The Moorish Government could not
hesitate a moment, if it understood correctly the facts, and princi
ples of the case ; to wit : that the principal powers of Europe have
recognized the Confederate States, as belligerents, in their war
against the United States, and consequently that the act of making
war against these States, by the citizens of the Confederate States,
is not an offence, political, or otherwise, of which a neutral can
take cognizance, &c.
Governor Codrington did kindly and humanely interest him
self, and write to Mr. Hay, but his letter produced no effect.
In reply to my own note to Mr. Hay, that gentleman wrote me
as follows: —
" You must be aware, that her Majesty's Government have de
cided on observing a strict neutrality, in the present conflict between
the Northern and Southern States ; it is therefore incumbent on her
Majesty's officers, to avoid anything like undue interference in any
questions affecting the interests of either party, which do not con
cern the British Government; and though I do not refuse to accede
to your request, to deliver the letter to the Moorish authorities, I
think it my duty to signify, distinctly, to the latter, my intention

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 337
to abstain from expressing an opinion regarding the course to be
pursued by Morocco, on the subject of your letter."
In reply to this letter of Mr. Hay, I addressed nim tha
following: — Confederate States Steamer Sumter, \
Gibraltar, February 25, 1862. j
Sir: — I have had the honor to receive your letter of yesterday's
date, in reply to mine of the 23d inst., informing me that "You [I]
must be aware that her Britannic Majesty's Government have
decided on observing a strict neutrality, in the present conflict
between the Northern and Southern States ; it is therefore incum
bent on her Majesty's officers to avoid anything like undue inter
ference in any questions affecting the interests of either party, which
do not concern the British Government ; and though I do not refuse
to accede to your request, to deliver the letter to the Moorish
authorities, I think it my duty to signify distinctly to the latter my
intention to refrain from expressing an opinion regarding the
course to be pursued by Morocco on the subject-matter of your
letter." Whilst I thank you for the courtesy of delivering my letter, as
requested, I must be permitted to express to you my disappoint
ment at the course which you have prescribed to yourself, of re
fraining from expressing any opinion to the Moorish Government,
of the legality or illegality of its act, lest you should be charged
with undue interference.
I had supposed that the "Trent affair," of so recent occurrence,
had settled, not only the right, but the duty of the civilized nations
of the earth to "interfere," in a friendly manner, to prevent wars
between nations. It cannot have escaped your observation, that
the course pursued by Europe in that affair, is precisely analogous
to that which I have requested of you. In that affair a quarrel
arose between the United States, one of the belligerents in the ex
isting war, and Great Britain, a neutral in that war ; and instead
of " refraining " from offering advice, all Europe made haste to vol
unteer it to both parties. The United States were told by France,
by Russia, by Spain, and other Powers, that their act was illegal,
and that they could, without a sacrifice of honor, grant the repara
tion demanded by Great Britain. Neither the nation giving the advice
nor the nation advised, supposed for a moment that there was a
breach of neutrality in this proceeding ; on the contrary, it was the
general verdict of mankind, that the course pursued was not only
legal, but eminently humane and proper, as tending to allay excite
ment, and prevent the effusion of blood.
If you will run a parallel between the Trent case, and the case
in hand, you will find it difficult, I think, to sustain the reason you
have assigned for your forbearance. In that case, the quarrel
rel was between a neutral, and a belligerent, as in this case. In
that case, citizens of a belligerent State were unlawfully arrested

338 memoirs of service afloat
on the high seas, in a neutral ship, by the opposite belligerent, and
imprisoned. In this case, citizens of a belligerent State have been
unlawfully arrested by a neutral, in neutral territory, and impris
oned. Does the fact that the offence was committed in the former
case, by a belligerent against a neutral, and in the latter case, by a
neutral against a belligerent, make any difference in the application
of the principle we are discussing ? And if so, in what does the
difference consist? If A strikes B, is it lawful to interfere to pre
serve the peace, and if B strikes A, is it unlawful to interfere for
the same purpose ? Can the circumstance, that the prisoners seized
by the one belligerent, in the Trent affair, were citizens of the other
belligerent, alter the application of the principle ? The difference,
if any, is in favor of the present case, for whilst the belligerent in
the former case was compelled to release its enemies, whom, under
proper conditions it would have had the right to capture, in the
latter case I requested you to advise a neutral to release prisoners,
who were not the enemies of the neutral, and whom the neutral
could have no right to capture under any circumstances whatever.
Upon further inquiry, I learn that my first impression, that the
two gentlemen in question had been arrested under some claim of
extradition, was not exactly correct. It seems that they were ar
rested by Moorish soldiery, upon the requisition of the United
States Consul, who claimed to exercise jurisdiction over them, as
citizens of the United States, under a provision of a treaty common
between what are called the non-civilized and the civilized nations.
This state of facts does not alter, in any degree, the reasoning ap
plicable to the case. If Morocco adopts the status given to the Con
federate States by Europe, she must remain neutral between the
two belligerents, not undertaking to judge of the nationality of the
citizens of either of them, or to decide any other question growing
out of the war, which does not concern her own interests. She has
no right, therefore, to adjudge a citizen of the Confederate States,
to be a citizen of the United States ; and not having this right,
herself, she cannot convey it by treaty to tbe United States, to be
exercised by their Consul in Tangier.
I trust that you will not understand, that I have written in a
tone of remonstrance, or complaint. I have no ground on which
to demand anything of you. The friendly offices of nations, like
those of individuals, must be spontaneous ; and if in the present
instance, you have not deemed yourself at liberty to offer a word
of friendly advice, to a Barbarian Government which has evi
dently erred through ignorance of its rights and duties, in favor
of unfortunate citizens of a Government, in amity with your own,
and whose people are connected with your people by so many ties
of consanguinity and interest, I have no word of remonstrance to
offer. You are the best judge of your own actions.
I never received any reply to this letter from Mr. Hay. The fact
that the prisoners were permitted to be delivered up to the enemy

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 339
as before stated, is conclusive that he was as good as his word,
and "signified distinctly" to the Moorish Government, that
he should refrain from giving it any advice on the subject —
which, of course, under the circumstances, was tantamount to
advising it to do what it did. If he had contented himself
with handing in my protest to the Moorish authorities, without
any remark whatever, his conduct would not have been so ob
jectionable, but when he made it a point to inform them, as he
took pains to tell me he would, that he had no advice to offer
them, this was saying to them in effect, "I have no objection
to offer to your course ;" for it must be borne in mind, that Mr.
Hay was a great favorite with the Government to which he was
accredited, and was in the constant habit of giving it advice on
every and all occasions. The consuls of the different powers
resident in Tangier behaved no better than Mr. Hay. A seri
ous commotion among the Christian residents took place, upon
the arrest and imprisonment of Messrs. Myers and Tunstall,
which would probably have resulted in their release by the
Government, but for the interference of these consuls, headed
by Mr. Hay. They advised their respective countrymen to dis
perse, and "refraining distinctly," each and all of them, from
giving a word of advice to the perplexed authorities, though
implored by the Moors themselves to do so, the latter construed
the whole course of Hay and the consuls to mean, that they
must comply with the Federal Consul's demand, and hand over
the prisoners to him.
The news of this arrest and imprisonment created great
excitement in most of 1;he Christian capitals, particularly in
London. A formal call was made in the British Parliament,
upon the Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs, for an official
statement ofthe facts; but it being rumored and believed, soon
afterward, in London, that the prisoners had been released, no
steps were taken by the British Government, if any were con
templated, until it was too late. Mr. Mason, our Commissioner
in London, interested himself at once in the matter, but was
deceived like the rest, by the rumor. The following extract
from i letter written by me to him on the 19th of March will
show how the British Government had been bamboozled by
some one, although there was a continuous line of telegraph
between London and Gibraltar • —

340 memoirs of service afloat
" I have had the honor to receive your letter of the 8th inst. in
forming me that, as late as the Tth of March, the English Govern
ment was under the impression that Paymaster Myers and Mr
Tunstall, had been released from imprisonment ; and requesting me
to telegraph you, if the contrary should be the fact. This lack of
information on the part of the Under Secretary of State is somewhat
remarkable, as no rumor has prevailed here, at any time, that these
gentlemen had been liberated. On the contrary, the sloop-of-war
Ino, of the enemy, came into this Bay — Spanish side — on the 28th
of February, with the prisoners on board, and sailed with them
the next day. On the 6th of March, the Ino transferred the
prisoners to the enemy's merchant-ship, Harvest Home, off Cadiz,
which sailed immediately for Boston. You will perceive, from the
narration of these facts, that it was unnecessary to telegraph to
you, as the prisoners, though they had not been released, had been
placed beyond the reach of the British Government through its
Charge1 at Tangier — even if you could have induced that Govern
ment to interfere, which I very much doubt.
" You have, of course, been informed through the press, that the
Moorish Government was anxious to liberate the prisoners, but that
it was bullied into acquiescence, by the truculent Federal Consul,
who was backed by a force of forty armed men, landed from the
Ino, and who threatened to haul down his flag, and quit the coun
try, if his demand was not complied with. . A word of advice given,
unofficially even, by Mr. Hay, or some one of the consuls present,
would have been an act of kindness to the ignorant Moors, in keep
ing them out of a scrape, as well as to ourselves. As the case
now stands, we shall be obliged, as soon as we shall have gotten
rid of this Yankee war, to settle accounts with his Majesty of
Morocco." One more letter, and the reader will have full information
of this Tangier difficulty. Myers and Tunstall had embarked,
as has been stated, under the French flag, and I wrote to Mr.
Slidell in Paris, requesting him to call the attention of the
French Government to this fact. Having received from him
in reply a note informing me that he had done so, I wrote him
again as follows : —
" I have had the honor to receive your note of the 8th of March,
informing me that you had referred the subject of the capture of
Messrs. Myers and Tunstall to Mons. Thouvenal, the French Secre
tary of State for Foreign Affairs, but that the impression prevailed
in Paris that those gentlemen had been liberated. With regard to
the latter fact, you will, of course, have been undeceived before
this. The prisoners will probably be in Fort Warren, before this
reaches you. The French Consul-General at Tangier must have
kept his Government badly informed on the subject, since the latter

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 341
supposed, as late as the 8th inst., that the prisoners had been liber
ated. " I trust that you will be able to make something out of the case.
It is one in which all the Christian powers are interested. If this
precedent is to stand, a French or an English subject may be seized,
to-morrow, upon the simple requisition of a consul, and handed
over to his enemy. And then, as I stated to you, in my first letter,
is not the honor of the French flag involved ? It is admitted that,
as between civilized states, this question of the flag would not
arise, the parties having disembarked. But a different set of rules
has been applied to the dealings of the Christian powers, with the
non-Christian, as is shown by this very arrest, under a claim of
jurisdiction by a consul. A Frenchman in Morocco is, by treaty,
under the protection of the French Consular flag. If he commits
an offence, he is tried and punished by his Consul, regardless of the
fact that he is literally within the jurisdiction of Morocco. And
these concessions have been demanded by the Christian nations, for
the security of their subjects.
" A French citizen, on board a French merchant-ship, lying in
the waters of Morocco, would be subject to the same rule. Should,
now, a French traveller, landing in Morocco, in itinere, only, from
a French ship, be subject to a different rule ? and if so, on what
principle ? And if a Frenchman would be protected under these
circumstances — protected because of the flag which has brought
him hither, and not because he is a Frenchman, simply, why may
not Messrs. Myers and Tunstall claim French protection ? Though
they were on the soil of Morocco, when arrested, they were there,
in itinere, under the French flag, which not only exterritorialized
the ship, over which it floated, but every one who belonged to the
ship, whether on ship-board or on shore, for the time being.
" But what appears to me most extraordinary in this case, is the
apathy, or rather the fear of their own governments, which was
manifested by the representatives of the Christian powers, on the
occasion of the arrest. A friend of mine, the Captain of an Eng
lish steam-frigate, on this station, visited Tangier, with his ship, a
day or two only after the occurrence, and he informs me that the
Moorish authorities were sorely perplexed, during the pendency of
the affair, and that they implored the counsel and assistance of the
representatives of the Christian powers, to enable them to solve
the difficulty, but that not one word of advice was tendered." * * *
I was sorry to lose my very efficient paymaster, but there
was no remedy. He was incarcerated for a while, after his
arrival in Boston, but was treated as a prisoner of war, and
was finally released on parole. The Secretary of the Fede
ral Navy directed his stolen watch to be returned to him,
which is worthy of record, as being something exceptional.

342 memoirs of service afloat
but I have never learned whether any punishment was in
flicted upon the party committing the theft. Probably not, as
by this time, entire Federal armies had become demoralized
and taken to plundering.
The Sumter was now blockaded by three ships of the enemy
and it being impossible for me to coal, I resolved to lay her
up, and proceed to London, and consult with my Government
as to my future course. I might possibly have had coal shipped
to me from London, or some other English port, but this would
have involved expense and delay, and it was exceedingly doubt
ful besides, whether I could elude the vigilance of so many
blockading ships, in a slow ship, with crippled boilers. In her
best days, the Sumter had been a very inefficient ship, being
always anchored, as it were, in the deep sea, by her propeller,
whenever she was out of coal. A fast ship, propelled entirely
by sail-power, would have been better.
When I look back now, I am astonished to find what a strug
gle it cost me to get my own consent to lay up this old ship.
As inexplicable as the feeling is, I had really become attached
to her, and felt as if I would be parting forever with a valued
friend. She had run me safely through two vigilant blockades,
had weathered many storms, and rolled me to sleep in many
calms. Her cabin was my bed-room and my study, both in
one, her quarter-deck was my promenade, and her masts, spars,
and sails, my playthings. I had handled her in all kinds of
weather, watching her every motion in difficult situations, as
a man watches the yielding and cracking ice over which he is
making a perilous passage. She had fine qualities as a sea-
boat, being as buoyant, active, and dry as a duck, in the heavi
est gales, and these are the qualities which a seaman most
admires. And then, there are other chords of feeling touched in the
sailor's heart, at the end of a cruise, besides the parting with
his ship. The commander of a ship is more or less in the posi
tion of a father of a family. He necessarily forms an attach
ment for those who have served under him, and especially for
such as have developed honorable qualities, and high abilities,
and I had a number on board the Sumter who had developed
both. I only regretted that they had not a wider field fcr the

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 343
exercise of their abilities. I had officers serving with me, as
lieutenants, who were equal to any naval command, whatever.
But, unfortunately for them, our poor, hard-pressed Confeder
ate States had no navy worth speaking of; and owing to the
timidity, caution, and fear of neutrals, found it impossible to
improvise one. And then, when men have been drenched, and
wind-beaten in the same storm, have stood on the deck of the
same frail little ship, with only a plank between them and
eternity, and watched her battling with the elements, which
threaten every moment to overwhelm her, there is a feeling of
brotherhood that springs up between them, that it is difficult
for a landsman to conceive.
There was another, and if possible, stronger chord which
bound us together. In the olden time, when the Christian
warrior went forth to battle with the Saracen, for the cross,
each knight was the sworn brother of the other. They not
only slept in the same tents, endured the same hardships, and
encountered the same risks, but their faith bound them toge
ther with hooks of steel. Without irreverence be it spoken,
we of the Southern States had, too, our faith. The Saracen
had invaded our beloved land, and was laying it waste with
fire and sword. We were battling for our honor, our homes,
. and our property ; in short, for everything that was dear to
the human heart. Yea, we were battling for our blood and our
race, for it had been developed, even at this early stage of the
war, that it was the design of the Northern hordes that were
swarming down upon us, not only to liberate the slave, but to
enable him to put his foot upon the neck of his late master, and
thus bastardize, if possible, his posterity. The blood of the
white man in our veins could not but curdle at the contempla
tion of an atrocity which nothing but the brain of a demon
could have engendered.
Besides my officers, I had many worthy men among my
crew, who had stood by me in every emergency, and who
looked forward with sorrowful countenances, to the approach
ing separation. The reader has been introduced to my Malayan
steward, John, on several occasions. John's black, lustrous
eyes filled with ill-concealed tears, more than once, during the
last days of the Sumter, as he smoothed the pillow r L' my cot

344 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
with a hand as tender as that of a woman, or handed me the
choicest dishes at meals.
I had governed my crew with a rigid hand, never overlook
ing an offence, but I had, at the same time, always been mind
ful of justice, and I was gratified to find, both on the part of
officers and men, an apparent forgetfulness of the little jars
and discords which always grow out of the effort to enforce
discipline, it matters not how suavely and justly the effort may
be made.
Being more or less cut off from communication with the
Navy Department, I deemed it but respectful and proper to
consult with our Commissioner in London, Mr. Mason, and to
obtain his consent before finally laying up the Sumter. Mr.
Mason agreed with me entirely in my views, and telegraphed
me to this effect on the 7th of April. The next few days were
busy days on board the Sumter. Upon the capture of Pay
master Myers, I had appointed Lieutenant J. M. Stribling
Acting Paymaster, and I now set this officer at work, closing
the accounts of the ship and paying off the officers and men.
The officers were formally detached from the command, as fast
as paid off, and they embarked for London, on their way to
another ship, or to the Confederate States, as circumstances
might determine ; and the men, with snug little sums in their
pockets, were landed, and as is usually the case with sailors,
soon dispersed to the four quarters of the globe ; each carry
ing with him the material for yarn-spinning for the balance of
his life.
By the 11th of April we had completed all our preparations
for turning over the ship to the midshipman who was to have
charge of her, and in two or three days afterward, accompa
nied by Mr. Kell, my first lieutenant, and several other of my
officers, I embarked on board the mail-steamer for Southamp
ton. The following is an extract from the last letter that was
written to the Secretary of the Navy from on board the
Sumter: —
" I now have the honor to report to you, that I have discharged
and paid off, in full, all the crew, numbering fifty, with the excep
tion of the ten men detailed to remain by the ship, as servants, and
to form a boat's crew for the officer left in charge. I have plaoed

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 345
Midshipman R. F. Armstrong, assisted by Acting Master's Mate
I. T. Hester, in charge of the ship, with provisions and funds for
ten or twelve months, and I have directed all the other officers to
return to the Confederate States, and report themselves to the De
partment. I will myself proceed to London, and after conferring
with Mr. Mason, make the best of my way home. I trust the De
partment will see, in what I have done, an anxious desire to ad
vance the best interests of our country, and that it will justify the
responsibility, which, in the best exercise of my judgment, I felt
it my duty to assume, in the difficult circumstances by which I was
surrounded and embarrassed. Enclosed is a copy of my order to
Midshipman Armstrong, and a list of the officers and men left on
board the ship,"
A brief summary of the services of the Sumter, and of what
became of her, may not be uninteresting to the reader, who has
followed her thus far, in her wanderings. She cruised six
months, leaving out the time during which she was blockaded
in Gibraltar. She captured seventeen ships, as follows: the
Golden Rocket, Cuba, Machias, Ben. Dunning, Albert Adams,
Naiad, Louisa Kilham, West Wind, Abby Bradford, Joseph
Maxwell, Joseph Parke, D. Trowbridge, Montmorency, Arcade,
Vigilant, Eben Dodge, Neapolitan, and Investigator. It is impos
sible to estimate the damage done to the enemy's commerce.
The property actually destroyed formed a very small propor
tion of it. The fact alone of the Sumter being upon the seas,
during these six months, gave such an alarm to neutral and
belligerent shippers, that the enemy's carrying-trade began to
be paralyzed, and already his ships were being laid up, or sold
under neutral flags — some of these sales being bona fide, and
others fraudulent. In addition to this, the enemy kept five or
six of his best ships of war constantly in pursuit of her, which
necessarily weakened his blockade, for which, at this time, he
was much pressed for ships. The expense to my Government
of running the ship was next to nothing, being only $28,000,
or about the price of one of the least valuable of her prizes.
The Sumter was sold in the course of a month or two after
being laid up, and being put under the English flag as a mer
chant-ship, made one voyage to the coast of the Confederate
States, as a blockade-runner, entering the port of Charleston.
Her new owner changed her name to that of Gibraltar. She
was lost afterward in the North Sea, and her bones lie interred
not far from those of the Alabama.

CHAPTER XXVII.
AUTHOR LEAVES GIBRALTAR, AND ARRIVES IN LONDON
 MR. MASON — CONFEDERATE NAVAL NEWS — SO
JOURN IN LONDON — AUTHOR EMBARKS ON BOARD THE
STEAMER MELITA, FOR NASSAU  SOJOURN IN NASSAU
— NEW ORDERS FROM THE NAVY DEPARTMENT —
AUTHOR RETURNS TO LIVERPOOL  THE ALABAMA
GONE.
WE had been long enough in Gibraltar to make many warm
friends, and some of these came on board the mail-steamer
in which we had taken passage, to take leave of us; among
others, Captain Lambert, R. N., in command of her Majesty's
steam frigate, the Scylla, to whom I am much indebted, for warm
sympathy, and many acts of kindness. The captain was the sor
of Vice- Admiral Sir Charles Lambert, whose hospitality I had
enjoyed, for a single night, many years before, under peculiar
circumstances. When the United States brig Somers was cap
sized and sunk, off Vera Cruz, and half her crew drowned, as
briefly described some pages back, Sir Charles Lambert, then
a captain, was in command of the sailing frigate Endymion,
and it was on board that ship that I was carried, more dead
than alive, on the evening of the fatal disaster. I recollect
distinctly the plight in which I ascended the side of this Eng
lish frigate. Like a waif which had been picked up from the
sea, I had nothing on me but shirt and trousers, and these, as
well as my hair, were dripping water. I had lost my ship
only an hour or two before, and had witnessed the drowning
of many helpless men, who had struggled in vain for their
lives. My heart was oppressed with the weight of my misfor
tune, and my strength nearly exhausted. Sir Charles received
me at the foot of the ladder, as I descended to the deck of hia
346

MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT. 347
ship, as tenderly, and with as much genuine sympathy and
compassion, as if I had been his own son, and taking me into
his cabin, had my wants duly cared for. There are said to be
secret chords of sympathy binding men together in spite of
themselves. I know not how this may be, but I felt drawn
toward the son of my benefactor, even before I knew him to
be his son. I take this public mode of expressing to both
father and son my thanks for the many obligations under
which they have placed me.
As the swift and powerful steamer on which we were em
barked, moved silently, but rapidly out of the harbor, in the
evening twilight, I took a last, lingering look at the little Sum
ter. Her once peopled decks were now almost deserted, only a
disconsolate old sailor or two being seen moving about on them,
and the little ship herself, with her black hull, and black mast
heads and yards, the latter of which had been stripped of their
sails, looked as if she had clad herself in mourning for our
departure. A pleasant passage of a few days carried us rapidly past the
coasts of Spain, Portugal, and a portion of France, into the
British Channel, and on the sixth day, we found ourselves in
Southampton, which I was afterward destined to revisit, under
such different circumstances. On the same night I slept in that
great Babel, London. I remained in this city during the month
of May, enjoying in a high degree, as the reader may suppose,
the relaxation and ease consequent upon so great a change in
my mode of life. There were no more enemies or gales of
wind to disturb my slumbers ; no intrusive officers to come
into my bed-room at unseasonable hours, to report sails or land
discovered, and no half drowned old quartermasters to poke
their midnight lanterns into my face, and tell me, that the bow-
ports were stove in, and the ship half full of water! If the
storm raged without and the windows rattled, I took no notice
of it, unless it was to turn over in my bed, and feel all the
more comfortable, for my sense of security.
Kell and myself took rooms together, in Euston Square;
our windows looking out, even at this early season, upon well-
grown and fragrant grasses, trees in leaf, and flowers in bloom,
all in the latitude of 52° N. — thanks, as formerly remarked, to

348 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
our American Gulf Stream. I called at once upon Mr. Masoa,
whom I had often seen in his seat in the Senate of the United
States, as a Senator from the grand old State of Virginia, but
whom I had never known personally. I found him a genial
Virginia gentleman, with much bon hommie, and a great favorite
with everybody. In his company I saw much of the society
of the English capital, and soon became satisfied that Mr.
Davis could not have intrusted the affairs of the Confederacy,
to better hands. English hearts had warmed toward him, and
his name was the sesame to open all English doors. I soon
learned from him the status of Confederate States' naval affairs,
on the European side of the Atlantic. The gun-boat Oreto,
afterward the Florida, had sailed for Nassau, in the Bahamas,
and the new ship being built by the Messrs. Laird at Birken
head, was well on her way to completion. Other contracts
were in hand, but nothing tangible had as yet been accomplished
under them.
I had also interviews with Commander North, and Com
mander Bullock, agents of the Confederate States Navy
Department, for the building and equipping of ships, in these
waters. It being evident that there was nothing available for
me, I determined to lose no time in returning to the Confed
eracy, and it was soon arranged that I should depart in the
steamer Melita, an English steamer preparing to take a cargo
of arms, ammunition, and clothing to Nassau. This ship
belonged to the Messrs. Isaac, brothers, large blockade run
ners, who kindly tendered free passages to myself, and to ray
first lieutenant, and surgeon, who were to accompany me.
I trust the reader will pardon me — as I hope the family
itself will if I intrude upon its privacy — if I mention before
leaving London, one of those old English households, immor
talized by the inimitable pen of Washington Irving. One day
whilst I was sitting quietly, after breakfast, in my rooms at
Euston Square, running over the column of American news,
in the " Times," Commander North entered, and in company
with him came a somewhat portly gentleman, with an unmis
takable English face, and dressed in clerical garb — not over
clerical either, for, but for his white cravat, and the cut of the
collar of his coat, you would not have taken him for a clergy-

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 349
man at all. Upon being presented, this gentleman said to me,
pleasantly, "I have come to take the Captain of the Sumter
prisoner, and carry him off to my house, to spend a few days
with me." I looked into the genial face of the speaker, and
surrendered myself to him a captive at once. There was no
mistaking the old-time English gentleman — though the gen
tleman himself was not past middle age — in the open counte
nance, and kindly expression of my new friend. Making some
remarks to him about quiet, he said, " That is the very thing
I propose to give you ; you shall come to my house, stay as
long as you please, go away when you please, and see nobody
at all unless you please." I dined with him, the next day, in
company with a few Confederate and English friends, and spent
several days at his house — the ladies president of which were
his mother and maiden sister. I shall return hereafter to this
house, as the reader will see. It became, in fact, my English
home, and was but little less dear to me than my own home
in America. The name of the Rev. Francis W. Tremlett, of
the "Parsonage, in Belsize Park, near Hampstead, London,"
dwells in my memory, and in that of every other Confederate
who ever came in contact with him — and they are not few —
like a household word.
We embarked on board the Melita in the latter part of May.
The vessel had already dropped some distance down the
Thames, and we went thither to join her by rail ; one of the
Messrs. Isaac accompanying us, to see us comfortably installed.
The Melita was to make a bona fide voyage to Nassau, having
no intention of running the blockade. I was particular to
have this point settled beyond the possibility of dispute, so as
to bring our capture, if the enemy should undertake it, within
the precedent set by the Trent case. The Sumter having dared
to capture and destroy Yankee ships upon the high seas, in
defiance of President Lincoln's proclamation, denouncing her
as a " pirate," h?rf wounded the ridiculous vanity of the enemy
past forgiveness, to say nothing of that other and sorer wound
which resulted from the destruction of his property, and he
was exceedingly anxicfus, in consequence, to get hold of me.
I was resolved, therefore, that, if another zealous, but indiscreet
Captain Wilkes should turn up, that another seven days of

350 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
penance and tribulation should be imposed upon Mr. Secretary
of State Seward. We were not molested, however, and after a
pleasant run of about twenty days we entered the harbor of
Nassau, about 2 p. M. on the 13th of June, 1862.
On the same evening of our arrival, I was quartered, with
my small staff, in the Victoria Hotel, then thronged with
guests, Federal and Confederate ; for the Yankee, in obedience
to his instincts of traffic, had scented the prey from afar, and
was here to turn an honest penny, by assisting the Confederates
to run the blockade! "It's an ill wind that blows nobody
good," and Nassau was a living witness of this old adage.
The island of New Providence, of which Nassau is the only
town, is a barren limestone rock, producing only some coarse
grass, a few stunted trees, a few pine-apples and oranges, and
a great many sand-crabs and "fiddlers." Before the war, it
was the rendezvous of a few wreckers and fishermen. Com
merce it had none, except such as might grow out of the
sponge-trade, and the shipment of green turtle and conch-shells.
The American war which has brought woe and wretchedness
to so many of our States, was the wind which blew prosperity
to Nassau.
It had already put on the air of a commercial city ; its fine
harbor being thronged with shipping, and its warehouses,
wharves, and quays filled to repletion with merchandise. All
was life, bustle, and activity. Ships were constantly arriving
and depositing their cargoes, and light-draught steamers, Con
federate and English, were as constantly reloading these car
goes, and running them into the ports of the Confederate
States. The success which attended many of these little ves
sels is surprising. Some of them made their voyages, as reg
ularly as mail packets, running, with impunity, through a
whole fleet of the enemy's steamers. Notwithstanding this
success, however, the enemy was reaping a rich harvest, for
many valuable prizes fell into his hands. It soon became a
bone of contention among the Federal naval officers, which of
them should be assigned to the lucrative commands of the
blockading squadrons. The admiral of one of these squad
rons would frequently awake, in the morning, and find himself
richer, by ten, twenty, or thirty thousand dollars, by reason of

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 351
a capture made by some one of his subordinates, the night
before. This was the " mess of pottage " for which so many
unprincipled Southern men, in the Federal Navy, sold their
"birthright." Some of these men are enjoying princely fortunes, but they
have purchased these fortunes at the price of treason, and ot
blood, and by selling into bondage to the stranger, the people
of their native States. Whilst poor old Virginia, for example,
the " mother of States and statesmen," is wearing the chains
of a captive, and groaning under the tortures inflicted upon
her, by her hereditary enemy, the Puritan, some of her sons
are counting the " thirty pieces of silver " for which they sold
her ! " Pity 't is, but pity 't is, 't is true." These gentlemen may
wrap themselves in as many folds of the " old flag " as they
please, and talk as glibly as any Yankee, of the great Federal
" nation " which has swallowed up the States, but future gen
erations, if their ignoble names should descend so far down
the stream of time, will unwind these folds from about them,
as we have unwound from the mummy, its folds of fine linen,
and expose the corruption and deformity beneath.
I found several Confederate naval officers at Nassau — among
others Commander J. N. Maffitt, who had been assigned to the
command of the Oreto, afterward to become famous as the
Florida ; and Commander G. T. Sinclair, who had been kind
enough, as the reader may recollect, to send me my guns for
the Sumter, from the Norfolk Navy Yard. Captain Sinclair
was recently from the Confederate States, and had brought me
a letter from Mr. Mallory, the Secretary of the Navy, which
put a material change upon the face of affairs, so far as I was
personally concerned. I was directed by this letter, to return
to Europe, and assume command of the new ship which was
being built on the Mersey, to be called the A labama. My reply to
this letter, dated at Nassau, on the 15th of June, will put the
reader in possession of this new programme. It ,is as follows : —
Nassau, New Providence, June 15, 1862.
Sir : — I have the honor to inform you of my arrival here, on the
8th inst., in twenty days from London. I found here Lieutenants
Maffitt and Sinclair, and have received your letter of May 29th,
enclosing a copy of your despatch to me, of May 2d. As you maj
23

352 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
conclude, from the fact of my being here, the original of the lattei
communication [assigning me to the command of the Alabama]
has not reached me ; nor indeed has any other communication frcm
the Department, since I left the mouths of the Mississippi, in J ane,
1861. As you anticipated, it became necessary for me to lay the
Sumter up, in consequence of my being hemmed in, by the enemy,
in a place where it was impossible to put the necessary repairs
upon my boilers, to enable me to take the sea again ; and where,
moreover, it was impossible, without long delay and expense, to
obtain a supply of coal. * * * [Here follows a description of the
laying up of the ship, which the reader has already seen.]
Upon my arrival in London, I found that the Oreto had been
dispatched, some weeks before, to this place ; and Commander Bul
lock having informed me that he had your order assigning him to
the command of the second ship he was building [the Alabama],
I had no alternative but to return to the Confederate States for
orders. It is due to Commander Bullock to say, however, that he
offered to place himself entirely under my instructions, and even to
relinquish to me the command of the new ship ; but I did not feel at
liberty to interfere with your orders.
While in London, I ascertained that a number of steamene were
being prepared to run the blockade, with arms and other supplies for
the Confederate States, and, instead of dispatching my officers at once
for these States, I left them to take charge of the ships mentioned,
as they should be gotten ready for sea, and run them in to their
several destinations — deeming this the best service they could
render the Government, under the circumstances. I came hither,
myself, accompanied by my first lieutenant and surgeon — Kell and
Gait — a passenger in the British steamer Melita, whose cargo of
arms and supplies is also destined for the Confederate States. It
is fortunate that I made this arrangement, as many of my officers
still remain in London, and I shall return thither in time to take
most of them with me to the Alabama.
In obedience to your order, assigning me to the command of this
ship, I will return by the first conveyance to England, where the
joint energies of Commander Bullock and myself will be directed to
the preparation of the ship for sea. I will take with me Lieutenant
Kell, Surgeon Gait, and First Lieutenant of Marines Howell — Mr.
Howell and Lieutenant Stribling having reached Nassau a few
days before me, in the British steamer Bahama, laden with arms,
clothing, and stores for the Confederacy. At the earnest entreaty
of Lieutenant-Commanding Maffitt, I have consented to permit
Lieutenant Stribling to remain with him, as his first lieutenant on
board the Oreto (Florida") — the officers detailed for that vessel not
yet having arrived. Mr. Stribling's place on board the Alabama
will be supplied by Midshipman Armstrong, promoted, whom 1
will recall from Gibraltar, where I left him in charge of the Sumter.
It will, doubtless, be a matter of some delicacy, and tact, to get the
Alabama safely out of British waters, without suspicion, as Mr.
Adams, the Northern Envoy, and his numerous satellites in the

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 353
shape of consuls and paid agents, are exceedingly vigilant in their
espionage. We cannot, of course, think of arming her in a British port ; this
must be done at some concerted rendezvous, to which her battery,
and a large portion of her crew must be sent, in a neutral merchant-
vessel. The Alabama will be a fine ship, quite equal to encounter
any of the enemy's steam-sloops, of the class of the Iroquois, Tus-
carora, and Dacotah, and I shall feel much more independent in
her, upon the high seas, than I did in the little Sumter.
I think well of your suggestion of the East Indies, as a cruising
ground, and I hope to be in the track of the enemy's commerce, in
those seas, as early as October or November next ; when I shall,
doubtless, be able to lay other rich "burnt offerings" upon the
altar of our country's liberties.
Lieutenant Sinclair having informed me that you said, in a con
versation with him, that I might dispose of the Sumter, either by
laying her up, or selling her, as my judgment might approve, I
will, unless I receive contrary orders from you, dispose of her by
sale, upon my arrival in Europe. As the war is likely to continue
for two or three years yet, it would be a useless expense to keep a
vessel so comparatively worthless, so long at her anchors. I will
cause to be sent to the Alabama, the Sumter's chronometers, and
other nautical instruments and charts, and the remainder of her
officers and crew.
In conclusion, permit me to thank you for this new proof of your
confidence, and for your kind intention to nominate me as one of
the " Captains," under the new navy bill. I trust I shall prove
myself worthy of these marks of your approbation.
I was delayed several very anxious weeks in Nassau, wait
ing for an opportunity to return to Europe. The Alabama, I
knew, was nearly ready for sea, and it was all-important that
she should be gotten out of British waters, as speedily as pos
sible, because of the espionage to which I have referred. But
there was no European-bound vessel in Nassau, and I was
forced to wait. Lieutenant Sinclair having had a passage
offered him, in an English steamer of war, as far as Halifax,
availed himself of the invitation, intending to take the mail-
steamer from Halifax for England. As he would probably ar
rive a week or two in advance of myself, I wrote to Captain
Bullock by him, informing him of my having been appointed
to the command of the Alabama, and requesting him to hurry
that ship off to her rendezvous, without waiting for me. I
could join her at her rendezvous. As the reader will here
after see, this was dene.

354 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
I passed the time of my enforced delay at Nassau, as com
fortably as possible. The hotel was spacious and airy, and the
sea-breeze being pretty constant, we did not suffer much from
the heat. I amused myself, watching from my windows, with
the aid of an excellent glass, the movements of the blockade-
runners. One of these vessels went out, and another returned,
every two or three days ; the returning vessel always bring
ing us late newspapers from the Confederacy. The fare of the
hotel was excellent, particularly the fish and fruits', and the
landlord was accommodating and obliging. With Maffitt, Kell,
Gait, Stribling, and other Confederate officers, and some very
pretty and musical Confederate ladies, whose husbands and
brothers were engaged in the business of running the block
ade, the time would have passed pleasantly enough, but for the
anxiety which I felt about my future movements.
Maffitt, in particular, was the life of our household. He knew
everybody, and everybody knew him, and he passed in and
out of all the rooms, sans ceremonie, at all hours. Being a
jaunty, handsome fellow, young enough, in appearance, to pass
for the elder brother of his son, a midshipman who was to go
with me to the Alabama, he was a great favorite with the
ladies. He was equally at home, with men or women, it being
all the same to him, whether he was wanted to play a game of
billiards, take a hand at whist, or join in a duet with a young
lady — except that he had the good taste always to prefer the
lady. Social, gay, and convivial, he was much courted and flat
tered, and there was scarcely ever a dining or an evening
party, at which he was not present. But this was the mere
outside glitter of the metal. Beneath all this bagatelle and
dolcefar niente, Maffitt was a remarkable man. At the first blast
of war, like a true Southerner — he was a North Carolinian
by birth — he relinquished a fine property in the city of Wash
ington, which was afterward confiscated by the enemy, re
signed his commission in the Federal Navy, and came South
to tender his services to his native State. Unlike many other
naval men, he had the capacity to understand the nature of
the Government under which he lived, and the honesty to give
his allegiance, in a cross-fire of allegiances, where his judg
ment told him it was due.

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 355
He was a perfect master of his profession, not only in its
practical, but in its more scientific branches, and could handle
his ship like a toy. Brave, cool, and full of resource, he was
equal to any and every emergency that could present itself in
a sailor's life. He made a brilliant cruise in the Florida, and
became more famous as a skilful blockade-runner than any
other man in the war. This man, whose character I have not
at all overdrawn, was pursued by the Yankee, after his resig
nation, with a vindictiveness and malignity peculiarly Puri
tan — to his honor be it said. With Maury, Buchanan, and
other men of that stamp, who have been denounced with equal
bitterness, his fame will survive the filth thrown upon it by a
people who seem to be incapable of understanding or appreci
ating noble qualities in an enemy, and devoid of any other
standard by which to try men's characters, than their own sec
tional prejudices. We should rather pity than contemn men
who have shown, both during and since the war, so little mag
nanimity as our late enemies have done. The savage is full
of prejudices, because he is full of ignorance. His intellec
tual horizon is necessarily limited; he sees but little, and
judges only by what he sees. His own little world is the
world, and he tries all the rest of mankind by that stand
ard. Cruel in war, he is revengeful and implacable in peace.
Better things are ordinarily expected of civilized men. Edu-'
cation and civilization generally dispel these savage traits.
They refine and soften men, and implant in their bosoms
the noble virtues of generosity and magnanimity. The New
England Puritan seems to have been, so far as we may judge
him by the traits which have been developed in him during
and since the war, an exception to this rule. With all his pre
tensions to learning, and amid all the appliances of civilization
by which he has surrounded himself, he is still the same old
Plymouth- Rock man, that his ancestor was, three centuries
ago. He is the same gloomy, saturnine fanatic; he has the
same impatience of other men's opinions, and is the same
vindictive tyrant that he was when he expelled Roger Wil
liams from his dominions. The cockatrice's egg has hatched
a savage, in short, that refuses to be civilized.
The Oreto was in court whilst I was in Nassau ; the Attorney-

356 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
General of the colony having libelled her for a breach of the
British Foreign -Enlistment Act. After a long and tedious trial,
during which it was proved that she had left England unarmed.
and unprovided with a warlike crew, she was released, very
much to the gratification of my friend, Maffitt, who had been
anxiously awaiting the result of the trial. This energetic offi
cer throwing himself and Stribling on board of her, with such
other officers and men as he could gather on short notice, ran
the blockade of the enemy's cruisers, the following night, and
the next morning found himself on the high seas, with just
five firemen, and fourteen deck hands! His hope was to get
his armament on board, and after otherwise preparing his ship
for sea, to recruit his crew from the neutral sailors always to
be found on board the enemy's merchant-ships.
Arriving at Green Key, the rendezvous, which had been con
certed between himself, and our agent at Nassau, Mr. J. B.
Lafitte, he was joined by a schooner, on board which his bat
tery and stores had been shipped, and forthwith set himself at
work to arm and equip his ship. So short-handed was he,
that he was obliged to strip off his own coat, and in company
with his officers and men, assist at the stay-tackles, in hoisting
in his heavy guns. The work was especially laborious, under
the ardent rays of an August sun, but they toiled on, and at
the end of five days of incessant labor, which well-nigh ex
hausted all their energies, they were enabled to dismiss their
tender, and steam out upon the ocean, and put their ship in
commission. The English flag, which the Oreto had worn, was
hauled down, and amid the cheers of the crews of the two
vessels, the Confederate States flag was hoisted to the peak of
the Florida.
A number of the men by this time, were unwell. Their
sickness was attributed to the severity of the labor they had
undergone, in the excessive heats that were prevailing. The
Captain's steward died, and was buried on the afternoon on
which the ship was commissioned. At sunset of that day,
• Captain Maffitt called Lieutenant Stribling into his cabin, and
imparted to him the startling intelligence that the yellow fever
was on board ! The sick, now constantly increasing in num
ber, were separated from the well, and the quarter-deck became

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 357
a hospital. There being no surgeon on board, Maffitt was com
pelled to assume the duties of this officer, in addition to his
own, already onerous. He devoted himself with untiring zeal
to the welfare of his stricken crew, without intermission, by
night or by day. On the fifth day after leaving Green Key,
the Florida found herself off the little island of Anguila. By
this time the epidemic had reduced her working crew to one
fireman, and four deck hands.
It was now no longer possible to keep the sea, and Maffitt
evading the blockade of the enemy — a happy chance having
drawn them off in chase — ran his ship into the port of Carde
nas, in the island of Cuba. Here he was received kindly by
the authorities and citizens, but as the yellow fever was epi
demic on shore, no medical aid could be obtained. Stribling
was now dispatched to Havana for a surgeon, and to ship a
few men, if possible. Helpless and sad, the suffering little
crew awaited his return. One by one, the officers were attacked
by the disease, until Maffitt, was left almost alone, to nurse, and
administer remedies to the patients. But things were not yet
at their worst. On the 13th of August, Maffitt was himself
attacked. On the afternoon of that day he sent for his clerk,
and when the young gentleman had entered his cabin, said to
him: "I 've written directions in regard to the sick, and
certain orders in relation to the vessel; also some private
letters, which you will please take charge of." Upon the
clerk's asking him why this was done, he informed him that
"he had all the symptoms of yellow fever, and as he was
already much broken down, he might not survive the attack."
He had made all the necessary preparations for his own treat
ment, giving minute written directions to those around him
how to proceed, and immediately betook himself to his bed —
the fever already flushing his cheeks, and parching his veins.
There was now, indeed, nothing but wailing and woe on board
the little Florida.
In two or three days Stribling returned from Havana, bring
ing with him twelve men ; and on the day after his return, Dr.
Barrett, of Georgia, hearing of their helpless condition, vol
unteered his services, and became surgeon of the ship. On
the 22d, young Laurens, the captain's son — whilst his father

358 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
was unconscious — breathed his last ; black vomit having
assailed him, in twenty-four hours after he had been taken
down with the fever ; so virulent had the disease now become.
He was a fine, brave, promising lad, greatly beloved, and deeply
regretted by all. On the 23d, the Third Assistant Engineer
died. The sick were now sent to the hospital on shore, and
nearly all of them died. Dr. Gilliard, surgeon of a Spanish gun
boat in the harbor, now visited the Captain, and was exceed
ingly kind to him. On the 24th, a consultation of physicians
was held, and it was decided that Maffitt's case was hopeless.
But it so happened that the disease just then had reached its
crisis, and a favorable change had taken place. The patient
had not spoken for three days, and greatly to the surprise of
all present, after one of the physicians had given his opinion,
he opened his eyes, now beaming with intelligence, and said
in a languid voice : "You are all mistaken — I have got too
much to do, and have no time to die."
He convalesced from that moment. On the 28th, Major
Helm, our agent in Havana, telegraphed that, for certain rea
sons, the Captain-General desired that the Florida would come
round to Havana, and remain until the health of her crew
should be restored. The Captain-General probably feared that in
an undefended port like Cardenas, some violence might be com
mitted upon the Florida by the Federal cruisers, in violation
of Spanish neutrality. Accordingly, on the 30th the Florida
got under way, and proceeded for Havana, where she arrived
the next day. The reader naturally wonders, no doubt, where
the Federal cruisers were, all this time. Maffitt remained here
only a day, finding it impossible, owing to the stringent orders
of neutrality that were being enforced, to do anything in the
way of increasing his crew, or refitting his ship. Getting his
ship under way, again on the 1st of September, he now resolved
to run into Mobile. At two P. M. on the 4th of that month
Fort Morgan was made, when it was found that three of the
enemy's cruisers lay between the Florida and the bar. Maffitt
was assisted on deck, being too weak yet to move without
assistance. Having determined that his ship should not fall
into the hands of the enemy, he had made suitable prepara
tions for blowing her up, if it should become necessary. He now

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 359
hoisted the English ensign and pennant, and stood boldly on.
His very boldness staggered the enemy. He must certainly
be, they thought, an English gunboat. The Oneida, the flag
ship of Commander Preble, the commanding officer of the
blockading squadron, attempted to throw herself in the Flori
da's path, first having hailed her and commanded her to stop.
But the latter held on her course so determinedly, that the for
mer, to prevent being run down, was obliged to stop, herself,
and reverse her engine.
Preble, now undeceived as to the possibility of the Florida's
being an Englishman, opened fire upon her, as did the other
two ships. The Oneida's broadside, delivered from a distance
of a few yards only, cut away the Florida's hammocks, smashed
her boats, and shattered some of her spars. The three enemy's
vessels now grouped themselves around the daring little craft,
and fired broadside after broadside at her, during the chase
which ensued. One eleven-inch shell entering the Florida's
side, only a few inches above the water-line, passed entirely
through her, before the fuse had time to explode it. If the
enemy had been a little farther off, the Florida must have been
torn in pieces by the explosion. Another shell entered the
cabin. The fore-topmast and fore-gaff were shot away. In
short, when it is recollected that she was nearly two hours
under this tremendous fire, the wonder is that she escaped with
a whole spar, or a whole timber.
Maffitt, meantime, had not cast loose a gun. He had no
crew with which to man his battery. What few sailors he
had, he had sent below, except only the man at the wheel, that
they might be less exposed. But they were not safe, even
here, for the shell which we have described as passing through
the ship, took off one man's head, and seven others were
wounded by splinters. My ex-lieutenant of the Sumier, Strib
ling, merited, on this occasion, the praise I have bestowed
on him, in drawing his portrait. He is described by an eye
witness to have been as cool and self-possessed, as if there had
been no enemy within a hundred miles of him. To make a
long story short, the gallant little Florida finally escaped her
pursuers, and, in a shattered condition, ran in and anchored
near Fort Morgan. As the reader may suppose, her English

360 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT.

was exchanged for her own stars and bars, as soon as tha
enemy opened upon her. This was the most daring and gal
lant running of a blockade that occurred during a war so
fruitful of daring and gallant acts., After repairing and re
fitting his vessel, my gallant friend dashed again through the
enemy's fleet, now much increased in numbers, and com
menced that career on the high seas, which has rendered his
name one of the notable ones of the war. He lighted the seas
with a track of fire, wherever he passed, and sent consterna
tion and alarm among the enemy's shipping. A correspondent
of a Northern paper, writing from Havana, thus speaks of
Maffitt and his craft : —
" The rebel man-of-war, privateer or pirate Florida, otherwise
known as the Oreto, has safely arrived in this port, although she
was chased up to the very walls of the Moro Castle by the Mobile
blockading squadron, nine in number. The chase was a most excit
ing one, but, unfortunately, without the result so much to be desired.
" It appears that the pirate Maffitt came out of the port of Mobile
with as much impudence as he entered it. The steamer seems to
have been well punished with shot and shell from the Federal ships,
and it is reported that she lost her first lieutenant, and sixteen men
killed by a shell from one of the men-of-war.
*******
" From reliable information, I am enabled to state, or, rather, I
am convinced, that this vessel will sail for the East Indies in a few
days. Our Government had better look out for her advent in those
waters. Captain Maffitt is no ordinary character. He is vigorous,
energetic, bold, quick, and dashing, and the sooner he is caught and
hung, the better will it be for the interests of our commercial com
munity. He is decidedly popular here, and you can scarcely ima
gine the anxiety evinced to get a glance at him."
We may return now to the movements of the writer. After
long waiting at Nassau, the Bahama, the steamer in which
Stribling and Howell had come over from Hamburg, was ready
to return, and I embarked on board of her, with my staff, and
after a passage of some three weeks, landed in Liverpool, just
in time to find that the bird had flown. The Alabama had
steamed a few days before, for her rendezvous, where, in dua
time, we will follow her.

CHAPTER XXVIII.
A BRIEF RESUME OF THE HISTORY OF THE WAR, BE
TWEEN THE COMMISSIONING OF THE SUMTER AND THE
COMMISSIONING OF THE ALABAMA  SECRETARY MAL
LORY, AND THE DIFFICULTIES BY WHICH HE WAS SUR
ROUNDED — THE REORGANIZATION OF THE CONFED
ERATE STATES NAVY.
ALTHOUGH, as before remarked, I design only to write a
history of my own proceedings, during the late war, yet
it will be necessary, to enable the reader to understand these
proceedings correctly, to run a mere thread of the general his
tory of the war along parallel with them. I have done this
up to the date of commissioning the Sumter. It will now be
necessary to take up the thread again, and bring it down to
the commissioning of the Alabama. I shall do this very
briefly, barely enumerating the principal military events, with
out attempting to describe them, and glancing very cursorily
at the naval events.
We ran the blockade of the Mississippi, in the Sumter, as
has been seen, on the 30th of June, 1861. In July of that
year, the first great battle of Manassas was fought, to which
allusion has already been made. This battle gave us great
prestige in Europe, and contributed very much to the respect
with which the little Sumter had been received by foreign
powers. A long military pause now ensued. The enemy had
been so astonished and staggered by this blow, that it took
him some time to recover from its effects. He, however, turned
it to useful account, and set himself at work with great pa
tience, and diligence, at the same time, to collect and thor
oughly drill new troops. The victory, on the other hand, had
an unfavorable effect upon our own people, in giving them an
361

S62 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
undue impression of their superiority over their enemy, and
lulling them into supineness.
During the summer of 1861, two naval expeditions were
fitted out, by the enemy, and sent to operate against our coast
The first of these expeditions, under command of Commo
dore Stringham, captured two hastily constructed, and imper
fect earth- works at Hatteras Inlet on the coast of North Caro
lina, and made a lodgement on Pamlico Sound. The capture
of these works, is no otherwise remarkable, in a naval point
of view, than for the circumstance that a Confederate States
naval officer fell into the hands of the enemy, for the first time
during the war. Commodore Samuel Barron, of the Confeder
ate States Navy, commanded the forts, and surrendered, after a
gallant resistance, to the overwhelming force which assaulted
him, on condition that he should be treated as a prisoner of
war. The battle of Manassas had occurred to humble the
pride, and appeal to the fears of the enemy, and the condition
named by Barron was readily assented to. The other naval
expedition, under command of Commodore Dupont, captured
Port Royal, in South Carolina as mentioned in a former
page. The " Trent Affair," already described, came off in
November, 1861, and Commodore Hollins' attack upon the
enemy's fleet at the mouths of the Mississippi, in which he
gave him such a scare, occurred, as already related, in October
of the same year. This brings us to the close of the first year
of the war.
The year 1862 was big with events, which we will, for the
most part, merely string on our thread. The Confederates, in
the beginning of the year, occupied a position at Bowling
Green, in Kentucky, which was seemingly a strong position,
with railroad communication, in their rear, with ali parts ofthe
South, but they could not hold it, for the simple reason, that
the enemy, having command of the western rivers by means
of his superior naval force, penetrated into their rear, and thus
compelled a retreat. When the enemy, by means of his gun
boats, could send armies up the Cumberland and Tennessee
Rivers, to the heart of Tennessee and Alabama, it was folly to
think of holding Bowling Green, with our limited forces. Our
army fell back to Nashville, and even abandoned that city,

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 363
after the fall of Forts Henry and Donelson, whicn were cap
tured by the Federal forces, in February, 1862.
The evacuation of all these points, one after another, and
afterward the loss of Island No. 10, on the Mississippi, and
New Madridt were serious blows for us. But our disasters
did not end here. The battle of Shiloh followed, in which we
were defeated, and compelled to retreat, after we had, to all
appearance, gained a victory almost complete on the first day
of the fight. Naval disasters accompanied, or followed our
disasters upon the land. Early in 1862, a naval expedition
of the enemy, under the command of Commodore Goldsbor-
ough, entered Pamlico Sound, and captured Roanoke Island.
Commodore Lynch, of the Confederate States Navy, with six
or seven small, ill-armed gunboats, which had been improvised
from light and frail river steamers, assisted in the defence of
the island, but was obliged to withdraw before the superior
forces of the enemy. The enemy, pursuing his advantages,
followed Lynch's retreating fleet to Elizabeth City, in North
Carolina, where he captured or destroyed it.
The enemy was now not only in possession of the western
waters — Vicksburg and Port Hudson alone obstructing his
free navigation of the Mississippi as far down as New Orleans —
but Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds, in North Carolina, and the
bay of Port Royal in South Carolina and Georgia, were open
to him. To complete the circle of our disasters, New Orleans
was captured by Farragut and Porter, in April — the small
Confederate fleet under Commodore John K. Mitchell, making
a gallant but disastrous defence, in which it was totally de
stroyed, with great loss of life of both officers and men.
Let us turn now to a more pleasing picture ; for all was not
disaster for the Confederates, during the year 1862. In March
of that year, the memorable naval engagement occurred in
Hampton Roads, between the Confederate States iron-clad
steamer Virginia, and the enemy's fleet, resulting in the de
struction, by the Virginia, of two of the enemy's wooden
frigates. Great consternation and alarm were produced in the
enemy's fleet, and at Fortress Monroe, by Admiral Buchanan
and his armored ship, as well there might be, for the ship was
perfectly invulnerable, and but for her great draught of water

0*64 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
might have destroyed or driven off the whole Federal fleet.
Our people were greatly elated by this victory, coming as it
did, in the midst of so many disasters. It attracted great at
tention in Europe, also, as being decisive of the fate of all the
old-time wooden ships, which had, up to that period, composed
the navies of the world. It so happened, that the Federals
had completed the first of their Monitors, at this very time,
and this little iron ship, arriving opportunely, engaged the
Virginia on the second day of the fight. Like her great an
tagonist, she, too, was invulnerable, and the result was a drawn
battle. From this time onward, the enemy multiplied his
armored ships very rapidly, and it is scarcely too much to say,
that he is almost wholly indebted to them, for his success in
the war.
Another very creditable affair for the Confederates came off
on the 15th of May. In the interval between the fight of the
Virginia, with the enemy's fleet in Hampton Roads, and the
day last named, Norfolk had been evacuated, and the Virginia,
which had passed under the command of Commodore Tatnall,
was blown up. The consequence was that the James River
was open to the navigation of the enemy. Taking advantage
of this state of things, five of the enemy's gunboats, two of
which were iron-clad, ascended the river, with intent to reach,
and shell Richmond, if practicable. They met with no serious
obstruction, or any opposition, until they reached Drury's
Bluff. Here the river had been obstructed, and a Confederate
earth- work erected. The earth-work was commanded by Cap
tain Eben Farrand, of the Confederate States Navy, who had
some sailors and marines under him. The Federal fleet having
approached within 600 yards, opened fire upon the fort, which
it kept up for the space of three hours. It was so roughly
handled, however, by Farrand and his sailors, that at the end
of that time, it was obliged to retire, with several of its ves
sels seriously damaged. No further attempt was made during
the war, to reach Richmond by means of iron-clads ; the dose
which Farrand had given them was quite sufficient.
But the greatest of all the triumphs which crowned the Con
federate arms during this year of 1862, were the celebrated
campaigns of Stonewall Jackson, in the Shenandoah Valley

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 365
and the seven days' fighting before Richmond. I will barely
Btring these events, as I pass along. Banks, Fremont, and
Shields, of the enemy, were all operating in this valley, with
forces greatly outnumbering those of Jackson. The latter, by
a series of rapid and masterly movements, fell upon his ene
mies, one after the other, and defeated them all; Banks, in
particular, who having been bred to civil life, was devoid
of all military training, and apparently wanting, even, in that
first and most common requisite of a soldier, courage, flying
in disorder, and abandoning to his pursuer all the supplies
and materiel of a large and well-appointed army. Such frantic
efforts did he make to escape from Jackson, that he marched
thirty-five miles in a single day ; passing through the good old
town of Winchester, which he had formerly occupied, with so
many signs of trepidation and alarm, that the citizens received
him and his troops, with shouts of derisive laughter !
The enemy, after his defeat at Manassas, put General McClel-
lan in command of the Army of the Potomac, and the balance
of the year 1861 was devoted, by this officer, to the collecting
and drilling of troops. In the spring of 1862, he landed at
Fortress Monroe, with a splendidly appointed army of 90,000
men, provided with 55 batteries of artillery, consisting of 350
field-pieces. Magruder held him in check, for some time, with
11,000 men, which enabled the Confederate commanders to
gather together their forces, for the defence of Richmond. He
moved at length, was checked a while at Williamsburg, by
Longstreet, but finally deployed his immense forces on the
banks of the Chickahominy.
A series of battles now took place, commencing on the
30th of May, and extending through the month of June, which
resulted in the raising of the siege, and the total rout and
precipitate retreat of the Federal commander. I will barely
enumerate these battles, as follows : Seven Pines ; Mechanics-
ville and Beaver Dam ; Gaines' Mills ; Savage Station ; Fra-
zer's Farm; and Malvern Hill; — names sufficient alone to
cover the Confederate cause with immortal glory, in the
minds of all true men, as the highest qualities of courage,
endurance, patriotism, and self-sacrifice, that any men could be
capable of, were exhibited on those fields, destined to become
olassic in American annals

666 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
Following up the defeat of McClellan, by Johnston and Lee,
Stonewall Jackson gained his splendid victory of the Second
Manassas over Pope ; defeating him with great loss, and driv
ing him before him to the gates of Washington. Thus, not
withstanding our disasters in the West and South, an entirely
new face had been put upon the war in Virginia. The enemy's
capital, instead of Richmond, was in danger, and McClellan
was hastily withdrawn from Fortress Monroe, for its defence.
We must now pause, for we have brought the thread of the
war down to the commissioning of the Alabama, and the reader
will see with what forebodings, as well as hopes, we took the
sea, in that ship. The war may be said now to have been at
its height. Both the belligerents were thoroughly aroused,
and a few blows, well struck, on the water, might be of great
assistance. I resolved to attempt to strike these blows.
A few words, now, as to the status of the Confederate States
Navy. As remarked in the opening of these memoirs, the
Confederate States had no navy at the beginning of the war,
and the South being almost entirely agricultural, with few or
no ships, and but little external commerce, except such as was
conducted in Northern bottoms, had but very indifferent means
of creating one. Whilst the North was one busy hive of manu
facturing industry, with its ship-yards and work-shops, re
sounding, by night and by day, with the busy strokes of the
hammer, the adze, and the caulking-iron ; whilst its steam-mills
and foundries were vomiting forth their thick smoke from
their furnaces, and deafening the ears of their workmen by
the din of the trip-hammer and the whirr of the lathe ; and
whilst foreign material of every description was flowing into
open ports, the South had neither ship-yards nor work-shops,
steam-mills nor foundries, except on the most limited scale,
and all her ports were as good as hermetically sealed, so far as
the introduction of the heavy materials of which she stood in
need was concerned.
It will be seen what a difficult task the Secretary of the
Navy had before him, and how unjust are many of the cen
sures that were cast upon him, by persons unconversant with
naval affairs. Indeed, it is rather a matter of surprise, that so
much was accomplished with our limited means. Work-shops

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 367
and foundries were improvised, wherever it was possible to
establish them ; but the great difficulty was the want of the
requisite heavy machinery. We had not the means, in the
entire Confederacy, of turning out a complete steam-engine, of
any size, and many of our naval disasters are attributable to
this deficiency. Well-constructed steamers, that did credit to
the Navy Department and its agents, were forced to put to
sea, and to move about upon our sounds and harbors, with
engines disproportioned to their size, and incapable of driving
them at a speed greater than five miles the hour.
The casting of cannon, and the manufacture of small arms,
were also undertaken by the Secretary, under the direction of
skilful officers, and prosecuted to considerable efficiency. But
it took time to accomplish all these things. Before a ship
could be constructed, it was necessary to hunt up the requisite
timber, and transport it considerable distances. Her armor,
if she was to be armored, was to be rolled also at a distance
and transported over long lines of railroad, piecemeal; her
cordage was to be picked up at one place, and her sails and
hammocks at another. I speak knowingly on this subject, as
I had had experience of many of the difficulties I mention,
in fitting out the Sumter in New Orleans. I was two months
in preparing this small ship for sea, practising, all the while,
every possible diligence and contrivance. The Secretary had
other difficulties to contend with. By the time he had gotten
many of his ship-yards well established, and ships well on
their way to completion, the enemy would threaten the locus in
quo, by land, and either compel him to attempt to remove
everything movable, in great haste, and at great loss, or
destroy it, to prevent it from falling into the hands of the
enemy. Many fine ships were, in this way, burned on the
very eve of completion.
It must be recollected, too, that in the early days of the war,
we had no finances. These were to be improvised along with
other things. I travelled to the North, on the mission which
has been described in these pages, on money borrowed from a
private banker. If we had had plenty of funds in the begin
ning of the war, it is possible that we might have accomplished
more than we did, in Europe, in the matter of getting out
24

368 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
ships to prey upon the enemy's commerce — that is, in the way
of purchase, for it soon became evident, from the experience we
had had, in building the Alabama, and other ships contracted
for by the Navy Department, that we could not rely upon con
structing them. The neutral powers became too watchful, and
were too much afraid of the Federal power. When the Govern
ment did put the Secretary in funds, several months had
elapsed, the war had begun, the coast was blockaded, and all
the nations of Europe- were on the alert.
With reference to the personnel of the Navy, a few words will
describe the changes which had taken place in its organization,
since I last referred to the subject. It will be recollected that
it then consisted of but four captains, four commanders, and
about thirty lieutenants, and that the writer was the junior, but
one, of the four commanders. A considerable accession was
made to the navy-list, as Virginia, North Carolina, and other
States seceded, and joined their fortunes with those of their more
impulsive sisters, the Cotton States. A number of old officers,
past service, disdaining to eat the bread of ignoble pensioners
upon the bounty of the Northern States, which were seeking
to subjugate the States of their birth or adoption, came South,
bringing with them nothing but their patriotism and their
gray hairs. These all took rank, as has been remarked, accord
ing to the positions they had held in the old service. These
old gentlemen, whilst they would have commanded, with great
credit, fleets and squadrons of well-appointed and well-offi
cered ships, were entirely unsuited.for such service as the
Confederacy could offer them. It became necessary, in conse
quence, to re-organize the Navy ; and although this was not
done until May, 1863, some months after the Alabama was
commissioned, I will anticipate the subject here, to avoid the
necessity of again referring to it. I had been promoted to the
rank of captain in the Regular Navy, in the summer of 1862.
The Act of May, 1863, established what was called the Provi
sional Navy ; the object being, without interfering with the
rank of the officers in the Regular Navy, to cull out from that
navy -list, younger and more active men, and put them in the
Provisional Navy, with increased rank. The Regular Navy
became, thus, a kind of retired list, and the Secretary of tha

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 369
N>avy was enabled to accomplish his object of bringing for
ward younger officers for active service, without wounding the
feelings of the older officers, by promoting their juniors over
their heads, on the same list. As late as December, 1861, we had
had no admirals in our Navy. On the 24th of that month, the
Act organizing the Navy was so amended, as to authorize the
appointment of four officers of this grade. There was but one
of these admirals appointed, up to the time of which I am
writing — Buchanan, who was promoted for his gallant fight
in the Virginia, with the enemy's fleet in Hampton Roads.
Buchanan, being already an admiral in the Regular Navy, was
now transferred to the Provisional Navy, with the same rank ;
and the captains' list of this latter Navy was so arranged that
Barron stood first on it, and myself second. I was thus, the
third in rank in the Provisional Navy, soon after I hoisted
my pennant on board the Alabama. In reviewing these
matters, my only regret now is, that the older officers of
whom I have spoken, and who made so many sacrifices for
principle — sacrifices that have hastened several of them to the
tomb, were not made admirals on the regular or retired list.
The honors would have been barren, it is true, as no com
mands, commensurate with the rank, could have been given
them, but the bestowal of the simple title would have been
a compliment, no more than due to veterans, who had com
manded squadrons in the old service, and who had aban
doned all for the sake of their States. The reader is now in a
condition to accompany me, whilst I describe to him the com
missioning of the Alabama.

CHAPTER XXIX.
THE LEGALITY OF THE EQUIPMENT OF THE ALABAMA,
AND A FEW PRECEDENTS FOR HER CAREER, DRAWN
FROM THE HISTORY OF THE WAR OF 1776.
BEFORE I read my commission on the quarter deck of the
Alabama, I desire to say a word or two as to the legality
of her equipment, and to recall to the recollection of the reader
a few of the incidents of the war of the Revolution of 1776, to
show how inconsistent our Northern brethren have been, in the
denunciations they have hurled against that ship. Mr. Seward,
the Federal Secretary of State, and Mr. Charles Francis Adams,
who was the United States Minister, at the Court of St. James,
during the late war between the States, have frequently lost their
temper, when they have spoken of the Alabama, and denounced
her as a "pirate." In cooler moments, when they come to read
over the intemperate despatches they have been betrayed
into writing, they will probably be ashamed of them them
selves ; since these despatches not only contradict the truth of
history, and set at defiance the laws of nations, but stultify
themselves in important particulars.
Great stress has been laid, by both of these gentlemen, on
the foreign origin of the Alabama, forgetting entirely, not only
what was done by their ancestors in the war of 1776, but what
was attempted to be done by Mr. Gideon Welles, their own
Secretary of the Navy, in the year of grace 1861. I will re
fresh their memories on both these points, and first, as to the
latter. Mr. Welles attempted to do, nothing more nor less
than the Confederate States Secretary of the Navy, Mr. Mal
lory, did in the matter of building the Alabama — that is to
say, he endeavored to build some Alabamas in England him
self, but failed 1 This little episode in the history of the Fede
ral Navy Department is curious, and worthy of being pre-
370

MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT. 371
Berved as a practical commentary on so much of the des
patches of Messrs. Seward and Adams, as relates to the
foreign origin of my ship. The facts were published soon
after their occurrence, and have not been, and cannot be de
nied. They were given to the public by Mr. Laird, the gen
tleman who built the Alabama, and who was the party with
whom the Federal Navy Department endeavored to treat.
Mr. Laird was a member of the British Parliament, and
having been abused, without stint, as an aider and abettor of
" pirates," by the Northern newspapers, as soon as it became
known that he was the builder of the Alabama, he made a
speech in the House of Commons, in defence of himself, in
the course of which he stated the fact I have charged, to wit:
that Mr. Welles endeavored to make a contract with him, for
building some Federal Alabamas. Here is so much of his
speech as is necessary to establish the charge : — "In 1861,"
said he, "just after the war broke out, a friend of mine, whom
I have known for many years, was over here, and came to me
with a view of getting vessels built in this country, for the
American Government — the Northern Government. Its agent
in this country made inquiries ; plans and estimates were given
to my friend, and transmitted to the Secretary of the Ameri-
3an Navy. I will read an abstract from this gentleman's let
ter, dated the 30th of July, 1861. It is written from Wash
ington, and states: — 'Since my arrival here, I have had fre
quent interviews with our Department of Naval Affairs, and
am happy to say that the Minister of the Navy is inclined to
have an iron-plated ship built out of the country. This ship
is designed for a specific purpose, to accomplish a definite
object. I send you, herewith, a memorandum handed me
last evening from the Department, with the request that I
would send it to you, by steamer's mail of to-morrow, and
ask your immediate reply, stating if you will agree to
build such a ship as desired, how soon, and for how much, with
such plans and specifications as you may deem it best to
send me.' The extract from the memorandum states, that the
ship is to be finished complete, with guns and everything ap
pertaining On the 14th of August, I received another letter
from the same gentleman, from which the following s an ex-

372 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
tract: — ' I have this morning a note from the Assistant Secre
tary of the Navy, in which he says, " I hope your friends will
tender for the two iron-plated steamers." ' After this, the firm
with which I was lately connected, having made contracts to a
large extent with other persons, stated that they were not in a
condition to undertake any orders to be done in so short a time,
This was the reply: — 'I sent your last letter, received yester
day, to the Secretary of the Navy, who was very desirous to
have you build the iron-plated or bomb-proof batteries, and
I trust that he will yet decide to have you build one or
more of the gun-boats.'
" I think, perhaps, in the present state of the law in America,
I shall not be asked to give the name of my correspondent,
but he is a gentleman of the highest respectability. If any
honorable member wishes, I shall have no objection in hand
ing the whole correspondence, with the original letters, into
the hands of you, sir, [the Speaker of the House,] or of the
First Minister of the Crown, in strict confidence, because there
are communications in these letters, respecting the views of
the American Government, which I certainly should not
divulge, and which I have not mentioned or alluded to before.
But, seeing the American Government are making so much
work about other parties, whom they charge with violating
or evading the law, when, in reality, they have not done so, I
think it only fair to state these facts."
It thus appears that the Government of the United States
preceded us in the English market, having endeavored, a
whole year before the Alabama was built, to contract with
Mr. Laird for the building of iron-plated, and other ships, and
that the only reason why the contract was not made, was, that
Mr. Laird had taken already so much work in hand, that he
could not take " any new orders, to be done in so short a
time" — as that prescribed by Mr. Welles, for it seems that he
was in a hurry. The explanation probably is, that we had
offered Mr. Laird better terms than Mr. Welles, and this ia
the only reason why the Alabama was a Confederate, instead
of a Federal ship ! This speech of Mr. Laird caused no little
merriment in the House of Commons, for, as before remarked,
the Federal press, knowing nothing of these secret transactions

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 373
)
between Mr. Welles and Mr. Laird, had been denouncing the
latter for building the Alabama, in the coarse and offensive
language to which, by this time, it had become accustomed.
The disclosures could not but be ludicrous.
To dispose, now, of Mr. Seward's objection, that the Alabama
was foreign-built. The reader will see, in a moment, that
there is nothing in this objection, when he reflects that a ship
of war, in the light in which we are considering her, is a per
sonification, and not a mere material thing. If her personifica
tion be true, and unobjectionable, it matters not of what
materials she may be composed, whence those materials may
have been drawn, or where they may have been fashioned.
It is the commission which a sovereign puts on board a ship,
that causes her to personify the sovereign power, and it is
obviously of no importance how the sovereign becomes pos
sessed of the ship. It can make no difference to other nations,
so far as her character of ship of war is concerned, whether she
is fashioned out of the pines of Norway, or of Florida, or
whether the copper on her bottom comes from Lake Superior
or Peru ; or, finally, whether Englishmen, or Frenchmen, or
Americans shall have put her frame together, in either of their
respective countries. Even if she be built, armed, and equipped
in neutral territory, in plain violation of the neutral duty of
that territory, she is purged of this offence, so far as her char
acter of ship of war is concerned, the moment she reaches the
high seas, and is commissioned.
To apply this reasoning to the Alabama. If it be true, su
stated by Mr. Seward, that she was built in England, in vie
lation of the neutrality of that country, this might have sub
jected her to detention by England, or it might have raised a
question between the United States and England ; but the ship,
having once escaped, and been commissioned, her origin is
necessarily lost sight of, and neither England nor any other
country can afterward inquire into it. Indeed, there can be
no principle of the laws of nations plainer than this, that when
a ship is once commissioned by a sovereign power, no other
power can look into the antecedents of the ship. From the
moment that her commission is read on her quarter-deck, she
becomes the personification of the sovereign power, and ibt

374 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
(
sovereign avows himself responsible for all her acts. No one
of these acts can be impeached on the ground, that antecedently
to her becoming a ship of war, she committed some offence
against the laws of nations, or against the municipal law of
Borne particular nation.
This point was settled years before our war, by the Supremo
Court of the United States, in the case of the Santissima Trin
idad. It was alleged that that ship had been fitted out in the
United States, in violation of the neutrality laws — during a
war between Spain and her colonies — and the question arose
whether this invalidated her commission, as a ship of war.
Mr. Justice Story delivered the opinion of the court, in the
course of which he said: —
" In general, the commission of a public ship, signed by the proper
authorities of the nation to which she belongs [the nation to which
the Santissima Trinidad belonged, was the de facto nation of Bu
enos Ayres] is complete proof of her national character. A bill of
sale is not necessary to be produced, nor will the courts of a foreign
country inquire into the means by which the title to the property
has been acquired. It would be to exert the right of examining
into the validity of the acts of the foreign sovereign, and to sit in
judgment upon them in cases where he has not conceded the juris
diction, and where it would be inconsistent with his own supre
macy. The commission, therefore, of a public ship, when duly authen
ticated, so far at least as foreign courts are concerned, imports abso
lute verity, and the title is not examinable. The property must be
taken to be duly acquired, and cannot be controverted. This has
been the settled practice between nations, and it is a rule founded
in public convenience and policy, and cannot be broken in upon,
without endangering the peace and repose, as well of neutral as of
belligerent sovereigns.
" The commission in the present case is not expressed in the
most unequivocal terms, but its fair import and interpretation must
be deemed to apply to a public ship of the government. If we add
to this, the corroborative testimony of our own, and the British Con
sul at Buenas Ayres, as well as that of private citizens, to the noto
riety of her claim of a public character, and her admission into our
own ports as a public ship, with the immunities and privileges
belonging to such a ship, with the express approbation of our own
Government, it does not seem too much to assert, whatever may be
the private suspicion of a lurking American interest, that she must
be judicially held to be a public ship of the country, whose com
mission she bears."
This was a very strong case. The ship had not only been

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 375
fitted out in violation of the neutrality laws of the United
States, but the court intimates that she might also be Ameri
can owned ; but whether she was or not, was a fact into which
the court could not inquire, the commission, in the language
of the court, importing " absolute verity."
But it is not true, as we shall see hereafter, that the Alabama
violated either the laws of nations, or the municipal law of Eng
land. The next question which presents itself for our consid
eration is, Was the Alabama properly commissioned by a sov
ereign power? No question has ever been raised as to the
bona fides, or form of her commission. Mr. Seward even has
not attacked these. Our question, then, will be reduced to this,
Was she commissioned by a sovereign power ? The answer
to this question is, that a de facto government is sovereign, for
all the purposes of war, and that the Confederate States were a
de facto government ; so acknowledged by the United States
themselves, as well as by the other nations of the earth. The
United States made this acknowledgment, the moment Presi
dent Lincoln issued his proclamation declaring a blockade of
the Southern ports ; and they acted upon the doctrine that we
were belligerents during the whole war, by treating with ua
for the exchange of prisoners of war.
This was no concession on their part. We had become
strong enough to compel them to this course, in spite of them
selves. In other words, we had become strong enough to
make war, and when this is the case, let us see what Vattel
says is the duty of the other party : " The sovereign indeed,
never fails to bestow the appellation of ' rebels ' on all such of
his subjects as openly resist him ; but when the latter have ac
quired sufficient strength to give him effectual opposition, and
to oblige him to carry on the war against them, according to
the established rules, he must necessarily submit to the use of
the term ' civil war.' It is foreign to our purpose in this place,
to weigh the reasons which may authorize and justify a civil
war. We have elsewhere treated of cases in which subjects
may resist their sovereign. Setting, therefore, the justice of
the case wholly out of the question, it only remains for us to
consider the maxims which ought to be observed in a civil
war and to explain whether the sovereign is, on such occa-

376 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
sions, bound to conform to the established laws of war. A
civil war breaks the bands of society and government, or at
least suspends their force and effect ; it produces in the nation
two independent parties, which consider each other as enemies,
and acknowledge no common judge. These two parties, there
fore, must necessarily be considered as constituting, at least for a
time, two separate bodies, two distinct societies. Though one
of the parties may have been to blame in breaking the unity
of the State, and resisting the lawful authority, they are not the
less divided in fact. Besides, who shall judge them ? Who
shall pronounce on which side the right or wrong lies ? On
earth they have no common superior. They stand, therefore,
in precisely the same predicament as two nations, who engage
in a contest, and being unable to come to an agreement, have
recourse to arms." This was the law of nations as expounded
by Vattel more than a century ago. He tells us that when
even a revolt or rebellion has acquired sufficient magnitude
and strength, to make " effectual opposition to the sovereign," it
is the duty of that sovereign to talk of " civil war," and not
of " rebellion," and to cease to call his former subjects " rebels."
How much more was it the duty of the Northern States, in a war
'which was a war from the beginning, waged by States against
States, with all the forms and solemnities of war, and with
none of the characteristics of a secret revolt or rebellion, to
treat us as belligerents, even if they denied the de jures of our
movement ? But even according to the law laid down by Vat
tel, the United States, and the Confederate States stood "pre
cisely in the same predicament," with regard to all the rights,
duties, and obligations growing out of the war. That is to
say, they were, quoad the war, the equals, one of the other, and
whatever one of them might do, the other might do.
Hence it follows, that if the United States could build Ala-
bamas, and capture the ships of her enemy, so could the Con
federate States. And if Mr. Welles, the Federal Secretary of
the Navy, could go into the ship-yards on the Mersey, and en
deavor to contract for the delivery to him of a ship or ships
of war, " to be finished complete," in the words of Mr. Laird's
correspondent, " with guns, and everything appertaining, "' it is
difficult to perceive, why Mr. Mallory, the Secretary cf tha

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 377
Confederate States Navy, might not go into the same ship
yards, and contract for the delivery to him, of an incomplete
ship, without any guns at all !
But further, with reference to the right of the Confederate
States to be regarded as a de facto government, invested with all
the rights of war. The Supreme Court of the enemy himself
affirmed this right, early in the war. When the Federal naval
officers — the Southern renegades, who have been before alluded
to, among the rest — began to grow rich by the capture of block
ade runners, it became necessary, of course, to condemn the prizes
before they could get hold of their prize-money. Some of these
cases went up to the Supreme Court, on writ of error, and I shall
quote from a case, known as the "Prize Case," reported in 2d Black,
635. This case was decided as early as the December Term,
1862, and Mr. Justice Greer delivered the opinion of the court.
The question arose upon the capture of some English ships
which had attempted to run the blockade. These ships could
not be condemned, unless there was a lawful blockade, which
they had attempted to break ; and there could not be a lawful
blockade, unless there was a war, and not a mere insurrection,
as Mr. Seward, with puerile obstinacy, had so long maintained ,
and there could not be a war without, at least, two parties to
it, both of whom must be belligerents ; and it is of the essence
of belligerency, as has been seen, that the parties belligerent
should be equal, with reference to all the objects of the war.
The vessels were claimed by the neutral owners, on Mr.
Seward's own ground, to wit : that the war, not being a war,
but an insurrection, there could be no such thing as a blockade
predicated of it. Mr. Justice Greer, in delivering the opinion
of the court, among other things said : " It [the war] is not the
less a civil war, with belligerent parties in hostile array, be
cause it may be called an ' insurrection ' by one side, and the
insurgents be considered as rebels and traitors. It is not
necessary that the independence of the revolted Province or
State be acknowledged, in order to constitute it a party belli
gerent in a war, according to the laws of nations. Foreign
nations acknowledge it as a war, by a declaration of neutrality.
The condition of neutrality cannot exist, unless there be two
belligerent parties. In the case of the Santissima Trinidad

378 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
(7 Wheaton, 337) this court says : ' The Government of the
United States has recognized the existence of a civil war
between Spain and her colonies, and has avowed her deter
mination to remain neutral between the parties. Each party
is, therefore, deemed by us a belligerent, having, so far as con
cerns us, the sovereign rights of war.'"
The belligerent character of the Confederate States was thus
acknowledged by the highest judicial tribunal of the United
States, and the prizes were condemned to the captors ; and a
precedent is cited by the court, in which the United States
recognized the right of the revolted Spanish colonies, such as
Columbia, Buenos Ayres, and Mexico, who were then in consi-
mili casu with the Confederate States, to build and equip Ala-
bamas to prey upon Spanish commerce, not as a mere matter
of power simply, but in the exercise of the " sovereign rights
of war," under the laws of nations.
With regard to the new American republics, thus acknowl
edged by the United States as belligerents, it will be recol
lected that one of the first acts of Mr. John Quincy Adams,
when he became President of the United States, was to recom
mend the passage of a law authorizing him to send members
to a Congress of all the American States, to be assembled at
Panama. Under this law, members of that Congress were
actually appointed — though they never proceeded to their
destination — and Mr. Clay, then Secretary of State, and who
had been among the foremost to advocate the recognition of
the independence of the South American republics, prepared
an elaborate and eloquent letter of instructions for their guid
ance, in which he dwelt upon the very principles I am now
invoking. The republics, whose ambassadors it was thus pro
posed to meet, in an International Congress, were nothing more
than de facto governments, like the Confederate States, the
independence of neither one of them having been acknowledged,
as yet, by Spain.
I may further mention, as a matter of historical notoriety,
tnat it was a common practice for the cruisers of those young
republics, to carry their prizes into the ports of the United
States, and there have them condemned and sold. The San
tissima Trinidad referred to in the case from the Sr preme Court

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 379
above quoted, was one of these cruisers, with nothing more
behind her than a de facto government, and she was held to be
a belligerent, and to be possessed, as such, of all the " sovereign
rights of war," under the laws of nations. What renders these
transactions the more remarkable, in the light of recent events,
and in the face of the denunciations which have been hurled
against the Alabama by the Federal Government, because of
her foreign origin, is, that most of these cruisers were, in fact,
American ships, not only built and equipped in the United
States, but officered and manned by citizens of the Northern
States, who had gone southward in quest of plunder ! Many
of these ships were fitted out on speculation, in the United
States, and sailed from Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and
Baltimore, fully armed and equipped for war, with enlisted crews
on board.
A case of this kind came under my own actual observation.
I was serving as a midshipman on board the old sailing sloop-
of-war Erie. We happened in at the Swedish Island of St.
Bartholomew, in the West Indies, during the war between
Buenos Ayres and Spain. We were on our way from New
York to one of the South American ports, to land General
William H. Harrison, afterward President of the United States,
who had been appointed, by President John Quincy Adams,
Minister to Colombia. In St. Bartholomew we found at anchol
a Buenos Ayrean cruiser called the Federal. This was a Bai
timore-built schooner — Baltimore in those days being famous
above all the other American ports, for building fast vessels of
this class. Her captain, and all her officers, and a large pro
portion of her crew, were Americans. This vessel, we ascer
tained, had boarded an American ship a few days "before, and
taken from on board of her a portion of her cargo, under the
pretence that it was Spanish property. This being in our view
a violation of the laws of nations (as whether the property was
Spanish or not, we held that " free ships made free goods "),
we resolved to commit one of those outrages against neutral
rights which have become so common in our day, by seizing
the cruiser. Admitting the act of the cruiser to have been
wrongful, the argument, so far as her seizure by us was con
cerned, was all against us, and might have been contained in a

380 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
" nutshell ; " but our captain, if he had ever read any interna
tional law, which was exceedingly doubtful, had read it, like
Wilkes, wrong end foremost, and "went it blind," being quite
sure of popular applause from the b'hoys at home, and stand
ing in no fear of consequences so far as Buenos Ayres was
concerned, as she was so weak that the Great Republic might
kick her with impunity.
We first demanded her of the Governor of the island, as a
"pirate." The Governor replied, that she was a commissioned
ship, with a de facto government behind her, and that she could
not, so long as she retained this character, be guilty of piracy.
Further, that if she were a pirate, she was hostis humani generis,
and Sweden, within whose waters she was, was as competent
to deal with her, as the United States. He ended by inform
ing us, that in whatever category the vessel might be placed,
being in neutral jurisdiction, she could not be dealt with for
cibly by the captain of the Erie, and notified us, that if we
attempted it, he would fire upon us. The Federal was moored
under the guns of the fortification which protected the harbor,
and the following night, we fitted out a boat expedition, pulled
in under cover of the darkness — the night being black and
squally — and boarded her, and brought her out; the Gover
nor being as good as his word, and firing upon us, though
without effect, as soon as he discovered the movement. This
was my first indoctrination in the laws of the sea I and the
first occasion on which I ever heard a shot fired in anger.
Sweden remonstrated, and the United States apologized, and
there the matter ended. I have mentioned the incident to
show, that the very cruisers which the Supreme Court of the
United States was protecting by its decisions, were nothing
more than American vessels, under belligerent flags, holding
commissions under de facto governments.
But I have another precedent or two, to which to call the
attention of the reader. It is a very useful practice for nations
to pause occasionally, and look back upon their own history.
It teaches them many lessons, which they would not otherwise
learn. It shows them how to avoid inconsistencies, and pre
vents them from becoming dishonest as circumstances change.
But, above all, it teaches them that man is a poor, weak crea-

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 381
ture, selfish and corrupt, guided by the instincts and inspira
tions of the moment; and that his reason — that God-like
attribute, which distinguishes him from the brute — is so fal
lible, that he rarely sees a truth, if that truth militate against
his supposed interests. It makes all the difference in the
world, whether a man's bull gores his neighbor's ox, or his
neighbor's bull gores his ox. The Yankee ship-owners and
ship-masters cried out, in pain, as the Sumter and Alabama
were capturing and destroying their ships, and called both of
these cruisers "pirates." I design now to show how the
Yankee ship-owners and ship-masters, of a generation or two
back, captured and burned English ships, and took great
credit to themselves for their exploits, not dreaming that they
were pirates.
The precedents which I design to cite will be drawn from
the history of the war of 1776 ; it will be necessary, therefore
to run a brief parallel between that war and the war of 1861,
to show that the precedents established in the former are ap
plicable to the circumstances of the latter. To lay aside,
entirely, the question of the right of the Southern States to
secede, and to put the war between the States on no higher
ground than that between the Colonies and Great Britain,
which was a mere rebellion, the following parallel appears : —
The original thirteen Colonies, when they formed a part of
the British Government, declared their independence of that
Government. The Confederate States did the same against the
United States. Great Britain made war upon the Colonies in
consequence of this declaration ; so did the United States
against the Confederate States. The Colonies claimed and
exercised the rights of war. So did the Confederate States.
The Colonies, in the exercise of these rights, destroyed much
of the commerce of Great Britain. So did the Confederate
States, with regard to the United States. Both the Colonies
and the Confederate States were de facto governments, when
this property was destroyed. Now, it can obviously make no
difference that the Colonies achieved their independence, and
that the Confederate States failed to achieve theirs. If what
the Colonies did was right, when they did it — that is to say,
when they were still a de facto government — what the Con-

382 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
federate States did must have been right for the same rea*yn.
The acknowledgment of the independence of the Colonies by
the parent country, whilst it had the effect to make them so
many nations of the earth, could add nothing to any rights
they before possessed, as belligerents, for they did not derive
these rights from their status de jure, but from their status de
facto ; nor did they derive them from Great Britain, but from
the laws of nations. It follows, that if nothing could be added
to these rights by the successful termination of the war, so
nothing could be taken away from them, by its unsuccessful
termination. The parallel thus appears perfect, in every par
ticular, so far as belligerent rights are concerned, and, of
course, it is only of these rights that we are now speaking.
With this introduction I proceed to produce tbe precedents.
Mr. James Fenimore Cooper, the Naval Historian of the
United States, is the author whom I shall quote, and his au
thority will certainly not be disputed north of the Potomac.
One of the earliest cruises of the war of 1776, was made by
Captain, afterward Commodore, John Paul Jones. This gen
tleman, in command of a vessel called the Providence, in the
summer of 1776, made a foray among the British fishermen,
on the Banks of Newfoundland, taking no less than twelve
sail, and returning to Newport, in Rhode Island, at the end of
his cruise, having made sixteen prizes in all. The Alabama
never flew at such small game as this. Although she cruised,
as the reader will see a little further on, for some time off these
same Banks of Newfoundland, she never deprived a Yankee
fisherman of his "catch of cod."
Jones commanded a regular ship of war, but it was the pri
vateers that were the most numerous and destructive. With
reference to this class of vessels, the historian tells us that
"Most of the Colonies had their respective cruisers at sea or on
their own coasts, and the ocean literally began to swarm with
privateers from all parts of the country, though New England
took the lead in that species of warfare. Robert Morris, in
one of his official letters, of a date later than that precise time,
remarks that the passion for privateering was so strong in this
particular part of the country, that even agriculture was aban
doned in order to pursue it."

DURING THE -WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 383
In another place, the historian tells us, that " As soon as the
struggle commenced in earnest, the habits of the people, their
aptitude for sea-service, and the advantages of both a public
and private nature, that were to be obtained from successful
cruising, induced thousands to turn their longing eyes to an
element that promised so many flattering results. Nothing but
the caution of Congress, which body was indisposed at first
to act as if general warfare, instead of a redress of grievances,
was its object, prevented a rushing toward the private cruisers,
that would probably have given the commerce of England a
heavier and more sudden blow than it had ever yet received.
But a different policy was pursued, and the orders to capture,
first issued, were confined to vessels bringing stores and sup
plies to the British forces in America. It was as late as No
vember, 1775, before Massachusetts, the colony which was the
seat of war, and which may be said to have taken the lead in
the revolt, established Courts of Admiralty, and enacted laws
for the encouragement of nautical enterprise."
The reader observes, from the above passage, from the his
torian, how "circumstances alter cases." The "nautical en
terprise " here spoken of, is the same kind of nautical enterprise
which has been charged, by virtuous Massachusetts, whose
people were in such haste to grow rich by privateering, against
the Alabama, as "piracy." The rush was not, it seems, to the
ships of war of the regular navy, to fight the battles of the
country, but to the privateers, which promised so many "flat
tering results." It took a little time to warm the Congress and
the people up to their work, but when they were once fairly
warmed, they took their jackets off and went at it with a will
as is the wont of us Americans.
Let us dip a little further into Mr. Cooper, and see what
more, these staid New Englanders, who now have such a horror of
"piracy," did. " The proceedings in Congress," he continues, " in
reference to assailing British commerce, as has been seen, were
reserved and cautious. War not being regularly declared, and
accommodation far from hopeless, the year 1775 was suffered to
pass away, without granting letters of marque and reprisal,
for it was the interest of the nation to preserve as many friends
in England as possible. As the breach widened, this forbear-
25

384 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
mg policy was abandoned, and the summer of 1776 let loose
the nautical enterprise of the country upon British commerce.
The effect was at first astounding. Never before had England
found an enemy so destructive to her trade, and during the
first two years of privateering that followed, something like
eight hundred sail of merchantmen were captured. After this
period, the efforts of the Americans necessarily lessened, while
the precautions of the enemy increased. Still these enterprises
proved destructive to the end of the war ; and it is a proof of
the efficiency of this class of cruisers to the last, that small
privateers constantly sailed out of the English ports, with a view
to make money by recapturing their own vessels; the trade
of America at this time, offering but few inducements to such
undertakings. "Among the vessels employed [the historian tells us there
were several hundred of them], the Halker, the Black Prince,
the Pickering, the Wild Cat, the Vengeance, the Marlborough,
in addition to those elsewhere named, were very conspicuous.
The Marlborough is said to have made twenty-eight prizes in
one cruise. Other vessels were scarcely less fortunate. Many
sharp actions occurred, and quite as often to the advantage of
the cruisers, as to that of the enemy. In repeated instances
they escaped from British ships of war, under favorable cir
cumstances, and there is no question that in a few cases
they captured them. * * * The English West India trade, in
particular, suffered largely by the private warfare of the
day. Two and fifty sail, engaged in this branch ofthe com
merce, are stated to have been captured as early as Febru
ary, 1777. The whole number of -captures made by the
Americans in this contest, is not probably known, but six hun
dred and fifty prizes are said to have been gotten into port.
Many others, were ransomed, and some were destroyed at sea.
There can be no minute accuracy in these statements, but the
injury done to the commerce of Great Britain was enormous,
and there can be no doubt, that the constant hazards it ran,
had a direct influence in obtaining the acknowledgment of the
independence of the United States of America, which great
event took place on the 20th of January, 1783."
We thus see how history repeats itself, and how prone men

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 385
tre to forget history. The "rebel pirates " of the Colonies —
for such they were, if we apply to them the polite nomencla
ture which became fashionable during our late war — less than
a century ago, were capturing, burning, and otherwise destroy
ing the commerce of Great Britain. The historian dwells
upon the record with pleasure, as an evidence of the patriotism,
and "nautical enterprise" of his countrymen; and this was
but natural in the historian of a commercial people. But
when the commerce of the same people becomes the object of
capture, in a war far more justifiable, than the war of 1776,
since it was waged by sovereign States, in defence of their
very existence, and not a mere rebellion, the cry is changed.
It is the wrong bull now which is goring the ox, and the Ala
bama and her consorts are committing unheard-of crimes and
atrocities. I call the reader's particular attention to the fact, that some
of the prizes of the Colonial cruisers were " destroyed at sea."
This same act when committed by the Sumter and Alabama
was barbarous, atrocious ! Now let me run a brief parallel
between the times of Paul Jones, by whom some of this burn
ing of British ships was done, and my own, to show how much
less excuse Jones had for such conduct, than I. In Jones' day,
all the commerce of the world was conducted in sailing ships,
and all the navies of the world were also composed of sailing
ships. The consequence was, that there was no such thing
known, as a stringent blockade ; for the simple reason, that
every gale of wind which arose, blew off the blockading ships
from before the blockaded ports, and it was, sometimes, days
before they could regain their stations. Besides, it is well
known to readers of American history, that Great Britain did
not, at any time during the Colonial war, attempt to blockade
all the ports of the Colonies. With a coast-line — from the St.
Croix to St. Mary's in Georgia — of fifteen hundred miles, this
would have been impossible, even with her great navy. The
Colonial cruisers had, therefore, at all times during the entire
war, some of their ports open into which to send their prizes.
Still they " destroyed some of them at sea."
Some ninety years now pass away, and a second; and £
greater war ensues for American principles — this time be-

386 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
tweer, the States themselves. In the meantime, the great and
powerful steamship has made her appearance upon the scene,
revolutionizing not only the commerce of the world, but tha
navies of the world. During the first months of the war, all
the principal ports of the Confederacy were blockaded, and it
was not long before every little nook and inlet was either in
possession of the enemy, or had one or more ships watching it.
These ships were not the old-time sailing ships, dependent
upon the winds and the weather for efficiency — they were
steamers, independent of both, having the ability " to hold on "
to the blockaded port, both by day and by night, with a tena
city little less than that of fate. Though it was possible for
fast steam blockade-runners, taking advantage of the darkness,
sometimes to elude the vigilance of these patient watchers, it
was utterly impossible for a sailing vessel to do so — and with
a rare exception, here and there, all my prizes would be sail
ing ships. Not only were all the Confederate ports thus her
metically sealed to me, but the ports of neutrals had also been
closed against me, as the reader has seen, by unfriendly procla
mations and orders in council. In short, during my whole
career upon the sea, I had not so much as a single port open to
me, into which I could send a prize.
What was expected of me under these circumstances? I
had shown every disposition, as the reader has seen, to avoid
the necessity of burning my prizes. I had sent prizes, both
into Cuba and Venezuela, with the hope that at least some of
the nations of the earth would relent, and let me in ; but the
prizes were either handed over to the enemy, on some fraudu
lent pretext, or expelled. Unlike Jones, I had no alternative.
There was nothing left for me but to destroy my prizes, and
this course had been forced upon me, by the nations of the
earth. How senseless and unjust, then, was the clamor raised
against me on this subject ; especially in the light of the pre
cedents which the enemy himself had set me ? Some senseless
prints even went so far as to declare that it was in violation
of the laws of war; but what is it that newspapers will not say,
during such a contest as that through which we have passed,
when reason is dethroned by the passions, and no longer sits in
tie judgment-seat? The right to destroy is as perfect, as tha

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 387
right to sell, or make any other disposition of the captured
ship. But has a captor the right to destroy before adjudica
tion? the reader may ask. Certainly. The enemy has no
right to adjudication at all. Courts of Admiralty_are not es
tablished for him. He has, and can have no standing in such
court. He cannot even enter an appearance there, either in
person, or by attorney ; and if he could, he would have nothing
to show, for his very status as an enemy would be sufficient
ground for condemning all the property he might claim. It
is only neutrals who can claim adjudication, and it is for the
benefit of these alone that Courts of Admiralty have been
established. And if any neutrals have suffered in the late
war, for want of adjudication, the fault is with their own gov
ernment, and not with the Confederate cruisers, as the reader
has just seen. To instance the Cienfuegos cases : what detri
ment could have arisen to Spain, if she had permitted my
prizes to remain within her jurisdiction, in the custody of my
own prize agent, until a prize court in New Orleans, or Mobile
could have adjudicated them ?

CHAPTER XXX.
THE EQUIPMENT OF THE ALABAMA ILLUSTRATED B?
THAT OF SUNDRY COLONIAL CRUISERS, DURING THE
WAR OF 1776 — BENJAMIN FRANKLIN AND SILAS DEANE,
AS CHIEFS OF A NAVAL BUREAU IN PARIS  THE SUR
PRISE, AND THE REVENGE — WICKES AND CONYNGHAM,
AND PAUL JONES.
"Mutato nomine
De te /alula narratur."
IN the last chapter, I gave some account of the operations
against British commerce, of certain ships of war and
privateers, fitted out in the home ports of the enemy ; but as
stress has been laid, as we have already seen, upon the foreign
origin of the Alabama, and it has been objected against her,
that her captures were illegal, and piratical, on that account,
it will be incumbent on me to show some cases on this point.
The naval history of the enemy abounds in them, but I will
content myself with adducing only a few, as specimens of the
rest. I design to show that the United States have produced
ships, the very counterparts of the Alabama, in every particu
lar, foreign origin and all, and used them with destructive
effect, against the commerce of their enemy. All readers of
American history are familiar with the names of Benjamin
Franklin, Silas Deane, and John Adams, for these distinguished
gentlemen played a very important part on the theatre of the
American Revolution. As they had much to do with the
naval affairs of the Colonies abroad, it is of them and their
doings that I would now speak. They were all Northern
men, were leaders, in their day, of Northern public opinion,
and their memories are justly held in high estimation, both
North and South. I shall vouch them for the legality of the
888

MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT. 389
origin oi the Alabama, as a ship of war, and justify by their
acts, and out of their mouths, all the doings of that ship upon
the high seas. I again have recourse to Fenimore Cooper.
" The Reprisal was the first American man-of-war, that ever
showed herself in the other hemisphere. She sailed from
home not long after the Declaration of Independence, and ap
peared in France, in the autumn of 1776, bringing in with her
several prizes, and having Dr. Franklin on board as a pas
senger." It is well known that Silas Deane followed Dr.
Franklin soon afterward, and it was not long before these two
Commissioners, who were sent to Europe, to look after the in
terests of the Colonies, just as Messrs. Mason and Slidell were
sent, in our day, to look after the welfare of the Confederate
States, went to work.
Dr. Franklin, in particular, was a great favorite with the
French people. He wore short breeches, with knee-buckles,
and silk stockings, and had the portly air, and bearing of a
philosopher. Having learned to fly kites when a boy, he had
turned the thing to some account when he had gotten to be a
man, and was also well known as the author of " Poor Rich
ard's Almanac," a book full of axiomatic wisdom, and wise saws.
He had a much better field before him, therefore, than Mr.
John Slidell had. " Tempora mutantur, et nos mutamur in illis;"
and Slidell found that the "philosophers" who had petted
Franklin, and the fair women who had played with the tassels
of his three-cornered hat, showered bouquets upon him, and
talked prettily of the new doctrines of liberty that were just then
coming in vogue, had all passed away. Neither philosophy,
liberty, or knee-buckles were at all fashionable at the French
Court when Slidell arrived there. In short, the people of
France had found out that this thing of getting up a revolution
for popular rights, however well it might suit other people,
did not suit Frenchmen, and they were tired of the matter.
They had, since Franklin's day, cut off the head of Louis
XVI., played at republics a while, pretty much as children
play at card-houses, now setting them up, and now knocking
them down again, and having gotten tired of the game, like
good children had gone back quietly to their old form of
despotism, under Napoleon III., and were content! Tha

390 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
sympathy which they had bestowed upon Franklin, and which
was productive of so many good results, in our first revolution,
had dried up in the second and greater revolution.
Having thus briefly introduced the Commissioners of the
Colonies to the reader, let us again look into Cooper, to see
what their business was in France, and how they performed
it. " In order," says this writer, " to complete the account of
the proceedings of the American Commissioners in Paris, so
far as they were connected with naval movements during the
years 1776 and 1777, it is necessary to come next to the affair
•of Captain Conyngham, which, owing to some marked circum
stances, made more noise than the cruises of the Reprisal and
Lexington, though the first exploits of the latter were anterior
as to time, and not of less consequence in their effects. While
the Commissioners were directing the movements of Captain
Wickes [we will come to these presently] in the manner that
has been mentioned, they were not idle in other quarters. A
small frigate was building at Nantes, on their account, and there
will be occasion to speak of her hereafter, under the name of
the Queen of France.
"Some time in the spring of 1777, an agent was sent to
Dover by the American Commissioners, where he purchased a
fine, fast-sailing, English-built cutter, and had her carried
across to Dunkirk. Here she was privately equipped as a
cruiser, and named the Surprise. To the command of this
vessel, Captain Gustavus Conyngham was appointed, by filling
up a blank commission from John Hancock, the President of
Congress. This commission bore date, March 1st, 1777, and,
it would seem, as fully entitled Mr. Conyngham to the rank
of captain in the Navy, as any other that was ever issued by
the same authority. Having obtained his officers and crew at
Dunkirk, Captain Conyngham sailed on a cruise about the 1st
of May, and on the 4th he took a brig called the Joseph," &c.
Now, it is to- be remarked, with reference to this passage,
that the Alabama, though built in England, was not armed or
equipped there, nor was her crew enlisted there ; whilst the
Surprise was not only "privately equipped as a cruiser," at
Dunkirk, a port of France, then at peace with England — for
France had not yet joined the Colonies in the war — but she got

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 391
all her officers and crew there, many of whom were French
men. And when she got up her anchor for a cruise, still
lying in the waters of France, she was a perfectly armed and
equipped ship of war. She could have engaged an enemy,
immediately upon passing beyond the marine league, whereas
the Alabama, when she left the Mersey, was entirely unarmed,
and without an enlisted crew, and could have been taken pos
session of by an enemy's cruiser as easily as any other mer
chant-ship. Mr. Seward insisted, with much vehemence, with
the English Government, that the Alabama was not entitled to
be regarded as a ship of war, but rather a "British pirate,"
because she had never been in a Confederate port. His latest
form of protest is found in a letter to Lord Stanley, the British
Secretary for Foreign Affairs, of the date of January 12th,
1867, as follows : —
" Lord Stanley excuses the reception of the vessels complained
of in British ports, subsequently to their fraudulent escapes and
armament, on the ground that when the vessels appeared in these
ports, they did so in the character of properly commissioned cruisers
of the Government of the so-styled Confederate States, and that
they received no more shelter, provisions, or facilities, than was
due to them in that character. This position is taken by his lord
ship in full view of the facts that — with the exception of the Sum
ter and. the Florida — none of the vessels named were ever found
in any place where a lawful belligerent commission could either be
conferred or received. It would appear, therefore, that, in the
opinion of her Majesty's Government, a British vessel, in order to
acquire a belligerent character against the United States, had only
to leave the British port where she was built, clandestinely, and
to be fraudulently armed, equipped, and manned anywhere in Great
Britain, or in any foreign country, or on the high seas ; and in some
foreign country, or upon the high seas, to set up and assume the
title and privileges of a belligerent, without even entering the so-
called Confederacy, or ever coming within any port of the United
States. I must confess that; if a lawful belligerent character can
be acquired in such a manner, then I am unable to determine by -
what different course of proceeding a vessel can become a pirate
and an enemy to the peace of nations."
Had Mr. Seward forgotten, when he wrote the above, the
case of Dr. Franklin's ship, the Surprise ? It will be recol
lected, too, that Mr. Adams, the United States Minister at the
Court of London, frequently protested, in his correspondence

392 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
with the English Foreign Office, against the Confederates being
permitted to have "stationed agents," at Liverpool, and else
where in the British dominions, conducting a " Naval Bureau."
Had he forgotten the " Naval Bureau " which was conducted
in France, by Dr. Franklin and Silas Deane, who were " sta
tioned agents " of the Colonies ? How they built, and pur
chased, and equipped, and commissioned ships, all in neutral
territory ; even filling up blank commissions sent out to them
by the Congress for the purpose ?
But to continue with our precedents. The career of the
Surprise was not a very long one. Having carried some prizes
into a French port, in violation of a treaty then existing be
tween France and Great Britain, providing that neither should
permit the enemies of the other to bring their prizes into her
ports, she was seized by the French authorities, and we hear
no more of her. But we do hear more, and that immediately,
from the Naval Bureau in Paris, under the guidance of Dr.
Franklin and Silas Deane. As soon as the seizure of the Sur
prise became known to the Commissioners, they dispatched one
of their agents, a Mr. Hodge, to Dunkirk, where he purchased
another cutter, which was fitted with all dispatch, as a cruiser,
as the Surprise had been. This second vessel was called the
Revenge, and " Captain Conyngham and his people," to use the
words of the historian, were transferred to her. A new com
mission was given to Conyngham, dated on the 2d of May,
1777, filled up, as before, by the Commissioners, and he soon
afterward proceeded to sea under it.
It will be seen with what indulgence, and even connivance
the Commissioners were treated by the French authorities. The
seizure of the Surprise was a mere blind, intended to satisfy
England. The ship herself was suffered to pass out of view,
but another ship was permitted to be equipped in her stead,
and the officers and crew of the old ship were transferred to
the new one, with little or no disguise, and the latter was suf
fered to depart on a cruise without molestation. Here was
another ship, which had never been in any port of the Colo-
aies, and which, according to Mr. Seward's vocabulary, was a
'pirate." Let us see what she did. "The Revenge," continues
the historian, "proved exceedingly successful, making prize*

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 393
daily, and generally destroying them. Some of the more valu
able, however, were ordered into Spain, where many arrived;
their arrival proving of great moment to the agents of the
American Government in Europe. It is even affirmed, that
the money advanced to Mr. Adams [the Mr. Adams, here
spoken of, was John Adams, afterward second President of the
United States, the grandfather of Mr. Charles Francis Adams,
Federal Minister to England during the war; and the antago
nism in which the grandfather, and grandson are placed, in
reference to the principles I am discussing, is one of the
curious revolutions of history] for travelling expenses, when
he arrived in Spain, a year or two later, was derived from this
source." The Revenge now disappears from view, as the Surprise had
done before her, and the historian takes up the Reprisal, the
ship, as we have seen, which carried Dr. Franklin over to
France. "The Reprisal, having refitted, soon sailed toward
the Bay of Biscay, on another cruise. Here she captured
several more vessels, and among the rest a King's packet, that
plied between Falmouth and Lisbon. When the cruise was
up, Captain Wickes went into Nantes, taking his prizes with
him. The complaints of the English now became louder,
and the American Ministers were secretly admonished of the
necessity of using greater reserve. The prizes were directed
to quit France, though the Reprisal, being leaky, was suffered
to remain in port, in order to refit. The former were taken
into the offing, and sold, the state of the times rendering these in
formal proceedings necessary. Enormous losses to the captors
were the consequences, while it is not improbable, that the
gains of the purchasers bad their influence in blinding the heal
authorities to the character of the transaction."
Here we see not only a violation of neutrality, but a little
bribery going on, these "rebel pirates" having an eye to the
"flattering results," spoken of by Mr. Cooper, some pages back.
The historian proceeds. "The business appears to have been
managed with dexterity, and the proceeds of the sales, such as
they were, proved of great service to the agents of the Govern
ment, by enabling them to purchase other vessels." We see
how capitally those "stational agents," Franklin and Deane,

394 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
were conducting that "Naval Bureau," against the like of
which, in our case, Mr. Adams had so warmly protested. I
again quote: "In April, the Lexington arrived in France, and
the old difficulties were renewed. But the Commissioners at
Paris, who had been authorized to equip vessels, appoint offi
cers, and do other matters to annoy the enemy, now planned
a cruise that surpassed anything of the sort that had yet been
attempted in Europe, under the American flag. Captain
Wickes was directed to proceed to sea, with his own vessel
and the Lexington, and to go directly off Ireland, in order to
intercept a convoy of linen ships, that was expected to sail
about that time. A cutter of ten guns called the Dolphin,
that had been detained by the Commissioners, to carry de
spatches to America, was diverted from her original destination,
and placed under the orders of Captain Wickes. The Dolphin
was commanded by Lieutenant Nicholson, a brother of the
senior captain, and a gentleman who subsequently died at the
head of the service. Captain Wickes, in command of this light
squadron, sailed from Nantes, about the commencement of
June, going first into the Bay of Biscay, and afterward entirely
around Ireland, sweeping the sea before him, of everything
that was not of a force to render an attack hopeless. The
linen ships were missed, but many vessels were taken or de
stroyed. " The sensation produced among the British merchants, by
the different cruises in the European sea, that have been re.
corded in this chapter, is stated in the diplomatic correspon
dence of the day to have been greater than that produced in
the previous war by the squadron of the celebrated Thurot.
Insurance rose to an enormous height, and in speaking of the
cruise of Captain Wickes, in particular, Mr. Deane observes
in one of his letters to Robert Morris, that it ' effectually
alarmed England, prevented the great fair at Chester, occa
sioned insurance to rise, and even deterred the English mer
chants from shipping in English bottoms, at any rate, so that,
in a few weeks, forty sail of French ships were loading in the
Thames, on freight, an instance never known before.' In the
same letter the Commissioner adds: 'In a word, Conyngham,
by his first and second bold expeditions, is become the terror

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 395
of all the eastern coasts of England and Scotland, and is more
dreaded than Thurot was in the late war.' "
This same Captain Conyngham, afterward, while cruising on
the American coast, fell into the hands of the enemy. He had,
of course, become odious to the English people, and they had
denounced him as a " pirate," as our Northern people have de
nounced the writer of these pages. Conyngham was closely
confined, and the English admiral, whose fleet was then sta
tioned in the waters of New York, threatened to send him to Eng
land for trial. Let us see what steps the American Congress took
in behalf of this " rebel pirate," as soon as it heard of these pro
ceedings. The subject having been brought to its notice, it direct
ed its Secretary, Charles Thompson, to address a letter of remon>
strance to the British admiral, threatening retaliation, if he dared
to execute his threats. I quote from the journals of Congress : —
" In Congress assembled, July 1799. — A letter of the 17th instant,
from Ann Conyngham, and a petition from a number of inhabitants
of Philadelphia were read, representing that Captain Gustavus
Conyngham, now a prisoner with the enemy, is closely confined,
and ordered to be sent to England, and praying that measures may
be taken for the security of his person : Ordered, That the same
be referred to a committee of three. The members chosen, Mr.
Morris, Mr. Dickinson, and Mr. Whipple. The committee to whom
were referred the petition, and letter respecting Gustavus Conyng
ham, brought in a report ; whereupon, Resolved, That the follow
ing letter from the Secretary of Congress, be written to the admi
ral, or other commanding officer of the fleet, or ships of his Bri
tannic Majesty, lying in the harbor of New York, viz. :
" ' Sir, I am directed by the Congress of the United States of
America to inform you, that they have received evidence that
Gustavus Conyngham, a citizen of America, late commander of an
armed vessel in the service of the said States, and taken on board
of a private armed cutter, hath been treated in a manner contrary
to the dictates of humanity, and the practice of Christian, civilized
nations. I am ordered, in the name of Congress, to demand that
good and sufficient reason be given for this conduct, or that the
said Gustavus Conyngham be immediately released from his present
rigorous, and ignominious confinement.
" ' With all due respect, I have the honor to be, Sir,
" ' Your most obedient and humble servant.'
" Resolved, That, unless a satisfactory answer be received to the
foregoing letter, on or before the 1st day of August next, the
Marine Committee do immediately order to be confined, in close
and safe custody, so many persons as they may think proper, in

396 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
order to abide the fate of the said Gustavus Conyngham. Ordered,
That the above letter be immediately transmitted to New York,
by the Board of War, and that copies of said letter and resolution
be delivered to the wife of Conyngham, and the petitioners.
"Monday, Dec. 13th, 1779. — A memorial of Christopher Hale
was read, praying to be exchanged, and to have leave to go to
New York, upon his parole, for a few days, to procure a person in
his room. Resolved, That Mr. Hale be informed, that the prayer
of his memorial cannot be granted, until Captain Conyngham is
released, as it has been determined that he must abide the fate of
that officer."
Conyngham was afterward released. This is the way in
which the ancestors of Mr. Seward, and Mr. Charles Francia
Adams, took care of their " rebel pirates."
There is one other point in the legal history of the Alabama,
which it is necessary to notice, and to which I propose to
adduce another of those awkward precedents, which I have
exhumed from those musty old records, which our Northern
brethren seem so thoroughly to have forgotten. It has been
charged against the Alabama, that her crew was composed
mostly of foreigners, and that this was another reason why she
was not entitled to be considered as a Confederate States
ship of war. Let us look a little into this charge. A sovereign
is not only not obliged to account to other nations, for tha
manner in which he becomes possessed of his ships of war, as
we have seen, but he cannot be questioned as to the nativity
or naturalization of the persons serving on board of them. It
could have been of no sort of consequence to any foreign
officer, demanding to see my commission, whether I was a
native of England, Germany, or France, or of any other foreign
power. All that he could demand of me, in order to satisfy
himself that I was entitled to exercise belligerent rights, was
a sight of my commission as a Confederate States naval officer.
Nationality is presumed in all such commissions, and the pre
sumption cannot be inquired into. Mr. Justice Story, in the
decision quoted a few pages back, says, as the reader will
recollect, that the commission of a ship of War imports such
" absolute verity," that it cannot be inquired into, or contra
dicted. It is like proving a fact by a record. No other proof
than the production of the record is required, or indeed per
mitted. The commission of the commander is the comir ission

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 397
of his ship. Neither the Sumter nor the Alabama had any
other commission than my own, and the orders assigning me
to them. If this be the law with regard to the commander
of a ship, a fortiori, must it be the law with reference to the
subordinate officers and crew.
The writers on international law, without exception, lay
down the rule, that a sovereign may enlist foreigners to assist
him in his wars ; and that the men thus enlisted are entitled to
all the protection of belligerents, equally with native citizens.
The Swiss foreign legions,' so well known in history, are
notable illustrations of this doctrine ; and no one has ever heard
of a Swiss being hung because he served under a foreign flag.
Vattel, who has the rare merit of having so thoroughly ex
hausted all these subjects, that he has left scarcely anything
for those who have followed him to say, lays down the doctrine
as follows : " Much has been said on the question whether ths
profession of a mercenary soldier be lawful or not, — whether
individuals may, for money, or any other reward, engage to
serve a foreign prince in his wars? This question does not
appear to me to be very difficult to be solved. Those who
enter into such engagements, without the express or tacit con
sent of their sovereign, offend against their duty as citizens.
But if their sovereign leaves them at liberty to follow their
inclination for a military life, they are perfectly free in that
respect. [Modern nations, and especially the United States,
have left their citizens free to expatriate themselves at plea
sure.] Now, every free man may join whatever society he
pleases, according as he finds it most to his advantage. He
may make its cause his own, and espouse its quarrels. He
becomes, in some measure, at least for a time, a member of
the State in whose service he engages." Again : " The sov
ereign has no right to compel foreigners ; he must not even
employ stratagem or artifice, in order to induce them to
engage in a contract, which, like all others, should be founded
on candor and good faith."
But it was scarcely necessary to quote other authority, on that
point, than the authority of the enemy himself. Mr. Secretary Se
ward knew, at the very time he was denouncing the Alabama
as a ' pirate," because of her having, as he alleged, a British

398 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
crew on board, that his own Government was filling up its armies,
and its navy, too, with hundreds of thousands of raw recruits
from Belgium, Germany, and Ireland, and other countries.
Nay, more, that by an act of the Federal Congress, these de
based and ignorant men, drawn, for the most part, from the idle
and thieving classes of their respective countries, were invested,
ipso facto, upon enlistment, with all the functions and attributes
of American citizens — the function of robbery more especially
included ! With reference to the conduct of the enemy in this
particular, I deem it not amiss to introduce a short extract or
two, from a speech made by Sir Hugh Cairnes, her Britannic
Majesty's Attorney-General, in the House of Commons, on the
12th of May, 1864. The discussion grew out of the case of
the Confederate States steamer Georgia, which had recently
returned to Liverpool, after a cruise. Among other questions
discussed was whether the Georgia should be excluded from
British ports, because of some alleged infraction on her part,
of the British Foreign Enlistment Act. In speaking to this
question, the Attorney-General, alluding to the insufficiency of
the proof in the case, said : —
" The case of the Kearsarge was a case of this character. Be
yond all question, a considerable amount of recruiting was carried
on, at Cork, for the purposes of that ship, she being employed at
the time, in our own waters, or very near them, in looking out for
the enemy ; and she was furnished with a large addition to her
crew from Ireland. Upon that being represented to Mr. Adams, he
said, as might have been expected, that it was entirely contrary to
the wishes of his Government, and that there must be some mis
take. The men were afterward relanded, and there can be no
doubt that there had been a violation of our neutrality. Neverthe
less, we admitted the Kearsarge afterward into English waters.
We have not excluded her from our ports, and if we had, I think
the Government of the United States would have considered that
they had some cause of offence.
" But it does not rest here. I see from the paper, that the Honorable
Member for Horsham, wants information respecting the enlistment
of British subjects for the Federal Army. Now, from all quarters
reports reach us, which we cannot doubt to be substantially true,
that agents for recruiting for the Federal Army, with, or without
the concurrence of the Government, are in Ireland, and engage men
under the pretext of employing them on railways and public works,
but really with the intention of enlisting them, and that many of
these men are so enlisted. In Canada and New Brunswick the

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 399
eame practices prevail. Representations have been made to the
United States Government respecting the cases of particu/ar per
sons, who have been kidnapped into the service, and I feel bound
to say that those representations have not met with that prompt
and satisfactory attention we might have expected," &c.
The reader thus perceives, that if the Alabama enlisted some
foreigners to complete her crew, she was only following the
example set her, by Mr. Seward himself; but there was this
difference between the honorable Secretary of State and the
writer. The former resorted to deceit, trickery, and fraud,
whilst no man can say of the latter, that he inveigled him on
board the Alabama.
I will now produce the precedent I spoke of, from those
musty old records. It is drawn from the career of that re
markable sea-captain, to whom I have before referred, and with
whose history every American is acquainted — I mean, John
Paul Jones. The naval engagement, which conferred most
honor upon Jones, was that between the Bon homme Richard,
(named after Dr. Franklin's " Poor Richard," in the almanac, of
which this Chief of the Naval Bureau in Paris was the author,)
and the British ships Serapis and Countess of Scarborough. Mr.
Cooper thus describes the crew of Jones' ship, picked up at
Dunkirk, or Nantes, or some of the other French ports : —
" To manage a vessel of this singular armament and doubtful
construction, Commodore Jones was compelled to receive on board
a crew of still more equivocal composition. A few Americans were
found to fill the stations of sea officers, on the quarter deck, and for
ward, but the remainder of the people were a mixture of Eng
lish, Irish, Scotch, Portuguese, Norwegians, Germans, Spaniards,
Swedes, Italians, and Malays, with occasionally a man from one of
the islands [meaning Sandwich Islands]. To keep this motley
crew in order, 135 soldiers were put on board, under the command
of some officers of inferior rank. These soldiers, or marines, were
recruited at random, and were not much less singularly mixed as
to countries, than the regular crew."
I had something of a mixture on board the Alabama, but I
think Jones decidedly beat me, in the number of nationalities
he had the honor to command.
26

CHAPTER XXXI.
THE AUTHOR LEAVES LIVERPOOL TO JOIN THE ALA
BAMA — ARRIVAL AT TERCEIRA  DESCRIPTION OF
THE ALABAMA  PREPARING HER FOR SEA — THE
PORTUGUESE AUTHORITIES — THE COMMISSIONING OF
THE SHIP — A PICTURE OF HER BIRTH AND DEATH
— CAPTAIN BULLOCK RETURNS TO ENGLAND — AU
THOR ALONE ON THE HIGH SEAS.
HAVING cleared the way, in the last two chapters, for the
cruise of the Alabama, by removing some of the legal
rubbish with which Mr. Seward and Mr. Adams had sought to
encumber her, we are in a condition to put the ship in com
mission. I was at last accounts in Liverpool, as the reader
will recollect, having just arrived there in the steamer Ba
hama, from Nassau. The Alabama, then known as the " 290,"
had proceeded, a few days before, to her rendezvous, the island
of Terceira, one of the group of the Azores. The name " 290 "
may need a word of explanation. The newspapers of the
enemy have falsely charged that the Alabama was built by
290 Englishmen, of "rebel" proclivities, and hence, they say,
the name.
One Parson Boynton has written a book, which he calls tha
" History of the Navy," but which is rather a biography of
Mr. Secretary Welles, his Assistant Secretary Fox, and sev
eral ingenious mechanics. Judging by this attempt, parsons
are rather bad hands to write histories. Speaking of the Ala
bama, this gentleman remarks : " Insultingly, this vessel was
named ' 290,' to show, by the large number that contributed to
fit her out, how widespread was the English sympathy for the
rebel cause. The Alabama was not regarded as a rebel vessel
of war, but as a British pirate, or rather, perhaps, as an Eng
lish man-of war, sent forth under the veil of the rebel flag, to
400

MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT. 401
sink and destroy our merchantmen." It is thus seen, that this
history repeats the stale newspaper slander. Of such stuff the
Yankee histories of the war, generally, are made, especially
such of them as are written by amateur parsons. The fact is,
as the reader has seen, that the Alabama was built by the
Messrs. Laird of Birkenhead, under a contract with the Con
federate States, and was paid for out of the Confederate Trea
sury. She happened to be the 290th ship built by those gen
tlemen, and hence the name.
The Alabama had been built in perfect good faith by the
Lairds. When she was contracted for, no question had been
raised as to the right of a neutral to build, and sell to a bel
ligerent such a ship. The reader has seen that the Federal
Secretary of the Navy himself had endeavored, not only to
build an Alabama, but iron-clads in England. But as the
war progressed, the United States, foreseeing the damage which
a few fast steamers might inflict on their commerce, took the
alarm, and began to insist that neutrals should not supply us,
even with unarmed ships. The laws of nations were clearly
against them. Their own practice, in all former wars, in which
they had been neutrals, was against them. And yet they main
tained their ground so stoutly and defiantly, threatening war,
if they were not listened to, that the neutral powers, and espe
cially Great Britain, became very cautious. They were indeed
bullied — for that is the word — into timidity. To show the
good faith which the Lairds had practised throughout, I quote
again from the speech made by the senior partner, in the
House of Commons: —
" I can only say from all I know, and from all I have heard, that
from the day the vessel was laid down, to her completion every
thing was open and above board, in this country. I also further
say, that the officers of the Government had every facility afforded
them for inspecting the ship, during the progress of building.
When the officers came to the builders, they were shown the ship,
and day after day, the customs officers were on board, as they were
when she finally left, and they declared that there was nothing
wrong. They only left her when the tug left, and they were obliged
to declare, that she left Liverpool a perfectly legitimate transaction."
Notwithstanding this practice of good faith, on our part,
and our entire innocence of any breach of the laws of nations,

402 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
or of the British Foreign Enlistment Act, Lord John Russell
had been intimidated to such an extent, that the ship came
within an ace of being detained. But for the little ruse which
we practised, of going on a trial-trip, with a party of ladies,
and the customs officers, mentioned by Mr. Laird, on board,
and not returning, but sending our guests back in a tug, there
is no doubt that the Alabama would have been tied up, as the
Oreto or Florida had been, in court. She must have been finally
released, it is true, but the delay itself would have been of
serious detriment to us.
After a few busy days in Liverpool, during which I was
gathering my old officers of the Sumter around me, and making
my financial arrangements for my cruise, with the house of
Frazer, Trenholm & Co., I departed on the 13th of August,
1862, in the steamer Bahama, to join the Alabama. Captain
James D. Bullock, of the Confederate States Navy, a Georgian,
who had been bred in the old service, but who had retired from
it some years before the war, to engage in the steam-packet
service, accompanied me. Bullock had contracted for, and
superintended the building of the Alabama, and was now going
with me, to be present at the christening of his bantling. I am
indebted to him, as well the Messrs. Laird, for a very perfect
ship of her class.
She was of about 900 tons burden, 230 feet in length, 32
feet in breadth, 20 feet in depth, and drew, when provisioned
and coaled for a cruise, 15 feet of water. Her model was of
the most perfect symmetry, and she sat upon the water with
the lightness and grace of a swan. She was barkentine rigged,
with long lower masts, which enabled her to carry large fore-and-
aft sails, as jibs and try-sails, which are of so much importance
to a steamer, in so many emergencies. Her sticks were of the
best yellow pine, that would bend in a gale, like a willow
wand, without breaking, and her rigging was of the best of
Swedish iron wire. The scantling of the vessel was light, com
pared with vessels of her class in the Federal Navy, but this
was scarcely a disadvantage, as she was designed as a scourge
of the enemy's commerce, rather than for battle. She- was to
defend herself, simply, if defence should become necessary.
Her engine was oi three hundred horse-power, and she had

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 403
attached an apparatus for condensing, from the vapor of sea-
water, all the fresh water that her crew might require. She was
a perfect steamer and a perfect sailing-ship, at the same time,
neither of her two modes of locomotion being at all dependent
upon the other. The reader has seen that the Sumter, when
her fuel was exhausted, was little better than a log on the
water, because of her inability to hoist her propeller, which
she was, in consequence, compelled to drag after her. The
Alabama was so constructed, that in fifteen minutes, her pro
peller could be detached from the shaft, and lifted in a well
contrived for the purpose, sufficiently high out of the water,
not to be an impediment to her speed. When this was done,
and her sails spread, she was, to all intents and purposes,
a sailing-ship. On the other hand, when I desired to use her
as a steamer, I had only to start the fires, lower the propeller,
and if the wind was adverse, brace her yards to the wind, and
the conversion was complete. The speed of the Alabama was
always greatly over-rated by the enemy. She was ordinarily
about a ten-knot ship. She was said to have made eleven knots
and a half, on her trial trip, but we never afterward got it out
of her. Under steam and sail both, we logged on one occa
sion, thirteen knots and a quarter, which was her utmost speed.
Her armament consisted of eight guns ; six 32-pounders,
in broadside, and two pivot-guns amidships ; one on the fore
castle, and the other abaft the main-mast — the former a 100-
pounder rifled Blakeley, and the latter, a smooth-bore eight-
inch. The Blakeley gun was so deficient in metal, compared
with the weight of shot it threw, that, after the first few dis
charges, when it became a little heated, it was of comparatively
small use to us, to such an extent were we obliged to reduce
the charge of powder, on account of the recoil. The average
crew of the Alabama, before the mast, was about 120 men ;
and she carried twenty-four officers, as follows: A Captain,
four lieutenants, surgeon, paymaster, master, marine officer,
four engineers, two' midshipmen, and four master's mates, a
Captain's clerk, boatswain, gunner, sailmaker, and carpenter.
The cost of the ship, with everything complete, was two hun
dred and fifty thousand dollars. '
On the morning of our departure from Liverpool, the Ba-

404 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
hama had dropped some distance down the Mersey, and wa
joined her by tug. She had her steam up, and was ready to
trip her anchor, the moment we arrived, and in a few minutes
after getting on board, we were under way. The tug cheered
us, as she turned to steam back to the city, and the cheer wa3
answered lustily by our crew. We were a week on the passage
from Liverpool to Terceira ; our old friend, Captain Tessier,
of the Bahama, with whom I had made the passage from
Nassau to Liverpool, rendering our time very comfortable.
On the morning of the 20th of August, we were on the look
out, at an early hour, for the land, and it was not long before
we discovered the island, looking, at first, hazy and indistinct
in the distance, but gradually assuming more form and con
sistency. After another hour's steaming, Porto Praya, our
place of rendezvous, became visible, with its white houses dot
ting the mountain side, and we now began to turn our glasses
upon the harbor, with no little anxiety, to see if our ships —
for a sailing-ship, with the Alabama's battery and stores, had
preceded her some days, and should now be with her — were
all right. We first caught sight of their spars, and pretty
soon, raising their hulls sufficiently for identification, we felt
much relieved. Our secret had been well kept, and the enemy,
notwithstanding his fine "smelling qualities," had not scented
the prey.
In the meantime, our own approach was watched with equal
anxiety from the deck of the Alabama. We might be, for
aught she knew, an enemy's steamer coming in pursuit of
her ; and as the enemy was in the habit of kicking all the
small powers, that had not the means of kicking back, a neu
tral port, belonging to effete old Portugal, would not afford her
the least protection. At half-past eleven a. m., we steamed
into the harbor, and let go our anchor. I had surveyed my
new ship, as we approached, with no little interest, as she was
to be not only my home, but my bride, as it were, for the next
few years, and I was quite satisfied with her external appear
ance. She was, indeed, a beautiful thing to look upon. The
store-ship was already alongside of her, and we could see that
the busy work of transferring her cargo was going on. Cap
tain Butcher, an intelligent young English seaman, who had

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 405
been bred in the mail-packet service, and who had taken the
Alabama out from Liverpool, on that trial trip of hers, which
has since become historical through the protests of Messrs.
Seward and Adams, now came on board of us. He had had
a rough and stormy passage from Liverpool, during which he
had suffered some little damage, and consumed most of his
coal. Considerable progress had been made, in receiving on
board from the transport, the battery and stores, and a few
days more would suffice to put the ship in a condition for
defence. The harbor of Porto Praya lies open to the eastward, and
as the wind was now from that quarter, and blowing rather
freshly, a considerable sea had been raised, which rendered it
inconvenient, if not unsafe, for the transport and the Alabama
to continue to lie alongside of each other; which was never
theless necessary for the transfer of the remainder of the heavy
guns. I therefore directed Captain Butcher to get up his an
chors immediately, and follow me around to Angra Bay, on
the west side of the island, where we should find a lee, and
smooth water. This was done, and we arrived at Angra at
four o'clock, on the same afternoon. Here the transshipment
of the guns and stores was renewed, and here, for the first time,
I visited the Alabama. I was as much pleased with her inter
nal appearance, and arrangements, as I had been with her ex
ternally, but everything was in a very uninviting state of
confusion, guns, gun-carriages, shot, and shell, barrels of beef
and pork, and boxes and bales of paymaster's, gunner's, and
boatswain's stores lying promiscuously about the decks ; suffi
cient time not having elapsed to have them stowed in their
proper places. The crew, comprising about sixty persons, who
had been picked up, promiscuously, about the streets of Liver
pool, were as unpromising in appearance, as things about the
decks. What with faces begrimed with coal dust, red shirts,
and blue shirts, Scotch caps, and hats, brawny chests exposed,
and stalwart arms naked to the elbows, they looked as little
like the crew of a man-of-war, as one can well conceive. Still
there was some physique among these fellows, and soap, and
water, and clean shirts would make a wonderful difference in
their appearance. As night approached, I relieved Captain

406 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
Butcher of his command, and removing my baggage on board,
took possession of the cabin, in which I was to spend so many
weary days, and watchful nights. I am a good sleeper, and
slept soundly. This quality of sleeping well in the intervals
of harassing business is a valuable one to the sailor, and I owe
to it much of that physical ability, which enabled me to with
stand the four years of excitement and toil, to which I was sub
jected during the war.
There are two harbors called Angra, in Terceira — East An
gra, and West Angra. We were anchored in the latter, and
the authorities notified us, the next morning, that we must
move round to East Angra, that being the port of entry, and
the proper place for the anchorage of merchant-ships. We
were playing merchant-ship as yet, but had nothing to do, of
course, with ports of entry or custom-houses ; and as the day
was fine, and there was a prospect of smooth water under the
lee of the island, I got under way, and went to sea, the Bahama
and the transport accompanying me. Steaming beyond the
marine league, I hauled the transport alongside, and we got on
board from her the remainder of our armament, and stores.
The sea was not so smooth, as we had expected, and there was
some little chafing between the ships, but we accomplished our
object, without serious inconvenience. This occupied us
all day, and after nightfall, we ran into East Angra, and an
chored. As we passed the fort, we were hailed vociferously, in very
bad English, or Portuguese, we could not distinguish which.
But though the words were unintelligible to us, the manner
and tone of the hail were evidently meant to warn us off.
Continuing our course, and paying no attention to the hail,
the fort presently fired a shot over us ; but we paid no atten
tion to this either, and ran in and anchored — the bark ac
companying us, but the Bahama hauling off, seaward, and
lying off and on during the night. There was a small Portu
guese schooner of war at anchor in the harbor, and about mid
night, I was aroused from a deep sleep, into which I had fallen,
after a long day of work and excitement, by an officer com
ing below, and informing me, very coolly, that the Portuguese
man-of-war was firing into us! "The d — 1 she is," said I;

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 407
' how many shots has she fired at us ? " " Three, sir," replied
the officer. " Have any of them struck us ? " " No, sir, none
of them have struck us — they seem to be firing rather wild."
I knew very well, that the little craft would not dare to fire
into us, though I thought it probable, that, after the fashion of
the Chinese, who sound their gongs to scare away their ene
mies, she might be firing at us, to alarm us into going out of
the harbor. I said therefore to the officer, " Let him fire away,
I expect he won't hurt you," and turned over and went to
sleep. In the morning, it was ascertained, that it was not the
schooner at all, that had been firing, but a passing mail steamer
which had run into the anchorage, and fired three signal guns,
to awaken her sleeping passengers on shore — with whom she
departed before daylight.
We were not further molested, from this time onward, but
were permitted to remain and coal from the bark; though
the custom-house officers, accompanied by the British Consul,
paid us a visit, and insisted that we should suspend our opera
tion of coaling, until we had entered the two ships at the cus
tom-house. This I readily consented to do. I now called the
Bahama in, by signal, and she ran in and anchored near us.
Whilst the coaling was going forward, the carpenter, and
gunner, with the assistance of the chief engineer, were busy
putting down the circles or traverses for the pivot guns ; and
the boatswain and his gang were at work, fitting side and
train tackles for the broadside guns. The reader can under
stand how anxious , I was to complete all these arrangements.
I was perfectly defenceless without them, and did not know at
what moment an enemy's ship might look in upon me. The
harbor of East Angra, where we were now anchored, was quite
open, but fortunately for us, the wind was light, and from the
S. W., which gave us smooth water, and our work went on
quite rapidly.
To cast an eye, for a moment, now, from the ship to the
shore, I was charmed with the appearance of Terceira. Every
square foot of the island seemed to be under the most elaborate
cultivation, and snug farm-houses were dotted so thickly over
the hill-sides, as to give the whole the appearance of a ram
bling village The markets were most bountifully supplied

408 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
with excellent beef and mutton, and the various domestic fowls,
fish, vegetables, and fruits. My steward brought off every
morning in his basket, a most tempting assortment of the
latter ; for there were apples, plums, pears, figs, dates, oranges
and melons all in full bearing at Terceira. The little town
of Angra, abreast of which we were anchored, was a perfect
picture of a Portuguese-Moorish town, with its red-tiled roofs,
sharp gables, and parti-colored verandas, and veranda cur
tains. And then the quiet, and love-in-a-cottage air which
hovered over the whole scene, so far removed from the high
ways of the world's commerce, and the world's alarms, was
charming to contemplate.
I had arrived on Wednesday, and on Saturday night, we
had, by the dint of great labor and perseverance, drawn order
out of chaos. The Alabama's battery was on board, and in
place, her stores had all been unpacked, and distributed to the
different departments, and her coal-bunkers were again full.
We only awaited the following morning to steam out upon
the high seas, and formally put the ship in commission. Satur
day had been dark and rainy, but we had still labored on
through the rain. Sunday morning dawned bright and beau
tiful, which we hailed as a harbinger of future success. All
hands were turned out at early daylight, and the first lieutenant,
:and the officer of the deck took the ship in hand, to prepare
her for the coming ceremony. She was covered with coal dust
and dirt and rubbish in every direction, for we had hitherto
had no time to attend to appearances. But by dint of a few
hours of scrubbing, inside and out, and of the use of that well-
known domestic implement, the holy-stone, that works so many
wonders with a dirty ship, she became sweet and clean, and
when her awnings were snugly spread, her yards squared, and
her rigging hauled taut, she looked like a bride, with the
orange-wreath about her brows, ready to be led to the altar.
I had as yet no enlisted crew, and this thought gave me
some anxiety. All the men on board the Alabama, as well as
those who had come out with me, on board the Bahama, had
been brought thus far, under articles of agreement that were
to be no longer obligatory. Some of them had been shipped
for one voyage, and some for another, but none of them for ser-

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 409
vice on board a Confederate cruiser. This was done to avoid
a breach of the British Foreign Enlistment Act. They had,
of course, been undeceived from the day of our departure
from Liverpool. They knew that they were to be released
from the contracts they had made, but 2" could not know how
many of them would engage with me for the A labama. It is trua
I had had a talk with some of the leaders of the crew, who had
promised to go with me, and to influence others, but no crea
ture can be more whimsical than a sailor, until you have
bound him past recall, unless indeed it be a woman.
The ship having been properly prepared, we steamed out,
on this bright Sunday morning, under a cloudless sky, with a
gentle breeze from the southeast, scarcely ruffling the surface
of the placid sea, and under the shadow of the smiling and
picturesque island of Terceira, which nature seemed to have
decked specially for the occasion, so charming did it appear,
in its checkered dress of a lighter and darker green, composed
of corn-fields and orange-groves, the flag of the new-born Con
federate States was unfurled, for the first time, from the peak
of the Alabama. The Bahama accompanied us. The cere
mony was short but impressive. The officers were all in full
uniform, and the crew neatly dressed, and I caused "all hands"
to be summoned aft on the quarter-deck, and mounting a gun-
carriage, I read the commission of Mr. Jefferson Davis, appoint
ing me a captain in the Confederate States Navy, and the order
of Mr. Stephen R. Mallory, the Secretary of the Navy, direct
ing me to assume command of the Alabama. Following my
example, the officers and crew had all uncovered their heads,
in deference to the sovereign authority, as is customary on
such occasions; and as they stood in respectful silence and lis
tened with rapt attention to the reading, and to the short
explanation of my object and purposes, in putting the ship in
commission which followed, I was deeply impressed with the
spectacle. Virginia, the grand old mother of many of the
States, who afterward died so nobly ; South Carolina, Georgia,
Alabama, and Louisiana, were all represented in the persons of
my officers, and I had some of as fine specimens of the daring
and adventurous seaman, as any ship of war could boast.
While the reading was going on, two small balls might

410 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
have been seen ascending slowly, one to the peak, and tha
other to the main-royal mast-head. These were the ensign
and pennant of the future man-of-war. These balls were so
arranged, that by a sudden jerk of the halliards by which
they had been sent aloft, the flag and pennant would unfold
themselves to the breeze. A curious observer would also
have seen a quartermaster standing by the English colors,
which we were still wearing, in readiness to strike them, a
band of music on the quarter-deck, and a gunner (lock-string
in hand) standing by the weather-bow gun. All these men
had their eyes upon the reader ; and when he had concluded,
at a wave of his hand, the gun was fired, the change of flags
took place, and the air was rent by a deafening cheer from
officers and men; the band, at the same time, playing "Dixie," —
that soul-stirring national anthem of the new-born government.
The Bahama also fired a gun and cheered the new flag. Thus,
amid this peaceful scene of beauty, with all nature smiling
upon the ceremony, was the Alabama christened; the name
" 290 " disappearing with the English flag. This had all been
done upon the high seas, more than a marine league from the
land, where Mr. Jefferson Davis had as much jurisdiction asi
Mr. Abraham Lincoln. Who could look into the horoscope
of this ship — who anticipate her career? Many of these
brave fellows followed me unto the close.
From the cradle to the grave there is but a step ; and that I
may group in a single picture, the christening and the burial
of the ship, let the reader imagine, now, some two years to
have rolled over — and such a two years of carnage and blood,
as the world had never before seen — and, strangely enough,
another Sunday morning, equally bright and beautiful, to have
dawned upon the A labama. This is her funeral morning 1 At
the hour when the church-goers in Paris and London were
sending up their orisons to the Most High, the sound of cannon
was heard in the British Channel, and the Alabama was en
gaged in her death-struggle. Cherbourg, where the Alabama
had lain for some days previously, is connected with Paris by
rail, and a large number of curious spectators had flocked
down from the latter city to witness, as it proved, her inter-
• ment. The sun rose, as before, in a cloudless sky, and the sea-

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 411
breeze has come in over the dancing waters, mild and balmy.
It is the nineteenth day of June, 1864. The Alabama steams
out to meet the Kearsarge in mortal combat, and before the
sun has set, she has gone down beneath the green waters, and
lies entombed by the side of many a gallant craft that had
gone down before her in that famous old British Channel;
where, from the time of the Norseman and the Danish sea-
king, to our own day, so many naval combats have been
fought, and so many of the laurel crowns of victory have been
entwined around the brows of our naval ancestors. Many of
the manly figures who had stood with uncovered heads, and
listened with respectful silence to the christening, went down
in the ship, and now lie buried with her, many fathoms deep,
with no other funeral dirge than the roar of cannon, and the
howling winds of the North Sea. Such were the birth and
death of the ship, whose adventures I propose to sketch in the
following pages.
My speech, I was glad to find, had produced considerable
effect with the crew. I informed them, in the opening, that
they were all released from the contracts under which they had
come thus far, and that such of them as preferred to return to
England could do so in the Bahama, without prejudice to
their interests, as they would have a free passage back, and
their pay would go on until they were discharged in Liver
pool. I then gave them a brief account of the war, and told
them how the Southern States, being sovereign and independent,
had dissolved the league which had bound them to the Northern
States, and how they were threatened with subjugation by their
late confederates, who were the stronger. They would be
fighting, I told them, the battles of the oppressed against the
oppressor, and this consideration alone should be enough to
nerve the arm of every generous sailor. Coming nearer
home, for it could not be supposed that English, Dutch, Irish
French, Italian, and Spanish sailors could understand much
about the rights or wrongs of nations, I explained to them the
individual advantages which they might expect to reap from
an enlistment with me. The cruise would be one of excite
ment and adventure. We had a fine ship under us ; one that
they might fall in love with, as they would with their sweet-

412 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
hearts about Wapping. We should visit many parts of the
world, where they would have "liberty" given them on proper
occasions ; and we should, no doubt, destroy a great many of
the enemy's ships, in spite of the enemy's cruisers. With re
gard to these last, though fighting was not to be our principal
object, yet, if a favorable opportunity should offer of our
laying ourselves alongside of a ship that was not too heavy
for us, they would find me disposed to indulge them.
Finally I came to the finances, and like a skilful Secretary
of the Treasury, I put the budget to them, in its very best as
pect. As I spoke of good pay, and payment in gold, " hear
hear ! " came up from several voices. I would give them, I
said, about double the ordinary wages, to compensate them for
the risks they would have to run, and I promised them, in case
we should be successful, " lots of prize-money," to be voted to
them by the Confederate Congress, for the ships of the enemy
that they would be obliged to destroy. When we " piped
down," that is to say, when the boatswain and his mates wound
their " calls " three times, as a signal that the meeting was over,
and the crew might disperse, I caused the Word to be passed
for all those who desired to sign the articles, to repair at onca
to the paymaster and sign. I was anxious to strike whilst tha
iron was hot. The Alabama had brought out from the Mer
sey about sixty men, and the Bahama had brought about thirty
more. I got eighty of these ninety men, and ,felt very much
relieved in consequence.
The democratic part of the proceedings closed, as soon as the
articles were signed. The "public meeting "just described,
was the first, and last ever held on board the Alabama, and no
other stump speech was ever made to the crew. When I
wanted a man to do anything after this, I did not talk to him
about " nationalities," or "liberties," or " double wages," but I
gave him a rather sharp order, and if the order was not obeyed
in "double-quick," the delinquent found himself in limbo.
Democracies may do very well for the land, but monarchies
and pretty absolute monarchies at that, are the only success
ful governments for the sea. There was a great state of con
fusion on board the ship, of course, during the remainder of
this day, and well into the night. Bullock and Butcher were

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 413
both on board assisting me, and we were all busy, as well as
the paymaster and clerk, making out half-pay tickets for the
sailors' wives and sweethearts, drawing drafts for small amounts
payable to relatives and dependants, in different parts of Eng
land, for such of the sailors as wanted them, and paying ad
vance-wages to those who had no pay-tickets to leave, or re
mittances to make. I was gratified to find, that a large pro
portion of my men left half their pay behind them. " A man,
who has children, hath given hostages to fortune," and you are
quite as sure of a sailor, who sends half his pay to his wife or
sweetheart. It was eleven p. M. before my friend Bullock was ready to
return to the Bahama, on his way back to England. I took an
affectionate leave of him. I had spent some days with him, at
his quiet retreat, in the little village of Waterloo, near Liver
pool, where I met his excellent wife, a charming Southern wo
man, with whom hospitality was a part of her religious faith.
He was living in a very plain, simple style, though large sums
of public money were passing through his hands, and he has
had the honor to come out of the war poor. He paid out
moneys in good faith, to the last, even when it was quite evi
dent that the cause had gone under, and there would be no
accounts to settle with an Auditor of the Treasury. T had not
only had the pleasure of his society during a number of anx
ious days, but he had greatly assisted me, by his counsel and
advice, given with that modesty and reserve which always
mark true ability. As soon as the Bahama had steamed away,
and left me alone, I turned my ship's head to the north-east,
set the fore-and-aft sails, and directed the engineer to let his
fires go down. The wind had freshened considerably, and
there was some sea on. I now turned into an unquiet cot, per
fectly exhausted, after the labors of the day, and slept as com
fortably as the rolling of the ship, and a strong smell of bilge-
water would permit.

CHAPTER XXXII.
THE ALABAMA A SHIP OF WAR, AND NOT A PRIVATEER
 SKETCH OF THE PERSONNEL OF THE SHIP  PUT
TING THE SHIP IN ORDER FOR SERVICE — SAIL AND
STEAM — THE CHARACTER OF THE SAILOR  THE FIRST
BLOW STRUCK AT THE WHALE FISHERY — THE HABI
TAT AND HABITS OF THE WHALE — THE FIRST CAP
TURE.
THE reader has seen in the last chapter, that the Alabama
is at length upon the high seas, as a commissioned ship
of war of the Confederate States, her commission having been
signed by Mr. Jefferson Davis, who had all the de facto right,
and much more of the dejure right, to sign such a commission
than John Hancock, who signed Paul Jones' commission.
The Alabama having been built by the Government of the
Confederate States, and commissioned by these States, as a
ship of war, was, in no sense of the word, a privateer, which is
a private armed ship belonging to individuals, and fitted out
for purposes of gain. And yet, throughout the whole war,
and long after the war, when she was not called a "pirate"
by the Northern press, she was called a privateer. Even high
Government officials of the enemy so characterized her. Many
of the newspapers erred through ignorance, but this misnomei
was sheer malice, and very petty malice, too, on the part of
those of them who were better informed, and on the part of
the Government officials, all of whom, of course, knew better.
Long after they had acknowledged the war, as a war, which
carried with it an acknowledgment of the right of the Con
federate States to fit out cruisers, they stultified themselves
by calling her 'pirate," and "privateer." They were afraid
to speak the frith, in conformity with the facts, lest the de-
414

MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT. 415
struction of their property, for which they hoped ultimately
to be paid, should seem to be admitted to have been done
under the sanction of the laws of nations. They could as
logically have called General Robert E. Lee a bandit, as
myself a pirate ; but logic was not the forte of the enemy,
either during or since the late war.
Before we commence operations, a glance at the personnel
of the ship may not be uninteresting. If the reader is to em
bark on the cruise with us, he will very naturally desire to
know something of his future shipmates. Having made the
cruise in the Sumter, he is, of course, acquainted with the offi
cers of that ship, and if, after the fashion of the sailor, he has
formed a liking for any of them, he will naturally be inclined
10 know what became of such of them as did not follow me to
the Alabama. Of the lieutenants, only one of my old set fol
lowed me. Accident separated the rest from me, very much
to my regret, and we afterward played different roles in the
war. The reader has not forgotten Chapman, the second offi
cer of the Sumter, who made such a sensation in Cienfuegos,
among the fair sex, and who slept in such a sweet pair of
sheets at the house of his friend, that he dreamed of them for
weeks afterward. Chapman finished the cruise in the Sumter,
serving everybody else pretty much as he served the Cien
fuegos people, whenever he chanced to get ashore. He was
always as ready "to tread one measure — take one cup of
wine," with a friend, as to hurl defiance at an enemy. He
carried the garrison mess at Gibraltar by storm. There was
no dinner-party without him. He talked war and strategy
with the colonel, fox-hunted with the major, and thrumbed
the light guitar, and sang delightful songs, in company with
the young captains, and lieutenants, beneath the latticed win
dows of their lady-loves. It is astonishing, too, the progress
he made in learning Spanish, which was attributable entirely
to the lessons he took from some bright eyes, and musical
tongues, in the neighboring village of San Roque, only a
pleasant canter over into Spain, from Gibraltar. Chapman
was, unfortunately, going from London to Nassau, in a block
ade runner, while I was returning from the latter place to
Liverpool, preparatory to joining the Alabama. It was thus
•Al

416 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
we missed each other ; and the Alabama was on the wing so
soon afterward, that it was impossible for him to catch her.
He served in the Georgia, a while, under Captain William
Lewis Maury, and, when that ship was laid up and sold, he
returned to the Confederate States, and rendered gallant and
efficient service, in the last days of the war, in doing what
was possible for the defence of Wilmington, against the over
whelming fleet of Porter.
Stribling, the third of the Sumter, was assigned by me to
Maffitt's command, as already related. He died of yellow fever
in Mobile, deeply regretted by the whole service.
Evans, the fourth of the Sumter, missed me as Chapman had
done, and like Chapman, he took service on board the Georgia,
and afterward returned to the Confederate States. He served
in the naval batteries on the James River, until the evacuation
of Richmond.
I took with me to the Alabama, as the reader has seen, my
old and well-tried First Lieutenant, Kell. He became the
first lieutenant of the new ship.
Lieutenant Richard F. Armstrong, of Georgia, whom, as the
reader will recollect, I had left at Gibraltar, in charge of the
Sumter, took Chapman's place, and became second lieutenant.
Armstrong was a young gentleman of intelligence and char
acter, and had made good progress in his profession. He was
a midshipman at the Naval School, at Annapolis, when the
war broke out. Though still a mere boy, he resigned his
appointment without hesitation, and came South. He had
made the cruise with me in the Sumter, and been since pro
moted. Midshipman Joseph D. Wilson, of Florida, also an Ueve of
Annapolis, and who, like Armstrong, had made the cruise with
me in the Sumter, and been promoted, took Stribling's place,
and became third lieutenant.
My fourth lieutenant in place of Evans was Mr. Arthur Sin
clair, who, though not bred in the old service, belonged to one
of the old naval families of Virginia, both his father and grand
father having been captains in the United States Navy. These
two young gentlemen were also intelligent, and for the short
time they had been at sea, well informed in their profession.

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 417
My fifth lieutenant was Mr. John Low, of Georgia, a capital
seaman, and excellent officer.
Gait, my old surgeon, had accompanied me, as the reader
has seen, as did also First Lieutenant Howell, of the marines.
Myers, the paymaster of the Sumter, was, unfortunately for
me, in prison, in Fort Warren, when the Alabama was com
missioned — the Federal authorities still gloating over the
prize they had made, through the trickery of the Consul at
Tangier, of one of the "pirate's" officers. In his place I was
forced to content myself with a man, as paymaster, who shall
be nameless in these pages, since he afterward, upon being
discharged by me, for his worthlessness, went over to the
enemy, and became one of Mr. Adams' hangers-on, and paid
witnesses and spies about Liverpool, and the legation in Lon
don. As a preparatory step to embracing the Yankee cause,
he married a mulatto woman, in Kingston, Jamaica, (though
he had a wife living,) whom he swindled out of what little
property she had, and then abandoned. I was quite amused,
when I saw afterward, in the Liverpool and London papers,
that this man, who was devoid of ever virtue, and steeped to
the lips in every vice, was giving testimony in the English
courts, in the interest of the nation of " grand moral ideas."
This was the only recruit the enemy ever got from the ranks
of my officers.
To complete the circle of the ward-room, I have only to
mention Mr. Miles J. Freeman, the chief engineer of the Sumter,
who was now filling the same place on board the Alabama, and
with whom the reader is already acquainted ; Dr. Llewellyn,
an Englishman from Wiltshire, who having come out in the
Alabama as surgeon when she was yet a merchant-ship, had been
retained as assistant surgeon; and Acting Master Bullock,
brother of the captain already named in these pages. My
"steerage officers," who are too numerous to be named indi
vidually, were a capital set of young men, as were the "for
ward officers." Indeed, with the exception of the black sheep
in the ward-room, with Federal propensities, to whom I have
alluded, I had reason to be satisfied with my officers of all
grades. I must not forget to introduce to the reader one humble

418 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
individual of the Alabama's crew. He was my steward, and
my household would not be complete without him. When I
was making the passage from Nassau to Liverpool, in the Ba
hama, I noticed a pale, rather delicate, and soft-mannered young
man, who was acting as steward on board. He was an obe
dient, respectful, and attentive major-domo, but, unfortunately,
was rather too much addicted to the use of the wine which he
set on the table, every day, for the guests. Poor Bartelli — I
thus designate him, because of his subsequent sad fate, which
the reader will learn in due time — did not seem to have the
power of self-restraint, especially under the treatment he re
ceived, which was not gentle. The captain was rough toward
him, and the poor fellow seemed very much cowed and hum
bled, trembling when spoken to harshly. His very forlorn-
ness drew me toward him. He was an Italian, evidently of
gentle blood, and as, with the Italians, drinking to intoxication
is not an ineradicable vice, I felt confident that he could be
reformed under proper treatment. And so, when we arrived
at Terceira, I asked Bartelli how he would like to go with me,
as steward, on board the Alabama. He seemed to be delighted
with the proposal. "There is one understanding, however,"
I said to him, " which you and I must have : you must never
touch a drop of liquor, on board the ship, on duty. When
you go on shore, ' on liberty,' if you choose to have a little
frolic, that is your affair, provided, always, you come "off sober.
Is it a bargain ? " "It is, Captain," said/ he ; "I promise you I
will behave myself like a man, if you will take me with you."
The Captain of the Bahama had no objection, and Bartelli was
duly installed as my steward. I found him, as I had expected,
a capital servant. He was faithful, and became attached to
me, and kept his promise, under strong temptation ; for there
was always in the cabin-lockers of the Alabama the best of
wines and other liquors. He took care of my linen like a
woman, washing it himself when we were at sea, and sending
it to some careful laundress when in port. I shall, perhaps,
astonish a great many husbands and heads of families, when I
tell them, that every shirt-button was always in its place, and
that I never had to call for needle and thread under difficulties I
My mess affairs never gave me the least trouble. My table

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 419
was always well supplied, and when guests were expected, I
could safely leave the arrangements to Bartelli ; and then it
was a pleasure to observe the air, and grace of manner and
speech, with which he would receive my visitors and conduct
them into the cabin. Poor Bartelli I
The day after the Bahama left us was cloudy, and cheerless
in aspect, with a fresh wind and a rough sea. The ship was
rolling and tumbling about, to the discomfort of every one,
and confusion still reigned on board. Below decks everything
was dirt and disorder. Nobody had as yet been berthed or
messed, nor had any one been stationed at a gun or a rope.
Spare shot-boxes and other heavy articles were fetching way,
and, the ship was leaking considerably through her upper
works. She had been put together with rather green timber,
and, having been caulked in England, in winter, her seams were
beginning to gape beneath the ardent heats of a semi-tropical
climate. I needed several days yet, to put things "to rights,"
and mould the crew into a little shape. I withdrew, therefore,
under easy sail, from the beaten tracks of commerce ; and my
first lieutenant went to work berthing, and messing, and quar
tering, and stationing his men. The gun- equipments were com
pleted, and such little alterations made as were found neces
sary for the easy and efficient working of the battery, and the
guns were sealed with blank cartridges, and put in a proper
condition for being loaded promptly. We now devoted several
days to the exercise of the crew, as well at general, as division,
quarters. Some few of the guns' crews had served in ships of
war before, and proved capital drill-sergeants for the rest. The
consequence was, that rapid progress was made, and the Ala
bama was soon in a condition to plume her wings for her flight.
It only remained to caulk our upper works, and this occupied
us but a day or two longer.
I was much gratified to find that my new ship proved to be
a fine sailer, under canvas. This quality was of inestimable
advantage to me, as it enabled me to do most of my work
under sail. She carried but an eighteen days' supply of fuel,
and if I had been obliged, because of her dull sailing qualities,
to chase every thing under steam, the reader can see how I
Bhould have been hampered in my movements. I should have

420 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
been half my time running into port for fuel. This would
have disclosed my whereabouts so frequently to the enemy,
that I should have been constantly in danger of capture,
whereas I could now stretch into the most distant seas, and
chase, capture, and destroy, perfectly independent of steam.
I adopted the plan, therefore, of working under sail, in tha
very beginning of my cruise, and practised it unto the end.
With the exception of half a dozen prizes, all my captures
were made with my screw hoisted, and my ship under sail ;
and with but one exception, as the reader will see hereafter
I never had occasion to use steam to escape from an enemy.
This keeping of the sea, for three, and four months at a time,
had another great advantage — it enabled me to keep my
crew under better drill, and discipline, and, in every way, bet
ter in hand. Nothing demoralizes a crew so much as frequent
visits to port. The sailor is as improvident, and incapable
of self-government as a child. Indeed he is regarded by most
nations as a ward of the state, and that sort of legislation is
thrown around him, which is thrown around a ward in chan
cery. The moment a ship drops her anchor in a port, like
the imprisoned bird, he begins to beat the bars of his cage, if
he is hot permitted to go on shore, and have his frolic ; and
when on shore, to carry our simile still further, he is like tha
bird let out of the cage. He gives a loose rein to his passions,
and sometimes plunges so deeply into debauchery, that he
renders himself unfit for duty, for days, and sometimes weeks,
after he is hunted up and brought on board by the police,
which is most frequently the manner in which his captain
again gets possession of him. Such is the reckless intemper
ance into which some of the regular old salts plunge, that I
have known them to go on shore, make their way straight to
a sailor-boarding-house, which is frequently a dance-house,
and always a grog-shop, give what money they have about
them to the "landlord," and tell him to keep them drunk
as long as it will last, and when they have had the worth of
it in a good, long, big drunk, to pick them up, and send them
off to their ship ! The very d — 1 is to pay, too, when a lot
of drunken sailors is brought on board, as every first lieutenant
knows. Frequently they have to be knocked down, disarmed

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 421
of the dangerous sheath-knives which they wear, and confined
in irons until they are sober. When that takes place, Jack
comes out of the " Brig," his place of confinement, very much
ashamed of himself; generally with a blackened eye or two,
if not with a broken nose, and looking very seedy in the
way of apparel, as the chances are that he has sold or
exchanged the tidy suit in which he went on shore, for
some 'long-shore toggery, the better to enable him to pro
long that delightful drunk of his. It was quite enough to
have such scenes as these repeated once in three or foui
months. When I had put my ship in a tolerable state of defence, and
given a little practice at the guns, to my crew, I turned her
head toward her cruising ground. It so happened that this
was not very far off. Following Porter's example in tha
Pacific, — I mean the first Porter, the father of the present
Admiral in the Federal Navy, — I resolved to strike a blow at
the enemy's whale-fishery, off the Azores. There is a curious
and beautiful problem — that of Providence feeding the whale
— connected with this fishery, which I doubt not will interest
the reader, as it did the writer of these pages, when it first
came under his notice. It is because of that problem, that
the Azores are a whaling station. The food which attracts
the whale to these islands is not produced in their vicinity,
but is carried thither by the currents — the currents of the
ocean performing the same functions for the finny tribe, that
the atmosphere does for the plants. The fishes of the sea, in
their kingdom beneath the waters, have thus their highways
and byways, as well as the animals upon the land, and are
always to be found congregated where their great food-bearers,
the currents, make their deposits. Animalculas, infusoria,
small fishes, minute Crustacea, and shell-fish found on the
algae, or floating sea-weed, sea-nettles, and other food, are pro
duced in the more calm latitudes, where the waters are com
paratively still, taken up by the currents, and transported to
the more congenial feeding-grounds of the whales, and other
fishes. Much of this food is produced in the tepid waters of the sea,
into whbh, it is well known, some descriptions of whales can-

422 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
not enter. The equatorial belt of waters surrounding tha
earth, between the tropics, whose temperature is generally 80°
of Fahrenheit, is as a sea of fire to the "right" whale. It
would be as certain death for this species of whale to attempt
to cross these waters, as for a human being to plunge into a
burning lake. The proof of this is that the "right " whale of
the northern hemisphere is never found in the southern hem
isphere, or e converse It is a separate and distinct species of
fish. See how beneficent, therefore, the arrangement is, by
which the food for these monsters of the deep is transported
from the tepid waters, into which they cannot enter in pursuit
of it, to the cooler waters in which they delight to gambol.
The Gulf Stream is the great food-carrier for the extra-tropical
whales of the northern hemisphere. An intelligent sea-cap
tain, writing to Superintendent Maury of the National Obser
vatory, some years before the war, informed him, that in the
Gulf Stream, off the coast of Florida, he fell in with "such a
school of young sea-nettles, as had never before been heard
of." The sea was literally covered with them for many square
leagues. He likened them, in appearance, to acorns floating on
the water, but they were so thick as completely to cover the
sea. He was bound to England, and was five or six days in
sailing through them. In about sixty days afterward, on his
return voyage, he fell in with the same school off the Azores,
and here he was three or four dajrs in passing them again. He
recognized them as the same, for he had never before seen any
quite like them; and on both occasions he frequently hauled
up buckets full, and examined them. In their adventurous
voyage of sixty days, during which they must have been
tossed about in several gales of wind, these little marine ani
mals had grown considerably, and already the whales had be
gun to devour them; for the school was now so much dimin
ished in size, that the captain was enabled to sail through it,
in three or four days, instead of the five or six which it had
formerly taken him. We see, thus, that the fishes of the sea
have their seed-time and harvest; that the same beneficent
hand that decks the lilies of the field in garments more superb
than those of Solomon, and feeds the young raven, seeds down
the great equatorial belt of waters for the fishes; ari that

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 423
when the harvest-time has come, he sends in his reapers and
gleaners, the currents, which bind up the sheaves, and bear
them off three thousand miles, to those denizens of the great
deep, which, perhaps, but for this beautiful and beneficent ar
rangement, would die of inanition.
The whaling season ends at the Azores about the first of
October, when the first winter gales begin to blow, and the
food becomes scarce. The whales then migrate to other feed
ing-grounds, and the adventurous whaler follows them. As
we were now, in the first days of September, onboard the Ala
bama, the reader will see, that we had but a few weeks left, in
which to accomplish our purpose of striking a blow at the
enemy's whale fishery. In the afternoon of September 4th,
the weather being fine and clear, we made Pico and Fayal,
and reducing sail to topsails, lay off and on during the night.
The next day, the weather being cloudy, and the wind light
from the eastward, we made our first prize, without the excite
ment of a chase. A ship having been discovered, lying to, with
her foretopsail to the mast, we made sail for her, hoisting the
United States colors, and approached her within boarding dis
tance, that is to say, within a few hundred yards, without her
moving tack or sheet. She had shown the United States col
ors in return, as we approached, and proved to be a whaler,
with a huge whale, which she had recently struck, made fast
alongside, and partially hoisted out of the water by her yard
tackles. The surprise was perfect and complete, although
eleven days had elapsed since the Alabama had been commis
sioned at a neighboring island, less than a hundred miles off.
The captured ship proved to be the Ocmulgee, of Edgartown,
Massachusetts, whose master was a genuine specimen of the
Yankee whaling skipper ; long and lean, and as elastic, appar
ently, as the whalebone he dealt in. Nothing could exceed
the blank stare of astonishment, that sat on his face, as the
change of flags took place on board the Alabama. He had
been engaged, up to the last moment, with his men, securing
the rich spoil alongside. The whale was a fine " sperm," and
was a " big strike," and had already been denuded of much of
its blubber when we got alongside. He naturally concluded,
he said, when he saw the United States colors at cur peak, that

424 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
we were one of the new gunboats sent out by Mr. Welles to
protect the whale fishery. It was indeed remarkable, that no
protection should have been given to these men, by their
Government. Unlike the ships of commerce, the whalers are
obliged to congregate within small well-known spaces of ocean
and remain there for weeks at a time, whilst the whaling sea
son lasts. It was the most obvious thing in the world, that
these vessels, thus clustered together, should attract the atten
tion of the Confederate cruisers, and be struck at. There are
not more than half a dozen principal whaling stations on the
entire globe, and a ship, of size and force, at each, would have
been sufficient protection. But the whalers, like the commerce
of the United States generally, were abandoned to their fate.
Mr. Welles did not seem capable of learning by experience
even ; for the Shenandoah repeated the successes of the Ala
bama, in the North Pacific, toward the close of the war.
There were Federal steam gunboats, and an old sailing hulk
cruising about in the China seas, but no one seemed to think
of the whalers, until Waddel carried dismay and consternation
among them.
It took us some time to remove the crew of the Ocmulgee,
consisting of thirty-seven persons, to the Alabama. We also
got on board from her some beef and pork, and small stores,
and by the time we had done this, it was nine o'clock at night ;
too late to think of burning her, as a bonfire, by night, would
flush the remainder of the game, which I knew to be in the
vicinity ; and I had now become too old a hunter to commit
such an indiscretion. With a little management and caution,
I might hope to uncover the birds, no faster than I could bag
them. And so, hoisting a light at the peak of the prize, I
permitted her to remain anchored to the whale, and we lay by
her until the next morning, when we burned her ; the smoke
of the conflagration being, no doubt, mistaken by vessels at a
distance, for that of some passing steamer.
To those curious in such matters, I may state that a large
sperm whale will yield twenty-five barrels of oil from the
head alone. The oil is found in its liquid state, and is baled
out with buckets, from a hole cut in the top of the head.
What can be the uses in the animal economy to which this

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 425
immense quantity of oil in the head of the fish is applied ?
They, are probably twofold. First, it may have some connec
tion with the sustenance of the animal, in seasons of scarcity
of food, and secondly, and more obviously, it appears to be a
provision of nature, designed on the same principle on which
birds are supplied with air-cells in their bones. The whale,
though a very intelligent fish, and with an affection for its
" calf," almost ^human, has but a small brain, the great cavity
of its skull being filled as described. As the specific gravity
of oil is considerably less than that of water, we can be at no
loss to conjecture why the monster has so bountiful a supply,
nor why it is that it carries the supply in its head. As is well
known, the whale is a warm-blooded mammal, as much so as
the cow that roams our pastures, and cannot live by breathing
the water alone. Instead of the gill arrangement of other
fishes, which enables them to extract from the water sufficient
air to vitalize the blood, it has the lungs of the mammal, and
needs to breathe the atmosphere. The oil in the head, acting
on the principle of the cork, enables it to ascend very rapidly,
from great depths in the ocean, when it requires to breathe, or
" blow." See how beautiful this oil arrangement is, too, in
another aspect. It enables the monster, when it requires rest,
to lay its head on the softest kind of a pillow, an ocean wave,
and sleep as unconcernedly as the child does upon the bosom
of its mother.
On the day after the capture of the Ocmulgee, we chased and
overhauled a French ship, bound to Marseilles. After speaking
this ship, and telling her that we were a United States cruiser,
we bore away north, half west, and in a couple of hours made
the island of Flores, the westernmost of the Azores, and a
favorite island to be sighted by the whalers, for the correction
of their chronometers. Approaching it just at nightfall, we
shortened sail, and lay off and on during the night. This is
land is an exceedingly picturesque object. It rises like a huge
mountain from the depths of the sea, with the bluest and deep
est of water all around it. It is rock-bound, and there is
scarcely any part of it, where a ship might not haul alongside
of the rocks, and make fast to the shore. It rises to the height
of a thousand feet and more, and is covered with a luxuriant

426 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
vegetation, the substratum of rock being overlaid with a gen
erous soil. The climate is genial for three-fourths of the year,
but almost a perpetual gale howls over it in winter. At a dis
tance, the island appeared like an unbroken mountain, but as
we approached it, many beautiful valleys, and gaps in the
mountain presented themselves, with the neat white farm
houses of the lonely dwellers peeping out from beneath the
dense foliage. It was indeed a beautiful scene to look upon,
and such was the air of perfect repose and peace that per
vaded it, that a ship of war seemed out of place, approach
ing its quiet shores.
The next day, Sunday, dawned beautiful and bright, and the
Alabama having approached this semi-tropical island, suffi
ciently near to inhale the fragrance of its shrubs and flowers,
mustered her crew for the first time. The reader has now been
sufficiently long with us to know, that when we speak of "mus
ter" on board a ship of war, we do not mean simply the calling
of the roll, but a ceremony of dress and inspection. With
clean, white decks, with the brass and iron work glittering like
so many mirrors in the sun, and with the sails neatly trimmed,
.and the Confederate States flag at our peak, we spread our
awnings and read the Articles of War to the crew. A great
change had taken place in the appearance of the men, since I
made that stump speech to them which has been described
Their parti-colored garments had been cast aside, and they were
all neatly arrayed in duck frocks and trousers, well-polished
shoes, and straw hats. There was a visible improvement in
their health, too. They had been long enough out of Liverpool
to recover from the effects of their debauches, and regain their
accustomed stamina. This was the first reading of the Arti
cles of War to them, and it was curious to observe the atten
tion with which they listened to the reading, occasionally eying
each other, as they were struck by particular portions of them.
These Articles, which were copied from similar Articles, for
the "better government of the Navy of the United States,"
were quite severe in their denunciations of crime. The pen
alty of death frequently occurred in them, and they placed the
power of executing this penalty in the hands of the captain
and a court-martial.

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 427
Jack had already had a little foretaste of discipline, in the two
weeks he had been on board; the first lieutenant having
brought several of them to the " mast," whence they had been
sent into confinement by me, for longer or shorter intervals,
according to the grade of their offences ; and he now began
more distinctly to perceive that he had gotten on bo^rd a ship
of war, instead ofthe privateer he had supposed the Alabama
to be, and that he would have to toe a pretty straight mark.
It is with a disorderly crew, as with other things, the first
blows are the most effective. I had around me a large staff
of excellent officers, who always wore their side arms, and
pistols, when on duty, and from this time onward we never
had any trouble about keeping the most desperate and turbu
lent characters in subjection. My code was like that of the
Medes and Persians — it was never relaxed. The moment a
man offended, he was seized and confined in irons, and, if the
offence was a grave one, a court-martial was sitting on his
case in less than twenty-four hours. The willing and obedient
were treated with humanity and kindness ; the turbulent
were jerked down, with a strong hand, and made submissive
to discipline. I was as rigid with the officers as with the
crew, though, of course, in a different way, and, both officers
and men soon learning what was required of them, everything
went on, on board the Alabama, after the first few weeks, as
smoothly, and with as little jarring as if she had been a well-
constructed and well-oiled machine.

CHAPTER XXXIII.
CAPTURE OF THE STARLIGHT, OCEAN ROVER, ALERT
WEATHER-GAUGE — A RACE BY NIGHT — CAPTURE OP
THE ALTAMAHA, VIRGINIA, AND ELIJA DUNBAR  A
ROUGH SEA, TOILING BOATS, AND A PICTURESQUE
BURNING OF A SHIP IN A GALE.
WE were running in, while the muster described in the
last chapter was going on, for the little town, or, rather,
sea-side village of Lagens, on the south side of the island of
Flores, and, having approached the beach quite near, we hove
the ship to, and hauling alongside, from the stern, where they
had been towing, the whale-boats of the captured ship, which
we had brought away from the prize for this purpose, we
paroled our prisoners, and, putting them in possession of their
boats, shoved them off for the shore. I had two motives in
thus landing my prisoners in their own boats, or, to speak
more properly, in the boats which had once belonged to them.
It saved me the trouble of landing them myself; and, as the
boats were valuable, and I permitted the prisoners to put in
them as many provisions as they desired, and as much other
plunder as they could pick up about the decks of their ships
— excepting always such articles as ws needed on board the
Alabama — the sale of their boats and cargoes to the islanders
gave them the means of subsistence, until they could commu
nicate with their consul in the neighboring island of Fayal.
We had scarcely gotten through with the operation of land
ing our prisoners, before the cry of " sail ho ! " came to us
from the mast-head ; and we made sail in chase of a schooner
which was approaching the island, hoisting the English colors
to throw the stranger off his guard. As the two vessels were
sailing toward each other, they approached very rapidly, and
428

MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT. 429
in the course of an hour we were within a mile of each other,
Still the schooner did not show any colors. The reason was
quite plain ; she was American in every feature, and could
show us no other colors than such as would subject her to
capture, in case we should prove to be her enemy, of which
she seemed to be suspicious. Indeed, the gallant little craft,
with every stitch of canvas set, sails well hoisted, and sheets a
little eased, was now edging off a little from us, and endeavor
ing to gain the shelter of the well-known marine league, the
land being distant only about five miles. Perceiving her ob
ject, and seeing that I had only a couple of miles to spare, I
kept my own ship off, the better to throw myself across the
stranger's path, changed my colors, and fired a blank cartridge
to heave her to. But she neither hove to, nor showed colors,
being evidently intent upon giving me a race. Although I
already had the little craft under my guns, I humored her for
a few minutes, just to show her that I could beat her in' a fair
trial of speed, and when I had proved this, by gaining rapidly
upon her, I sent a round shot from one of the bow guns between
her masts, a few feet only over the heads of her people. If the
reader has heard a 32-pounder whistle, in such close proximity,
he knows very well what it says, to wit, that there must be
no more trifling. And so the captain of the schooner under
stood it, for in a moment afterward we could see the graceful
little craft luffing up in the wind, brailing up her foresail, and
hauling her jib sheet to windward. The welcome stars and
stripes fluttered soon afterward from her peak. The master
being brought on board with his papers, the prize proved to
be the schooner Starlight, of Boston, from Fayal, bound to
Boston by the way of Flores, for which island she had some
passengers, several ladies among the number.
The crew consisted of seven persons — all good Yankee sailors.
Having heard, by this time, full accounts of the shameful treat
ment of my paymaster of the Sumter, which has been described,
in a former chapter, I resolved to practise a little retaliation
upon the enemy, and ordered the crew of the Starlight put in
irons. I pursued this practice, painful as it was, for the next
seven or eight captures, putting the masters and mates of the
ships, as well as the crews, in irons. The masters would fre-

430 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
quently remonstrate with me, claiming that it was an indig
nity put upon them ; and so it was, but I replied to them, that
their countrymen had put a similar indignity upon an officer
and a gentleman, who had worn the uniform of the navies of
both our countries. By the time that the capture of the Star
light had been completed, the sun was near his setting, and it
was too late to, land the passengers. I therefore sent a prize
crew on board the captured ship, directing the prize-master to
lie by me during the night, and giving him especial charge to
inform the passengers that they should be safely landed in the
morning, and, in the meantime, to quiet the fears of the ladies,
who had been much alarmed by the chase and the firing, we
hoisted a light at the peak of the Alabama, and lay to, all
night, in nearly a calm sea. There were some dark clouds
hanging over the island, but they had apparently gone there
to roost, as no wind came from them. Among the papers cap
tured on board the Starlight were a couple of despatches from
the Federal Consul at Fayal, to the Sewards — father and son
— in which there was the usual amount of stale nonsense
about "rebel privateers," and "pirates."
The weather proved fine, the next morning, and standing in,
within a stone's throw of the little town of Santa Cruz, we
landed both passengers and prisoners, putting the latter, as
usual, under parole. In the meantime, the Governor of the
island, and a number of the dignitaries came off to visit us.
They were a robust, farmer-looking people, giving evidence,
in their persons, of the healthfulness of the island, and were
very polite, franking to us the ports of the island, and inform
ing us that supplies were cheap, and abundant. Their visit
was evidently one of curiosity, and we treated his Excellency
with all due ceremony, notwithstanding the smallness of his
dominions. We talked to him, however, of bullocks, and
sheep, fish and turtles, yams and oranges, rather than of the
war between the States, and the laws of nations. Bartelli
made the eyes of the party dance with flowing goblets of
champagne, and when I thought they had remained long
enough, I bowed them out of the cabin, with a cigar all round,
and sent them on shore, with rather favorable impressions, I do
not doubt, of the "pirate."

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 431
Hauling off, now, from the island, and running seaward for
a space, we chased^and overhauled a Portuguese whaling brig.
Seeing by her boats and other indications that she was a whaler,
I thought, at first, that I had a prize, and was quite disap
pointed when she showed me the Portuguese colors. Not being
willing to trust to the verity of the flag, I sent a boat on board
of her, and invited the master to visit me with his papers, which
he did. The master was himself a Portuguese, and I found
his papers to be genuine. Thanking him for his visit, I
dismissed him in a very few minutes. I had no right to com
mand him to come on board of me — he being a neutral, it was
my business to go on board of him, if I desired to examine his
papers, but he waived ceremony, and it was for this that I had
thanked him. I may as well remark here, in passing, that this
was the only foreign whaling-ship that I ever overhauled; the
business of whaling having become almost exclusively an
American monopoly — the monopoly not being derived from
any sovereign grant, but resulting from the superior skill,
energy, industry, courage, and perseverance of the Yankee
whaler, who is, perhaps, the best specimen of a sailor, the world
over. Later in the same afternoon, we chased a large ship, looming
up almost like a frigate, in the northwest, with which we came
up about sunset. We had showed her the American colors,
and she approached us without the least suspicion that she was
running into the arms of an enemy ; the master crediting good
old Mr. Welles, as the master of the Ocmulgee had done, with
sending a flashy-looking Yankee gunboat, to look out for his
whalebone and oil. This large ship proved to be, upon the
master being brought on board with his papers, the Ocean Rover,
of New Bedford, Massachusetts. She had been out three years
and four months, cruising in various parts of the world, had
sent home one or two cargoes of oil, and was now returning,
herself, with another cargo, of eleven hundred barrels. The
master, though anxious to see his wife, and dandle on his knee
the babies that were no longer babies, with true Yankee thrift
thought he would just take the Azores in his way home, and
make another "strike," or two, to fill up his empty casks. The
conuequence was, as the reader has seen, a little disappointment.
28

432 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
I really felt for the honest fellow, but when I came to reflect,
for a moment, upon the diabolical acts of his countrymen of
New England, who were out-heroding Herod, in carrying on
against us a vindictive war, filled with hate and vengeance, the
milk of human kindness which had begun to well up in my
heart disappeared, and I had no longer any spare sympathies
to dispose of.
It being near night when the capture was made, I directed
the prize to be hove to, in charge of a prize crew until morning.
In the meantime, however, the master, who had heard from
some of my men, that I had permitted the master of the Ocmul
gee, and his crew, to land in their own boats, came to me, and
requested permission to land in the same manner. We were
four or five miles from the land, and I suggested to him,
that it was some distance to pull. "Oh! that is nothing," said
he, "we whalers sometimes chase a whale, on the broad sea,
until our ships are hull-down, and think nothing of it. It will
relieve you of us the sooner, and be of some service to us be
sides." Seeing that the sea was smooth, and that there was
really no risk to be run, for a Yankee whale-boat might be
made, with a little management, to ride out an ordinary gale of
wind, I consented, and the delighted master returned to his ship,
to make the necessary preparations. I gave him the usual per
mission to take what provisions he needed, the whaling gear
belonging to his boats, and the personal effects of himself and
men. He worked like a beaver, for not more than a couple of
hours had elapsed, before he was again alongside ofthe Alabama,
with all his six boats, with six men in each, ready to start for
the shore. I could not but be amused when I looked over the
side into these boats, at the amount of plunder that the rapa
cious fellow had packed in them. They were literally loaded
down, with all sorts of traps, from the seamen's chests and bed
ding, to the. tabby cat and parrot. Nor had the " main chance "
been overlooked, for all the "cabin stores" had been secured,
and sundry barrels of beef and pork, besides. I said to him,
" Captain, your boats appear to me, to be rather deeply laden ;
are you not afraid to trust them ? " " Oh ! no," he replied ; " they
are as buoyant as ducks, and we shall not ship a drop of water."
After a detention of a few minutes, during which my clerk was

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 433
putting the crew under parole, I gave the master leave to
depart. The boats, shoving off from the side, one by one, and falling
into line, struck out for the shore. That night-landing of this
whaler's crew was a beautiful spectacle. I stood on the horse
block, watching it, my mind busy with many thoughts. The
moon was shining brightly, though there were some passing
clouds sailing lazily in the upper air, that fleckered the sea.
Flores, which was sending off to us, even at this distance, her
perfumes of shrub and flower, lay sleeping in the moonlight,
with a few fleecy, white clouds wound around the mountain-
top, like a turban. The rocky islets that rise like so many
shafts out of the sea, devoid of all vegetation, and at different
distances from the shore, looked weird and unearthly, like
sheeted ghosts. The boats moving swiftly and mysteriously
toward the shore, might have been mistaken, when they had
gotten a little distance from us, for Venetian gondolas, with
their peaked bows and sterns, especially when we heard coming
over the sea, a song, sung by a powerful and musical voice, and
chorussed by all the boats. Those merry fellows were thus
making light of misfortune, and proving that the sailor, after
all, is the true philosopher. The echo of that night-song lin
gered long in my memory, but I little dreamed, as I stood on
the deck of the Alabama, and witnessed the scene I have de
scribed, that four years afterward, it would be quoted against
me as a violation of the laws of war ! And yet so it was. It
was alleged by the malice of my defamers, who never have.
and never can forgive me for the destruction of their property,
that miles away at sea, in rough and inclement weather, I com
pelled my prisoners to depart for the shore, in leaky and un
sound boats, at the hazard of their lives, designing and desir
ing to drown them ! And this was all the thanks I received
for setting some of these fellows up as nabobs, among the
islanders. Why, the master of the Ocean Rover, with his _six
boats, and their cargoes, was richer than the Governor, when
he landed in Flores ; where the simple islanders are content
with a few head of cattle, a cast-net, and a canoe.
The Alabama had now two prizes in company, with which
she lay off and on the island during the night, and she was

434 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
destined to secure another before morning. I had turned in,
and was sleeping soundly, when about midnight, an officer
came below to inform me that there was another large ship
close on board of us. I was dressed and on deck in a few
minutes. The stranger was plainly visible, being not more
than a mile distant. She was heading for the island. I wore
ship, as quietly as possible, and followed her, but she had, in
the meantime, drawn some distance ahead, and an exciting
chase now ensued. We were both close-hauled, on the star
board tack, and the stranger, seeing that he was pursued, put
every rag of sail on his ship that he could spread. I could
but admire her, with her square yards and white canvas,
every sheet home, and every leach taut. For the first half
hour, it was hard to tell which ship had the heels of the other,
but at the end of that time, we began to head-reach the chase
very perceptibly, though the latter rather " eat us out of the-
wind," or, to speak more conformably with the vocabulary of
the land, went to windward of us. This did not matter much,
however, as when we should be abreast of her, we would be near
enough to reach her with a shot. After a chase of about four
hours, day broke, when we hoisted the English ensign. This
was a polite invitation to the chase, to show her colors, but she
declined to do so. We now felt sure that she was an enemy,
and a prize, and as we were still gaining on her, it was only a
matter of an hour or two, when she would fall into our hands.
Our polite invitation to the chase, to show her colors, not suc
ceeding, we became a little more emphatie, and fired a blank
cartridge. Still she was obstinate. She was steering for
Flores, and probably, like the Starlight, had her eye on the
marine league. Having approached her, in another half hour
within good round-shot range, I resolved to treat her as I had
treated the Starlight, and threw a 32-pounder near enough to
her stern to give the captain a shower-bath. Shower -batha
are very efficacious, in many cases, and we found it so in this ,
for in a moment more, we could see the stars and stripes as
cending to the stranger's peak, and that he had started his
tacks and sheets, and was in the act of hauling up his courses.
This done, the main-yard was swung aback, and the prize had
surrendered herself a prisoner.

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 435
Bartelli now came to tell me, that my bath was ready, and
descending to the cabin, I bathed, and dressed for breakfast,
whilst the boarding-officer was boarding the prize. She proved
to be the Alert, of, and from New London, and bound, by the
way of the Azores, and Cape de Verde Islands, to the Indian
Ocean. She was only sixteen days from port, with files of late
newspapers; and besides her own ample outfit for a large crew,
and a long voyage, she had on board supplies for the group
known as the Navigators' Islands, in the South Indian Ocean,
where among icebergs and storms, the Yankees had a whaling
and sealing station. This capture proved to be a very oppor
tune one, as we were in want of just such a lot of clothing, for
the men, as we found on board the prize ; and the choice beef,
and pork, nicely put up ship-bread, boxes of soap, and tobacco,
and numerous other articles of seaman's supplies did not come
amiss. We had been particularly short of a supply of tobacco,
this being a costly article in England, and I could see Jack's
eye brighten, as he rolled aft, and piled up on the quarter-deck,
sundry heavy oaken boxes of good "Virginia twist." That
night the pipes seemed to have wonderfully increased in num
ber, on board the Alabama, and the song and the jest derived
new inspiration from the fragrance of the weed. We paroled
the officers and crew of the Alert, and sent them ashore, in
.heir own boats, as we had done the others.
I had now three prizes on my hands, viz. : the Starlight, the
Ocean Rover, and the Alert, with a prize crew on board of each,
and as I could make no better use of them than to destroy
them, thanks to the unfriendly conduct of neutrals, so often
referred to, it became necessary to think of burning them.
They were lying at distances, ranging from half a mile to three
miles from the Alabama, and were fired within a short time of
each other, so that we had three funeral pyres burning around
us at the same moment. The other whalers at a distance must
have thought that there were a good many steamers passing
Flores, that day. It was still early in the afternoon, and there
was more work before us ere night set in. I had scarcely
gotten my prize crews on board, and my boats run up, before
another sail was discovered standing in for the island. We
immediately gave chase, or rather, to speak more correctly,

436 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
proceeded to meet the stranger, who was standing in our direc
tion. The ships approached each other very rapidly, and wa
soon discovered the new sail to be a large schooner, of un
mistakable Yankee build and rig. We hoisted the United
States colors, and she responded soon afterward with the stars
and stripes. She came on quite unsuspiciously, as the two last
prizes had done, until she arrived near enough to see that the
three mysterious cones of smoke, at which she had probably
been wondering for some time past, proceeded from three ships
on fire. Coupling this unusual spectacle with the approach
toward her of a rakish-looking barkentine, she at once smelt
rather a large rat, and wheeled suddenly in flight. But it was
too late. We were already withiu three miles of her, and a
pursuit of half an hour brought her within effective range of
our bow-chaser. We now changed colors, and fired a blank
cartridge. This was sufficient. She saved us the expenditure
of a shot, and hove to, without further ado. Upon being
boarded, she proved to be the Weathergauge, a whaler of
Provincetown, Massachusetts, six weeks from the land of tha
Puritan, with other files of newspapers, though not so late as
those captured on board the Alert.
In running over these files, it was wonderful to observe the
glibness with which these Massachusetts brethren of ours now
talked of treason, and of rebels, and traitors, at no greater dis
tance, in point of time, than forty -five years, from the Hartford
Convention ; to say nothing of certain little idiosyncrasies of
theirs, that were developed during the annexation of Texas.
There were some " Sunday " papers among the rest, and all the
pious parsons and deacons in the land were overflowing with
patriotism, and hurling death and damnation from their pul
pits, against those who had dared to strike at the "Lord's
anointed," the sainted Abraham Lincoln. But as the papers
contained little or no war news, we had no time to bestow upon
the crotchets of the Yankee brain, and they were promptly
consigned to the waste-paper basket. Another sail being dis
covered, whilst we were receiving the surrender of the Weather-
gauge, we hastily threw a prize crew on board this latter vessel,
directing the prize-master to " hold on to the island of Corvo,"
during the ensuing night, which was now falling, until we

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 437
should return, and started off in pursuit of the newly dis
covered sail.
Chasing a sail is very much like pursuing a coy maiden,
the very coyness sharpening the pursuit. The chase, in the
present instance, seemed determined to run away from us ; and
as she was fast, and we were as determined to overhaul her aa
she was to run away, she led us a beautiful night-dance over
the merry waters. The moon rose bright, soon after the chase
commenced, and, striking upon the canvas of the fleeing ves
sel, lighted it up as though it had been a snow-bank. The
American vessels are distinguished, above all others, for the
whiteness of their canvas ; being clothed, for the most part, in
the fibre of our cotton-fields. The cut of the sails, and the
taper of the spars of the chase looked American, and then the
ship was cracking on every stitch of canvas that would draw,
in the effort to escape — she must surely be American, we
thought. And so we "looked on her, to lust after her," and
gave our little ship the benefit of all our skill in seamanship.
The speed of the two ships was so nearly matched, that, for
the first hour or two, it was impossible to say whether we had
gained on her an inch. We were both running dead before
the wind, and this was not the Alabama's most favorable sail
ing-point. With her tall lower masts, and large fore-and-aft
sails, she was better on a wind, or with the wind abeam. The
chase was leading us away from our cruising-ground, and I
should have abandoned it, if I had not had my pride of ship
a little interested. It would never do for the Alabama to be
beaten in the beginning of her cruise, and that, too, by a mer
chantman ; and so we threw out all our " light kites " to the
wind, and gave her the studding-sails " alow and aloft." To
make a long story short, we chased this ship nearly all night,
and only came up with her a lfttle before dawn ; and when
we did come up with her, she proved to be a Dane ! She was
the bark Overman, from Bankok, in Siam, bound to Hamburg.
There had been no occasion, whatever, for this neutral ship to
flee, and the long chase which she had given me was evidently
the result of a little spleen ; and so, to revenge myself, in a good-
natured way, I insisted upon all my belligerent rights. Though
satisfied from her reply to my hail, that she was what she pro-

438 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
claimed herself to be, I compelled her to heave to, which in
volved the necessity of taking in all that beautiful white can
vas, with which she had decoyed me so many miles away
from my cruising-ground, and sent a boat on board of her to
examine her papers. She thus lost more time than if she had
shortened sail earlier in the chase, to permit me to come up
with her.
It was late next day before I rejoined the Weathergauge off
Corvo, and I felt, as I was retracing my steps, pretty much as
Music or Rover may be supposed to feel, as he is limping back
to his kennel, after a run in pursuit of a fox that has escaped
him. Bartelli failed to call me at the usual hour, that morn
ing, and I need not say that I made a late breakfast. We now
landed the crew of the Weathergauge, in their own boats, with
the usual store of provisions, and traps, and burned her. Two
days elapsed now without a capture, during which we over
hauled but one ship, a Portuguese bark homeward bound.
Having beaten the " cover " of which Flores was the centre,
pretty effectually, I now stretched away to the north-west, and
ran the island out of sight, intending to skirt it, at the distance
of forty or fifty miles. On the third day, the welcome cry of
"sail ho ! " again rang from the masthead, and making sail in the
direction indicated by the look-out, we soon discovered that
the chase was a whaler. Resorting to the usual ruse of the
enemy's flag, the stranger did not attempt to escape, and in an
hour or two more, we were alongside of the American whaling
brig Altamaha, from New Bedford, five months out. The
Altamaha had had but little success, and was comparatively
empty. She did not make so beautiful a bonfire, therefore, as
the other whalers had done.
In the afternoon, we overhauled a Spanish ship. Our posi
tion, to-day, was latitude 40° 34' N., and longitude 35° 24'
15" W. The barometer stood at 30.3 inches, and the ther
mometer at 75° ; from which the reader will see that the
weather was fine and pleasant. It was now the middle of
September, however, and a change might be looked for at any
moment. On the night after capturing the Altamaha, we had
another night-chase, with more success, however, than the last.
It was my habit, when- there was no " game up," to turn in

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 439
early, usually at nine o'clock, to enable my physique to with
stand the frequent drafts upon its energies. I was already in
a sound sleep, when about half-past eleven, an old quartermas
ter came below, and giving my cot a gentle shake, said: "There
has a large ship just passed to windward of us, on the oppo
site tack, sir." I sprang out of bed at once, and throwing on
a few clothes, was on deck almost as soon as the quartermaster.
I immediately wore ship, and gave chase. My ship was under
topsails, and it took us some little time to make sail. By this
time the chase was from two and a half to three miles distant,
but quite visible to the naked eye, in the bright moonlight.
We were both close-hauled on the starboard tack, the chase
about three points on the weather bow. The stranger, who
was probably keeping a better look-out than is usual with
merchant-ships, in consequence of the war, had discovered our
movement, and knew he was pursued, as we could see him set
ting his royals and flying jib, which had been furled. The
Alabama was now at her best point of sailing. The sailors
used to say, when we drew aft the sheets of those immense
trysails of hers, and got the fore-tack close aboard, that she
was putting on her seven-league boots. She did, indeed, then
seem "To walk the waters like a thing of life,"
and there were few sailing ships that could run away from her.
We gained from the start upon the chase, and in a couple
of hours, were on his weather-quarter, having both head-
reached, and gone to windward of him. He was now no more
than about a mile distant, and I fired the accustomed blank
cartridge to heave him to. The sound of the gun broke upon
the stillness of the night, with startling effect, but the chase
did not stir tack or sheet in obedience to it. She was evidently
resolved to try conclusions with me a little farther. Find
ing that I had the advantage of him, on a wind, he kept off a
little, and eased his sheets, and we could see, with our night-
glasses, that he was rigging out his studding-sail booms pre
paratory to setting the sails upon them. We kept off in turn,
bringing the wind a little forward of the beam, and such good
use did the Alabama make of her seven-league boots, that

440 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
before the stranger could get even his foretopmast studding-
sail set, we had him within good point-blank range of a 32-
pounder. The moon was shining very poetically, and the
chase was very pretty, but it was rather " after hours," and so I
I resolved to shift the scenes, cut short the drama an act or two,
and bring it to a close. I now fired a second gun, though still
unshotted, and the smoke had hardly blown away before we
could see the stranger hauling up his courses, and bringing
his ship to the wind, as much as to say, " I see you have the
heels of me, and there is no use in trying any longer." I
gave the boarding-officer orders, in case the ship should prove
to be a prize, of which I had but little doubt, to show me a
light as soon as he should get on board of her. The, oars of
his boat had scarcely ceased to resound, before I saw the wel
come light ascending to the stranger's peak, and knew that
another of the enemy's ships had fallen into my power. It
was now nearly daylight, and I went below and finished the
nap which had been so unceremoniously broken in upon. I
may as well observe here, that I scarcely ever disturbed the
regular repose ofthe officers and crew during these night
operations. Everything was done by the watch on deck, and
" all hands " were never called except on emergencies.
When I came on deck the next morning, there was a fine
large ship lying under my lee, awaiting my orders. She
proved to be the Benjamin Tucker, of New Bedford, eight
months out, with three hundred and forty barrels of oil. We
received from her an additional supply of tobacco, and other
small stores. As early as ten o'clock, the crew of the Tucker,
numbering thirty persons, were on board the Alabama, and
the ship was on fire. The remainder of this day, and the next,
passed without incident, except the incidents of wind, and
weather, which have so often been recorded. We improved
the leisure, by exercising the men at the guns, and caulking
the decks, which were again beginning to let water enough
through them, to inconvenience the men in their hammocks
below. Just as the sun was setting, on the evening of the
second day, we caught a glimpse from the mast-head of tha
island of Flores, distant about forty miles.
The next morning dawned bright and clear, with a smooth

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES^ 441
sea, and summer clouds sailing lazily overhead, giving us just
breeze enough to save us from the ennui of a calm. As soon
as the morning mists lifted themselves from the surface of the
waters, a schooner appeared in sight, at no great distance. We
had approached each other unwittingly during the night. We
immediately gave chase, hoisting the United States colors, for
the schooner was evidently Yankee. She did not attempt tc
escape, and when, as early as half-past seven A. M., we came
near enough to fire a gun, and change colors, she hove to, and
surrendered. She was the whaling-schooner Courser, of Pro-
vincetown, Massachusetts. Her master was a gallant young
fellow, and a fine specimen of a seaman, and if I could have sep
arated him, in any way, from the "Universal Yankee Nation,"
I should have been pleased to spare his pretty little craft from
the flames; but the thing was impossible. There were too
many white-cravatted, long-haired fellows, bawling from the
New-England pulpits, and too many house-burners and pilferers
inundating our Southern land, to permit me to be generous, and
bo I steeled my heart, as I had done on a former occasion, and
executed the laws of war.
Having now the crews of the three last ships captured, on
board, amounting to about seventy, who were not only begin
ning, on account of their number, and the limited accommoda
tions of the Alabama, to be uncomfortable themselves, but were
inconveniencing my own people, and hindering more or less
the routine of the ship, I resolved to run back to Flores, and
land them. I had eight whale-boats in tow, which I had brought
away from the burning ships, for the purpose of landing these
prisoners, and, no doubt, the islanders, as they saw my well-
known ship returning, with such a string of boats, congratulated
themselves upon the prospect of other good bargains with the
Yankees. The traffic must now have been considerable in this
little island ; such was the avalanche of boats, harpoons, cordage,
whales' teeth, whalebones, beef, pork, tobacco, soap, and jack-
knives that I had thrown on shore. When we had reached suffi
ciently near, I shoved all the boats off at once, laden with my
seventy prisoners, and there was quite a regatta under the lee
of Flores that afternoon, the boats of each ship striving to beat
the others to the shore. The fellows seemod to be so well

442 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
pleased, that I believe, with a little coaxing, they would have
been willing to give three cheers for the Alabama.
We had some sport ourselves, after the prisoners had de
parted ; for we converted the Courser into a target, before setting
fire to her, and gave the crew a little practice at her, with the
battery. They did pretty well for green hands, but nothing to
boast of. They were now becoming somewhat familiar with
the gun exercise, and in the evolutions that are usually taught
sailors at general quarters. Not only my excellent first lieu
tenant, but all the officers of the divisions, took great pains with
them, and their progress was quite satisfactory.
We again stood away to the northward and westward, under
easy sail, during the night, and the next day, the weather being
still fine, and the breeze moderate from the south-west, in lati
tude about 40°, and longitude 33°, we chased a large ship which
tried her heels with us — to no purpose, however — as we over
hauled her in about three hours and a half. It was another
American whaling ship, the Virginia, only twenty days out,
from New Bedford. She brought us another batch of late news
papers, and being fitted out, like the Alert, for a long cruise, we
got on board some more supplies from her. The master of this
ship expressed great surprise at the speed of the Alabama, under
sail. His own ship, he said, was fast, but he had stood " no
chance" with the Alabama. It was like a rabbit attempting to
run away from a greyhound. We burned the Virginia, when
we had gotten our supplies on board, and despoiled her of such
cordage, and spare sails as we needed, and stood away to the
north-west again. The torch having been applied to her rather
late in the afternoon, the burning wreck was still visible some
time after nightfall.
The next morning the weather had changed considerably.
It was cloudy, and rather angry -looking, and the wind was
fresh and increasing. We overhauled a French brig, during
the day, and after detaining her no longer than was necessary
to examine her papers, permitted her to depart. We had
barely turned away from the Frenchman, when a bark was
announced from the mast-head. We immediately gave chase.
We had to wear ship for this purpose, and the bark, which
seemed to have descried us, quite as soon as we had descried

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 443
her, observing the evolution, made all sail at once, in flight.
Here was another chase, and under different circumstances from
any of those that had preceded it. It was blowing half a gale
of wind, and it remained to be proved whether the Alabama
was as much to be dreaded in rough weather as in smooth.
Many smooth-water sailers lose their quality of speed entirely,
when the seas begin to buffet them. I had the wind of the
chase, and was thus enabled to run down upon her, with a
flowing sheet. I held on to my topgallant sails, though the
masts buckled, and bent as though the sticks would go over
the side. The chase did the same. It was soon quite evident
that my gallant little ship was entirely at home in the roughest
weather. She seemed, like a trained racer, to enjoy the sport,
and though she would tremble, now and then, as she leaped
from sea to sea, it was the tremor of excitement, not of weak
ness. We gained so rapidly upon the chase, that in three
hours from the time the race commenced, we had her within
the range of our guns. By way of a change, I had chased this
ship under English colors, but she obstinately refused to show
any colors herself, until she was compelled, by the loud
mouthed command of a gun. She then ran up that " flaunting
lie," the " old flag," and clewed up her topgallant sails, and
hauled up her courses, and submitted to her fate, with such
resignation as she might.
I now not only took in my topgallant sails, and hauled up
my courses, but furled the latter, and took a single reef in my
topsails, so fresh was the wind blowing. Indeed it was so
rough, that I hesitated a moment about launching my boats ;
but there was evidently a gale brewing, and if I did no£ take
possession of my prize, she would in all probability escape
during the darkness and tempest of the ensuing night. I had
a set of gallant, and skilful young officers around me, who
would dare anything I told them to dare, and some capital
seamen, and with the assistance I could give them, by manoeu
vring the ship, I thought the thing could be managed ; and so
I ordered two of the best boats to be launched, and manned.
We were lying to, to windward of the prize, and the boats had
nothing to do, of course, but to pull before the wind and sea
to reach her. I directed the boarding-officers to bring off noth-

444 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT.
ing whatever, from the prize, in the way of property, except
ner chronometer, and her flag, and told them when they should
have gotten the prisoners on board and were ready to return,
that I would run down to leeward of the prize to receive them.
They would thus, still, only have to pull before the wind, and
the sea, to regain their ship. The prize was to be fired just
before leaving her. This was all accomplished successfully ;
but the reader may well conceive my anxiety, as I watched
those frail, tempest-tossed boats, as they were returning to me,
with their human freight; now thrown high on the top of
some angry wave, that dashed its foam and spray over them,
as though it would swamp them, for daring thus to beard it,
and now settling entirely out of sight in the trough of the sea.
When they pulled under the lee of the Alabama, and we threw
them a rope, I was greatly relieved. This was the only ship
I ever burned, before examining her papers. But as she was a
whaler, and so could have no neutral cargo on board, the risk
to be run was not very great. She proved to be the Elisha
Dunbar of New Bedford, twenty-four days out.
This burning ship was a beautiful spectacle, the scene being
wild and picturesque beyond description. The black clouds
were mustering their forces in fearful array. Already the en
tire heavens had been overcast. The thunder began to roll,
and crash, and the lightning to leap from cloud to cloud in a
thousand eccentric lines. The sea was in a tumult of rage ;
the winds howled, and floods of rain descended. Amid this
turmoil of the elements, the Dunbar, all in flames, and with
disordered gear and unfurled canvas, lay rolling and tossing
upon the sea. Now an ignited sail would fly away from a
yard, and scud off before the gale ; and now the yard itself, re
leased from the control of its braces, would swing about wildly,
as in the madness of despair, and then drop into the sea. Finally
the masts went by the board, and then the hull rocked to and
fro for a while, until it was filled with water, and the fire
nearly quenched, when it settled to the bottom of the great
deep, a victim to the passions of man, and the fury of the ele
ments.

CHAPTER XXXIV.
THE YANKEE COLONY IN THE ISLAND OF FLORES —
WHAT THE CAPTAINS OF THE VIRGINIA AND ELISHA
DUNBAR SAID OF THE ALABAMA, WHEN THEY GOT
BACK TO THE LAND OF THE " SAINTS " — THE WHAL
ING SEASON AT THE AZORES AT AN END — THE ALA
BAMA CHANGES HER CRUISING GROUND  WHAT SHE
SAW AND DID.
THE reader has seen how rapidly we had been peopling the
little island of Flores. I had thrown ashore there, nearly
as many Yankee sailors as there were original inhabitants. I
should now have gone back with the crews of two more ships,
but for the bad weather. Jack, suddenly released from the
labors and confinement of his ship, must have run riot in this
verdant little paradise, where the law was too weak to restrain
him. With his swagger, devil-may-care air, and propensity
for fun and frolic, when he has a drop in his eye, the simple
inhabitants must have been a good deal puzzled to fix the
genus of the bird that had so suddenly dropped down upon
them. The history of my colony would, no doubt, be highly
interesting; and I trust that some future traveller will disinter
it from the archives of the island, for the benefit of mankind.
The police reports would be of especial interest. In due time
the Federal Consul at Fayal chartered a vessel, and removed
the colony back to the New England States.
The gale which was described in the last chapter, did not
prove to be very violent, though it blew sufficiently fresh to
reduce the Alabama to close-reefed topsails, with the bonnets
off her trysails. It was but the forerunner of a series of gales,
occurring about the period of the equinox. The bad weather 445

446 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
had the effect to put an end to the whaling season, a little in
advance of the regular time. From the 19th to the 23d of
September, we were constantly under reefed sails, and the
wind being from the northward, we drifted as far south as the
34th degree of latitude. We were now in a comparatively
unfrequented part of the ocean, and had not seen a sail since
the capture of the Elisha Dunbar. During the prevalence of
this bad weather, our prisoners necessarily suffered some in
convenience, and were obliged to submit to some discomforts.
I need not say that these were greatly magnified by the North
ern press. The masters of the captured ships took this mode
of revenging themselves upon me. The captains of the last
two ships captured, made long complaints against the Alabama,
when they got back to New England, and I will here give
them the benefit of their own stories, that the reader may see
what they amount to. It is the master of the Virginia who
speaks first — a Captain Tilton. He says: —
" I went on the quarter-deck, with my son, when they ordered
me into the lee waist, with my crew, and ali of us were put in
irons, with the exception of the two boys, and the cook and stew
ard. I asked if I was to be put in irons ? The reply of Captain
Semmes was, that his purser had been put in irons, and had his
head shaved by us, and that he meant to retaliate. We were put
in the lee waist, with an old sail over us, and a few planks to lie
upon. The steamer was cruising to the west, and the next day,
they took the Elisha Dunbar, her crew receiving the same treat
ment as ourselves. The steamer's guns being kept run out, the
side ports could not be shut, and when the sea was a little rough,
or the vessel rolled, the water was continually coming in on both
sides, and washing across the deck where we were, so that our
feet and clothing were wet all the time, either from the water be
low, or the rain above. We were obliged to sleep in the place
where we were, and often waked up in the night nearly under
water. Our fare consisted of beef and pork, rice, beans, tea, and
coffee, and bread. Only one of my irons was allowed to be taken
off at a time, and we had to wash in salt water. We kept on deck
all the time, night and day, and a guard was placed over us."
The above statement is substantially correct, with the ex
ception that the prisoners were not drenched with sea-water,
or with the rain, all the time, as is pretended. It is quite true
that they were compelled to live, and sleep on deck. We had
nowhere else to put them. My berth-deck was filled with mv

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 447
own crew, and it was not possible to berth prisoners there,
without turning my own men out of their hammocks. To
remedy this difficulty, we spread a tent, made of spare sails,
and which was quite tight, in the lee waist, and laid gratings
upon the deck, to keep the men and their bedding as dry as
possible. Ordinarily they were very comfortable, but some
times, during the prevalence of gales, they were, no doubt, a
little disturbed in their slumbers by the water, as Captain Til-
ton says. But I discharged them all in good physical condi
tion, and this is the best evidence I could give, that they
were well cared for. It was certainly a hardship that Captain
Tilton should have nothing better to eat than my own crew,
and should be obliged, like them, to wash in salt water, but he
was waited upon by his own cook and steward, and the reader
can see from his own bill of fare, that he was in no danger of
starving. He was, as he says, ordered off the quarter-deck.
That is a place sacred to the officers of the ship, where even
their own crew are not permitted to come, except on duty, and
much less a prisoner. He explains, himself, as I had previ
ously explained to the reader, how he came to be put in irons.
The "good book" says that we must have "an eye for an eye,
and a tooth for a tooth." The enemy had put one of my offi
cers in irons, and I had followed the rule of the " good book."
Now let us hear from Captain Gifford, of the Dunbar. This
witness says : —
" On the morning of the 18th of September, in latitude 39° 50',
longitude 35° 20', with the wind from the south-west, and the bark
heading south-east, saw a steamer on our port-quarter, standing to
the north-west. Soon after, found she had altered her course, and
was steering for the bark. We soon made all sail to get out of
her reach, and were going ten knots at the time ; but the steamer,
gaining on us, under canvas alone, soon came up with us, and fired
a gun under our stern, with the St. George's cross flying at the
time. Our colors were set, when she displayed the Confederate
flag. Being near us, we hove to, and a boat, with armed officers
and crew, came alongside, and upon coming on board, stated to me
that my vessel was a prize to the Confederate steamer Alabama,
Captain Semmes. I was then ordered on board the steamer with
my papers, and the crew to follow me with a bag of clothing each.
On getting on board, the captain claimed me as a prize, and said
that my vessel would be burned. Not having any clothes with me,
he allowed me to return for a small trunk of clothes ; — the officer
29

448 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
on board asked me what I was coming back for, and tried to pre
vent me from coming on board. I told him I came after a few
clothes, which I took, and returned to the steamer. It blowing
very hard at the time, and very squally, nothing but the chronom
eter, sextant, charts, &c, were taken, when the vessel was set fire to,
and burnt ; there were sixty-five barrels of sperm oil on deck, taken
on the passage, which were consumed. We were all put in irons,
and received the same treatment that Captain Tilton's officers and
crew did, who had been taken the day before. While on board, we
understood that the steamer would cruise off the Grand Banks, for
a few weeks, to destroy the large American ships, to and from the
Channel ports. They had knowledge of two ships being loaded
with arms for the United States, and were in hopes to capture
them. They were particularly anxious to fall in with the clipper-
ship Dreadnought, and destroy her, as she was celebrated for speed ;
and they were confident of their ability to capture, or run away
from any vessel in the United States. The steamer being in the
track of outward and homeward-bound vessels, and more or less
being in sight, every day, she will make great havoc among them."
Captain Gifford does not seem to have anything to complain
of, in particular, except that the sailors had to put their clothes
in bags, and that his trunk was " small ; " but both he and his
sailors got their clothing, which was more than some of our
women and children, in the South, did, when the gallant Sher
man, and the gallant Wilson, and the gallant Stoneman, and
a host of other gallant fellows, were making their "grand
marches," and "raids" in the South, merely for the love of
" grand moral ideas." The terrible drenchings, that Captain
Tilton got, did not seem to have made the same impression
upon Captain Gifford.
Few of the masters, whose ships I burned, ever told the
whole truth, when they got back among their countrymen.
Some of them forgot, entirely, to mention how they had im
plored me to save their ships from destruction, professing to
be the best of Democrats, and deprecating the war which their
countrymen were making upon us ! How they had come to
sea, bringing their New England cousins with them, to get rid
of the draft, and how abhorrent to them the sainted Abraham
was. "Why, Captain," they would say, " it is hard that I should
have my ship burned ; I have voted the Democratic ticket all
my life ; I was a Breckinridge man in the last Presidential son-
test ; and as for the ' nigger,' if we except a few ancient spi v

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 449
sters, who pet the darkey, on the same principle that they pet
a lap-dog, having nothing else to pet, and a few of our deacons
and ' church-members,' who have never been out of New Eng
land — all of whom are honest people enough in their way —
and some cunning political rascals,. who expect to rise into
fame and fortune on the negro's back, we. New England people,
care nothing about him." " That may be all very true," I would
reply ; "but, unfortunately, the 'political rascals,' of whom you
speak, have been strong enough to get up this war, and you
are in the same boat with the ' political rascals,' whatever may
be your individual opinions. Every whale you strike will
put money into the Federal treasury, and strengthen the
hands of your people to carry on the war. I am afraid I must
burn your ship." " But, Captain, can't we arrange the matter
in some way? I will give you a ransom-bond, which my
owners and myself will regard as a debt of honor." (By the
way, I have some of these debts of honor in my possession,
now, which I will sell cheap.) And so they would continue
to remonstrate with me, until I cut short the conversation, by
ordering the torch applied to their ships. They would then
revenge themselves in the manner I have mentioned ; and his
torians of the Boynton class would record their testimony as
truth, and thus Yankee history would be made.
The whaling season at the Azores being at an end, as re
marked, I resolved to change my cruising-ground, and stretch
over to the Banks of Newfoundland, and the coast of the
United States, in quest (as some of my young officers, who
had served in the China seas, playfully remarked) of the great
American junk-fleet. In China, the expression "junk-fleet"
means, more particularly, the grain-ships, that swarm all the
seas and rivers in that populous empire, in the autumn, carry
ing their rich cargoes of grain to market. It was now the
beginning of October. There was no cotton crop available,
with which to freight the ships of our loving Northern
brethren, and conduct their exchanges. They were forced to
rely upon the grain crop of the great Northwest ; the " politi
cal rascals" having been cunning enough to wheedle these
natural allies of ours into this New England war. They
needed gold abroad, with which to pay for arms, and military

450 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
supplies of vari jus kinds, shiploads of which were, every day,
passing into New York and Boston, in violation of those Eng
lish neutrality laws, which, as we have seen, Mr. Seward and
Mr. Adams had been so persistently contending should be
enforced against ourselves. Western New York, Ohio, Indiana,
Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, and Iowa had gathered in the
rich harvests from their teeming grain-fields ; and it was this
grain, laden in Yankee ships, which it was my object now to
strike at.
The change from one cruising-ground to another, during
which no vessels were sighted, afforded my crew a much-
needed relaxation of a few days, for they had been much
fagged and worn during the last month, by a succession of
captures. That which had been but a pleasurable excite
ment, in the beginning, soon became a wearing and exhausting
labor, and they were glad to be relieved, for a time, from the
chasing and burning of ships, hard service in boats during all
kinds of weather, and the wet jackets and sleepless nights,
which had sometimes been the consequences of these. I will
avail myself of this comparative calm, in the moral atmosphere
on board the Alabama, to introduce the reader, more particu
larly, to our interior life. Thus far, he has only seen the ship
of war, in her outward garb, engaged in her vocation. I pro
pose to give him a sight of my military family, and show him
how my children played as well as worked ; how I governed
them, and with what toys I amused them.
From the very beginning of our captures, an order had been
issued, fhat no sailor should lay his hand on any article of pro
perty, to appropriate it to his own use, unless by permission
of an officer ; and especially that no spirituous liquors should
be brought on board the Alabama. It was made the duty of
every boarding-officer, upon getting on board a prize, to de
mand possession of the keys of the liquor-lockers, and either
to cause the liquor to be destroyed, or thrown overboard. To
the rigid enforcement of this rule, I attribute much of the
good order which prevailed on board my ship. It was
enforced against the officers, as well the men, and no officer's
mess was allowed to supply itself with liquor, by purchase, or
otherwise, unless by my consent ; and I never gave this con-

DURIU3 THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 451
sent to the midshipmen's mess. We burned, on one occasion,
a ship, whose entire cargo consisted of French brandies, and
champagne, and other wines, without allowing a bottle of it to
be brought on board. But whilst I used these precautions, I
caused a regular allowance of "grog" to be served out to the
crew, twice in each day. I was quite willing that Jack should
drink, but I undertook to be the judge of how much he should
drink. Such articles of clothing and supplies as were captured, were
turned over to the paymaster, to be credited to the Government,
and duly issued and charged to the crew, as if they had been
purchased in the market. In spite of all these precautions, how
ever, a sailor would now and then be brought on board from a
prize, drunk, would manage to smuggle liquor to his comrades,
and would be found arrayed in all sorts of strange garbs, from
whaler's boots, and red flannel shirts and comforters, to long-
tailed coats and beaver hats. Notwithstanding the discipline of
the ship, the gravity of the crew would sometimes give way to
merriment, as one of these fellows, thus ludicruously apparelled,
would have to be hoisted or lifted on board, being too comfort
ably drunk to attend to his own locomotion. Each offender
knew that he would have to walk straight into the "Brig," upon
being thus detected in the violation of these orders, and that
punishment would speedily follow the offence; and yet I found
it one of the most difficult parts of my duty, to convince some
of these free-and-easy fellows, who had mistaken the Alabama,
when they signed the articles off Terceira, (after that stump
speech before referred to,) for what Mr. Seward and Mr. Adams
insisted she was, a "privateer," that everything was captured in
the name of the Confederate States, and that nothing belonged
to them personally. The California-bound ships frequently
had on board boxes and bales of fine clothing, boots, shoes,
and hats, but not a garment was allowed to be brought on
board except such as the paymaster might need for issue. It
seemed hard to consign all these tempting articles to the flames,
without permitting the sailors to help themselves, but if such
license had been permitted, disorder and demoralization would
have been the consequence.
I had no chaplain on board, but Sunday was always kept aa

452 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
a day of abstinence from labor, when the exigencies of war and
weather would permit, and it was my uniform practice on this
day, to have the ship thoroughly cleansed, in every part, for in
spection — particularly the sleeping apartments, and the engine-
room — and to require the officers and seamen to appear on the
quarter-deck for muster ; the former in their appropriate uni
forms, and the latter in clean duck frocks and trousers, or
other clothing adapted to the latitude and climate. The
reader has already been present at several of these musters.
The boys of the ship, of whom I had quite a number on board,
were placed under the special charge of the master-at-arms —
a subordinate officer, with police-powers, in charge of the
berth-deck — whose duty it was to inspect them, in every morn
ing watch, with reference to personal cleanliness ; turning down
the collars, and rolling up the trousers of the youngsters, to
see that they had duly performed their ablutions. These boys
had been taken from the stews, and haunts of vice about Liver
pool, and were as great a set of scamps as any disciplinarian
could desire to "lick into shape," but it is astonishing what a
reformation soap and water and the master-at-arms effected in
them, in a short time. Many of them became very respectable
young fellows, for which they were indebted almost entirely
to the free use of soap and water.
As a hygienic precaution, when we were cruising in warm
latitudes, where the dews were heavy, the whole crew was
required to appear, every evening, at sunset muster, in blue
flannel shirts and trousers. They could then sleep in the
dews, without the fear of colds or rheumatisms. We were
always supplied with the best of provisions, for, being at war
with a provision -producing people, almost every ship we cap
tured afforded us a greater or less supply ; and all the water
that was drank on board the Alabama was condensed by the
engine from the vapor of sea-water. The consequence of all
this care was highly gratifying to me, as, in the three years I
was afloat, I did not lose a man by disease, in either of my
ships! When it is recollected that I cruised in all parts of
the world, now fencing out the cold, and battling with the
storms of the North Atlantic and South Indian Oceans, and
now being fried, and brked, and stewed within the tropics,

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 453
and on the equator, and that, besides my own crews, some two
thousand of the enemy's sailors passed through my hands,
first and last, as prisoners, this is a remarkable statement to
be able to make. My excellent surgeon, Dr. Gait, and, after
him, Dr. Llewellyn, ably seconded me by their skill and ex
perience. On week days we mustered the crew at their quarters twice
a day — at nine A. M., and at sunset, and when the weather
was suitable, one division, or about one fourth of the crew,
was exercised, either at the battery, or with small arms. This
not only gave them efficiency in the use of their weapons, but
kept them employed — the constant employment of my men
being a fundamental article of my philosophy. I found the
old adage, that " Idleness is the parent of vice," as true upon
the sea as upon the land. My crew were never so happy as
when they had plenty to do, and but little to think about.
Indeed, as to the thinking, I allowed them to do very little of
that. Whenever I found I had a sea-lawyer among them, I got
rid of him as soon as possible — giving him a chance to desert.
I reserved the quids, and quos, and pros and cons, exclusively
for myself.
But though I took good care to see that my men had plenty
of employment, it was not all work with them. They had
their pastimes and pleasures, as well as labors. After the
duties of the day were over, they would generally assemble
on the forecastle, and, with violin, and tambourine — and I
always kept them supplied with these and other musical in
struments — they would extemporize a ball-room, by moving
the shot-racks, coils of rope, and other impediments, out of the
way, and, with handkerchiefs tied around the waists of some
of them, to indicate who were to be the ladies of the party, they
would get up a dance with all due form and ceremony ; the
ladies, in particular, endeavoring to imitate all the airs and
graces ofthe sex — the only drawback being a little hoarseness
of the voice, and now and then the use of an expletive, which
would escape them when something went wrong in the dance,
and they forgot they had the aprons on. The favorite dancing-
tunes were those of Wapping and Wide Water Street, and
when I speak of the airs and graces, I must be understood to

454 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
mean those rather demonstrative airs and graces of which
Poll and Peggy would be likely to be mistresses of. On these
occasions, the discipline of the ship was wont to be purposely
relaxed, and roars of laughter, and other evidences of the rapid
flight of the jocund hours, at other times entirely inac missible,
would come resounding aft on the quarter-deck.
Sometimes the recreation of the dance would be varied, and
;songs and story-telling would be the amusements of the even
ing. The sea is a wide net, which catches all kinds of fish,
.and in a man-of-war's crew a great many odd characters are
always to be found. Broken-down gentlemen, who have spent
all the money they have been able to raise, upon their own
¦credit, or that of their friends ; defaulting clerks and cashiers ;
-actors who have been playing to empty houses; third-class
musicians and poets, are all not unfrequently found in the
¦same ship's company. These gentlemen play a very unim
portant role in seamanship, but they take a high rank among
the crew, when fun and frolic, and not seamanship, are the
order of the day — or rather night. In the Alabama, we had
a capital Falstaff, though Jack's capacious pouch was not
often with "fat capon lined;" and as for " sherry- sack," if he
now and then got a good glass of "red-eye" instead, he was
quite content. We had several Hals, who had defied their
harsh old papas, and given them the slip, to keep Falstaff
company ; and as for raconteurs, we had them by the score.
Some of these latter were equal to the Italian lazzaroni, and
could extemporize yarns by the hour ; and there is nothing of
which a sailor is half so fond as a yarn.
It was my custom, on these occasions, to go forward on the
bridge — a light structure spanning the deck, near amidships
— wbich, in the twilight hours, was a sort of lounging-place for
the officers, and smoke my single cigar, and listen to whatever
might be going on, almost as much amused as the sailors them
selves. So rigid is the discipline of a ship of war, that the
captain is necessarily much isolated from his officers. He
messes alone, walks the quarter-deck alone, and rarely, during
the hours of duty, exchanges, even with his first lieutenant,
or officer of the deck, other conversation than such as relates
to the ship, or the service she is upon. I felt exceedingly the

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 455
irksomeness of my position, and was always glad of an oppor
tunity to escape from it. On the "bridge," I could lay aside
the " captain," gather my young officers around me, and in
dulge in some of the pleasures of social intercourse ; taking
care to tighten the reins, gently, again, the next morning.
When song was the order of the evening, after the more am
bitious of the amateurs had delivered themselves of their solos
and cantatas, the entertainment generally wound up with
Dixie, when the whole ship would be in an uproar of enthusi
asm, sometimes as many as a hundred voices joining in the
chorus ; the unenthusiastic Englishman, the stolid Dutchman,
the mercurial Frenchman, the grave Spaniard, and even the
serious Malayan, all joining in the inspiring refrain, —
" We'll live and die in Dixie! "
and astonishing old Neptune by the fervor and novelty of
their music.
Eight o'clock was the hour at which the night-watches were
set, when, of course, all merriment came to an end. When the
officer of the deck reported this hour to the captain, and was
told by the latter, to " make it so," he put the trumpet to his
mouth, and sang out in a loud voice, "Strike the bell eight —
call the watch ! " In an instant, the most profound silence
fell upon the late uproarious scene. The witches did not dis
appear more magically, in that famous revel of Tarn O'Shan-
ter, when Tarn sang out, " Weel dune, Cutty Sark I " than the
sailors dispersed at this ominous voice of authority. The vio
linist was arrested with half-drawn bow ; the raconteur suddenly
ceased his yarn in the most interesting part of his story, and
even the inspiring chorus of " Dixie " died a premature death,
upon the lips of the singers. The shrill call of the boatswain's
whistle, followed by his hoarse voice, calling "All the star
board watch ! " or " All the port watch ! " as the case might be,
would now be heard, and pretty soon, the watch, which was
off duty, would "tumble" below to their hammocks, and the
midshipman would be seen coming forward from the quarter
deck, with lantern and watch-bill in hand, to muster the watch
whose turn it was to be on deck. The most profound stillness
now reigned on board during the remainder of the night, only

456 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
broken by the necessary orders and movements, in making oi
taking in sail, or it may be, by the whistling of the gale, and
the surging of the sea, or the cry of the look-outs at their
posts, every half hour.
To return now to our cruise. We are passing, the reader
will recollect, from the Azores to the Banks of Newfoundland.
On the 1st of October, the following record is found upon my
journal: "The gale moderated during the last night, but the
weather, to-day, has been thick and rainy, with the wind from
the north-west, and a confused, rough sea. No observation for
latitude. The barometer, which had gone down to 29.8 is
rising, and stands at nine P. M. at 29.9. The ship being about
two hundred miles only, from the Banks of Newfoundland, we
are trying the temperature of the air and water every hour.
At nine P. M. we found the temperature of the former to be
63°, and of the latter 70°, indicating that we have passed into
the Gulf Stream." The thick, rainy weather is almost as
unerring a sign of the presence of this stream as the ther
mometer. The stream into which we have now passed is, literally, an
immense salt-water river in the sea. Coming out of the Gulf
of Mexico, it has brought the temperature of the tropics, all
the way to the Banks of Newfoundland, in the latitude of 50°
north, and it has run this distance between banks, or walls of
cold water, on either side, parting with very little of its warmth,
by the way. When it is recollected that this salt-water river
in the sea is about three thousand times larger than the Missis
sippi River, that is to say, that it brings out of the Gulf of
Mexico, three thousand times as much water, as that river
empties into it, and that all this great body of water is carried
up into the hyperborean regions of Newfoundland, at a tem
perature, even in mid-winter, ranging from 73 to 78 degrees,
it will be seen at once what a powerful weather-breeder it
must be. Accordingly, no port of the world is more stormy
than the Gulf Stream, off the north-eastern coast of the
United States, and the Banks of Newfoundland. Such is the
quantity of heat brought daily by this stream, and placed
in juxtaposition with the rigors of a Northern winter, that it
is estimated, that if it were suddenly stricken from it, it would

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 457
be sufficient to make the column of superincumbent atmosphere
hotter than melted iron ! With such an element of atmos
pheric disturbance, it is not wonderful that the most terrific
gales, that rage on the ocean, are wont to sweep over the sur
face of this stream.
Indeed, this stream not only generates hurricanes of its own,
it seems to attract to it such as are engendered in the most dis
tant parts of our hemisphere ; for hurricanes known to have
originated near Cape St. Roque, in Brazil, have made their way
straight for the Gulf Stream, and followed it, in its course, for
a thousand miles and more, spreading shipwreck and disaster,
broadcast, in their track. The violence of these gales is incon
ceivable by those who have not witnessed them. The great
hurricane of 1780 originated to the eastward of the island of
Barbadoes, and made straight for the Gulf Stream. As it
passed over the West India Islands, trees were uprooted, and
the bark literally blown from them. The very bottom and
depths of the sea, in the vicinity of some of the islands, were
uncovered, and rocks torn up, and new channels formed. The
waves rose to such a height, that forts, and castles, removed,
as it was thought, far out of the reach of the water, were
washed away, and the storm, taking hold of their heavy artil
lery, played with it, as with so many straws, throwing it to
considerable distances. Houses were razed, and ships wrecked,
and the bodies of men and beasts were lifted up into the air
and dashed to pieces in the storm. Still, the European-bound
ships defy all the bad weather, so prevalent in this stream, on
account of the easterly current which accelerates their pas
sage, at the rate of from two, to three miles, per hour. The
stream, therefore, has been literally bearded by commerce, and
has become one of its principal highways. It is because it is a
highway of commerce that the Alabama now finds herself in
it. Nor was she long in it, before the travellers on the highway
began to come along.
Early on the morning of the 3d of October, two sail were
eimultanecusly reported by the look-out at the mast-head —
one right ahead, and the other on the lee-bow. As both the
ships were standing in our direction, there was no necessity for
a chase We had nothing tc do but await their approach. As

458 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
theii nulls were lifted above the horizon, we could see that
they were fine, large ships, with a profusion of tapering spars
and white canvas. We at once pronounced them American ;
and so, after a little, they proved to be. They were, in fact,
the avant courriers of the "junk fleet," for which we had
come to look. The wind was light, and they came on, with
all their sails set, from truck to rail. We, on our part, put
on an air of perfect indifference. We made no change in
our sail, and it was not necessary to alter our course, as the
strangers would pass sufficiently near us, unless they altered
their own courses, which they did not seem inclined to do.
They apparently had no suspicion of our real character. We
did not hoist any colors, until the vessels were nearly abreast
of us, and only a few hundred yards distant, when, suddenly
wheeling, we fired a gun, and hoisted the Confederate flag.
The capture of these two ships must have been a perfect sur
prise to them, judging by the confusion that was visible on
board. There was a running about the decks, and an evident
indecision for a few moments, as to what was best to be done;
but it did not take the masters long to take an intelligent view
of the "situation." There was nothing to be done, but sur
render ; and this they did, by hoisting their colors, and heav
ing to their ships.
We now shortened sail, and laying the maintopsail to the
mast, lowered a couple of quarter boats, and boarded the
prizes. One of them proved to be the Brilliant, from New York
for London, laden with flour and grain ; and the other, the
Emily Farnum, from New York, for Liverpool, with a similar
cargo. The cargo of the Farnum being properly documented
as neutral property, I released her on ransom-bond, and con
verting her into a cartel, sent on board of her all my prisoners,
of whom I had fifty or sixty on board the Alabama, besides
those just captured in the Brilliant. The latter ship was
burned, and her destruction must have disappointed a good
many holders of bills of exchange, drawn against her cargo,
as this was large and valuable. The owners of the ship have
since put in a claim, in that little bill, which Mr. Seward has
pressed with so little effect hitherto against the British Govern
ment, for indemnity for the "depredations of the Alabama,"

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 459
for the ship alone, and the freight-moneys which they lost by
her destruction, to the amount of $93,000. The cargo was
probably even more valuable than the ship.
I made a positive stipulation with the Farnum, upon releas
ing her, that she should continue her voyage to Liverpool, and
not put back into any American port ; the master pledging me
his word that he would comply with it. My object was, of
course, to prevent him from giving news of me to the enemy.
He had no sooner passed out of sight, however, steering his
course for Liverpool, than he dodged and put into Boston, and
reported me. This being nothing more than a clever "Yankee
trick," of course there was no harm done the master's honor.
I was much moved by the entreaties of the master of the
Brilliant to spare his ship. He was a haVd-working seaman,
who owned a one third interest in her. He had built her, and
was attached to her, and she represented all his worldly goods.
But I was forced again to steel my heart. He was, like the
other masters who had remonstrated with me, in the same boat
with the "political rascals," who had egged on the war; and I
told him he must look to those rascals for redress. The ship
made a brilliant bonfire, lighting up the Gulf Stream, for many
miles around. Having been set on fire near night, and the
wind falling to nearly a calm, we remained in sight of the burn
ing wreck nearly all night.
Among the many slanders against me, to which the Northern
press gave currency during the war, it was stated, that I decoyed
ships into my power, by setting fire to my prizes at night, and
remaining by them in ambuscade. Of course, when seamen
discover a ship on fire at sea they rush, with all their manly
sympathies aroused, to the rescue of their comrades, who are
supposed to be in danger ; but if they should find, it was said,
that they were waylaid, and captured, none would go to the
rescue in future, and thus many seamen would perish. It can
scarcely be necessary for me to say, that I never purposely lay
by a burning ship, by night, or by day, longer than to see her
well on fire. The substantial answer to the slander is, that I
never captured a ship, under the circumstances stated.
For the next few days we had fine, clear weather, and chased
and overhauled a number of neutral ships, most of them out of

460 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
New York, and bound for Europe, laden wiih grain. The
English, French, Prussian, Hamburg, Oldenham, and other flags
were fast monopolizing the enemy's carrying trade, and enjoy
ing a rich harvest. These were not the sort of "junks " that
we were in quest of, but they compensated us, somewhat, for
the time and labor lost in chasing and boarding them, by sup
plying us with late newspapers of the enemy, and giving us
valuable information concerning the progress of the war.
On the afternoon of the 7th of October, the weather being
fine, and the breeze light, we chased and captured the Ameri
can bark, Wave Crest, from New York, bound for Cardiff, in
Wales, with flourand grain. In the language of the enemy, we
"plundered her," that is, we received on board from her, such
articles as we needed, and after having made use of her for a
while, as a target, at which to practise the men at the battery,
we burned her.
Filing away, we again made sail to the north-west. We were
now, in about latitude 41°, and longitude 54°, and were working
our way, under easy sail, toward the coasts of the United
States. Just before nightfall, on the same afternoon, another
sail was cried from aloft, and we made all sail in pursuit, im
mediately, anxious to draw sufficiently near the chase before
dark, to prevent losing sight of her. By this time, the wind,
which had been very light all day, had freshened to a stiff
breeze, and the chase, soon perceiving our object, spread a cloud
of canvas, with studding-sails " alow and aloft," in tbe effort
to escape. She had seen the fire of the burning Wave Crest,
and knew full well the doom that awaited her, if she were over
taken. As night threw her mantle over the scene, the moon,
nearly at the full, rose with unusual splendor and lighted up
the sea for the chase ; and a beautiful, picturesque chase it was.
Although it lasted several hours, our anxiety as to the result
was relieved, in a very short time, for we could see, from the
first, that we gained upon the fleeing ship, although her master
practised every stratagem known to the skilful seaman. As
soon as we approached sufficiently near to get a good view of
her through our excellent night-glasses, which, in the bright
moonlight, brought out all her features almost as distinctly as
if we had been viewing them by the rays of the sun, we dis-

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 461
covered that she was one of those light, and graceful hermaph
rodite brigs, that is, a rig between the brig and the schooner,
so peculiarly American. Her sails were beautifully cut, well
hoisted, and the clews well spread ; her masts were long and
tapering, and her yards more square than usual. There was
just sea enough on, to give her, now and then, a gentle motion,
as she rose upon a wave, and scudded forward with renewed
impulse. Her sails looked not unlike so many silver wings, in
the weird moonlight, and with a little effort of the imagination,
it would not have been difficult to think of her as some im
mense water-fowl, which had been scared from its roost and
flown seaward for safety.
I sat astride of the hammock-cloth on the weather-quarter,
and watched the beautiful apparition during the whole chase,
only taking off my eye, now and then, to give some order to
the officer of the deck, or to cast it admiringly upon the buck
ling and bending masts and spars of my own beautiful ship, as
she sped forward, with all the animation of a living thing, in
pursuit. The poor little, affrighted fawn ahead of us, how its
heart must have gone pit-a-pat, as it cast its timid eyes behind
it, and saw its terrible pursuer looming up larger, and larger,
and coming nearer and nearer! Still there might be some
hope. The pursuing vessel might be some peaceful merchant-
ship, bound on the same errand of commerce with herself, and
only trying heels with her, in sport, over these dancing waves,
and by this bright moonlight. Alas! the hope was short-lived;
for presently, in the stillness of near midnight, a flash was seen,
followed by the sound of a booming gun, and there could no
longer be any doubt, that the pursuer was a ship of war, and
most likely a Confederate. Halliards and tacks, and sheets
were let fly on board the brigantine, and as soon as her sea
men could gather in the folds of the flapping sails, and haul
up clew-garnets, her helm was put down, and she rounded
gracefully to the now whistling wind, with fore-topsail aback.
So rapidly had this been done, and so close was the Alabama
upon the chase, that we had just time to sheer clear of her by
a little trick of the helm. Our own sail was now shortened,
and the boarding-officer dispatched on board the prize.
She proved to be the Dunkirk, from New York, with a cargo

4b2 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT.
of grain for Lisbon. There being no evidence of neutral
ownership of the cargo, among the papers, she was burned, as
soon as her crew could be transferred to the Alabama. We
made two novel captures on board this ship — one was a
deserter from the Sumter, a worthless sailor out of one of the
Northern States, whom we afterward discharged from the Con
federate Naval service, in disgrace, instead of hanging him, as
we might have done under our Articles of War ; and the other
a number of very neatly put up tracts in the Portuguese lan
guage; our Northern brethren dealing in a little piety as
well as trade. These tracts had been issued by that pious
corporation, the "American Tract Society," of New York,
whose fine fat offices are filled with sleek, well-fed parsons, of
the Boynton stripe, whose business it is to prey upon the cre
dulity of kind-hearted American women, and make a pretence
of converting the heathen! On the' cover of these tracts was
printed the following directions, as to how the doses were to
be taken. "Portuguese tracts, from the 'American Tract So
ciety,' for distribution among Portuguese passengers, and to
give, upon the coast, to visitors from the shore, &c. When in
port, please keep conspicuously on the cabin-table, for all
comers to read: but be very careful not to take any ashore, as
the laws do not allow it." A pen had been run through the
last injunction, as though the propagandists of "grand moral
ideas " had become a little bolder since the war, and were de
termined to thrust their piety down the throats of the Portu
guese, whether they would or not. If there should be any
attempt now, on the part of poor old Portugal, to seize the
unlawful distributor of the tracts, a gunboat or two would set
the matter right. A little farther on, on the same cover, was
the following instruction: "As may be convenient, please re
port, (by letter if necessary,) anything of interest which may
occur, in connection with the distribution ; also take any orders
for Bibles, and forward to John S. Pierson, Marine Agent, New
York Bible Society, No. 7 Beekman Street."

CHAPTER XXXV.
CAPRICIOUS WEATHER OF THE GULF STREAM — CAPTURE
OF THE PACKET-SHIP TONAWANDA, THE MANCHESTER,
AND THE LAMPLIGHTER  A CYCLONE.
THOUGH the month of October is remarkable for its fine
weather, along the American coast, yet here in the Gulf
Stream, we had a constant succession of changes, the wind
going regularly around the compass every two or three days,
and thick, rainy weather predominating. We were now, be
sides, experiencing a south-easterly current of about two knots
per hour, and as we were bound to the north-west, and fre
quently had the wind, as well as the current ahead, we made but
slow progress. On the second day after capturing the Dun
kirk, the familiar cry of "sail ho!" again came ringing from the
mast-head, and pretty soon a large ship loomed up above the
horizon. We gave chase, and, just before sunset, came up
with a fine packet-ship, whose deck, we could see, was crowded
with passengers. This was a somewhat unusual spectacle — a
sailing ship filled with passengers for Europe, during the
month of October. Since the introduction of the steam-packet,
but few passengers, except emigrants, take passage in a sailing
ship, and the current of emigration sets the other way.
Upon being boarded, the ship proved to be the Tonawanda,
of, and from Philadelphia, bound to Liverpool. Some of the
passengers were foreigners, fleeing from the tyranny, and out
rages of person and property, which had overtaken them, un
der the reign of the Puritan, in the " land of the free, and the
home of the brave," and others were patriotic Puritans them
selves running away from the " City of Brotherly Love," to
escape the draft. We captured the Tonawanda, and the ques
tion immediately presented itself what should we do with her?
30 m

464 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
There being no claim, by any neutral, for the cargo, both ship
and cargo were good prize of war, but unfortunately we could
not burn the ship, without encumbering ourselves with the
passengers ; and thirty of the sixty of these were women and
children ! The men we might have disposed of, without much
inconvenience, but it was not possible to convert the Ala
bama into a nursery, and set the stewards to serving pap to
the babies. Although I made it a rule never to bond a ship
if I could burn her, I released the Tonawanda on bond, though
there was no legal impediment to her being burned. I kept her
cruising in company with me, however, for a day or two, hoping
that I might fall in with some other ship of the enemy, that
might be less valuable, or might have a neutral cargo on board,
to which I could transfer the passengers, and thus be enabled
to burn her. But here, again, her owners were in luck, for
the finest, and most valuable ships, with cargoes entirely un
covered, would persist in crossing my path.
On the second day after the capture of the Tonawanda —
that ship being still in our company, with a prize crew on
board — the weather inclining to be overcast, and the breeze
light — a ship was reported, at early daylight, on our weather-
quarter. It was another heavy ship ofthe "junk fleet," and
as we were lying right across her path, we had nothing to do
but await her approach. She came along under a cloud of
canvas, though, as the wind was light, it took her some three
or four hours to come up with us. To disarm her of suspi
cion, I hoisted the American colors, and caused my prize to
do the same. She naturally concluded that the two ships
were " visiting," which ships sometimes do at sea, when the
wind is light, and there is not much time lost by the opera
tion, and came on without so much as shifting her helm, or
stirring tack or sheet. When she had approached sufficiently
near, I invited her, too, to visit me ; my card of invitation be
ing a blank cartridge, and a change of flags. She hove to at
once, and, upon being boarded, proved to be the ship Man
chester from New York, bound to Liverpool. I now threw the
Manchester's crew, together with the crews of the Wave Crest,
and Dunkirk, on board the Tonawanda, as being the less valu
able ship of the two, and permitted the latter to depart ; but

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 465
before doing so, I took from on board of her, one of her pas
sengers. This was a likely negro lad of about seventeen years
of age — a slave until he was twenty-one, under the laws of
Delaware. This little State, all of whose sympathies were
with us, had been ridden over, rough-shod, by the Vandals
north of her, as Maryland afterward was, and was arrayed on
the side of the enemy. I was obliged, therefore, to treat her as
such. The slave was on his way to Europe, in company with
his master. He came necessarily under the laws of war, and
I brought him on board the Alabama, where we were in
want of good servants, and sent him to wait on the ward-room
mess. The boy was a little alarmed at first, but, when he saw
kindly faces beaming upon him, and heard from his new mas
ters, and the servants of the mess, some words of encourage
ment, he became reassured, and, in the course of a few days,
was not only at home, but congratulated himself on the ex
change he had made. He became, more especially, the ser
vant of Dr. Gait, and there at once arose, between the Virginia
gentleman and the slave boy, that sympathy of master and
servant, which our ruder people of the North find it so im
possible to comprehend. Faithful service, respect, and attach
ment followed protection and kind treatment, and the slave
was as happy as the day was long. David soon became to
Gait what Bartelli was to me — indispensable — and the former
was really as free as the latter, ex6ept only in the circumstance
that he could not change masters. I caused his name to be
entered on the books of the ship, as one of the crew, and
allowed him the pay of his grade. In short, no difference was
made between him and the white waiters of the mess. His
condition was in every respect bettered ; though, I doubt not,
a howl went up over his capture, as soon as it became known
to the pseudo-philanthropists of the North, who know as little
about the negro and his nature, as they do about the people of
the South.
It was pleasant to regard the affection which this boy con
ceived for Gait, and the pride he took in serving him. As he
brought the doctor's camp-stool for him to the "bridge,"
placed it in the cosiest corner he could find, and ran off to

466 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
bring him a light for his cigar, his eyes would dilate, and his
"ivories" shine. Dave served us during the whole cruise.
He went on shore in all parts of the world, knew that the
moment he touched the shore he was at liberty to depart, if he
pleased, and was tampered with by sundry Yankee Consuls,
but always came back to us. He seemed to have the instinct
of deciding between his friends and his enemies.
The following correspondence took place between the Liver
pool Chamber of Commerce, and Earl Russell, the British
Foreign Secretary, on the occasion of the two last captures : —
To the Rt. Hon. Earl Russell, etc., etc. : —
My Lord : — I have been requested by the Council of this Cham
ber to inform you that they have had brought before them the facts
of the destruction at sea, in one case, and of seizure and release under
ransom-bond in another case, of British property on board Federal
vessels, (the Manchester and the Tonawanda,) by an armed cruiser
sailing under the Confederate flag, the particulars of which have
been already laid before your Lordship. As the question is one of
serious importance to the commerce of this country, the Council
wish me most respectfully to solicit the favor of your Lordship's
acquainting them, for the information of the mercantile community,
what, in the opinion of her Majesty's Government, is the position
of the owners of such property, in these and other similar cases.
Submitting this question with every respect to your Lordship, I
have the honor to be, my Lord, your most obedient humble servant,
Thomas Chilton,
President Chamber of Commerce.
Liverpool, 8th Nov., 1862.
To Thomas Chilton, Esq., Chamber op Commerce, Liverpool.
Sir: — I am directed by Earl Russell to acknowledge the receipt
of your letter of the 8th inst., calling attention to the recent pro
ceedings of the armed vessel Alabama, with regard to British prop
erty on board the Federal vessels Manchester and Tonawanda, and
requesting the opinion of her Majesty's Government with regard
to the position of the owners of such property in those and other
similar cases which may arise ; and I am to request that you will
inform the Council of the Chamber of Commerce that the matter
is under the consideration of her Majesty's Government.
I am, sir, your most obedient, humble servant,
E. Hammond.
Foreign Oitice, Nov. 1th, 1862.
After the usual period of gestation, Earl Russell informed
his questioners, that British owners of property, on board of

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 467
Federal ships, alleged to have been wrongfully captured by
Confederate cruisers, were in the same position as any other
neutral owners shipping in enemy's bottoms during a war ;
they must look for redress to the country of the captor. But
these British owners did what was more sensible — they with
drew, in due time, their freights from the enemy's ships ; and
British and other neutral ships soon became the carriers of the
American trade. It is claimed in the above correspondence,
that there was British property destroyed on board the Man
chester. If so, it was the fault of the British owner, in failing
to document his property properly, for there was no certificate
or other paper found on board that ship, claiming that any
part of the cargo belonged to neutrals.
The Manchester brought us a batch of late New York pa
pers, and I was much obliged to the editors of the New York
"Herald," for valuable information. I learned from them
where all the enemy's gunboats were, and what they were do
ing; which, of course, enabled me to take better care of the
Alabama, than I should otherwise have been enabled to do.
The Americans effected many reforms in the art of war during
our late struggle. Perhaps this was the only war in which
the newspapers ever explained, beforehand, all the movements
of armies, and fleets, to the enemy.
The reader will observe, that I received my mails quite
regularly, now, from the United States. They were some
times daily, and rarely less frequent than tri-weekly. I ap
pointed my excellent clerk, Mr. Breedlove Smith, whom I am
glad to have this opportunity of introducing to the reader,
postmaster, and he delivered the mail regularly to the officers
and crew — that is to say, the newspaper and periodical mail —
the letters I considered as addressed to myself personally,
They might give valuable information of the objects and de
signs of the enemy, and throw some light upon the true own
ership of cargoes, falsely documented. I therefore took the
liberty, which the laws of war gave me, of breaking the seals.
There were some curious developments made in some of these
letters, nor were they all written on business. Sometimes, as
I would break a seal, a photograph would tumble out, and the
first few lines of the letter would inform me of a tender pas-

468 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
sion that was raging in the heart of the writer. These epis
tles, photographs, and all, were always pitched, with a pshaw !
into the waste-paper basket, and were soon afterward consigned
by Bartelli to the sea. So that the fair writers — and some of
tbe writers were fair if I might judge by their portraits —
may rest satisfied that their secrets are safe. My young offi
cers became so accustomed to their morning's newspaper, as
they sat down to the breakfast-table, that if it was not forth
coming, they would wonder " what the d — 1 Alabama had been
about, the past night, that she had not gotten hold of a mail ? "
For two or three days after capturing the Manchester, we fell
in with nothing but neutral vessels. When the nationality of
these was distinctly marked, as generally it was, we forbore to
chase them. The weather began now to give unmistakable
signs, of a general disturbance of the atmospheric machine.
On the 15th of October, we captured our next ship. It was
blowing half a gale of wind, with a thick atmosphere, and
rain-squalls. We were lying to, under topsails, when she was
reported. As in the case of the Manchester, we had only to await
her approach, for we were still in the beaten track of these lone
travellers upon the sea. She came along quite fast, before the
gale, and when within reach, we hove her to, with the accus
tomed gun. She proved, upon being boarded, to be the bark
Lamplighter, of Boston, from New York, for Gibraltar, with a
cargo of tobacco. . There was no attempt to cover the cargo, and
when we had removed the crew to the A labama, we burned her.
From the frequent mention which has been made of " un
covered cargoes," the reader will see how careless the enemy's
merchants were, and how little they dreamed of disaster.
They had not yet heard of the Alabama, except only that she
had escaped from Liverpool, as the " 290." They looked upon
her, yet, as a mere myth, which it was not necessary to take
any precautions against. But the reader will see how soon
their course will change, and in what demand British Consu
lar certificates, vouching for the neutrality of good American
cargoes, will be, in the good city of Gotham, toward which, tha
Alabama is slowly working her way.
We captured the Lamplighter early in the day, and it was
well for us she came along when she did. If she had delayed

\
DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 469
her arrival a few hours, we should probably not have been
able to board her, so much had the gale increased, and the sea
risen. For the next few days, as the reader will speedily see,
we had as much as we could do to take care of ourselves,
without thinking of the enemy, or his ships. We had a fear
ful gale to encounter. As this gale was a cyclone, and the
first really severe gale that the Alabama had met with, it is
worthy of a brief description. We begin, in our generation,
to have some definite knowledge of the atmospheric laws. To
our ancestors, of only a generation or two back, these laws
were almost a sealed book. It is now well ascertained, that
all the great hurricanes which sweep over the seas, are cy
clones; that is, circular gales, revolving around an axis, or
vortex, at the same time that they are travelling in a given
direction. These gales all have their origin in warm lati
tudes, or, as has been prettily said, by an officer of the
Dutch Navy writing on the subject, they "prefer to place
their feet in warm water." They do not, however, confine
themselves to the places of their origin, but, passing out of
the tropics, sweep over large tracts of extra-tropical seas.
These circular gales are the great regulators, or balance-
wheels, as it were, of the atmospheric machine. They arise in
seasons of atmospheric disturbance, and seem necessary to the
restoration of the atmospheric equilibrium.
In the East Indian and China seas, the cyclone is called a
typhoon. It preyails there with even more destructive effect
than in the western hemisphere. It takes its origin during
the change of the monsoons. Monsoons are periodical winds,
which blow, one half of the year from one direction — the
north-east for example — and then change, and blow the other
half of the year, from the opposite direction, the south-west.
When these monsoons are changing, there is great disturbance
in the atmospheric equilibrium. A battle of the winds, as it
were, takes place ; the out-going wind struggling for existence,
and the in-coming wind endeavoring to throttle it, and take
its place. Calms, whirlwinds, water-spouts, and heavy and
drenching rains set in ; the black, wild-looking clouds, some
times rent and torn, sweeping with their heavy burdens of
vapor over the very surface of the sea. Now, the out-going,

470 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
or dying monsoon will recede, for days together, its enemy,
the in-coming monsoon, greedily advancing to occupy tha
space left vacant. The retreating wind will then rally, regain
its courage, and drive back, at least for a part of the way, the
pursuing wind. In this way, the two will alternate for weeks,
each watching the other as warily, as if they were opposing
armies. It is during these struggles, when the atmosphere is
unhinged, as it were, that the typhoon makes its awful appear
ance. Every reader is familiar with the phenomenon of the
miniature whirlwind, which he has so often seen sweep along
a street or road, for a short distance, and then disappear ; the
want of local equilibrium in the atmosphere, which gave rise
to it, having been restored.
These little whirlwinds generally occur at street-corners, or
at cross-roads, and are produced by the meeting of two winds.
When these winds meet, the stronger will bend the weaker,
and a whirl will ensue. The two winds still coming on, the
whirl will be increased, and thus a whirlwind is formed, which
immediately begins to travel — not at random, of course, but
in the direction of least pressure. The meeting of two cur
rents of water, which form a whirlpool, may be used as
another illustration. It is just so, that the typhoon is formed.
It steps in as a great conservator of the peace, to put an end
to the atmospherical strife which has been going on, and to
restore harmony to nature. It is a terrible scourge whilst it
lasts ; the whole heavens seem to be in disorder, and that which
was only a partial battle between outposts of the aerial armies,
has now become a general engagement. The great whirl
sweeps over a thousand miles or more, and when it has ceased,
nature smiles again ; the old monsoon has given up the ghost,
and the new monsoon has taken its place. All will be peace
now until the next change — the storms that will occur in the
interval, being more or less local. We have monsoons in the
western hemisphere, as well as in the eastern, though thev are
much more partial, both in space and duration.
The cyclones which sweep over the North Atlantic are gen
erated, as has been remarked, to the eastward of the West India
Islands — somewhere between them and the coast of Brazil.
They occur in August, September, and October — sorietime3,

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 471
indeed, as early as the latter part of July. In these months,
the sun has drawn after him, into the northern hemisphere, the
south-east trade- winds of the South Atlantic. These trade-
winds are now struggling with the north-east trade-winds,
which prevail in these seas, for three fourths of the year, for
the mastery. We have, thus, another monsoon struggle going
on; and the consequence of this struggle is the cyclone. The
reader may recollect the appearances of the weather, noted by
me, some chapters back, when we were in these seas, in the
Sumter, in July and August, of 1861; to wit, the calms, light,
baffling winds, water-spouts, and heavy rains.
If the reader will pay a little attention to the diagram on
page 473, it will assist him, materially, in comprehending
the nature of the storm into which the Alabama had now en
tered. The outer circle represents the extent of the storm ;
the inner circle, the centre or vortex ; the arrows along the
inner edge of the outer circle represent the direction, or gyra
tion of the wind, and the dotted line represents the course
travelled by the storm. The figures marked, 1, 2, and 3, rep
resent the position of the Alabama, in the different stages of
the storm, as it passed over her ; the arrow-heads on the figures
representing the head of the ship.
If the reader, being in the northern hemisphere, will turn
his face toward the sun, at his rising, and watch his course for
a short time, he will observe that this course is from left to
right. As the course of the arrows in the figure is from right
to left, the reader observes that the gyration of the wind, in the
storm, is against the course of the sun. This is an invariable
law in both hemispheres ; but, in the southern hemisphere, the
reader will not fail to remark, that the gyration of the wind is
in the opposite direction from its gyration in the northern
hemisphere, for the reason, that, to an observer in the southern
hemisphere the sun appears to be moving, not from left to
right, but from right to left. Whilst, therefore, the storm, in
the northern hemisphere, gyrates from right to left, in the
Bouthern hemisphere, it gyrates from left to right ; both gyra
tions being against the course of the sun.
This is a curious phenomenon, which has, thus far, puzzled
all the philosophers. It is a double puzzle ; first, why the

472 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
storm should gyrate always in the same direction, and secondly
why this gyration should be different in the two hemispheres.
The law seems to be so subtle, as utterly to elude investigation.
There is a curious phenomenon, in the vegetable world, which
seems to obey this law of storms, and which I do not recollect
ever to have seen alluded to by any writer. It may be well
known to horticulturists, for aught that I know, but it attracted
my attention, in my own garden, for the first time, since the war.
It is, that all creeping vines, and tendrils, when they wind them
selves around a pole, invariably wind themselves from right to
left, or against the course of the sun I I was first struck with the
fact, by watching, from day to day, the tender unfolding of the
Lima bean — each little creeper, as it came forth, feeling, as with
the instinct of animal life, for the pole, and then invariably bend
ing around it, in the direction mentioned. I have a long ave
nue of these plants, numbering several hundred poles, and
upon examining them all, I invariably found the same result.
I tried the experiment with some of these little creepers, of
endeavoring to compel them to embrace the pole from left to
right, or with the course of the sun, but in vain. In the after
noon I would gather blades of grass, and tie some of the ten
drils to the poles, in a way to force them to disobey the law,
but when I went to inspect them, the following morning, I
would invariably find, that the obedient little plants had turned
back, and taken the accustomed track ! What is the subtle in
fluence which, produces this wonderful result ? May it not be
the same law which rides on the whirlwind, and directs the
fitorm ?
The cyclone, of which I am writing, must have travelled a
couple of thousand miles, before it reached the Alabama. Its
approach had been heralded, as the reader has seen, by several
-days of bad weather ; and, on the morning of the gale, which
was on the 16th of October, the barometer — that faithful sen
tinel of the seaman — began to settle very rapidly. We had
been under short sail before, but we now took the close reefs
in the topsails, which tied thern down to about one third of
their original size, got up, and bent the main storm-staysail,
which was made of the stoutest No. 1 canvas, and scarcely
larger than a pocket-handkerchief, swung in the quarter-boats.

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN. THE STATES. 473

Diagram of the Cyclone experienced by the Alabama on the 16th of
October, 1862.

474 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
and passed additional lashings around them; and, in shorty
made all the requisite preparations for the battle with the ele
ments which awaited us. H the reader will cast his eye upon
the diagram, at Alabama, No. 1, he will see that the ship has
her head to the eastward, that her yards are braced up on the
starboard tack, and that she took the wind, as indicated by the
arrows, from S. to S. S. E.
The ship is lying still, and the storm, which the reader sees,
by the dotted line, is travelling to the north-east, is approach
ing her. She was soon enveloped in its folds ; and the winds,
running around the circle, in that mad career represented by
the arrows, howled, and whistled, and screeched around her
like a thousand demons. She was thrown over, several streaks,
and the waves began to assault her with sledge-hammer blows,
and occasionally to leap on board of her, flooding her decks,
and compelling us to stand knee-deep in water. By this time,
we had furled the fore-topsail ; the fore-staysail had been split
into ribbons ; and whilst I was anxiously debating with my
self, whether I should hold on to the main-topsail, a little
longer, or start its sheets, and let it blow to pieces — for it
would have been folly to think of sending men aloft in such
a gale, to furl it — the iron bolt on the weather-quarter, to
which the standing part of the main-brace was made fast, gave
way ; away went the main-yard, parted at the slings, and, in a
trice, the main-topsail was whipped into fragments, and tied
into a hundred curious knots. We were now under nothing
but the small storm-staysail, described ; the topgallant yards
had been sent down from aloft, there was very little top-hamper
exposed to the wind, and yet the ship was pressed over and
over, until I feared she would be thrown upon her beam-ends,
or her masts swept by the board. The lee-quarter-boat was
wrenched from the davits, and dashed in pieces ; and, as the
sea would strike the ship, forward or aft, she would tremble in
every fibre, as if she had been a living thing, in fear of mo
mentary dissolution.
But she behaved nobly, and I breathed easier after the first
half hour of the storm. All hands were, of course, on deck,
with the hatches battened down, and there was but little left for
us> to do, but to watch the course of the storm, and to ease tha

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 475
ship, all it was possible to ease her, with the helm. Life-lines
had been rove, fore and aft the decks, by my careful first lieu
tenant, to prevent the crew from being washed overboard, and
it was almost as much as each man could do, to look out for
his own personal safety.
The storm raged thus violently for two hours, the barometer
settling all the while, until it reached 28.64. It then fell sud
denly calm. Landsmen have heard of an "ominous" calm,
but this calm seemed to us almost like the fiat of death. We
knew, at once, that we were in the terrible vortex of a cyclone,
from which so few mariners have ever escaped to tell the tale !
Nothing else could account for the suddenness of the calm,
coupled with the lowness of the barometer. We knew that
when the vortex should pass, the gale would be renewed, as
suddenly as it had ceased, and with increased fury, and that
the frail little Alabama — for indeed she looked frail and small,
now, amid the giant seas that were rising in a confused mass
around her, and threatening, every moment, to topple on board
of her, with an avalanche of water that would bury her a hun
dred fathoms deep — might be dashed in a thousand pieces ia
an instant. I pulled out my watch, and noted the time of the
occurrence of the calm, and causing one of the cabin-doors to
be unclosed, I sent an officer below to look at the barometer.
He reported the height already mentioned — 28.64. If the
reader will cast his eye upon the diagram again — at figure
No. 2 — he will see where we were at this moment. The Ala
bama's head now lies to the south-east — she having "come
up" gradually to the wind, as it hauled — and she is in the
south-eastern hemisphere of the vortex. The scene was the
most remarkable I had ever witnessed. The ship, which had
been pressed over, only a moment before, by the fury of the
gale as described, had now righted, and the heavy storm stay
sail, which, notwithstanding its diminutive size, had required
two stout tackles to confine it to the deck, was now, for want
of wind to keep it steady, jerking these tackles about as though
it would snap them in pieces, as the ship rolled to and fro !
The aspect of the heavens was appalling. The clouds were
writhing and twisting, like so many huge serpents engaged in
combat, and hung so low, in the thin air of the vortex, as almost

476 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
to touch our mast-heads. The best description I can give of the
sea, is that of a number of huge watery cones — for the waves
seemed now in the diminished pressure of the atmosphere in
the vortex to jut up into the sky, and assume a conical shape —
that were dancing an infernal reel, played by some necro
mancer. They were not running in any given direction, there
being no longer any wind to drive them, but were jostling
each other, like drunken men in a crowd, and threatening,
every moment, to topple, one upon the other.
With watch in hand I noticed the passage of the vortex. It
was just thirty minutes in passing. The gale had left us, with
the wind from the south-west; the ship, the moment she
emerged from the vortex, took the wind from the north-west.
We could see it coming upon the waters. The disorderly seas
were now no longer jostling each other ; the infernal reel had
ended ; the cones had lowered their late rebellious heads, as
they felt the renewed pressure of the atmosphere, and were
being driven, like so many obedient slaves, before the raging
blast. The tops of the waves were literally cut off by the
force of the wind, and dashed hundreds of yards, in blinding
spray. The wind now struck us " butt and foremost," throw
ing the ship over in an instant, as before, and threatening to
jerk the little storm-sail from its bolt-ropes. It was impossible
to raise one's head above the rail, and difficult to breathe for
a few seconds. We could do nothing but cower under the
weather bulwarks, and hold on to the belaying pins, or what
ever other objects presented themselves, to prevent being
dashed to leeward, or swept overboard. The gale raged, now,
precisely as long as it had done before we entered the vortex
— two hours — showing how accurately Nature had drawn her
circle. At the end of this time, the Alabama found herself in posi
tion No. 3. The reader will observe that she is still on the
starboard tack, and that from east, she has brought her head
around to nearly west. The storm is upon the point of pass
ing away from her. I now again sent an officer below, to
inspect the barometer, and he reported 29. 70 ; the instrument
having risen a little more than an inch in two hours ! This,
alone, is evidence of the violence of the storm. During the

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 477
whole course of the stprm, a good deal of ra^n had fallen. It
is the rain which adds such fury to the wind. These storms
come to us, as has been said, from the tropics, and the winds,
by which they are engendered, are highly charged with vapor.
In the course of taking up this vapor from the sea, the winds
take up, along with it, a large quantity of latent heat,
or heat whose presence is not indicated by the thermometer.
As the raging cyclone is moving onward in its path, the winds
begin to part with their burden — it begins to rain. The
moment the vapor is condensed into rain, the latent heat,
which was taken up with the vapor, is liberated, and the con
sequence is, the formation of a furnace in the sky, as it were,
overhanging the raging storm, and travelling along with it.
The more rain there falls, the more latent heat there escapes ;
the more latent heat there escapes, the hotter the furnace
becomes ; and the hotter the furnace, the more furiously the
wind races around the circle, and rushes into the upper air to
fill the vacuum, and restore the equilibrium .
In four hours and a half from the commencement of the
gale, the Alabama was left rolling, and tumbling about in the
confused sea, which the gale had left behind it, with scarcely
wind enough to fill the sails, which, by this time, we had
gotten upon her, to keep her steady. Little more remains to
be said of the cyclone. Lf the reader will take a last look at the
diagram, he will see how it is, that the wind, which appears to
him to change, has not changed in reality. The wind, from
first to the last, is travelling around the circle, changing not
at all. It is the passage of the circle over the ship — or over
the observer upon the land — which causes it apparently to
change. The Alabama lay still during the whole gale, not
changing her position, perhaps, half a mile. As the circle
touched her, she took the wind from S. to S. S. E., and when it
had passed over her, she had the wind at north-west. In the
'ntermediate time, the wind had apparently hauled first to one,
and then to the other, of all the intermediate points of the com
pass, and yet it had not changed a hair's breadth.
The weather did not become fine, for several days after the
gale. On the following night, it again became thick and
cloudy, and the wind blew very fresh from the south-west.

478 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT.
The sea, though it had somewhat subsided, was still very
rough, and the night was so dark, that the officer of the deck
could not see half the length of the ship in any direction.
The south-west wind was a fair wind from the enemy's ports,
to Europe, and we kept a very bright look-out, to prevent
ourselves from being run over, by some heavy ship of com
merce, hurrying, with lightning speed, before wind and sea.

CHAPTER XXXVI.
THE PHYSIOGNOMY OF SHIPS  CAPTURE OF THE LA
FAYETTE — 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 sail-
maker repairing sails, and the old signal-quartermaster "break
ing 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 profit
ably 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 begin-
31 479

480 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
ning 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 Con
federate ocean cruisers afloat.
On the 21st of October, we observed in latitude 39° 35', and
longitude 63° 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 ofthe stranger as she approached, with the English colors at
my peak. The fine, large ship, as she ran down to us, pre
sented 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 nationali
ties of ships. I had with me a master's mater- 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

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 481
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 phe 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,

482 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
or the land, with equal facility. Providence has certainly de
signed 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 cus
tom-house oaths, that every ship-master is expected to take,
without the least regard to the state of the facts. Upon exam
ination of these certificates, I pronounced them fraudulent, and
burned the ship.
As the burning of this vessel, with her cargo nicely " cov
ered," 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 nar
rative, to look a little into the facts. The reader has already
been told that I held a regular prize-court on board the Sum
ter. I did the same thing on board the Alabama, never con
demning 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,

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 483
by the principal powers of the earth, and were covetous of the
good-will of them all. I had, besides, the most positive in
structions 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 Admi
ralty Court, held on board the Confederate States steamer Ala
bama, 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 con
demned. With reference to the cargo, there are certificates, pre
pared 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
ehip, on freight, consigned to them, they paying freight, as usual,
have chartered the whoje 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 posses
sion, left the property in the possession, and under the dominion of
Craig & Nicoll, and as such liable to capture. See 3 Philli-
more 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. Mont
gomery Bros., is shipped by Montgomery Bros., of New York,
and consigned to Montgomery Bros., in Belfast. Here the con-

484 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
signment is all right. The possession of the property haa legally
passed to the Belfast house, But when there are two houses of
trade doing business as partners, and one of them resides in tha
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 tha
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 Laueetta.
" The ship being under the enemy's colors and register, is con
demned. There are two shippers of the cargo, the house of Cham
berlain, Phelps & Co., and Mr. H. J. Burden — all the shippers re
sident, 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 in
dorsement, 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 mer
chandise 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
ciroimstance. It shows that it was intended for a market, and not

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 485
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 follow
ing 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 de
scribes 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 follow
ing 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 im
portant facts have just been developed in relation to the operations
of the rebel privateer Alabama, and the present and prospective ac
tion of the British and other foreign Governments, whose citizens
have lost property by the piracies of her commander. The depre
dations of the vessel involve the rights of no less than three Euro
pean governments -tt 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 correspon
dence 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 under
stand, 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

486 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
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 sub
mitted 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 prin
cipally 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 Fun-
chal, Madeira. The bill of lading bore tbe British seal affixed by
t/ie 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 ladfing.
" 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 inten
tions 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 conse
quence, 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 consid
ered 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 '11 tell you what,' exclaimed the pirate, ' this is a d — d pretty
business — it 's a d — d Yankee hash, and I '11 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 burn
ing the vessel.

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 487
" These facts will at once be brought before the British Consul.
The preliminary steps have been taken. The facts will also be fur
nished 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 dis
cipline 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 par
ties 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 sim
plicity, 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 Ad
vertiser." 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

488 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
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 cer
tificates, 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 atten
tion 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 regu
larity 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 some
times as low as 29.60. These rotary winds were circles of
greater or less diameter, obeying the laws of storms, and travel
ling 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 tha
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 o verha aled, in the meantime, a number of neutrals, we descried

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 489
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 Brit
ish 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,

490 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
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 prop
erty 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 Eng
lish 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
aot, I had burned — was in a glow of indignation. Its resolu
tions 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, gener
ally, and its members had consequently become orators. The
words "privateer," "pirate," "robbery," and "plunder," and
other blood-and-thunder expressions, ran through their resolu
tions 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 Amer
ican 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 Fede-

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 491
ral 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 ice
bergs, 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° 47', and longitude 68° 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 an
other 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 mas
ter, 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 Ban
gor, 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

492 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
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 recep
tion 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 rendez
vous. 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 south
ern edge of the Gulf Stream, and were in a comparatively
desert track of the ocean. Our sinews were once more re
laxed, 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 even
ings 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 tha
violin was heard or even a song. The men were, however

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 493
cheerful and obedient, were as much excited as ever by the
chase and the capture, and were fast becoming a well-disci
plined 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 tos our sense of secu
rity. 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 de
scried from the mast-head, about half-past eight in the morn
ing, 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. Get
ting 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,

494 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
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 him
self, 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 ofthe Wales, though a Northern man, had very

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 495
few of the ear-marks of the Yankee skipper about him. Ha
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 Eng
land 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 Adver
tiser's " pets — being a neutral house, domiciled in an enemy's
country, for the purposes of trade. I have not heard what Ad
miral Milne and the British Minister at Washington did, when
they heard of the burning of the Wales, or whether the " Ad
vertiser " 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 pre
cise 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 ex-
32

496 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
amined, 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 chil
dren. Mr. George H. Fairchild — for such was her husband's
name — though a New-Englander, was, apparently, an unbi-
goted 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 threat
ened with a trial, by one of those Military Commissions which
have disgraced American civilization, on the trumpea-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.

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 497
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 be
coming grace.
My mSnage 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
Drought on board from a whaler, in its neat gilded cage. Bar
telli 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 patter
ing 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.

CHAPTER XXXVII.
THE CALM-BELTS, AND THE TRADE- WINDS — THE AR
RIVAL OF THE ALABAMA AT THE ISLAND OF MAR
TINIQUE — THE CURIOSITY OF THE ISLANDERS TO
SEE THE SHIP — A QUASI MUTINY AMONG THE CREW,
AND HOW IT WAS QUELLED.
WE captured the Wales, as described in the last chapter,
on the 8th of November. On the 10th of the same
month, we observed in latitude 25°. We were approaching the
calm -belt of Cancer. There are three of these calm-belts on
the surface of the earth, and the phenomena which they present
to the eye of the seaman are very beautiful. A ship coming
out of New York, for instance, and bound south, will first
encounter the calm-belt which the Alabama is now approach
ing — that of Cancer. She will lose the wind which has brou ght
her to the "belt," and meet with light airs, and calms, accom
panied, frequently, by showers of rain. She will probably be
several days in passing through this region ofthe "doldrums,"
as the sailors expressively call it, continually bracing her yards,
to catch the " cats-paws '' that come, now from one, and now
from another point of the compass ; and making no more than
twenty, or thirty miles per day. As she draws near the south
ern edge of the belt, she will receive the first light breathings
of the north-east trade- wind. These will increase, as she pro
ceeds farther and farther south, and she will, ere long, find
herself with bellying canvas, in a settled " trade." She will
now run with this wind, blowing with wonderful steadiness and
regularity, until she begins to near the equator. The wind
will now die away again, and the ship will enter the second of
these belts — that of equatorial calms. Wending her way
slowly and toilsomely through these, as she did through those
498

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 499
of Cancer, she will emerge next into the south-east trade-wind,
which she will probably find somewhat stronger than the north
east trade. This wind will hurry her forward to the tropic of
Capricorn, in the vicinity of which she will find her third and
last calm-belt.
These three calm-belts enclose, the reader will have observed,
two systems of trade-winds. To understand something of these
winds, and the calms which enclose them, a brief reference to
the atmospheric machine in which we " live, and breathe, and
have our being " will be necessary. A philosopher of the East
has thus glowingly described some of the beauties of this ma
chine : " It is," says he, " a spherical shell, which surrounds our
planet, to a depth which is unknown to us, by reason of its grow
ing tenuity, as it is released from the pressure of its own super
incumbent mass. Its surface cannot be nearer to us than fifty,
and can scarcely be more remote than five hundred miles. It
surrounds us on all sides, yet we see it not; it presses on us
with a load of fifteen pounds on every square inch of surface
of our bodies, or from seventy to one hundred tons on us, in all,
and yet we do not so much as feel its weight. Softer than the
softest down — more impalpable than the finest gossamer — it
leaves the cobweb undisturbed, and scarcely stirs the lightest
flower that feeds on the dew it supplies; yet it bears the fleets
of nations on its wings around the world, and crushes the most
refractory substances with its weight. When in motion, its
force is sufficient to level the most stately forests, and stable
buildings with the earth — to raise the waters of the ocean into
ridges like mountains, and dash the strongest ship to pieces
like toys.
" It warms and cools, by turns, the earth, and the living crea
tures that inhabit it. It draws up vapors from the sea and
land, retains them dissolved in itself, or suspended in cisterns
of clouds, and throws them down again, as rain or dew when
they are required. It bends the rays of the sun from their
path, to give us the twilight of evening, and of dawn ; it dis
perses, and refracts their various tints, to beautify the approach
and the reti 3at of the orb of day. But for the atmosphere, sun
shine would burst on us, and fail us at once, and at once remove
us from midnight darkness to the blaze of noon. We should

500 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
have no twilight to soften, and beautify the landscape; no
clouds to shade us from the scorching heat, but the bald earth,
as it revolved on its axis, would turn its tanned and weakened
front to the full and unmitigated rays of the lord of day.
"It affords the gas which vivifies, and warms our frames, and
receives into itself that which has been polluted by use, and
thrown off as noxious. It feeds the flame of life, exactly as it
does that of the fire. It is in both cases consumed, and affords
the food of consumption, — in both cases it becomes combined
with charcoal, which requires it for combustion, and is removed
by it, when this is over."
The first law of nature may be said to be vis inertise,
and the atmosphere thus beautifully described, following this
law, would be motionless, if there were not causes, outside of
'itself, to put it in motion. The atmosphere in motion is wind,
with which the sailor has so much to do, and it behooves him
to understand, not only the causes which produce it, but the
laws which control it. " Whence cometh the wind, and whither
goeth it ?" It comes from heat, and as the sun is the father
of heat, he is the father of the winds. Let us suppose the
earth, and atmosphere both to be created, but not yet the sun.
The atmosphere, being of equal temperature throughout the
earth, would be in equilibrium. It could not move in any
direction, and there would not be the slightest breeze to fan the
brow. Now let us suppose the sun to be called into existence,
and to begin to dart forth his rays. H he heated the earth, and
the atmosphere in all parts alike, whilst there would be a
swelling of the atmosphere into greater bulk, there would still
be no motion which we could call wind. But the earth being
placed in an elliptical orbit, and made to revolve around the
sun, with its axis inclined to the plane in which it revolves,
now approaching, and now receding from the sun, and now
having the sun in one hemisphere, and now in another, the
atmosphere is not only heated differently, in different parts of
the earth, but at different seasons of the year ; and thus the
winds are engendered.
Let us imagine this heating process to be going on for the
first time. How we should be astonished ? The atmosphere
having hitherto had no motion, in our experience, we should

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 501
have conceived it as immovable as the hills, and would be
quite as much astonished to see it putting itself in motion, as
to see the hills running away from us. But in what direction
is the atmosphere now moving ? Evidently from the north,
and south poles toward the equator, because we know that the
intertropical portions of the earth are more heated, than the
extratropical portions.
Thus far, we have not given the earth any diurnal motion
around its axis. Let us give it this motion. It is revolving
now from west to east, at the rate of fifteen miles in a minute.
If the atmosphere had been perfectly still when this motion
was given to the earth, as we have supposed it to have been
before the creation of the sun, the consequence would be a
breeze directly from the east, blowing with different degrees
of strength, as it was nearer to, or further from the equator.
For it is obviously the same thing whether the atmosphere
stands still, and the earth revolves, or whether the earth stands
still, and the atmosphere moves. In either case we have a
wind.

But the atmosphere was not still, when we gave the diurnal
motion to the earth. There was already a breeze blowing, as
we have seen, from the north, and south poles toward the
equator. We have thus generated two winds — a north wind
and an east wind. But these two winds cannot blow in the
same place at the same time ; and the result will be a wind
compounded of the two. Thus in the northern hemisphere

502 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
we shall have a north-east wind, and in the southern hemi.
sphere we shall have a south east- wind.
These are the two trade-winds, enclosed by the three calm-
belts which have been described to the reader. The three
arrows on the preceding page will illustrate the manner in
which the north-east trade-wind is formed by the north wind
and the east wind, which our theory puts in motion.
Why it is that the trade-winds do not extend all the way
from the poles to the equator, but take their rise in about the
thirtieth parallel of latitude, north and south, we do not know.
The theory would seem to demand that they should spring up
at the poles, and blow continuously to the equator ; in which
case we should have but two systems of winds covering the
entire surface of the earth. This non-conformity of the winds
of the extra-tropical regions to our theory, does not destroy
it, however, but brings into the meteorological problem other
and beautiful features. Having put the winds in motion, our
next business is to follow them, and see what "circuits" they
travel. The quantity of atmosphere carried to the equator by
the north-east and south-east trade-winds, must find its way
back whence it came, in some mode or other ; otherwise, we
should soon have all the atmosphere drawn away from the
poles, and piled up at the equator. We can easily conceive
this, if we liken the atmosphere to fleeces of wool, and suppose
an invisible hand to be constantly drawing away the fleeces
from the poles, and piling them up at the equator. But how
„o get it back is the difficulty. It cannot go back on the sur
face of the earth, within the tropics, for there is a constant sur
face current here toward the equator. There is but one other
way, of course, in which it can go back, and that is, as an
upper current, running counter to the surface current. We
may assume, indeed, we must assume, that there are two upper
currents of air, setting out from the equator, and travelling,
one of them to the 30th degree of north latitude, and the other
to the 30th degree of south latitude.
What becomes of these two upper currents, when they
reach these parallels of latitude, is not quite so certain ; but
there is good reason for believing that they now descend,
become surface currents, and continue their jorrney on to the

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 503
poles. It is further supposed that, when they reach the poles,
they "whirl about" them, ascend, become upper currents
again, and start back to the 30th parallel ; and that, when they
have returned to this parallel, they descend, become a surface
current again — in other words, the trade- wind — and proceed
to the equator as before.
But there is another, and more beautiful problem still, con
nected with these winds. It is their crossing each other at
the equator, of which the proofs are so abundant, that there
can be but little doubt concerning it. And yet the proposition,

looked at apart from the proofs, is a very startling one. One
would think that when the two winds met at the equator,
there would be a general intermingling, and confounding of
particles, and that when they ascended to form the upper cur
rents, of which I have spoken, the northern particle would be

5G4 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
as likely to turn back to the north, as to cross the equator and
go south. The preceding figure will illustrate the crossing. Let
A represent the equator, the arrows near the surface of the
circle the two trade-winds, and the two cross arrows, two par-
tic.es of wind in the act of crossing. The difficulty is to con
ceive hDw these particles should cross, without mixing with
each other, and losing their identity ; or why they should not
turn back, as well as continue their course. What law of
nature is it, that makes the particles of atmosphere which
have come from the north pole, so separate and distinct from
those which have come from the south pole, as to prevent the
two from fusing, and becoming one ? Is it because the two
particles, as they have gyrated around their respective poles,
have received a repulsive polarity ? Whatever may be the
reason, there can be no doubt, as remarked, that they do
actually cross. One strong proof of their crossing is, that
we cannot conceive, otherwise, how the great atmospheric
machine could perform its office of distributing rain over the
earth in due proportions. The reader will recollect that there
is from a fourth, to a third, more land than water, in the
northern hemisphere, and that there is from a fourth to a third
more water than land in the southern hemisphere. The con
sequence of this unequal distribution of land and water in the
two hemispheres is, that the northern hemisphere requires
more rain than the southern, in the proportion in which it has
more land to be rained upon. Now it is these mysterious
trade- winds, of which we have been speaking, that are the
water-carriers of the two hemispheres. These winds, on their
way to the equator, generally reach the 30th parallel as dry
winds. These dry winds, sweeping over the tropical seas,
take up, in the shape of vapor, the water with which, in due
time, they are to fertilize the fields of the farmer, and make
the rose blossom. The quantity which they take up is in pro
portion to the sea-surface, or evaporating surface, they have
respectively passed over. Now, if we will examine the jars
of these water-carriers, when they reach the equator, we shall
find that the northern jars are not nearly so full as the
southern jars ; the reason being, that the northern winds have
passed over less evaporating surface.

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 505
Now, if the two systems of winds, with their jars thus filled,
were to turn back to their respective hemispheres, and poui
down upon them their water, in the shape of rain, the conse
quence would be, as the reader sees, that we should have less
rain in the northern hemisphere, than they would have in the
southern hemisphere; whereas, we require more, having more
land to be watered. The atmospheric machine would thus be
at fault. But the all- wise and beneficent ruler of the universe,
makes nothing faulty. We know from the evidence of that
silent witness, the rain-gauge, that more water falls in the
northern hemisphere, than in the southern; in other words,
that the more heavily laden of those jars which we examined,
a moment ago, at the equator, have come to us, instead of re
turning to the south ; the less heavily laden jars going south.
The crossing of the winds thus satisfies our theory, and
nothing else can; which is, of course, the most conclusive
of all proofs.
But we have other proofs. For a number of years past, as
the East India ships would be returning home from their
voyages, they would report a curious phenomenon to have
befallen them, as they passed the parallel of the Cape de
Yerde. This was the falling, or rather silting down upon their
decks and rigging, of a brick-dust or cinnamon-colored powder.
This dust, which when rubbed between the thumb and fore
finger would be impalpable, would sometimes nearly cover the
entire deck and rigging. The ships would be hundreds of
miles away from the land, and where could this dust come
from? The fact puzzled the philosophers, but having been
reported so often, it ceased to attract attention. Still it was a
fact, and was laid away carefully in the archives of philosophy
for future use. Years passed away, and the great traveller
and philosopher, Humboldt, arose to instruct and delight man
kind. He travelled extensively in South America; and,
among other places, visited the lower valley of the Orinoco.
He happened there in the dry season, and gives a graphic ac
count of the wild and weird spectacle of desolation which met
his eye in that season of universal drought.
All annual vegetation lay dead and desiccated on the im-
•nense pampas oi plains. The earth was cracked open, gaping

506 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFI OAT
as it were, for rain. The wild cattle were roaming about in
herds, bellowing for their accustomed food and water ; many
of them perishing. Even the insect world, so numerous and
vivacious in all southern climates, had perished. Their tiny
little organisms lay in heaps, fast disintegrating, and being
reduced to powder, by the scorching and baking rays of a
perpendicular sun, between which and the parched earth, not
so much as a speck of cloud appeared. The philosopher
examined a number of these little organisms with his micro
scope. They were peculiar to the region in which he found
them, and he was struck with the fact. There was another
phenomenon which he observed. A number of little whirl
winds were playing their pranks about the arid waste, sporting,
as it were, with dead nature. These little whirlwinds, as they
travelled hither and thither, would draw up into their vortices,
and toss high into the upper air, the impalpable dust that
lay everywhere, and which was composed, in great measure,
of the decomposed and decomposing organisms of which I
have spoken. The atmosphere, at times, when filled with this
dust, would assume a yellowish, or pale straw-colored hue.
The reader probably, by this time, sees my design of con
necting the dusty remains, described by Humboldt, with the
rain dust reported by the mariners to have fallen on the decks
and rigging of their ships, in the neighborhood of the Cape
de Yerde islands. But the " rain-dust " was of brick-dust, or
cinnamon color, when collected by the masters of the ships, as
specimens, and the heavens, when filled with the dust thrown
up by the whirlwinds, as described by Humboldt, appeared to
him to be of a straw color. Here is a discrepancy to be rec
onciled, and we must call in the aid of another philosopher,
Captain M. F. Maury, late Superintendent of the National Ob
servatory, at Washington, before alluded to in these pages,
and to whom I am indebted for many of the facts here quoted.
Captain Maury was struck with this discrepancy, and in recon
ciling it with the theory here discussed, makes the following
statement : " In the search for spider lines, for the diaphragms
of my telescopes, I procured the finest, and best threads from
a cocoon of a mud -red color; but the threads of this cocoon,
as seen singly in the diaphragm, were of a golden color ; there

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 507
would seem, therefore, no difficulty in reconciling the difference
between the colors of the rain-dust, when viewed in little piles
by the microscopist, and when seen attenuated and floating in
the wind by the regular traveller."
There remains but another link in the chain of evidence, to
render it complete. It remains to be shown how the whirl
wind dust, of the valley of the lower Orinoco, can be identi
fied with the rain-dust of the Cape de Verde. Ehrenberg, a
German philosopher, has done this, in our day. Some speci
mens of the rain-dust having been sent him by ship-captains
he brought them under his microscope, as Humboldt had done
the whirlwind-dust, and to his great astonishment, and delight
he found it to be the same. These facts correspond entirely
with our theory of the crossing of the trade-winds at the equa
tor. The reader has been with us near the mouth of the Ori
noco. This great river disembogues near the island of Trini
dad, which we visited in the Sumter, in about the latitude of
9° N. The vernal equinox is the dry season here, and at
this season, the north-east trade- wind is quite fresh. Running
counter to this wind, in the upper atmosphere, there is, accord
ing to our theory, a strong south-west wind blowing. Now, if
the reader will inspect a map, he will find that a south-west
wind, starting from the mouth of the Orinoco, will blow over
the Cape de Verde islands. The rest is plain. The whirl
wind-dust is tossed high enough into the upper atmosphere, to
be taken in charge by the counter south-west wind, is carried
to the Cape de Verde, and there silted down upon the decks
and rigging of the passing ships, as gently as so many snow-
flakes, becoming the rain-dust which so long puzzled the phi
losophers! We have reasoned, hitherto, on the supposition, that the
three calm-belts, one of which the Alabama is now passing,
and the two systems of trade-winds which they enclose, are
stationary within certain limits. But this is not so; the whole
system of belts an^ winds is moved north and south, as the
sun passes now into one hemisphere, and now into another.
The calm-belt of Cancer is not always in the latitude of 30°
N. ; nor is the calm-belt of the equator always at the equator
Tha reader will recollect that we observed, on board t' e Ala-

508

MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT

bama, on the 10th of November, in latitude 25° N., and that
we were only just then entering the calm-belt of Cancer. The
reason is, that the sun, on that day, was in the southern hem
isphere, well advanced toward his extreme limit in that hemi
sphere, and that he had dragged, as it were, the whole system
of belts and winds after him. The figures below will make
this idea plain. Let the broad, dark lines in the circles repre
sent the system of belts and winds, all in one ; and in circle A
let the sun be in the northern hemisphere, and in circle B let
him be in the southern.

The reader will see, how the sun, having hitched this sys
tern of belts and winds to his chariot wheels, as it were, has
drawn it after him. The distances north and south, to which
they have been drawn, are exaggerated in the figures, but this
is only for the purpose of better illustration. The reader will
see, from this diagram, how much farther South the Alabama
will have to run, in November, to catch the north-east trade-
wind, than she would have had to run in May. We may now
return to our ship, and our cruise, and when I shall mention the
trade-winds and the calm-belts, hereafter, the reader will not, I
hope, regret the time I have consumed in refreshing his mem
ory on so interesting a subject. We spoke several English
vessels after burning the Wales, and a couple of them, bound to
Demerara, kept company with us through the calm-belt. We
sent a boat on board one of them, from New York, but she

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 509
had neither news nor newspapers. At length, when we had
reached the parallel of about 20°, we began to receive the first
gentle breathings of the trade-wind. Our light sails aloft
began first to "belly out," and then a topsail would fill for a
moment, until the ship rising on the gentle undulations of the
sea, and falling again, would flap the wind out of it. The
zephyr — for, as yet, it was nothing more — visibly gained
strength, however, from hour to hour, and on the 16th of
November, I find the following record in my journal: "Beau
tiful, clear weather, with a moderate trade-wind, from about
east by south, and the well-known fleecy trade-clouds sailing
leisurely over our heads."
It is Sunday, and muster-day, and the Alabama has once
more been put in perfect order. She has had a coat of paint,
inside and out, her masts have been freshly scraped, and her
rigging re-rattled, and tarred down. Her guns are glistening
in the new coat of "composition" which the gunner and his
mates have put upon them ; her engine-room is all aglow with
burnished brass and steel ; her decks are white and sweet, and
her awnings are spread. The muster is over, the men are
lying listlessly about the decks, and our lady passengers are
comfortably seated on the quarter-deck, with several of the
young officers around them, and with the children playing at
their feet. Such was the contrast which the Alabama pre
sented, on that quiet Sabbath day, with her former self only a
few weeks back1, when we had been rolling and tumbling in
the Gulf Stream, with crippled yards, torn sails, and her now
bright sides seamed and defaced with iron-rust from her cor
roding chains.
We were soon ready to go into port — our first port since
leaving Terceira. Men and officers were all desirous of a little
relaxation, and were pretty soon on the look-out for land. On
the next day, at two P. M., we made the island of Dominica — the .
same Dominica that lay so fast asleep in the gentle moonlight,
on the night that the little Sumter ran so close along it, like a
startled deer, after her escape from the Iroquois. We were re
turning to our old cruising-ground, after an interval of just one
year, in a finer and faster ship, and we cared very little now
about the Iroquois, and vessels of her class. Having doubled the

510 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
north-east end of Dominica, during the night, at four o'clock,
the next morning, we lowered the propeller, put the ship under
steam, and ran down for the island of Martinique. We passed
close enough to the harbor of St. Pierre, where we had been
so long blockaded, to look into it, and see that there were no
men-of-war of the enemy anchored there, and, continuing our
course, ran into the anchorage of Fort de France, and dropped
our anchor at about ten A. M.
Rear- Admiral Conde was still Governor, and I sent a lieu
tenant, immediately, to call on him, and report our arrival.
He received me kindly, notwithstanding the little sharp-shooting
that had passed between us, in the way of official correspond
ence — and franked the ports of the island to me as before. I
had long since forgiven him, for the want of independence and
energy he had displayed, in not preventing the Yankee skipper
from making signals to the Iroquois on the night of my escape,
as the said signals, as the reader has seen, had redounded to my
benefit, instead of Palmer's. In an hour or two, we had landed
our prisoners ; the ladies and their husbands taking a very
civil leave of us. In the course of the afternoon, our decks
were crowded with curious Frenchmen, come off to look at the
" pirate " ship, of which they had heard so much, through Mr.
Seward's interesting volumes of " English Composition," called
"State Papers," and the villification and abuse of the Northern
press. They were evidently a little puzzled at finding in the
Alabama a rather stylish-looking ship of war, with polite young
officers to receive them, at the gangway, and show them round
the ship, instead of the disorderly privateer, or pirate, they had
expected to find. I could see some of these gentlemen eying me
with curiosity, and with evident disappointment depicted in their
countenances, as my young officers would point me out to them.
They had come on board to see a Captain Kidd, or Blue Beard,
at the least, and had found only a common mortal, in no wise
distinguished from the officers by whom he was surrounded,
except, perhaps, that his gray coat was a little more faded, and
his moustache a little more the color of his coat.
The ship was surrounded with bum-boats, laden with fruits,
and other supplies for the sailors, and a brisk traffic was going
on, alongside, and in the port gangway, in pipes, and tobacco,

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 511
orchata, and orange-water ; and, as we found as night began to
set in, in something a little stronger. We had no marine guard
on board the Alabama, and there was, consequently, no sentinel
at the gangway in the daytime. We were necessarily obliged
to rely upon the master-at-arms, and the quartermasters, for
examining all boats that came alongside, to see that no liquor
was smuggled into the ship. These petty officers were old
sailors like the rest, and I have rarely seen a sailor who could
be relied upon, for any purpose of police, where his brother
sailor was concerned.
Whilst I was below, a little after sunset, taking a cup of tea,
and enjoying some of the delicious fruit which Bartelli had
provided for me, I heard some confusion of voices, and a tramp
ing of feet on the deck over my head, and soon afterward, the
first lieutenant came into my cabin to tell me, that there was
considerable disorder in the ship. I repaired on deck imme
diately, and saw at a glance that the crew was almost in a state
of mutiny. It was evidently a drunken mutiny, however, and
not very alarming. An officer had gone forward to quell some
disturbance on the forecastle, when one of the sailors had thrown
a belaying-pin at him, and others had abused him, and threat
ened him with personal violence. Some of the men, when di
rected to assist in seizing and confining their more disorderly
comrades, had refused ; and as I reached the deck, there was a
surly, and sulky crowd of half-drunken sailors gathered near
the foremast, using mutinous language, and defying the author
ities of the ship. I immediately ordered the first lieutenant to
" beat to quarters." The drum and fife were gotten up, and such
was the effect of previous discipline upon the crew, that the
moment they heard the well-known beat, and the shrill tones
of the fife, they "fell in," mechanically, at their guns — some
of them so drunk, that their efforts to appear sober were quite
ludicrous. This was what I had reckoned upon. At quarters, the officers
always appeared armed, as if they were going into battle
There were very few arms about the deck, upon which the
sailors could lay their hands — the cutlasses and pistols being
kept locked up, in th» arms-chests. Of course, I now had it
all my own way — thirty armed officers b'dng more than a
33

512 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
match for 110 men armed with nothing but sheath-knifes and
belaying-pins. I began now to quell the mutiny ; or rather
it was already quelled, and I began to bring Jack back to his
senses. In company with my first lieutenant and aide-de-camp,
I passed along the platoons of men as they stood at their guns,
and stopping wherever I observed a drunken man, I ordered
his comrades to arrest him. This was immediately done, with
out demur in any instance, and the culprit was ironed. In this
way I got as many as twenty disorderly fellows. These drunken
men, the moment the attempt was made to arrest them, began to
show fight, and to be abusive in their language. They were,
however, soon overpowered, and rendered harmless. In this
way I passed forward and aft, two or three times, eying the
men as I passed, to be certain that I had gotten hold of all the
rioters. When I had done this, I directed the mutineers to be taken
to the gangway, and calling two or three of the most active of
the quartermasters, I made them provide themselves with
draw-buckets, and commencing with the most noisy and
drunken of the culprits, I ordered them to dash buckets of
water over them in quick succession. The punishment was
so evidently novel to the recipients, that they were at first
disposed to deride it. With drunken gravity they would
laugh and swear by turns, and tell the "bloody quarter
masters" to "come on with their water, they were not afraid
of it." But I was quite sure of my remedy, for I had tried
it before; and as the drunken fellows would call for more
water, in contempt and derision, I gratified them, and caused
bucketsful to be dashed on them with such rapidity, that
pretty soon they found it difficult to catch their breath, in the
intervals between the showers. The more they would struggle
and gasp for breath, the more rapidly the buckets would be
emptied upon them.
The effect was almost electric. The maudlin fellows, some
what sobered by the repeated shocks of the cold water, began
now to swear less vociferously. In fact, they had no voice to
swear with, for it was as much as they could do, to breathe.
They no longer " bloodied " the quartermasters, or called for
more water. Being reduced thus to silence, and still the water

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 513
descending upon them as rapidly as ever, with half-sobered
brain, and frames shivering with the cold, they would now
become seriously alarmed. Did the captain mean to drown
them? Was this the way he designed to punish them for
mutiny, instead of hanging them at the yard-arm ? They now
turned to me, and begged me, for God's sake, to spare them.
If I would only let them go this time, I should never have
cause to complain of them again. I held off a little while, as
if inexorable to their prayers and entreaties, the better to im
press upon them the lesson I was teaching them, and then
ordered them to be released. When their irons were taken
off, they were sober enough to go below to their hammocks,
without another word, and "turn in" like good boys ! It took
me some time to get through with this operation, for I had the
delinquents — about a dozen of the most noisy — soused one
at a time. The officers and crew were all this while — some
two hours — standing at their guns, at quarters, and I could,
now and then, overhear quite an audible titter from some of
the sober men, as the drunken ones who were undergoing the
shower-bath would now defy my authority, and now beg for
mercy. When, at last, I had finished, I turned to my first
lieutenant, and told him to "beat the retreat."
And this was the way, reader, in which I quelled my first,
and only mutiny on board the Alabama. It became a saying
afterward, among the sailors, that "Old Beeswax was h — 11
npon watering a fellow's grog."

CHAPTER XXXVIII.
THE ALABAMA AT MARTINIQUE — IS BLOCKADED BY THE
ENEMY'S STEAMER, SAN JACINTO — HOW SHE ESCAPED
THE "OLD WAGON" — THE ISLAND OF BLANQUILLA,
THE NEW RENDEZVOUS  COALING SHIP — A YANKEE
SKIPPER — HOW THE OFFICERS AND MEN AMUSED
THEMSELVES — THE CAPTURE OF THE PARKER COOKE,
UNION, AND STEAMER ARIEL.
I FOUND here at her anchors, as I had expected, my coal-
ship, the Agrippina. She had been lying here eight days.
Her master, an old Scotchman, who, like most old sailors, was
fond of his grog, had been quite indiscreet, as I soon learned,
in talking about his ship, and her movements. Instead of pre
tending to have come in for water or repairs, or to hunt a
market, or for something of the kind, he had frequently, when
"half seas-over," in the coffee-houses on shore, boasted of his
connection with the Alabama, and told his brother tars that
that ship might be daily looked for. Eight days were a suffi
cient space of time for these conversations to be repeated, in
the neighboring islands ; and as I knew that the enemy had
several cruisers in the West Indies, I was only surprised that
some one of them had not looked in upon the Agrippina
before. It would not do for me to think of coaling in Mar
tinique under the circumstances, and so I ordered my coal-
ship to get under way forthwith, and proceed to a new rendez
vous — a small island on the Spanish Main, where, in due
time, we will rejoin her. I had the satisfaction of seeing hei
get a good offing before nightfall, and knew that she was safe.
It was well that I took this precaution, for on the very next
morning, before I had turned out, an officer came below to in
form me $hat ay enemy's ship-of-war had appeared off the har-
614

MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT. 515
bor 1 Dressiug myself, and going on deck, sure enough, there
was one of the enemy's large steamships, lying close within
the mouth of the harbor, with one of the brightest and largest
of " old flags " flying from her peak. She did not anchor, lest
she should come under the twenty -four hours' rule ; but pretty
soon lowered a boat, and communicated with the authorities
on shore. It soon transpired that she was the famous San
Jacinto, a name which has become inseparably connected in
the American memory, with one' of the greatest humiliations
ever put upon the Great Republic. Wilkes, and Seward,
and the /Slain Jacinto have achieved fame. They began by
attempting to make a little war-capital out of John Bull,
and ended by singing, as we have seen, the " seven penitential
psalms ;" or, at least, as many of these psalms as could be
sung in " seven days," short metre being used. I could not help
thinking, as I looked at the old ship, of Mr. Seward's elaborate
despatch to Lord Russell, set to the tune of " Old Hundred,"
and of the screams of Miss Slidell, as she had been gallantly
charged by the American marines, commanded, for the occa
sion, by an officer bearing the proud old name of Fairfax, and
born in the State of Virginia I
We paid no sort of attention to the arrival of this old wagon
of a ship. She was too heavy for me to think of engaging, as she
threw more than two pounds of metal to my one — her battery
consisting of fourteen eleven-inch guns — and her crew was
more than twice as numerous as my own ; but we had the
speed of her, and could, of course, go to sea whenever we
pleased. I was glad, however, that I had gotten the Agrippina
safely out of her way, as she might otherwise have been in
definitely blockaded. We remained quietly at our anchors
during the day ; such of the officers visiting the shore as de
sired, and the stewards of the messes being all busy in laying
in a supply of fruits and other refreshments. We were, in the
meantime, quite amused at the warlike preparations that were
going on on board the San Jacinto. The captain of that ship,
whose name, I believe, was Ronckendorff, made the most elab
orate preparations for battle. We could see his men aloft,
busily engaged in slinging yards, stoppering topsail sheets,
getting up preventer braces, and making such other prepara-

516 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
tions, as the Victory or Royal Sovereign might have made on
the eve of Trafalgar.
Poor Ronckendorff, what a disappointment awaited him ! the
Alabama was going to sea that very night. There was a Yan
kee merchant-ship in the harbor, and just at nightfall, a boat
pulled out from her to the San Jacinto, to post her, probably,
as to the channels and outlets, and to put her in possession of
the rumors afloat. The fates were much more propitious as
to weather, than they had been to the little Sumter, when she
eluded the Iroquois. The night set in dark and rainy. We
ran up our boats, lighted our fires, and when the steam was
ready, got under way, as' we would have done on any ordinary
occasion, except only that there were no lights permitted to be
seen about the ship, and that the guns were loaded and cast
loose, and the crew at quarters. In the afternoon, a French
naval officer had come on board, kindly bringing me a chart
of the harbor, from which it appeared that I could run out in
almost any direction I might choose. I chose the most south
ern route, and giving my ship a full head of steam, we passed
out, without so much as getting a glimpse of the San Jacinto J
The next news that we received from the " States," informed
us that the /Slain Jacinto was perfectly innocent of our escape
until the next morning revealed to her our vacant place in ths
harbor. Her commander was even then incredulous, and re
mained cruising off the harbor for a day or two longer, until
he could satisfy himself that I had not hauled my ship up into
some cunning nook, or inlet, and hid her away out of sight !
The next afternoon I had joined my coal-ship, and we ran
in to our anchorage, together, in the little, barren island of
Blanquilla, off the coast of Venezuela, where we came to
about nightfall. This was one of those little coral islands
that skirt the South American coast, not yet fully adapted
to the habitation of man. It was occasionally visited by a
passing fisherman, or turtler, and a few goat-herds, from the
main-land, had come over to pasture some goats on the coarse
grass. As we ran in to this anchorage, which I remembered
well from having visited it once in a ship of war of the old
service, I was surprised to see a Yankee whaling schooner at
anchor. She was lying very close in with the beach, on which

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 517
she had a tent pitched, and some boilers in operation, trying
out the oil from a whale which she had recently struck. The
master of this little vessel, seeing us running down the island,
under the United States colors, came off, in one of his boats,
to pilot us in, and was apparently quite pleased to find him
self on board one of his own gun-boats. He told us all he
had heard about the Alabama, and went into ecstasies over
our fine battery, and the marvellous accounts of our speed,
which some of the young men gave him, and declared that we
were the very ship to " give the pirate Semmes fits."
A terrible collapse awaited him. When I had let go my
anchor, I sent for him, and told him who we were. That we
were no less than the terrible Alabama herself. He stood aghast
for a moment. An awful vision seemed to confront him.
His little schooner, and his oil, and the various little 'ventures
which he had on board, with which to trade with the natives
along the coast, and turn that " honest penny," which has sc
many charms in the eyes of his countrymen, were all gone up
the spout ! And then he stood in the presence of the man
whose ship he had characterized as a " pirate," and whom he
had told to his face, he was no better than a freebooter. But
I played the magnanimous. I told the skipper not to be
alarmed; that he was perfectly safe on board the Alabama,
and that out of respect for Venezuela, within whose maritime
jurisdiction we were, I should not even burn his ship. I
should detain him, however, as a prisoner, for a few days, I
added, to prevent his carrying news of me to the enemy, until
I was ready myself to depart. He gladly assented to these
terms, and was frequently afterward on board the ship during
our stay.
We lay five days at the little island of Blanquilla, coaling
ship, and getting ready for another cruise. We broke out
our hold for the first time, and cleansed and whitewashed
it. We hoisted out our boats, and rigged them for sailing ;
and in the afternoons, after the excessive heats had moderated
a little, sailing and fishing parties were formed, and the officers
had some very pleasant little picnics on shore. Fish were
abundant, and on occasion of these picnics, a fine red-fish,
weighing twenty pounds and more, would sometiir es be found

518 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
cut up, and in the frying-pan, almost before it had ceased
floundering. The crew were sent on shore, " on liberty," in
quarter watches, taking their rifles and ammunition, and fish-
spears, and fishing-lines along with them. The water was as
clear as crystal, and there being some beautiful bathing-places
along the beach, bathing became a favorite amusement. Al
though this coast abounds in sharks of large size, they are
not found to be dangerous, when there is a number of bathers
enjoying the sport together. The shark is a great coward,
and rarely attacks a man, unless it can surprise him.
My gig was a fine boat, fitted with a lug sail, and I used
frequently to stretch off long distances from the land in her,
enjoying her fine sailing qualities, in the fresh sea-breeze that
would be blowing, the greater part ofthe day. At other times
I would coast the island along for miles, now putting into one
little cove, and now into another, sometimes fishing, and at
others hunting sea-shells, and exploring the wonders of the
coral banks. Pelican, gulls, plover, and sand-snipe were abun
dant, and my boat's crew, when we would land, and haul our
boat up for a stroll, would sometimes make capital shots. In
deed, we generally returned on board laden with fish, game, and
marine curiosities, of various kinds, — prominent among which
would be specimens of the little coral insect, and its curious
manufactures. Miniature limestone-trees, with their pointed
branches, shrubs, fans, and a hundred other imitations of the
flora of the upper world would be fished up from beneath the
sparkling waters, live their day of wonder, and when they had
faded and lost their beauty, be thrown overboard again.
We found here flocks of the flamingo — a large bird of the
crane species, with long legs and bill, for wading and feeding
in the shallow lagoons which surround the island. Its plu
mage is of the most delicate pink, inclining to scarlet, and
when the tall birds are drawn up in line, upon a sand beach,
where there is some mirage, or refraction, they look not unlike
a regiment of red-coated soldiers. They are quite shy, but
we carried some of them on board, out of the rich plumage of
which Bartelli made me some fans. Officers and men, both of
whom had been long confined on board ship — it being now three
months since the Alabama was commissioned — visibly im-

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 519
proved in health whilst we lay at Blanquilla. The reader may
recollect that we captured in the brig Dunkirk, a deserter from
the Sumter. We had tried him by court-martial before reach
ing Martinique, and sentenced him to serve out his term, under
certain penalties. At Martinique, we found him a chief spirit
among the mutineers, whose grog I had "watered" as de
scribed in the last chapter. Another court now sat upon his
case, and in obedience to its sentence, the fellow was turned
upon the beach at Blanquilla, with " bag and hammock." This
worthy citizen of the Great Republic joined the Yankee whal
ing schooner, and went into more congenial company and pur
suits. Having finished our coaling, and made the other prepara
tions necessary for sea, I dispatched my coal-ship, which had
still another supply of coal left, to another rendezvous — the
Areas islands, in the Gulf of Mexico, and gave the Yankee
schooner leave to depart, telling the master to make a free sheet
of it, and not let me catch him on the high seas, as it might
not be so well for him a second time. He took me at my
word, had all the sail on his little craft in the twinkling of
an eye, and I question whether he stopped this side of Nantucket.
My object, in running into the Gulf of Mexico, was to strike
a blow at Banks' expedition, which was then fitting out
for the invasion of Texas. This gentleman, who had been a
prominent Massachusetts politician, but who had no sort of
military talent, had risen to the surface with other scum, amid
the bubbling and boiling of the Yankee caldron, and was ap
pointed by "Honest Abe " to subjugate Texas. Banks had
mounted a stud-horse, on Boston Common, on militia-review
days, before the war, and had had himself lithographed, stud
horse, cocked-hat, feathers, and all, and these were credentials
not to be despised. I had learned from captured Northern
papers, that he was fitting out at Boston and New York, a
large expedition, to consist of not less than 30,000 men. A
large proportion of this army was to consist of cavalry and
light artillery. To transport such an army, a large number of
transport-ships would be required. The expedition was to
rendezvous at Galveston, which the enemv had captured from
us, not a great while before.

520 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
As there were but twe .ve feet of water on the Galveston bar,
very few of these transport-ships would be able to enter tho
harbor; the great mass of them, numbering, perhaps, a hundred
and more, would be obliged to anchor, pell-mell, in the open
sea. Much disorder, and confusion would necessarily attend
the landing of so many troops, encumbered by horses, artillery,
baggage-wagons, and stores. My design was to surprise this
fleet by a night-attack, and if possible destroy it, or at least
greatly cripple it. The Northern press, in accordance with its
usual habit, of blabbing everything, had informed me of the
probable time of the sailing of the expedition, and I designed
so to time my own movements, as to arrive simultaneously
with the stud-horse and the major-general, or at least a day or
two afterward.
It was to be presumed, of course, that some of the enemy's
gun-boats would accompany the expedition, but I hoped to be
able to fall so unexpectedly upon their convoy, as to find them
off their guard. There was no Confederate cruiser in the Gulf,
and I learned from the enemy's own papers, that the Alabama
was well on her way to the coast of Brazil and the East Indies.
The surprise would probably be complete, in the dead of night,
and when the said gun -boats of the enemy would be sleeping
in comparative security, with but little, if any steam in their
boilers. Half an hour would suffice for my purpose of setting
fire to the fleet, and it would take the gun-boats half an hour
to get up steam, and their anchors, and pursue me.
It was with this object in view, that we were now getting
under way from the island of Blanquilla. But tl^e Banks'
expedition would not arrive off Galveston, probably, before
about the 10th of January, and as we were now only in the lat
ter days of November, I had several weeks on my hands, before
it would become necessary for me to proceed to my new ren
dezvous. I resolved to devote this interval to the waylaying
of a California treasure-steamer, as a million or so of dollars
in gold, deposited in Europe, would materially aid me, in my
operations upon the sea. I could purchase several more Ala-
bamas, to develop the "nautical enterprise" of our people, and
assist me to scourge the enemy's commerce.
There Were two routes by which the California steamers

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 521
returned from Aspinwall — one by the east end of Cuba, and
the other by the west end. I chose the former for my ambus
cade, as being probably the most used. To reach my new
cruising-ground, I put my ship under sail, and made a detour
by the way of the islands of Porto Rico and St. Domingo, pass
ing through the Mona Passage, through which much of the
West India commerce of the enemy passed, with the hope of
picking up something by the way. We left our anchorage at
Blanquilla on the 26th of November, and made the island of
Porto Rico on the morning of the 29th. We coasted along
the south side of this island, with a gentle breeze and smooth
sea, sufficiently near to enjoy its fine, bold scenery, passing only
a couple of sail during the day — one a large French steamer,
bound to the eastward, and the other an English bark. We
showed them the United States colors. The bark saluted
the " old flag," by striking her colors to it, but the " old flag "
did not return the salute, as it was hoisted at the wrong peak.
The Englishman must have thought his Yankee friend rather
diseourteous. We entered the Mona Passage, lying between St. Domingo
and Porto Rico, after nightfall, but the moon was shining suffi
ciently bright to enable us to get hold of the small islands of
Mona and Desecho, and thus grope our way in safety. The
currents in this strait being somewhat uncertain, the naviga
tion is treacherous when the weather is dark. Early on the
next morning, we were off the Bay of Samana, and were run
ning with a flowing sheet along the coast of St. Domingo. I
had approached the Mona Passage with much caution, fully
expecting to find so important a thoroughfare guarded by the
enemy, but there was nothing in the shape of a ship of war to
be seen. The enemy was too busy blockading the Southern
coasts to pay much attention to his commerce. In the course
of the morning, we boarded a Spanish schooner, from Boston,
bound for the old city of St. Domingo, from which we received
a batch of late newspapers, giving us still further accounts,
among other things, ofthe preparation ofthe Banks' expedition,
about which all New England seemed, just then, to be agog.
The great Massachusetts leader had been given carte blanche,
and he was making the best possible use of it. He *ras fitting

522 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
himself out very splendidly, but his great expedition resem
bled rather one of Cyrus' or Xerxes', than one of Xenophon's
The Boston papers dilated upon the sp^ndid bands of music, tie
superb tents, the school-marms, and the relays of stud-horses
that were to accompany the hero of Boston Common. But
the best feature of the expedition was the activity and thrift
which had suddenly sprung up in all the markets of New Eng
land, in consequence. The looms, the spindles and the shoe
makers' awls were in awful activity. In short, every man or
boy who could whittle a stick, whittled it, and sold it to the
Government. The whalemen in New Bedford, Nantucket, and
Martha's Vineyard were in especial glee. They were sell
ing all their whaling ships, which were too old, or too rotten
for further service, to the Government, for transports, at enor
mous prices. Many a bluff old whaler that had rode out a
gale under the lee of an iceberg at the Navigators' Islands,
or " scraped her keel on Coromandel's coast," forty years before,
was patched and caulked and covered over with pitch and
paint, and sold to an ignorant, if not corrupt, army quarter
master, for as good as "bran new." No wonder that the war
was popular in New England. There was not only negro in
it, but there was money in it also.
Filling away from the Spanish schooner, which we requested
to report us, in St. Domingo, as the United States steamer Iro
quois, we continued our course down the island. It was Sun
day, and the day was fine. The crew was dressed, as usual
for muster, and what with the ship in her gala-dress of awn
ings, and glitter of "bright-work," the island, the sea, aDd th<
weather, a more beautiful picture could not well have been
presented to the beholder. In the distance were the blue, and
hazy hills, so fraught with the memories of Columbup,, and the
earlier Spanish explorers. Nearer to, was the old town of
Isabella, the first ever built in the New World by civilized
men, and nearer still was the bluff, steep, rock-bound coast,
against which the most indigo of seas was breaking in the
purest and whitest of foam. The sailors had thrown them
selves upon the deck in groups, each group having its reader,
who waa reading aloud to attentive listeners the latest war-
news, as gleaned from the papers we had received from tha

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 523
Spanish schooner; and the officers, through whose hands the
said newspapers had already passed, were smoking and chat
ting, now of Columbus, and now of the war. Presently the
shrill cry of " sail ho ! " came ringing from aloft ; and the scene
on board the Alabama shifted almost as magically as it does in
a theatre. Every man sprang to his feet, without waiting for
an order ; the newspapers were stuck away in cracks and cran
nies ; the helm was shifted, to bring the ship's head around to
the proper point for chasing, and studding-sails, and kites were
given simultaneously to the wind.
When we began to raise the spars and sails of the chase
above the sea, from the deck, there was a general exclamation
of "Yankee ! " The tapering royal and sky-sail masts, with
the snowiest of canvas, told the tale, as they had told it so often
before. A run of a few hours more brought us up with the
American bark Parker Cooke, of, and from Boston, bound to
Aux Cayes, on the south side of the island of St. Domingo.
If the Cooke had been chartered, and sent out for our especial
benefit, the capture could not have been more opportune. The
Alabama's commissariat was beginning to run a little low, and
here was the Cooke provision-laden. We had found, by expe
rience in the Sumter, that our Boston friends put up the very
best of crackers, and ship-bread, and sent excellent butter, and
cheese, salted beef and pork, and dried fruits to the West
India markets ; nor were we disappointed on the present occa
sion. Both ships were now hove to, under short sail, within
convenient boating distance, and the rest of the day was con
sumed in transporting provisions from the prize. It was
sunset before we concluded our labors, and at the twilight
hour, when the sea-breeze was dying away, and all nature was
sinking to repose, we applied the torch to the Cooke.
As we filled away, and made sail, I could not but moralize
on the spectacle. Sixty years before, the negro had cut the
throat of the white man, ravished his wife and daughters, and
burned his dwelling in the island of St. Domingo, now in sight.
The white man, in another country, was now inciting the negro
to the perpetration of the same crimes against another white
man, whom he had called brother. The white man who was
thus inciting the negro, was the Puritan of New England,

524 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
whose burning ship was lighting up the shores of St. Domingo
That Puritan, only a generation before, had entered into a
solemn league and covenant, to restore to the Southern man
his fugitive slave, if he should escape into his territory. This
was the way in which he was keeping his plighted faith ! Does
any one wonder that the Alabama burned New England ships?
We began now to receive some "returns" of the effect of our
late captures upon Northern commerce. The papers captured
on board the Cooke were full of lamentations. Our pious
brethren did not confine themselves to the forms set down by
Jeremiah, however, but hissed their execrations through teeth
grinding with rage. I will not treat my readers to any of
these specimens of the art Philippic, but will confine myself to
a few business excerpts instead, taken indiscriminately from
the New York and Boston papers.
Boston crieth aloud.
"Advances on Marine Insurance. — In consequence of the
destruction caused at sea by the privateer steamer Alabama, the
officers of the insurance companies of Boston have fixed the present
war rates on different voyages as follows : — To the north of
Europe, 4@5 percent. ; Mediterranean, 5@6 ; India, 4 i ; Gulf ports, '
4 ; California gold steamers, 4 ; West India risks, 5 ; coastwise,
£@1£. These rates are liable to be altered according to the neces
sary requirements of the times, consequent upon the unusual hazards
to which commerce is now exposed."
New York responds to the cry of Boston.
" The damaging effect of the Alabama's raid on our shipping
upon the maritime interests of this port were as conspicuous to-day
as yesterday. It was next to impossible for the owner of an Ameri
can ship to procure freight unless he consented to make a bogus
sale of his ship."
" Freights to Great Britain are rather more active, under favor
able foreign advices for breadstuffs, but rates by American vessels
depressed ; foreign bottoms most in favor, but even these now find
it difficult to employ themselves profitably. To Liverpool, flour is
9d@2s." I heard again from the New York Chamber of Commerce,
by the Cooke. My friend, Low, was still lamenting over his
lost ships. Like Rachael weeping for her children, he refused
to be comfoited because they were not. Another grand pow-

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 525
wow had been called, and another set of resolutions passed.
Scene: A luxuriously furnished suite of apartments, with well-
padded arm-chairs, and big ink-stands; a table; on the walls,
several pictures of burning ships, with the "pirate ship " in the
distance; of John Bull running off with the "carrying -trade,"
and Jonathan screaming after him; and of Mr. Low tearing his
hair. Enter the dramatis personse. Low loquitur : —
" Mr. A. Low read a very long preamble and resolution expres
sive of the feelings of the American public in regard to the shelter
afforded to the Alabama by British authorities. He also read a
letter from our Consul at Liverpool, Mr. Dudley, in which that
functionary sets forth the efforts he made to direct the attention of
the British authorities to the Alabama, and concludes by asserting
that there are now four large vessels fitting out at Liverpool to
follow the piratical example of the Alabama — three of iron and
one of wood. Nine vessels are preparing to run the blockade.
" Mr. Low explained at some length the object and scope of his
proposed resolution. He declared that American ships could no
longer get cargoes, in consequence of the depredations of the Ala
bama. " Hon. F. A. Conkling spoke in behalf of granting letters-of
marque. He saw no other alternative between this and a complete
paralyzation of our commerce. He read extracts from Cogswell's
' Maritime History,' showing the effectiveness of privateers in our
previous wars.
" C. H. Marshall spoke in favor of the adoption of Mr. Low's
preamble and resolution.
" Mr, Maury stated that he had received a letter from Liverpool,
saying that the new pirate ships building for the Confederates are
vastly more formidable than the Alabama.
" The preamble and resolutions set forth at length the evil conse
quences likely to ensue from a repetition of such piratical acts as
the fitting out of more vessels like the Alabama, in the ports of
Great Britain ; that information has been received of other vessels
having sailed to prey upon the commerce of the United States; that
the English Government does not interfere to put a stop to the
aggressions of the pirate, though British goods have been de
stroyed; that the Alabama is continually supplied from Great
Britain with coal and ammunition, by which she is enabled to pur
sue her piratical courses against American commerce, the conse
quence being to raise the premium upon American vessels and their
cargoes, and to depress the rates of freight upon American ships,
and to transfer our carrying-trade to the ships of other nations.
Therefore the Chamber is led to the following conclusions :
" 1st. That through the active instrumentality of the subjects of
Great Britain, the so-called Confederate States are furnished with
ships, men, arms, and ammunition, with which to war upon 1he
commerce of the United States ;

52G MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
" 2d. That without such foreign aid the States in revolt agaimsl
the Government of the United States would be powerless to effect
any injury to our commerce on the high seas.
" 3d. That this war upon American commerce carried on by
ships built and manned in Great Britain, is not rebuked by the
British press generally ; is not discouraged by the public sentiment
of a once friendly nation claiming to be governed' by high and hon
orable principles, and is not effectively and thoroughly arrested by
the stronger arm of the British Government.
" ith. That as a result of the foregoing acts and conclusions, the
merchants of the United States are subject in a certain degree to
the evils that would attend a state of war with Great Britain, and
are compelled to witness the carrying-trade of their country trans
ferred from their own vessels to British bottoms, under all the
sanctions and advantages of peace and neutrality to the latter—
while the source of this great peril, threatening to drive American
commerce from the ocean, is of British origin.
" Now, therefore, resolved, that a Committee of ten be appointed
to take into consideration the foregoing, and to report, at a special
meeting to be called for the purpose, what action it becomes this
Chamber to take in the premises."
How astonishing it is, that these gentlemen when they were
denouncing Great Britain for supplying the Confederates with
men and munitions of war, did not think of the supplies they
were themselves drawing from the same source. I have before
referred to a speech of Mr. Laird, the builder of the Alabama,
in the British House of Commons. I now refer to anotner
passage of the same speech, as a sufficient answer to Mr.
Low's complaints : —
"If a ship without guns and without arms, [he is alluding to the
Alabama when she left the Mersey,] is a dangerous article, surely
rifled guns and ammunition of all sorts are equally — (cheers) —
and even more dangerous. (Cheers.) I have referred to the bills
of entry in the Custom-houses of London and Liverpool, and I
find there have been vast shipments of implements of war to the
Northern States, through the celebrated houses of Baring & Co. —
(loud cheers and laughter), — Brown, Shipley & Co., of Liverpool,
and a variety of other names, which I need not more particularly
mention, but whose Northern tendencies are well known to this
House. (Hear I hear 1) If the member for Rochdale, or the honor
able member for Branchford wishes to ascertain the extent to
which the Northern States of America have had supplies of arms
from this country, they have only to go to a gentleman who, I am
sure, will be ready to afford them every information, and much
moro reedily than he would to me, or to any one else calling upon

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 527
him — the American Consul in Liverpool. Before that gentleman,
the manifest of every ship is laid, he has to give an American pass
to each vessel ; he is, consequently, able to tell the exact number
of rifles which have been shipped from this country for the United
States — information, I doubt not, which would be very generally
desired by this House. (Loud cries of ' hear ! ') I have obtained
from the official custom-house returns, some details of the sundries
exported from the United Kingdom to the Northern States of
America, from the 1st of May, 1861, to the 31st of December, 1862.
There were — Muskets, 41,500 — (hearl hear !)— rifles, 341,000 —
(cheers) — gun-flints, 26,500 — percussion-caps, 49,982,000 — (cheers
and laughter) — and swords, 2250. The best information I could
obtain, leads me to believe that from one third to a half may be
added to these numbers for items which have been shipped to the
Northern States as hardware. (Hear 1 hear !) I have very good
reason for saying that a vessel of 2000 tons was chartered six
weeks ago, for the express purpose of taking out a cargo of "hard
ware " to the United States. (Cheers.) The exportation has not
ceased yet. From the 1st of January to the 17th of March, 1863,
the customs bills of entry show that 23,8?0 gun-barrels, 30,802
rifles, and 3,105,800 percussion-caps were shipped to the United
States. (Hear ! hear !) So that if the Southern States have got
two ships unarmed, unfit for any purpose of warfare,— for they
procured their armaments somewhere else — the Northern States
have been well supplied from this country, through the agency of
some most influential persons. (Hear ! hear I) "
"The American Consul in Liverpool," alluded to in the
above extract, is the same gentleman — Dudley — who was
assisting Mr. Low to denounce Great Britain for supplying the
Confederate States!
The Parker Cooke made a beautiful bonfire, lighting up the
sea and land for leagues ; and as the wind continued light, it
was near midnight before we had run it below the horizon.
Before morning we gave chase to another sail, but at daylight,
by which time we were within a couple of miles of her, she
showed us the Spanish colors. We chased, and overhauled
soon afterward a Dutch galliot, and later in the day, a Spanish
bark. The land was still in sight on our port beam, and
toward nightfall, we passed Cape Francois.
Between midnight and dawn, on this same night, we had
quite an alarm. A large ship-of-war came suddenly upon us,
in the darkness ! Like ourselves, she was running down the
coast, but she was under both steam and sail, having her stud
34

528 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
ding-sails set on both sides, whereas the Alabama was entirely
without steam, with her propeller triced up. If the stranger
had been an enemy, we should have been almost entirely at
her mercy. The reader may imagine, therefore, how anxious
I was for the next few minutes. She soon dispelled my fears,
however, for she passed rapidly on, at no greater distance from
us, than a hundred yards, her lights lighting up the counte
nances of my men, as they stood at their guns — for by this
time I had gotten them to their quarters — quite distinctly.
She did not take the least notice of us, or swerve a hair's-
breadth from her course. I knew, from this, she could not be
an enemy, and told my first lieutenant, even before she had
well passed us, that he might let his men leave their guns.
She was, probably, a Spanish steam-frigate, on her way to the
island of Cuba.
On the evening of the 2d of December, we passed the little
island of Tortuga, so famous in the history of the buccaneers
and pirates who once infested these waters, and on the next
day, found ourselves in the passage between St. Domingo and
Cuba. There were many sails passing in different directions,
all of which we overhauled, but they proved to be neutral.
Here was another important thoroughfare of the enemy's com
merce entirely unguarded. There was not only no shjp-of-
war of the enemy to be seen, but none of the neutrals that I
had spoken, had fallen in with any. We had, therefore, a clear
sea before us, for carrying out our design of waylaying a Cali
fornia steamer. In the afternoon, we stretched over to the
east end of Cuba, and took our station in "watch and wait."
On the same night, we chased and overhauled a French bark.
The sea was smooth, and a bright moon shining. The chase
paid no attention to our blank cartridge, though we were close
on board of her, and stood a shot before she would come to the
wind. As we threw this purposely between her masts, and
pretty close over the heads of her people, she came to the con
clusion that it would not be safe to trifle longer, and rounded
to and backed her main yard. When asked by the boarding-
officer, why he did not heave to, at the first signal, the master
replied naively that he was a Frenchman, and at war with no
body I Philosophical Frenchman 1

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 529
We had accurate time-tables of the arrivals and departures of
the California steamers, in the files of the New York papers,
that we had captured, and by these tables, the homeward-bound
steamer would not be due for a few days yet. We spent this
interval in lying off and on the east end of Cuba, under easy sail,
chasing more or less during the day, but without success, all
the vessels overhauled being neutrals, and closing in with Cape
Maize during the night, and holding on to its very brilliant
light until morning. The weather was clear, and the moon
near her full, so that I had almost as good a view of the passage
by night as by day.
On the 5th of December, a prize ran into our arms, without
the necessity of a chase. It was a Baltimore schooner called
the Union, old, and of little value. She had, besides, a neutral
cargo, properly documented, for a small town called Port Maria
on the north side of Jamaica. I transferred the prisoners of
the Cooke to her, and released her on ransom-bond. My
original orders were not to capture Maryland vessels, but that
good old State had long since ceased to occupy the category in
which our Congress, and the Executive had placed her. She
was now ranged under the enemy's flag, and I could make nc
discrimination in her favor.
On the next day the California steamer was due, and a very
bright lookout was kept ; a number of the young officers vol
unteering their services for the occasion. In the transparent
atmosphere of this delightful climate, we could see to great
distances. The west end of St. Domingo, about Cape Tiburon,
was visible, though distant ninety miles. But not so much as
a smoke was seen during the entire day, and the sun went
down upon disappointed hopes. The next day was Sunday,
and the holy-stones had been busy over my head during all the
morning watch, putting the decks in order for muster. I had
turned out, and dressed, and swept the entire horizon with my
telescope, without seeing anything to encourage me. The crew
had breakfasted, and the word, "All hands clean yourselves, in
white frocks and trousers, for muster ! " had been growled out
by the boatswain, and echoed by his mates. The decks were
encumbered -vith slothes-bags, and Jack was arraying himself
as directed. I had gone down to my own breakfast, and was

530 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
enjoying one of Bartelli's cups of good coffee, hopeless for that
day of my California steamer, and my million of dollars in gold.
Suddenly the prolonged cry of " S-a-i-1 h-o ! " came ringing, in a
clear musical voice, from aloft ; the look-out having at length
descried a steamer, and being anxious to impart the intelligence
in as emphatic a manner as possible, to the startled listeners on
the deck below. The "Where- away ? " of the officer of the deck,
shouted through his trumpet, followed, and in a moment more
came the rejoinder, "Broad on the port bow, sir!" "What
does she look like?" again inquired the officer of the deck.
" She is a large steamer, brig-rigged, sir ! " was the reply. An
officer now came below to announce to me what I had already
heard. Here was a steamer at last, but unfortunately she was not in
the right direction, being in the north-west instead of the south
east — the latter being the direction in which the California
steamer should appear. All was excitement now on deck.
The engineers and firemen were set at work, in great haste, to
get up their steam. The sailors were hurried with their
"cleaning," and the bags stowed away. "All hands work
ship ! " being called, the first lieutenant took the trumpet, and
furled the sails, making a "snug roll-up of it," so that they
might hold as little wind as possible, and lowered the propel
ler. In twenty minutes we were ready for the chase, with
every thing snug "alow and aloft," and with the steam hissing
from the gauge- cocks. The strange steamer came up very
rapidly, and we scrutinized her anxiously to see whether she
was a ship of war, or a packet-ship. She showed too much
hull out of the water to be a ship of war, and yet we could not
be sure, as the enemy had commissioned a great many packet-
steamers, and put heavy armaments on board of them. When
she was within three or four miles of us, we showed her the
United States colors, and she responded in a few minutes, by
hoisting the same. Like ourselves, she had her sails furled,
and was carrying a very large " bone in her mouth " under
steam alone.
We could now see that she was fast, and from the absence
of guns at her sides, a packet-ship. I now put my ship in
motion, with a view to lay her across the stranger's path, as

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 531
though I would speak her. But I missed doing this by about a
couple of ship's lengths, the stranger passing just ahead of me.
A beautiful spectacle presented itself as I passed under the
stern of that monster steamship. The weather was charming,
there being a bright, clear sky, with only a few fleecy trade-
clouds passing. There was just enough of the balmiest and
gentlest of winds, to ruffle, without roughening the surface of
the sea. The islands of Cuba, St. Domingo, and Jamaica —
the two latter, in the blue and hazy distance, and the former
robed in the gorgeous green known only to the tropics — were
in sight. The great packet-steamer had all her awnings set,
and under these awnings, on the upper deck, was a crowd of
passengers, male and female. Mixed with the male passen
gers were several officers in uniform, and on the forward deck,
there were groups of soldiers to be seen. This crowd pre
sented a charming picture, especially the ladies, most of whom
were gayly dressed, with the streamers from their bonnets,
their veils, and their waste ribbons flirting with the morning
breeze. We were sufficiently close to see the expression of
their countenances. Many of them were viewing us with
opera glasses, evidently admiring the beautiful proportions,
fine trim, and general comeliness of one of their own gun-boats
— for the reader will recollect, we were wearing still the United
States flag.
As I passed the wake of the steamer, I wheeled in pursuit,
fired a blank cartridge, and hauling down the Federal, threw
the Confederate flag to the breeze. It was amusing to witness
the panic which ensued. If that old buccaneer, Blue Beard,
himself, had appeared, the consternation could not have been
greater. The ladies screamed — one of those delightful, dra
matic screams, half fear, half acting, which can only ascend
from female voices — and scampered off the deck in a trice;
the men running after them, and making quite as good, if not
better time. The effect of my gun, and change of flags on the
•rteamer herself, seemed to be scarcely less electric. She had
no intention, whatever, of obeying my command to halt. On
the contrary, I could see from the increased impetus with
which she sprang forward, and the dense volumes of black
smoke thai now came rushing, and whirling from her smoke-

632 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
stack, that she was making every possible effort to escape.
She had gotten a little the start of me, as I was wheeling to
pursue her, and might be now, some three or four hundred
yards distant.
The reader has been on the race-course, and seen two fleet
horses, with necks and tails straightened, and running about
" neck and neck." This will give him a pretty good idea of
the race which is now going on. We had not stretched a
mile, when it became quite evident that the stranger had the
heels of me, and that, if I would capture her, I must resort to
force. I ordered my "persuader," as the sailors called my
rifled bow-gun, to be cleared away, and sent orders to the offi
cer, to take aim at the fugitive's foremast, being careful to
throw his shot high enough above the deck not to take life.
When the gun was ready to be fired, I yawed the ship a little,
though the effect of this was to lose ground, to enable the offi
cer the better, to take his aim. A flash, a curl of white smoke,
and a flying off of large pieces of timber from the steamer's
mast, were simultaneous occurrences. It was sufficient. The
mast had not been cut quite away, but enough had been
done to satisfy the master of the steamer that he was entirely
within our power, and that prudence would be the better part
of valor. In a moment after, we could see a perceptible dimi
nution in the motion of the " walking-beam," and pretty soon
the great wheels of the steamer ceased to revolve, and she lay
motionless on the water.
We "slowed down" our own engine, and began to blow off
steam at once, and ranging up alongside of the prize, sent a
boat on board of her. It was thus we captured the steamer
Ariel, instead of going to muster, on Sunday, the 7th of De
cember, 1862. But Fortune, after all, had played us a scurvy
trick. The Ariel was indeed a California steamer, but instead of
being a homeward-bound steamer, with a million of dollars in
gold, in her safe, I had captured an outward-bound steamer, with
five hundred women and children on board ! This was an ele
phant I had not bargained for, and I was seriously embarrassed
to know what to do with it. I could not take her into any neutral
port, even for landing the passengers, as this was forbidden,
by those unfriendly orders in council I have more than once

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 533
spoken of, and I had no room for the passengers on board the
Alabama. The most that I could hope to do, was to capture
some less valuable prize, within the next few days, turn the
passengers of the Ariel on board of her, and destroy the
steamer. Our capture, however, was not without useful re
sults. The officers and soldiers mentioned as being on board
of her, were a battalion of marines, going out to the Pacific, to
supply the enemy's ships of war on that station. There were
also some naval officers on board, for the same purpose. These
were all paroled, and deprived of their arms. The rank and
file numbered 140.
When my boarding-officer returned, he reported to me that
there was a great state of alarm among the passengers on
board. They had been reading the accounts which a malicious,
and mendacious Northern press had been giving of us, and
took us to be no better than the "plunderers," and "robbers"
we had been represented to be. The women, in particular, he
said, were, many of them, in hysterics, and apprehensive of the
worst consequences. I had very little sympathy for the ter
rors of the males, but the tear of a woman has always un
manned me. And as I knew something of the weakness of the
sex, as well as its fears, I resorted to the following stratagem to
calm the dear creatures. I sent for my handsomest young
lieutenant — and I had some very handsome young fellows on
board the Alabama — and when he had come to me, I told him
to go below, and array himself in his newest and handsomest
uniform, buckle on the best sword there was in the ward
room, ask of Bartelli the loan of my brightest sword-knot, and
come up to me for his orders. Sailors are rapid dressers, and
in a few minutes my lieutenant was again by my side, look
ing as bewitching as I could possibly desire. I gave him
my own boat, a beautiful gig, that had been newly painted,
and which my coxswain, who was a bit of a sea-dandy, had
furnished with scarlet cushions, and fancy yoke and steering
ropes, and directed him to go on board the Ariel, and coax
the ladies out of their hysterics. " Oh ! I '11 be sure to do that,
sir," said he, with a charming air of coxcombry, ' I never knew
a fair creature who could resist me more than fifteen minutes."
As he shoved off from the side, in my beautiful little cockle-

534 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
shell of a boat, with its fine-looking, lithe and active oarsmen
bending with the strength of athletes to their ashen blades, I
could but pause a moment, myself, in admiration of the picture.
A few strokes of his oars put him alongside of the steamer,
and asking to be shown to the ladies' cabin, he entered the
scene of dismay and confusion. So many were the signs cf
distress, and so numerous the wailers, that he was abashed, for
a moment, as he afterward told me, with all his assurance.
But summoning courage, he spoke to them about as follows: —
" Ladies ! The Captain of the Alabama has heard of your dis
tress, and sent me on board to calm your fears, by assuring
you, that you have fallen into the hands of Southern gentle
men, under whose protection you are entirely safe. We are
by no means the ruffians and outlaws, that we have been
represented by your people, and you have nothing whatever
to fear." The sobs ceased as he proceeded, but they eyed him
askance for the first few minutes. As he advanced in their
midst, however, they took a second, and more favorable glance
at him. A second glance begat a third, more favorable still,
and when he entered into conversation with some of the ladies
nearest him — picking out the youngest and prettiest, as the
rogue admitted — he found no reluctance on their part to
answer him. In short, he was fast becoming a favorite. The
ice being once broken, a perfect avalanche of loveliness soon
surrounded him, the eyes of the fair creatures looking all the
brighter for the tears that had recently dimmed them.
Presently a young lady, stepping up to him, took hold of
one of the bright buttons that were glittering on the breast of
his coat, and asked him if he would not permit her to cut it
off, as a memento of her adventure with the Alabama. He
assented. A pair of scissors was produced, and away went
the button ! This emboldened another lady to make the same
request, and away went another button; and so the process
went on, until when I got my handsome lieutenant back, he
was like a plucked peacock — he had scarcely a button to his
coat ! There were no more Hebes drowned in tears, on board
the Ariel.
But what struck my young officer as very singular was the
deportment of the male passengers. Some of these seemed to
be overhauling their trunks in a great hurry, as though there

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 535
were valuables in them, which they were anxious to secrete.
Their watches, too, had disappeared from some of their vest-
pockets. " I verily believe," said he, as he was giving me an
account of the manner in which he performed his mission,
"that these fellows think we are no better than the North
ern thieves, who are burning dwelling-houses, and robbing our
women and children in the South 1 "
I take pleasure in contrasting, in these memoirs, the conduct
of my officers and crew, during the late war, in the uniform
respect which they paid to the laws of war, and the dictates
of humanity, with that of some of the generals and colonels
of the Federal Army, who debased our common nature, and
disgraced the uniforms they wore by the brutality and pil-
ferings I have described. There were 500 passengers on board
the Ariel. It is fair to presume, that each passenger had with
him a purse, of from three to five hundred dollars. Under
the laws of war, all this money would have been good prize.
But not one dollar of it was touched, or indeed so much as a
passenger's baggage examined.
I carried out my intention, already expressed, of keeping
the Ariel in company with me, for two or three days, hoping
that I might capture some less valuable ship, into which to
turn her passengers, that I might destroy her. I was very
anxious to destroy this ship, as she belonged to a Mr. Vander-
bilt, of New York, an old steamboat captain, who had amassed
a large fortune, in trade, and was a bitter enemy of the South.
Lucrative contracts during the war had greatly enhanced his
gains, and he had ambitiously made a present of one of his
steamers to the Federal Government, to be called after him, to
pursue "rebel pirates."
Failing to overhaul another ship of the enemy in the few
days that I had at my disposal, I released the Ariel, on ransom-
bond, and sent her, and her large number of passengers, on
their way rejoicing. I found Captain Jones of the Ariel a
clever and well-informed gentleman, and I believe he gave a
very fair account of the capture of his ship when he reached
New York. He pledged me that Vanderbilt's ransom-bond,
which he signed as his agent, would be regarded as a debt of
honor The bond is for sale, cheap, to any one desiring to
redeem Mr. Vanderbilt's honor

CHAPTER XXXIX.
THE ALABAMA IS DISABLED, AND STOPS TO REPAIR
HER MACHINERY — PROCEEDS TO HER NEW REN
DEZVOUS, THE ARCAS ISLANDS, AND THENCE TO
GALVESTON  COMBAT WITH THE UNITED STATES
STEAMER HATTERAS.
THE Alabama was disabled for two or three days, soon after
the events recorded in the last chapter, by an accident which
occurred to her engine — the giving way of one of the valve
castings. I was, in consequence, obliged to withdraw from the
tracks of commerce, and lie as perdue as possible, until the
damage could be repaired. For this purpose, I ran close in
with the land, on the north side of the island of Jamaica,
where, with the exception of an occasional fishing-boat, and a
passing coasting sloop, nothing was to be seen. Mr. Freeman.
any chief engineer, was a capital machinist, and a man of great
fertility of resource, and he went to work at once to remedy
the mishap. Nothing but the puffing of the bellows, the
clinking of the hammer on the anvil, and the rasping of files
was heard now for forty-eight hours. At the end of this time,
the engine was again in order for service. But we should
have no occasion to use it for some days yet.
It was now the 12th of December, and it was time for us to
begin to think of running into the Gulf of Mexico, in pursuit
of General Banks. Accordingly we put the ship under sail,
and ran along down the island of Jamaica to the west end.
Hence we stretched over into that other track of the California
steamers, returning to the United States by the west end of
Cuba; intending to follow this track as far as Cape San Anto
nio, hoping that we might stumble upon something by the
536

MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT. 537
way. The California steamer was not now my principal ob
ject, however, but only an incident to my Mexican Gulf
scheme. I did not design to waste time upon her. Whilst
pursuing our way leisurely along this track, we experienced a
most singular series of bad weather. We took an old-fash
ioned norther, which lasted us three days, and blew us well
down into the Gulf of Honduras. Here we became the sport
of a variety of currents — setting generally to the westward,
but sometimes in a contrary direction. We sighted some of
the islands lying parallel with the coast, but being anxious to
get forward, did not touch at any of them As we drew out of
the Gulf of Honduras, we again crossed the track of the Cali
fornia steamers, but fortune continued adverse, and none came
along. A delay of a week or two here might enable me to pick
up one of these treasure steamers, but this would interfere with
my designs against Banks, as before remarked, and I forbore.
On the 20th of December we made the Mexican province of
Yucatan, and, just before nightfall, got hold of Cape Catoche.
My land-fall was a very happy one, though, owing to the bad
weather, I had had no "observation" for thirty-six hours.
I sounded soon after dark, in twenty-eight fathoms of water,
and being quite sure of my position, ran into the Yucatan
passage, by the lead, the night being too dark to permit us to
discern anything. The coast is clean, and the soundings
regular, and I felt my way around the Cape without the least
difficulty, finding myself, the next morning, in the Gulf of
Mexico, running off to the westward with a free wind. The
water was of a chalky whiteness, a little tinged with green,
resembling the water on the Bahama Banks, and we ran along
in a depth of twenty fathoms, the entire day, scarcely varying
a foot. I had accomplished my object, thus far, with perfect
success. I had not sighted a sail since leaving the west end
of Jamaica, which could report me, and had entered the Gulf
of Mexico, by night, unseen of any human eye, on the land
or the sea. On the day after entering the Gulf, we did pass a
solitary sail — a large steamer — steering in the direction of
Havana, but she was hull down, and could make nothing of
us. She may have been an enemy, "bu\ was probably a French
ship of war, or transport, from Vera Cruz ; the French expe

538 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
dition that culminated in the death of the unfortunate Maxi
milian having landed in Mexico about a year before, and
there being much passing of steamships between France and
Vera Cruz.
On the 22d of December, night overtaking us, within about
twenty miles of the Areas, we anchored in twenty fathoms of
water, in the open sea. The Yucatan coast is like that of
West Florida, and the Guianas, before described. It is a con
tinuous harbor, a ship being able to hold on to her anchors in
the heaviest gale. Getting under way the next morning, we
continued on our course, and pretty soon made a bark stand
ing in the same direction with ourselves. It was our old
friend, the Agrippina, with her bluff bows, and stump top-gal
lant masts. She had been all this time making her way hither
from Blanquilla — a period of nearly four weeks ; the incorri
gible old Scotch captain having stopped, on his way, to refresh
his crew, and do a little private trading. However, he was in
good time, and so, letting him off with a gentle reprimand, we
ran in to the Areas together, and anchored at about five o'clock
in the afternoon.
We remained at these little islands a week, coaling ship,
and refitting and repainting. We could not have been more
thoroughly out ofthe world if we had been in the midst ofthe
great African desert. A Robinson Crusoe here might have
had it all to himself; and to give color to the illusion, we
found on one of the islands a deserted hut, built of old boards
and pieces of wreck, with an iron pot or two, and some pieces
of sail-cloth lying about. An old dug-out, warped and cracked
by the sun, lay hauled up near the hut, and a turtle-net, in
pretty good repair, was found, stowed away in one corner of
Crusoe's abode. But what had become of the hermit who once
inhabited these desolate little coral islands, over which the
wild sea-bird now flew, and screamed, in undivided dominion ?
An humble grave, on the head-board of which had been rudely
carved with a knife, a name, and a date, told the brief and
mournful story. A companion had probably laid the hermit
away and departed. A more fitting burial-place for a sailor
could not well be conceived ; for here the elements with which
he was wont to battle had full sweep, and his requiem was

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 539
sung, without ceasing, by the booming wave, that shook and
rocked him in his winding-sheet of sand, when the storm
raged. The islands are three in number, lying in a triangle. They
are surrounded by deep water, and it is probably not a great
many years since the little stone-mason of the sea, the coral
line insect, first brought them to the surface, for the only veg
etation as yet on any of them is a carpet of sea-kale, on the
largest of them, and a stunted bush or two. In the basin, in
the centre of the triangle, the Alabama is anchored, and so
pellucid is the water, that not only her anchor, which lies in
seven fathoms, is visible, from stock to fluke, but all the won
ders of the coral world, before described, lie open to inspec
tion ; with the turtle groping about amid the sea-fern, the little
fishes feeding, or sporting, and madrepore and sponges lying
about in profusion. Bartelli drew up from this submarine
forest, one of the largest of the latter, and having cured it in
the sun, and rendered it sweet by frequent ablution, transferred
it to my bath-room. The naturalist would have revelled at
the Areas, in viewing the debris of sea-shells, and coral, and
the remains of stranded fish, that lay strewn along the beach ;
and in watching the habits of the gannet, man-of-war bird, and
a great variety of the sea-gull, all of which were laying, and incu
bating. As the keel of one of our boats would grate upon the
sand, clouds of these birds would fly up, and circle around our
heads, screaming in their various and discordant notes at our
intrusion. Beneath our feet, the whole surface of the islands
was covered with eggs, or with young birds, in various stages
of growth. Here, as at Blanquilla, all our boats were hoisted
out, and rigged for sailing ; and fishing, and turtling parties
were sent out to supply the crew, and in the evening sailing
and swimming matches, and target-shooting took place. This
was only the by-play, however, whilst the main work of the
drama was going forward, viz., the coaling, and preparation of
the Alabama for her dash at the enemy.
Our upper deck had again become open, and required re-
caulking ; and some patching and refitting was necessary to be
done to the sails. As we wanted our heels to be as clean as
possible, we careened the ship, and gave her copper a good

540 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
scrubbing below the water-line, where it had become a little
foul. Having taken all the coal out of the Agrippina, we bal
lasted her with the coral rock, which we found lying abun
dantly at our hands, watered her from the A labama, and gave her
her sailing orders for Liverpool. She was to report to Captain
Bullock, for another cargo of coal, to be delivered at another ren
dezvous, of the locality of which the reader will be informed in
due time. During the week that we lay at the Areas, there had
evidently been several gales of wind at work around us, though
none of them had touched us. On two or three occasions,
when the wind was quite light, and the sky clear overhead, a
heavy sea was observed to be breaking on the northern shores
of the islands. There is no doubt that on these occasions there
were " northers " prevailing along the Mexican coast. I was
led hence to infer, that these terrible gales do not extend, as a
general rule, a great distance seaward from that coast. We
were very little more than a hundred miles from Vera Cruz,
which is in the track of these terrible storms, and yet we had
only felt the pulsations of them, as it were ; the huge breakers
on the Areas beating time, in a still atmosphere, to the storm
which was raging at Vera Cruz. It was seventeen days from
the time we doubled Cape Catoche, until we left the Areas.
During all this time, we were off the coast of Yucatan, the sea
son was near mid- winter, and yet we had not had a norther.
Along the Mexican coast from Tampico to Vera Cruz, at this
season of the year, the usual interval between these gales, is
from three to five days.
As has been mentioned to the reader, the Banks' expedition
was expected to rendezvous at Galveston, on the 10th of Janu
ary. On the 5th of that month we got under way from the
Areas, giving ourselves five days in which to make the dis
tance, under sail. Our secret was still perfectly safe, as only a
single sail had passed us, whilst we lay at anchor, and she at too
great a distance to be able to report us. We had an abundant
supply of coal on board, the ship was in excellent trim, and as
the sailors used to say of her, at this period, could be made to
do everything but "talk." My crew were well drilled, my
powder was in good condition, and as to the rest, I trusted to
luck and to the " creek's not being too high." The weather

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 541
continued fine throughout our run, and on the 11th at noon —•
having been delayed a day by a calm — we observed in lati
tude 28° 51' 45", and longitude 94° 55', being just thirty miles
from Galveston. I now laid my ship's head for the Galveston
light-house, and stood in, intending to get a distant sight of
the Banks' fleet before nightfall, and then haul off, and await
the approach of night, before I ran in, and made the assault.
I instructed the man at the mast-head, to keep a very bright
look-out, and told him what to look out for, viz., an immense
fleet anchored off a light-house. The wind was light, and the
afternoon was pretty well spent before there was any sign from
the mast-head. The look-out at length cried, "Land ho I sail ho ! "
in quick succession, and I already began to make sure of my
game. But the look-out, upon being questioned, said he did not
see any fleet of transports, but only five steamers which looked
like ships of war. Here was a damper 1 What could have become
of Banks, and his great expedition, and what was this squadron
of steam ships-of-war doing here ? Presently a shell, thrown
by one of the steamers, was seen to burst over the city. "Ah,
ha ! " exclaimed I, to the officer of the deck who was standing
by me, "there has been a change of programme here. The
enemy would not be firing into his own people, and we must
have recaptured Galveston, since our last advices." "So it
would seem," replied the officer. And so it turned out. In
the interval between our leaving the West Indies, and arriving
off Galveston, this city had been retaken by General Magruder,
assisted by a gallant seaman of the merchant service, Captain
Leon Smith. Smith, with a couple of small river steamers,
protected by cotton bags, and having a number of sharp
shooters on board, assaulted and captured, or drove to sea the
enemy's entire fleet, consisting of several heavily armed steam
ships. The recapture of this place from the enemy changed the
destination of the Banks' expedition. It rendezvoused at New
Orleans, whence General Banks, afterward, attempted the inva
sion of Texas by the valley of the Red River. He was here
met by General Dick Taylor, who, with a much inferior force,
demolished him, giving him such a scare, that it was with diffi
culty Porter could stop him at Alexandria, to assist him in the

642 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT.
defence of his fleet, until he could extricate it from the shal
lows of the river where it was aground. The hero of Boston
Common had not had such a scare since Stonewall Jackson
had chased him through Winchester, Virginia.
What was best to be done in this changed condition of affairs?
I certainly had not come all the way into the Gulf of Mexico,
to fight five ships of war, the least of which was probably my
equal. And yet, how could I very well run away, in the face
of the promises I had given my crew ? for I had told them at
the Areas islands, that they were, if the fates proved propitious,
to have some sport off Galveston. Whilst I was pondering the
difficulty, the enemy himself, happily, came to my relief; for
pretty soon the look-out again called from aloft, and said, " One
of the steamers, sir, is coming out in chase of us." The Ala
bama had given chase pretty often, but this was the first time
she had been chased. It was just the thing I wanted, how
ever, for I at once conceived the design of drawing this single
ship of the enemy far enough away from the remainder of her
fleet, to enable me to decide a battle with her before her con
sorts could come to her relief.
The A labama was still under sail, though, of course, being so
near the enemy, the water was warm in her Doilers, and in a
condition to give us steam in ten minutes. To carry out my
design of decoying the enemy, I now wore ship, as though I
were fleeing from his pursuit. This, no doubt, encouraged him,
though, as it would seem, the captain of the pursuing ship
pretty soon began to smell a rat, as the reader will see presently
by his report of the engagement. I now lowered my propeller,
still holding on to my sails, however, and gave the ship a small
head of steam, to prevent the stranger from overhauling me too
rapidly. We were still too close to the fleet, to think of en
gaging him. I thus decoyed him on, little by little, now turn
ing my propeller over slowly, and now stopping it altogether.
In the meantime night set in, before we could get a distinct
view of our pursuer. She was evidently a large steamer, but
we knew from her build and rig, that she belonged neither to
the class of old steam frigates, or that of the new sloops, and
we were quite willing to try our strength with any of the other
classes.

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 543
At length, when I judged that I had drawn the stranger out
about twenty miles from his fleet, I furled my sails, beat to
quarters, prepared my ship for action, and wheeled to meet
him. The two ships now approached each other, very rapidly.
As we came within speaking distance, we simultaneously
stopped our engines, the ships being about one hundred yards
apart. The enemy was the first to hail. "What ship is that?"
cried he. "This is her Britannic Majesty's steamer Petrel," we
replied. We now hailed in turn, and demanded to know who
he was. The reply not coming to us very distinctly, we re
peated our question, when we heard the words, "This is the
United States ship  " the name of the ship being lost to
us. But we had heard enough. All we wanted to know was,
that the stranger was a United States ship, and therefore our
enemy. A pause now ensued — a rather awkward pause, as
the reader may suppose. Presently, the stranger hailed again,
and said, " If you please, I will send a boat on board of you."
His object was, of course, to verify or discredit the answer we
had given him, that we were one of her Britannic Majesty's
cruisers. We replied, "Certainly, we shall be happy to receive
your boat ; " and we heard a boatswain's mate call away a boat,
and could hear the creaking of the tackles, as she was lowered
into the water.
Things were now come to a crisis, and it being useless to
delay our engagement with the enemy any longer, I turned to
my first lieutenant, and said, "I suppose you are all ready for
action ?" " We are," he replied; "the men are eager to begin,
and are only waiting for the word." I then said to him, "Tell
the enemy who we are, for we must not strike him in disguise,
and when you have done so, give him the broadside." Kell now
sang out, in his powerful, clarion voice, through his trumpet,
"This is the Confederate States steamer A labama!" and turn
ing to the crew, who were all standing at their guns — the gun
ners with their sights on the enemy, and lock-strings in hand —
gave the order, fire ! Away went the broadside in an instant;,
our little ship feeling, perceptibly, the recoil of her guns. The
night was clear. There was no moon, but sufficient star-light
to enable the two ships to see each other quite distinctly, at the
distance of half a mile, or more, and a state of the atmosphere
35

544 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
i
highly favorable to the conduct of sound. The wind, bes des,
was blowing in the direction of the enemy's fleet. As a matter
of course, our guns awakened the echoes of the coast, far and
near, announcing very distinctly to the Federal Admiral —
Bell, a Southern man, who had gone over to the enemy — that
the ship which he had sent out to chase the strange sail, had a
fight on her hands. He immediately, as we afterward learned,
got under way, with the Brooklyn, his flag-ship, and two others
of his steamers, and came out to the rescue.
Our broadside was returned instantly ; the enemy, like our
selves, having been on his guard, with his men standing at
their guns. The two ships, when the action commenced, had
swerved in such a way, that they were now heading in the
same direction — the Alabama fighting her starboard-broadside,
and her antagonist her port-broadside. Each ship, as she de
livered her broadside, put herself under steam, and the action
became a running fight, in parallel lines, or nearly so, the ships
now nearing, and now separating a little from each other. My
men handled their pieces with great spirit and commendable
coolness, and the action was sharp and exciting while it lasted;
which, however, was not very long, for in just thirteen minutes
after firing the first gun, the enemy hoisted a light, and fired
an off-gun, as a signal that he had been beaten. We at once
withheld our fire, and such a cheer went up from the brazen
throats of my fellows, as must have astonished even a Texan,
if he had heard it. We now steamed up quite close to the
beaten steamer, and asked her captain, formally, if he had sur
rendered. He replied that he had. I then inquired if he was
in want of assistance, to which he responded promptly that he
was, that his ship was sinking rapidly, and that he needed all
our boats. There appeared to be much confusion on board
the enemy's ship; officers and crew seemed to be apprehensive
that we would permit them to drown, and several voices cried
aloud to us for assistance, at the same time. When the cap
tain of the beaten ship came on board to surrender his sword
to me, I learned that I had been engaged with the United
States steamer Hatteras, Captain Blake. I will now let Cap
tain Blake tell his own story. The following is his official
report to the Secretary of the Federal Navy : —

during the war between the states. 545
United States' Consulate, 1
Kingston, Jamaica, Jan. 21, 1863. )
Sir : — It is my painful duty to inform the Department of the
destruction of the United States steamer Hatteras, recently under
my command, by the rebel steamer Alabama, on the night of the
11th inst., off the coast of Texas. The circumstances of the dis
aster are as follows : —
Upon the afternoon of the 11th inst., at half-past two o'clock,
while at anchor in company with the fleet under Commodore Bell, off
Galveston, Texas, I was ordered by signal from the United States
flag-ship Brooklyn, to chase a sail to the southward and eastward.
I got under way immediately, and steamed with all speed in the
direction indicated. After some time the strange sail could be seen
from the Hatteras, and was ascertained to be a steamer, which fact
I communicated to the flag-ship by signal. I continued the chase
and rapidly gained upon the suspicious vessel. Knowing the slow
rate of speed of the Hatteras, I at once suspected that deception
was being practised, and hence ordered the ship to be cleared for
action, with everything in readiness for a determined attack and a
vigorous defence.
When within about four miles of the vessel, I observed that she
had ceased to steam, and was lying broadside and awaiting us. It
was nearly seven o'clock, and quite dark ; but, notwithstanding the
obscurity of the night, I felt assured, from the general character of
the ' vessel and her manoeuvres, that I should soon encounter the
rebel steamer Alabama. Being able to work but four guns on the
side of the Hatteras — two short 32-pounders, one 3 0-pounder rifled
Parrott gun, and one 20-pounder rifled gun — I concluded to close
with her, that my guns might be effective, if necessary.
I came within easy speaking range — about seventy-five yards —
and upon asking, " What steamer is that ? " received the answer,
"Her Britannic Majesty's ship Vixen." I replied that I would send a
boat aboard, and immediately gave the order. In the meantime, the
vessels were changing positions, the stranger endeavoring to gain
a desirable position for a raking fire. Almost simultaneously with
the piping away of the boat, the strange craft again replied, " We
are the Confederate steamer Alabama," which was accompanied
with a broadside. I, at the same moment, returned the fire. Being
well aware of the many vulnerable points of the Hatteras, I hoped,
by closing with the Alabama, to be able to board her, and thus rid
the seas of the piratical craft. I steamed directly for the Alabama,
but she was enabled by her great speed, and the foulness of the
bottom of the Hatteras, and, consequently, her diminished speed,
to thwart my attempt when I had gained a distance of but thirty
yards from her. At this range, musket and pistol shots were ex
changed. The firing continued with great vigor on both sides. At
length a shell entered amidships in the hold, setting fire to it, and,
at the same instant — as I can hardly divide the time — a shell
passed through the sick bay, exploding in an adjoining compart-

546 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
ment, also producing fire. Another entered the cylinder, filling the
engine-room and deck with steam, and depriving me of my power
to manoeuvre the vessel, or to work the pumps, upon which the re
duction of the fire depended.
With the vessel on fire in two places, and beyond human power,
a hopeless wreck upon the waters, with her walking-beam shot
away, and her engine rendered useless, I still maintained an active
fire, with the double hope of disabling the Alabama and attracting
the attention of the fleet off Galveston, which was only twenty-
eight miles distant.
It was soon reported to me that the shells had entered the Hat
teras at the water-line, tearing off entire sheets of iron, and that
the water was rushing in, utterly defying every attempt to remedy
the evil, and that she was rapidly sinking. Learning the melan
choly truth, and observing that the Alabama was on my port bow,
entirely beyond the range of my guns, doubtless preparing for a
raking fire of the deck, I felt I had no right to sacrifice uselessly,
and without any desirable result, the lives of all under my com
mand. To prevent the blowing up of the Hatteras from the fire, which
was making much progress, I ordered the magazine to be flooded,
and afterward a lee gun was fired. The Alabama then asked if
assistance was desired, to which an affirmative answer was given.
The Hatteras was then going down, and in order to save the
lives of my officers and men, I caused the armament on the port
side to be thrown overboard. Had I not done so, I am confident
the vessel would have gone down with many brave hearts and
valuable lives. After considerable delay, caused by the report that
a steamer was seen coming from Galveston, the Alabama sent us
assistance, and I have the pleasure of informing the Department
that every living being was conveyed safely from the Hatteras to
the Alabama.
Two minutes after leaving the Hatteras she went down, bow
first, with her pennant at the mast-head, with all her muskets and
stores of every description, the enemy not being able, owing to her
rapid sinking, to obtain a single weapon.
The battery upon the Alabama brought into action against the
Hatteras numbered seven guns, consisting of four long 32-pounders,
one 100-pounder, one 68-pounder, and one 24-pounder rifled gun.
The great superiority of the Alabama, with her powerful battery
and her machinery under the water-line, must be at once recognized
by the Department, who are familiar with the construction of the
Hatteras, and her total unfitness for a conflict with a regular built
vessel of war.
The distance between the Hatteras and the Alabama during the
action varied from twenty-five to one hundred yards. Nearly fifty
shots were fired from the Hatteras, and I presume a greater num
ber from the Alabama.
I desire to refer to the efficient and active manner in which Act
ing Master Porter, executive officer, performed his duty. The con-

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 547
duct of Assistant Surgeon Edward S. Matthews, both during the
action and afterward, in attending to the wounded, demands my
unqualified commendation. I would also bring to the favorable
notice of the Department Acting Master's Mate McGrath, tempo
rarily performing duty as gunner. Owing to the darkness of the
night, and the peculiar construction of the Hatteras, I am only able
to refer to the conduct of those officers who came under my especial
attention ; but from the character of the contest, and the amount
of damage done to the Alabama, I have personally no reason to
believe that any officer failed in his duty.
To the men of the Hatteras I cannot give too much praise. Their
enthusiasm and bravery was of the highest order.
I enclose the report of Assistant Surgeon E. S. Matthews, by
which you will observe that five men were wounded and two
killed. The missing, it is hoped, reached the fleet at Galveston.
I shall communicate to the Department, in a separate report, the
movements of myself and my command, from the time of our trans
fer to the Alabama until the departure of the earliest mail from
this place to the United States.
I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
H. C. Blake,
Lieutenant Commanding.
Hon. Gideon Welles,
Secretary of the Navy, Washington.
Setting aside all the discourteous stuff and nonsense about
" a rebel steamer," and a " piratical craft," of which Captain
Blake, who had been bred in the old service, should have been
ashamed, especially after enjoying the hospitalities of my
cabin for a couple of weeks, the above is a pretty fair report
of the engagement. I am a little puzzled, however, by the
Captain's statement, that he could use but four guns on a side.
We certainly- understood from all the officers and men of the
Hatteras, at the time, that she carried eight guns ; six in broad
side, and two pivots, just like the Alabama, — the only differ
ence between the two ships being, that the Alabama's pivot
guns were the heaviest.
There is another remark in the report that is quite new to
me. I am informed, for the first time, that Captain Blake
desired to board me. I cannot, of course, know what his in
tentions were, but I saw no evidence of such an intention, in
the handling of his ship ; and Captain Blake must himself
have known that, in the terribly demoralized condition of his
crew, when they found that they had really fallen in with the

548 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
Alabama, he could not have depended upon a single boarder
What Captain Blake means by saying that his ship went down
with her pennant flying, I am at a loss, as every seaman must
be, to understand. Did he not surrender his ship to me ? And
if so, what business had his pennant, any more than his ensign,
to be flying ? But this, I suppose, was a little clap -trap, like
his expressions, " rebel," and " pirate," thrown in to suit the
Yankee taste of the day. Indeed, nothing was more lamen
table to me, during the whole war, than to observe how readily
the officers of the old Navy, many of whom belonged to the
gentle families of the land, and all of whom had been bred in
a school of honor, took to the slang expressions of the day,
and fell, pell-mell, into the ranks of the vulgar and fanatical
rabble that was hounding on the war.
The officers of the Confederate States Navy, to say the least,
were as much entitled to be regarded as fighting for a principle
as themselves, and one would have thought that there would have
been a chivalrous rivalry between the two services, as to which
should show the other the most courtesy. This was the case,
a thousand years ago, between the Christian and the Saracen.
Did it result from their forms of government, and must demo
crats necessarily be vulgarians ? Must the howling Demos
devour everything gentle in the land, and reduce us all to the
common level of the pot-house politician, and compel us to use
his slang? Radicalism seemed to be now, just what it had
been in the great French Revolution, a sort of mad-dog virus ;
every one who was inoculated with it, becoming rabid. The
bitten dog howled incessantly with rage, and underwent a total
transformation of nature. But our figure does not fit the case
exactly. There was more method in this madness, than in that
of the canine animal, for the human dog howled as much to
please his master, as from rage. The size of the sop which he
was to receive depended, in a great measure, upon the vigor
of his howling.
But to return to the Alabama and the Hatteras. As soon
as the action was over, and I had seen the latter sink, I caused
all lights to be extinguished on board my ship, and shaped my
course again for the passage of Yucatan. In the meantime,
the enemy's boat, which had been lowered for the purpose of

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 549
boarding me, pulled in vigorously for the shore, as soon as it
saw the action commence, and landed safely; and Admiral
Bell, with his three steamers, passed on either side of the scene
of action — the steamers having been scattered in the pursuit,
to cover as much space as possible, and thus increase their
chances of falling in with me. They did not find the Alabama,
or indeed anything else during the night, but as one of the
steamers was returning to her anchorage off Galveston, the
next morning, in the dejected mood of a baffled scout, she fell
in with the sunken Hatteras, the tops of whose royal masts
were just above water,. and from the main of which, the pen
nant — the night pennant, for the action was fought at night —
spoken of by Captain Blake, was observed to be flying. It
told the only tale of the sunken ship which her consort had to
take back to the Admiral. The missing boat turned up soon
afterward, however, and the mystery was then solved. There
was now as hurried a saddling of steeds for the pursuit as
there had been in the chase of the young Loch invar, and with
as little effect, for by the time the steeds were given the spur,
the Alabama was distant a hundred miles or more.
There was very little said by the enemy, about this engage
ment, between the Alabama and the Hatteras, as was usual with
him when he met with a disaster ; and what was said was all
false. My own ship was represented to be a monster of speed
and strength, and the Hatteras, on the other hand, to be a tug,
or river steamer, or some such craft, with two or three small
guns at the most. The facts are as follows : The Hatteras was
a larger ship than the Alabama, by one hundred tons. Her
armament, as reported to us by her own people, was as fol
lows: Four 32-pounders; two Parrot 30-pounder rifles; one
20-pounder rifle; and one 12-pounder howitzer — making a
total of eight guns. The armament of the Alabama was a3
follows : Six 32-pounders ; one 8-inch shell gun ; one Blakeley
rifle of 100 pounds — total, eight guns. There was, besides, a
little toy-rifle — a 9-pounder — on the quarter-deck of the Ala-
bama, which had been captured from a merchant-ship, and
which, I believe, was fired once during the action. The crew
of the Hatteras was 108 strong; that of the Alabama 110.
There was thus, as the reader sees, a considerable disparity

550 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT.
between the two ships, in the weight of their pivot-guns, and
the Alabama ought to have won the fight; and she did
win it, in thirteen minutes — taking care, too, though she sank
her enemy at night, to see that none of his men were drowned
— a fact which I shall have occasion to contrast, by-and-by, with
another sinking. The only casualty we had on board the Ala
bama was one man wounded. The damages to our hull were
so slight, that there was not a shot-hole which it was necessary
to plug, to enable us to continue our cruise ; nor was there a
rope to be spliced. Blake behaved like a man of courage, and
made the best fight he could, ill supported as he was by the
" volunteer " officers by whom he was surrounded, but he fell
into disgrace with the Demos, and had but little opportunity
shown him during the remainder of the war, to retrieve his
disaster.

CHAPTER XL.
THE ALABAMA PROCEEDS TO JAMAICA, AND LANDS HER
PRISONERS — THE CAPTAIN VISITS THE COUNTRY — IN
TERCOURSE WITH THE ENGLISH NAVAL OFFICERS —
earl russell's letter — preparations for sea — A
BOAT-RACE BY MOONLIGHT — CAPTAIN BLAKE COM
PLAINS OF " DIXIE "  HOW THE MATTER IS SETTLED.
THE little by-play, in the Gulf of Mexico, related in the
last chapter, being over, I determined to make the best
of my way to the island of Jamaica, there land my prisoners,
on parole, patch up the two or three shot-holes the enemy had
made above the water-line, re-coal, and proceed on my eastern
cruise, against the enemy's commerce, as originally contem
plated. We had a long passage to Jamaica, as we took a suc
cession of southerly gales, that greatly retarded our speed.
My first intention was to make the whole run under steam, but
after struggling against these gales for three or four days, I
found my fuel diminishing so rapidly, that it became prudent
to let the fires go down, and put the ship under sail. This
delay was very vexatious, as our little ship was greatly incon
venienced by the number of prisoners we had on board.
Friday, the l&ih of January, is noted on my journal as fol
lows: — The gale continued all day, moderating toward night.
The sky is overcast with a dull canopy of leaden clouds, the
sun barely showing himself to us, for a moment at a time,
through an occasional rift, during the entire day. Observing the
water to be discolored, at one P. m. we sounded on the Yuca
tan Bank. The soundings on this bank being an excellent
guide, I continued to run along the edge of it until eleven p.
M., when we passed off it, into the deep waters of the Yucatan
Passage. We now put the ship under steam again, and aiding
551

552 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
the steam by reefed trysails, we battled with an adverse sea
and current during the rest of the night. We found the cur
rent setting into the passage, to be as much as two and a half
knots per hour, which was greater than I had ever known it
before. I may take this occasion to remind the reader, that the
old theory of Dr. Franklin and others, was, that the Gulf
Stream, which flows out of the Gulf of Mexico, between the
north coast of Cuba, and the Florida Reefs and Keys, flows
into the Gulf, through the channel between the west end of
Cuba, and the coast of Yucatan, in which the Alabama now
was. But the effectual disproof of this theory is, that we
know positively, from the strength of the current, and its
volume, or cross section, in the two passages, that more than
twice the quantity of water flows out of the Gulf of Mexico,
than flows into it through this passage. Upon Dr. Franklin's
theory, the Gulf of Mexico in a very short time would become
dry ground. Nor can the Mississippi River, which is the only
stream worth noticing, in this connection, that flows into the
Gulf of Mexico, come to his relief, as we have seen that that
river only empties into the Gulf of Mexico, about one three
thousandth part as much water, as the Gulf Stream takes out.
We must resort, of necessity, to an under-current from the
north, passing into the Gulf of Mexico, under the Gulf Stream,
rising to the surface when heated, and thus swelling the vol
ume of the outflowing water. I refer my readers, curious in
this matter, to the work of Captain Maury, entitled the "Phy
sical Geography of the Sea." It is full of profound philoso
phy, on the subjects of which it treats, and is written in so
pleasing a style, and is so strewn with flowers, as to make the
reader forget that he is travelling the thorny paths of science.
The 18th of January was Sunday, and we were obliged to in
termit the usual Sunday muster, on account the of bad weather,
which continued without intermission — the wind still blowing
a gale, and the passing clouds deluging us with rain. Two
days afterward, viz., on the 20th, we made the west end of the
island of Jamaica, a little after midnight, and as we crawled
under the lee of the coast, we broke, for the first time, the
force of the wind with which we had been so long struggling.

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 553
We had been thus nine days making the passage from Galves
ton to the west end of Jamaica, and were the greater part of
another day; in coasting the island up to Port Royal. We had
shown first one, and then another neutral flag to several neu
tral ships that we had passed, but the enemy's flag was no
where to be seen. Giving chase to a bark, whilst we were
still in the Gulf of Mexico, we were quite amazed, as we came
up with her, to find that she was our old consort, the Agrip
pina I This bluff-bowed old Scotch ship had been all the time
since she left us at the Areas Islands — eight days — battling
with adverse winds, and was still only a couple of hundred
miles or so advanced on her voyage.
We made the Plum Point lighthouse, at half-past four P. M.,
and were off the mouth of the harbor of Port Royal just as
the evening began to deepen into twilight. We hoisted the
French flag, and firing a gun, and making the usual signal for
a pilot, one came promptly on board of us. Day was fading into
night so fast, that we had scarcely light enough left to enable
us to grope our way through the tortuous and narrow channel,
and it was quite dark when our anchor was let go. Of course,
we did not permit the pilot to anchor us as a Frenchman, and when
we told him that it was the Alabama he was taking in, he did
not appear at all surprised, but remarked very coolly, "I knew
all the while that you were no Frenchman." I felt much relieved,
when at length I heard the plunge of the anchor into the
water, followed by the rattling of the chain-cable through the
hawse-hole. On the high seas, with the enemy all the time
in full chase of me, constant vigilance was required to guard
against surprise; and my battle with the elements was almost
as constant, as that with the enemy. When I reached the
friendly shelter, therefore, of a neutral port, belonging to such
of the powers of the earth as were strong enough to prevent
themselves from being kicked by the enemy, my over-taxed
nervous system relaxed in a moment, and I enjoyed the lux
ury of a little gentlemanly idleness. Kell was of wonderful
assistance to me, in this respect. I always left the ship in
his hands, with the utmost confidence, and my confidence was
never misplaced. He was, as the reader has seen, an excellent
disciplinarian, and being, besides, a thorough master of his
profession, I had in him all that I could desire.

554 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
We were boarded by a lieutenant from the English flag-ship
immediately upon anchoring, and the news spread like wild
fire through all Port Royal, that the Alabama had arrived, with
the officers and crew of a Federal gunboat which she had sunk
in battle, on board as prisoners. Night as it was, we were soon
swarmed with visitors, come off to welcome us to the port, and
tender their congratulations. The next morning I called on
Commodore Dunlap, who commanded a squadron of Admiral
Milne's fleet, and was the commanding naval officer present.
This was the first English port I had entered, since the Alabama
had been commissioned, and no question, whatever, as to the
antecedents of my ship was raised. I had, in fact, brought in
pretty substantial credentials, that I was a ship of war — 130
of the officers and men of one of the enemy's sunken ships.
Great Britain had had the good sense not to listen to the frantic
appeals, either of Mr. Seward or Minister Adams, both of
whom claimed, as the reader has seen, that it was her duty
to stultify herself, and ignore the commission of my ship.
Nor did Commodore Dunlap say anything to me of my
destruction of British property, or of the three ships of
war, which that adept in international law, the " Commercial
Advertiser," of New York, had asserted Admiral Milne had
sent after me. These questions, indeed, had all been authori
tatively settled, I found, by Earl Russell, the British Foreign
Secretary, by the following letter to the Liverpool Chamber of
Commerce, which had applied to him for information. It if
copied from the New York " World " :
"Sir: I am directed by Earl Russell to reply to your letters of
the 6th inst., respecting the destruction by the Confederate steamer
Alabama of British property embarked in American vessels and
burned by that steamer. Earl Russell desires me to state to you
that British property on board a vessel belonging to one of the bel
ligerents must be subject to all the risks and contingencies of war,
so far as the capture of the vessel is concerned. The owners of any
British property, not being contraband of war, on board a Federal
vessel captured and destroyed by a Confederate vessel of war, may
claim in a Confederate Prize Court compensation for the destruc
tion of such property."
The "World" said lachrymosely of the above, that "it was
but one of a crowd of eloquent indications which constantly
multiply upon us to prove that Earl Russell, like Mr. G^d

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 555
stone, whatever his sympathies may be, really regards the
' nation of Jefferson Davis ' as substantially created, and looks
upon recognition as simply a question of time."
I forwarded, through Commodore Dunlap, an official report
of my arrival to the Governor of the island, with a request to
be permitted to land my prisoners, and put some slight repairs
upon my ship ; both of which requests were promptly granted.
Governor Eyre was then in authority. He behaved with great
spirit and firmness, afterward, in nipping in the bud a wide
spread negro insurrection, which had for its object, the massa
cre of the whites and the plunder of their property. A few
negroes were killed by the troops, and I have been sorry to
learn since, that his Excellency has been much harassed, in
consequence, by both English and American fanatics. The
English squadron at anchor consisted of the Jason, the Chal
lenger, and Greyhound. The most cordial relations were at
once established between the officers of all these ships, and those
of the Alabama. Indeed, many of them were our old acquaint
ances. An English friend having come on board, to invite me to
pass a few days with him, in the mountains, while my ship was
being prepared for sea, I accepted his invitation, and turning
over all the unfinished business of the ship to Kell, we pulled
up to Kingston in my gig. Here I found my friend's carriage in
waiting, and entering it, we were soon whirled out of the limits
of the dusty city, into the most charming of tropical scenery.
Except landing, occasionally, for a few hours at a time, at the
desert little islands I had visited in the Caribbean Sea, and the
Gulf of Mexico, I had not had a holiday on shore, since leaving
the Mersey, on my way to commission the Alabama, five months
before. I needed a little rest, and recreation, to restore my
wasted energies, and I found both with my excellent friend,
Mr. Fyfe.
For the first ten miles, we rode over a beautiful macada
mized road, or rather avenue, lined with the gigantic cactus,
growing frequently to the height of twenty and thirty feet,
and several specimens of the palm ; chief among which was
the cocoanut-tree, shooting its trunk with the straightness of
an arrow to a great height, and waving gracefully in the

556 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
freeze, its superb, feather-like foliage. The way was lined
with many picturesque country houses, each surrounded by
its extensive and well-kept grounds, on which were growing
crops, chiefly of fruits and vegetables, but interspersed occa
sionally with a field of Indian corn, or sugar-cane. Hedge
rows and shade-trees adorned the front yards, and protected
the residences from the sun, giving them an air of seclusion,
coolness, and quiet that was very inviting. We occasionally
obtained glimpses of beautiful valleys, on the right hand, and
on the left, in which fairy cottages were nestled. The scenery
was continually changing, as the road wound along, now skirt
ing the base of abrupt hills, now running over a stream, and
now plunging into the recesses of a wood, with the trees arch
ing overhead, like the groined work of a cathedral.
At the end of our ten miles of carriage-drive, we found our
selves at the foot of the mountains. Here we alighted at a
large hostelry, which was a sort of combination of the inn,
caravansary, and country store, and after some refreshment,
mounted saddle-horses which we found in waiting. The roads
soon became mere bridle-paths. As we ascended the slopes of
the mountains, we changed rapidly the character of the vegeta
tion ; every hundred feet of elevation being equivalent to a
change of a degree or more of latitude, and bringing us in the
presence of new forest-trees and new plants, until we dis
mounted on the lawn of my friend, the immediate surround
ings of which were all English; the cedar, and other well-
known trees and shrubs of the temperate latitudes, supplanting
the tropical vegetation we had left in the tierra caliente below
us. The air, too, was so delightfully changed, from the sultry
heats of the coast, that we found a fire lighted of the dry and
fragrant branches of the cedar-tree, quite pleasant as the night
set in.
The reader may imagine how magical the change was, from
the cramped quarters, and other desagremens of a small ship,
to the ample halls, and elegant leisure of an English home,
perched on the mountain-side, and overlooking a perfect wil
derness of tropical vegetation. The sea was in plain sight to
the eastward of us, and Kingston and Port Royal lay, as it
were, at our feet. With the aid of a fine telescope which my

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 557
friend had mounted in his piazza, I could distinguish my own
ship from the other vessels in the harbor, though they all
appeared as diminutive as so many sea-gulls, nestling upon
the water. I need not say how soundly I slept that night, far
away from war's alarms, fanned by the gentlest of sea-breezes,
in the sweetest of sheets, and lullabied by the distant breaker,
as it stranded itself at regular intervals upon the beach.
I was awakened the next morning by the merry songs of a
hundred birds, that came appropriately blended with the per
fume of the flowers that clustered around my windows ; and I
have seldom looked upon a more beautiful picture, than when
I threw back the blinds, and caught a view of the landscape,
rejoicing in the morning's sun, with all its wealth of tropical
fruits and flowers, and the sea — the glorious sea — glittering
like a mirror in the distance. Nothing can be more charming
than the interior of an English household, when the ice has
been broken and you have fairly gained admission into the
interior of the temple. The successful entertainment of a
guest is one of those artless arts, of which the English gentle
man, above all others, is master ; and the art consists in putting
the guest so entirely at ease, as to make him feel at home in
the first half-hour. With a library, servants, and horses at
your command, you are literally left to take care of yourself
— meeting the family in the parlors and sitting-rooms, as much,
or as little as you please.
From Flamstead, which was the name of the country-seat of
my friend, we rode over to Bloxburg, the country-seat of his
brother, where some ladies from the neighborhood did me the
honor to make me a visit ; and from Bloxburg we made several
other agreeable visits to neighboring plantations. I was in an
entirely new world — those mountains of Jamaica — and was
charmed with everything I saw. All was nature ; and nature
presented herself in her most lovely aspect, whether we viewed
the sky overhead, the sea at our feet, or the broken and pic
turesque country around us. Time flew rapidly, and what
with delightful rides, and lunches, and evening parties, where
music, and the bright eyes of fair women beguiled the senses,
I should have been in danger of forgetting the war, and the
Alabama, if Kell had not sent me a courier, on the third or
fourth day, informing me that he was nearly ready for sea.

558 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
I descended at once from the empyrean in which I had been
wandering, took a hasty leave of my friends, and in company
with Mr. Fyfe, rode back to the coast. We took a new route
back, and re-entered Kingston through a different suburb —
stopping to lunch with one of Mr. Fyfe's friends, an English
merchant, at his magnificent country-house. But, alas I much
of Ihe magnificence of the Kingston of former years is pass
ing away. I had known it in its palmiest days, having visited
it when a midshipman in the old service, before^the happy
slave had been converted into the wretched freedman. It was
then a busy mart of commerce, and the placid waters of its
unrivalled harbor were alive with shipping bearing the flags
of all nations, come in quest of her great staples, sugar, coffee,
cocoa, gensing, &c. Now, a general air of dilapidation and
poverty hangs over the scene. A straggling ship or two only
are seen in the harbor ; the merchants have become shop
keepers, and the sleek, well-fed negro has become an idler and
a vagrant, with scarce rags enough to hide his nakedness. My
host, in the few days I remained with him, gave me much val
uable information concerning the negro, since his emancipa
tion, which I will not detain the reader to repeat. I may say in
a few words, however, that the substance of this information was,
that there has been no increase, either in numbers, intelligence,
or morals among them ; and that, too, under circumstances, all
of which were favorable to the negro. He was the pet of the
government for years after his emancipation, and English fanat
ics have devoted their lives to his regeneration, but all without
success. He is, to-day, with a few exceptions about the towns,
the same savage that he is in his native Dahomey. An Eng
lish parliament had declared that he was the political equal of
the white man — that is, of the colonial white man, for England
takes the best of care, that the imperial legislature is never
tainted by his presence — and I found him a generation after
ward, far below his former level of slave.
I found my gig in waiting for me at the wharf in Kingston,
and taking leave of my friend, with many thanks for his hos
pitality, I pulled on board of my ship about sunset. And
here, what a scene of confusion met me, and what reports Kell
had to make of how my fellows had been " cutting up I " The
paymaster had been drunk ever since he landed, neglecting his

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 559
duty, and behaving in a most disreputable manner. He was
"hail fellow, well met" with all the common sailors, and
seemed to have an especial fancy for the sailors of the enemy.
Kell had suspended his functions ; and had sent on shore, and
had him brought off under arrest. He had become partially
sobered, and I at once ordered him to pack up his clothing,
and be off. He was landed, bag and baggage, in half an hour,
and in due time, as the reader has already seen, he married a
negro wife, went over to England with her, swindled her out
of all her property, and turned Yankee, going over to Minister
Adams, and becoming one of his right-hand men, when there
was any hard swearing wanted in the British courts against
the Confederates.
This little matter disposed of, we turned our attention to the
crew. They had had a run on shore, and Kell was just gather
ing them together again. The ship's cutters, as well as the
shore-boats, were constantly coming alongside with small
squads, all of them drunk, some in one stage of drunkenness,
and some in another. Liquor was acting upon them like the
laughing gas; some were singing jolly, good-humored songs,
whilst others were giving the war-whoop, and insisting on a
fight. They were seized, ironed and passed below to the care
of the master-at-arms, as fast as they came on board.
A couple of them, not liking the appearance of things on
board, jumped into a dug-out alongside, and seizing the pad
dles from the negroes, shoved off in great haste, and put out
for the shore. It was night, and there was a bright moon
lighting up the bay. A cutter was manned as speedily as
possible, and sent in pursuit of the fugitives. Jack had grog
and Moll ahead of him, and irons and a court-martial behind
him, and he paddled like a good fellow. He had gotten a
good start before the cutter was well under way, but still, the
cutter, with her long sweeping oars, was rather too much for
the dug-out, especially as there were five oars to two paddles.
She gained, and gained, coming nearer and nearer, when pres
ently the officer of the cutter heard one of the sailors in the
dug-out say to the other, "I '11 tell you what it is, Bill, there 's
too much cargo in this here d — d craft, and I 'm going to
lighten ship a little," and at the same instant, he saw the two
36

560 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
men lay in their paddles, seize one of the negroes, and pitch
him head foremost overboard! They then seized their pad
dles again, and away darted the dug-out with renewed speed.
Port Royal Bay is a large sheet of water, and is, besides, as
every reader of Marryatt's incomparable tales knows, full of
ravenous sharks. It would not do, of course, for the cutter to
permit the negro either to drown or to be eaten by the sharks,
and so, as she came up with him, sputtering and floundering for
his life, she was obliged to " back of all," and take him in. The
sailor who grabbed at him first, missed him, and the boat shot
ahead of him, which rendered it necessary for her to turn and
pull back a short distance before she could rescue him. This
done, he was flung into the bottom of the cutter, and the pur
suit renewed. By this time the dug-out had gotten even a
better start than she had had at first, and the two fugitive sai
lors, encouraged by the prospect of escape, were paddling more
vigorously than ever. Fast flew the dug-out, but faster flew
the cutter. Both parties now had their blood up, and a more
beautiful and exciting moonlight race has not often been seen.
We had watched it from the Alabama, until in the gloaming
of the night, it had passed out of sight. We had seen the first
manoeuvre of the halting, and pulling back of the cutter, but
did not know what to make of it. The cutter began now to
come up again with the chase. She had no musket on board,
or in imitation of the Alabama, she might have "hove the
chase to," with a blank cartridge, or a ball. When she had
gotten within a few yards of her, a second time, in went the
paddles again, and overboard went the other negro ! and away
went the dug-out! A similar delay on the part of the cutter
ensued as before, and a similar advantage was gained by the
dug-out. But all things come to an end, and so did this race. The
cutter finally captured the dug-out, and brought back Tom
Bowse and Bill Bower to their admiring shipmates on board
the Alabama. This was the only violation of neutrality I was
guilty of, in Port Royal — chasing, and capturing a neutral
craft, in neutral waters. My excuse was, the same that Wilkes
made — she had contraband on board. I do not know whether
Commodore Dunlap ever heard of it; but if he had complained,

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 561
I should have set-off the rescuing of two of her Majesty's col
ored subjects from drowning, against the recapture of my own
men. The fact is, the towns-people, themselves, were respon-
sible for all these disorders. They had made heroes of all my
fellows, and plied them with an unconscionable number of
drinks. Every sea-port town has its sailor quarter, and this
in the good old town of Kingston was a constant scene of rev
elry, by day as well as by night, during the stay of the Ala
bama's liberty men on shore. There was no end to the "break
downs," and " double-shuffles," which had been given in their
honor, by the beaux and belles of Water Street. Besides my
own crew, there were always more or less English man-of-war
sailors on shore, on liberty from the different ships, and up
wards of a hundred had been landed from the Hatteras. It
was quite remarkable that in these merry-makings, and de
baucheries, the Confederate sailors and the Yankee sailors
harmonized capitally together. They might frequently be
seen arm and arm in the streets, or hob-nobbing together —
the Confederate sailor generally paying the score, as the Yan
kee sailor's strong box had gone down with his ship, and his
paymaster was rather short of cash. They sailed as amicably
together, up and down the contradance, and hailed each other
to " heave to," when it was time to " freshen the nip," as though
the Alabama and Hatteras had never been yard-arm and yard-
arm, throwing broadsides into each other. In short, my men
behaved capitally toward their late enemies. There was no
unmanly exultation over their victory. The most that could
be seen was an air of patronage very delicately put on, as
though they would say, "Well, you know we whipped you,
but then you did the best you could, and there 's an end of it."
Among the amusing things that had occurred during my
absence in the Jamaica mountains, was a flare-up, which Cap
tain Blake, my prisoner, had had with the British Commodore.
The steamer Greyhound had a band of music on board, and
as one of the young lieutenants was an old acquaintance of
several of my officers, whom he had met at Nassau, he ordered
the band on the evening after our arrival, and whilst Captain
Blake was still on board the Alabama, to play "Dixie;" which,
I may remark, by the way, had become a very popular air

562 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT.
everywhere, as much on account of the air itself, perhaps, as
because of its association with a weak and gallant people
struggling for the right of self-government. Captain Blake
chose to construe this little compliment to the Alabama, as an
insult to Yankeedom, and made a formal protest to the British
Commodore, in behalf of himself, and the "old flag." Com
modore Dunlap must have smiled, when he read Blake's epistle
He was certainly a man of humor, for he hit upon the follow
ing mode of settling the grave international dispute. " He
ordered the offending Greyhound, when she should get up her
band, on the following evening, first to play " Dixie," and then
"Yankee Doodle."
When the evening, which was to salve the Yankee honor,
arrived, great was the expectation of every one in the squad
ron. The band on board the Jason, flag-ship, led off by
playing " God save the Queen," that glorious national anthem,
which electrifies the Englishman, as the Marseilles' hymn does
the Frenchman, the world over. The Challenger's band fol
lowed and played a fine opera air. The evening was still and
fine, and the poops of all the ships were filled with officers. It
then came the Greyhound's turn. She first played something
unusually solemn, then "Dixie," with slowness, sweetness, and
pathos, and when the chorus
"In Dixie's land, I'll take my stand,
I '11 live, and die in Dixie ! "
had died away on the soft evening air, such an infernal din,
of drums, and fifes, and cymbals, and wind instruments, each
after its fashion, going it strong upon
"Yankee Doodle Dandy!"
arose, as to defy all description ! The effect was electric ; the
officers had to hold their sides to preserve their dignity, and —
Captain Blake was avenged. There could be no protest made
against this time-honored rogue's march. It was the favorite
tune of the b'hoys, and there the matter had to end. I have
never learned whether Mr. Seward ever called Lord Palmer-
ston to an account about it, in any one of his "Essays on
English Composition."

CHAPTER XLI.
DEPARTURE FROM JAMAICA — CAPTURE OF THE GOLDEN
RULE  COASTING THE ISLAND OF HAYTI — CAPTURE
OF THE CHASTELAINE  THE OLD CITY OF ST. DO
MINGO, AND ITS REMINISCENCES  THE DOMINICAN
CONVENT, AND THE PALACE OF DIEGO COLUMBUS —
THE CAPTURE OF THE PALMETTO, THE OLIVE JANE,
AND THE GOLDEN EAGLE — HOW THE ROADS ARE
BLAZED OUT UPON THE SEA  CAPTAIN MAURY.
ON the 25th of January, 1863, or just five days after our
arrival at Jamaica, we had completed all our preparations
for sea, and at half-past eight p. M. steamed out of the harbor of
Port Royal, bound to the coast of Brazil, and thence to the Cape
of Good Hope. We had made many friends during our short
stay, and mutual regrets were expressed at departure. My gal
lant young officers had not been idle, whilst I had been visiting
the mountains. Many little missives, put up in the tiniest and
prettiest of envelopes, were discovered among the mail, as our
last mail-bag was prepared for the shore, and as a good deal of
damage may be done in five days, there were probably some
heart-beatings among the fair islanders, as those P. P. Cs. were
perused. There is no lover so susceptible, or so devoted, or
whose heart is so capacious, as that of the young seaman. His
very life upon the sea is a poem, and his habitual absence from
the sex prepares him to see loveliness in every female form.
Though it was night when we emerged from the harbor, and
when we ought to have met with the blandest and gentlest of
land breezes, laden with the perfume of shrub and flower, we
passed at once into a heavy head sea, with a stiff north-easter
blowing. With yards pointed to the wind, and a laboring en
gine, we steamed along past Point Mayrant light, off which, the
663

564 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
reader may recollect, we discharged the Ariel, some weeks
before, and the morning's light found us in the passage be
tween Jamaica and St. Domingo. The sun rose brightly; the
wind moderated, and the day proved to be very fine.
My first duty, after the usual morning's muster at quarters,
was to hold a court of general sessions, for the discharge of
my vagabonds, many of whom, the reader will recollect, were
still in irons ; and a beautiful-looking set of fellows they were,
when their irons were removed, and they were brought on
deck for this purpose. They were now all sober, but the
effects of their late debauches were visible upon the persons
of all of them. Soiled clothing, blackened eyes, and broken
noses, frowsy, uncombed hair, and matted and disordered
beard, with reddened eyes that looked as if sleep had long
been a stranger to them — these were the principal features.
Poor Jack! how much he is to be pitied! Cut loose early
from the gentle restraints of home, and brought into contact
with every description of social vice, at an age when it is so
difficult to resist temptation, what wonder is it, that we find
him a grown-up child of nature, subject to no other restraint
than such as the discipline of his ship imposes upon him ?
" When wine is in, wit is out," was the proverb I always
acted upon, on occasions similar to the present ; that is to say,
when the " wine " had any business to be " in." I expected,
as a matter of course, when I sent my sailors on shore, " on
liberty," that the result was to be a frolic, and I was always
lenient to the mere concomitants of a frolic ; but I never per
mitted them to abuse or maltreat the inhabitants, or perpetrate
any malicious mischief. But if they got drunk on board, in
violation of the discipline of the ship, or, in other words, if
the wine had no business to be "in," I considered that the wit
had no business to be " out." And so I listened to their peni
tential excuses, one by one, and restored them to duty, retain
ing one or two of the greatest culprits for trial by court-martial,
as an example to the rest. Having disposed of the other cases,
I turned to Tom Bowse and Bill Bower, the heroes of the
moonlight-chase, and said to them, " And so you are a pretty
set of fellows ; you not only tried to desert your ship and flag,
but you endeavored to commit murder, in your attempt to

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 565
escape ! " " Murder ! " replied Bowse, with a start of horror
that I could see was entirely honest, " we never thought of
such a thing, sir ; them Jamaica niggers, they take to the water
as natural as South-Sea Islanders, and there 's no such thing aj
drowning them, sir." "That was it, your honor," now put in
Bowse ; " it was only a bit of a joke, you see, sir, played upon
the officer of the cutter. We knew he 'd stop to pick 'em up,
and so give us the weathergauge of him." "That may do
very well for the murder," I now rejoined, " but what about th?
desertion?" "Nary-a-bit of it, your honor," again replied
Bowse ; " we only meant to have another bit of a frolic, and
come back all in good time, before the ship sailed." " Just so,"
added Bower; "the fact is, your honor, we were hardly re
sponsible for what we did that night ; for we had a small drop
aboard, and then the moon was so bright, and Moll Riggs she
had sent us such a kind message ! " The moonlight and Moll
clinched the argument, and turning to the master-at-arms, with
an ill-suppressed smile, I directed him to turn the prisoners
loose. I had scarcely gotten through with this jail-delivery, before
the cry of " sail ho ! " rang out upon the clear morning air,
from the mast-head. There was no necessity to alter our
course, for the sail was nearly ahead. In an hour more, a
very pretty, newly- painted bark, with her sails flapping idly in
the calm which was now prevailing, arose to view from the
deck. She had the usual Yankee ear-marks, tapering masts
and cotton sails, and we felt sure of another prize. We showed
her the United States colors as we approached, and a very
bright " old flag " soon afterward ascended to her peak, droop
ing despondently for want of wind to blow it out. The cat
did not torture the mouse long, for we soon changed flags, and
gave the master of the doomed ship the same satisfaction that
Jacob Faithful received, when he found his missing son's shirt
in the maw of the shark — the satisfaction of being put out
of doubt, and knowing that his ship would be burned. The
prize proved, upon being boarded, to be the Golden Rule, from
New York, for Aspinwall. She belonged to the Atlantic and
Pacific Steamship Company, and was filled with an assorted
cargo — having on board, among other things, masts, and a

566 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
complete set of rigging for the United States brig Bainbridgt
which had recently had everything swept by the board, in a
gale at Aspinwall.
Judging from the bills of lading found on board, some small
portions of the cargo appeared to be neutral, but there being
no sworn evidence to vouch for the fact, in the way of Con
sular, or other certificates, I applied the well-known rule of
prize law to the case, viz., that everything found on board
an enemy's ship is presumed to belong to the enemy, until the
contrary is shown by proper evidence ; and at about six P. M.
applied the torch. The islands of St. Domingo and Jamaica
were both sufficiently near for their inhabitants to witness the
splendid bonfire, which lighted up the heavens far and near,
soon after dark. A looker-on upon that conflagration would
have seen a beautiful picture, for besides the burning ship,
there were the two islands mentioned, sleeping in the dreamy
moonlight, on the calm bosom of a tropical sea, and the rakish-
looking " British Pirate " steaming in for the land, with every
spar, and line of cordage brought out in bold relief, by the
bright flame — nay, with the very "pirates" themselves visible,
handling the boxes, and bales of merchandise, which they had
"robbed" from this innocent Yankee, whose countrymen at
home were engaged in the Christain occupation of burning
our houses and desolating our fields.
One of the pleasant recollections connected with the picture,
was that I had tied up for a while longer, one of the enemy's
gun-brigs, for want of an outfit. It must have been some
months before the Bainbridge put to sea. There was another
good act performed. Lots of patent medicines, with which
the enemy was about inundating the South American coast,
for the benefit of the livers of their fellow-democrats, were
consigned to the flames. The reader had an opportunity to
observe, when we captured the Dunkirk, how zealously our
pious brethren of the North were looking out for the religion,
and morals of the Portuguese, in a sly way. He now sees what
a regard they have for the health of the atrabilious South
Americans. Both operations paid, of course, and whether it
was a tract, or a pill that was sold, could make but little dif
ference to the manufacturers of the merchandise.

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 567
We steamed along the coast, at a distance of seven or eight
miles, the remainder of that night without further adventure ;
and the next morning dawned clear, with a slight change of
programme as to weather. There were clouds hurrying past us,
wetting our jackets, now, and then, without interrupting the
sunshine, and a stiff northeaster blowing. This was a head
wind, and we labored against it all day, with diminished speed.
At three P. M. we made the remarkable island, or rather, moun
tain of rock, called in the beautiful Spanish, Alta Yela, or
Tall Sail, from its resemblance to a ship under sail, at a dis
tance. It rises, at a distance of ten or twelve miles from the
main island of St. Domingo, with almost perpendicular sides,
to the height of several hundred feet, and affords a foothold
for no living creature, but the sea-gull, the gannet, and other
water-fowl. Soon after nightfall, we boarded a Spanish brig
from Montevideo, bound for Havana ; and at eleven p. M., Alta
Vela bearing north, and being distant from us, about five
miles, we hove to, with a shot, another sail, that was running
down the coast. She was a rakish-looking hermaphrodite
brig, and in the bright moonlight looked Yankee. The report
of our heavy gun, reverberated by a hundred echoes from
Alta Vela, had a magical effect upon the little craft. Flying
like a sea-gull before a gale only a moment before, she be
came, in an instant, like the same sea-gull with its wings folded,
and riding upon the wave, without other motion than such as
the wave gave it. Ranging within a convenient distance, we
lowered, and sent a boat on board of her. She proved to be
American, as we had suspected. She was the Chastelaine of
Boston, last from the island of Guadeloupe, whither she had
been to deliver a cargo of staves, and was now on her way to
Cienfuegos, in the island of Cuba, in quest of sugar and rum
for the Boston folks. We applied the torch to her, lighting
up the sea-girt walls of Alta Vela with the unusual spectacle
of a burning ship, and disturbing the slumber of the sea-gulls
and gannets for the balance of the night.
The next morning found us still steaming to the eastward,
along the Haytian coast. Having now the crews of two ships
on board, as prisoners, I hauled in closer to the coast, with
the intention of running into the old town of St. Domingo,

568 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
and landing them. We got sight of this old city early in the
afternoon, and at about four p. m. ran in and anchored. The
anchorage is an open roadstead, formed by the debouchement
of the picturesque little river Ozama, which seems to have
burst through the rocky barrier of the coast, to find its way to
the sea. We found but two vessels anchored here — one of
them being a New York brig, recently put under English
colors. She had a " bran-new " English ensign flying. Ad
miral Milne having failed to respond to the frantic cries of
the New York " Commercial Advertiser," to protect the
Yankee flag, the Yankee ship-owners, with many loathings
and contortions, were at last forced to gulp the English flag.
There was no other way of coaxing England to protect them.
Being in a neutral port, I had no opportunity, of course, of
^testing the verity of this " cross of St. George," as the Yankees
were fond of calling the hated emblem of England — hated,
but hugged at the same time, for the protection which it gave
ship and cargo.
It will be recollected that, at the time of my visit, Spain had
repossessed herself of the eastern, or Dominican end of the
island of St. Domingo ; and a Spanish naval commander now
came on board to visit me. I had no difficulty in arranging
with him for the landing of my prisoners. I sent them to the
guard-ship, and he sent them thence to the shore. This done,
and arrangements being made for some fresh provisions and
other refreshments, to be sent off to the crew in the morning,
I landed for a stroll, on this most classical of all American soil.
The old city of St. Domingo ! How many recollections
does it not call up ! It was a large and flourishing city a
hundred years before that pestiferous little craft, called the
Mayflower, brought over the cockatrice's egg that hatched out
the Puritan. It was mentioned, incidentally, as the reader may
remember, whilst we were running down the north side of the
island, on our way to catch Mr. Vanderbilt's California steamer,
that the little town of Isabella, on that side of the island, was
the first city founded in the New World ; and that the new set
tlement was soon broken up, and transferred to the city of St.
Domingo. The latter city grew apace, and flourished, and was,
for many years, the chief seat of the Spanish empire in the

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 569
New World. It is, to-day, in its ruins, the most interesting
city in all the Americas. Columbus himself lived here, and
hither his remains were brought from Spain, and reposed for
many years, until they were transferred to Cuba, with grea
pomp and ceremony. The names of Las Casas, Diego Colum
bus, the son and successor of the admiral, Oviedo, Hernando
Cortez, and a host of others, are bound up in its history. The
latter, the renowned conqueror of Mexico, was for several
years a notary in an adjoining province.
We have not much time to spare, reader, as the Alabama
will be on the wing, again, with the morning's light, but I can
not forbear pointing out to you two of the principal ruins of
this famous old city. One of them is the Dominican Convent,
and the other the Palacio, or residence of Diego Columbus.
The old city being named in honor of St. Dominic, great pains
were evidently bestowed upon the church and convent that
were to bear his name ; and so substantially was the former
built, that it stands entire, and is still used as a place of wor
ship, after the lapse of three hundred and fifty years. The altars
are all standing, though faded and worm-eaten, and see ! there
is a lamp still burning before the altar of the Holy Eucharist.
That lamp was lighted in the days of Columbus, and has been
burning continuously ever since ! Observe these marble slabs
over which we are walking. The entire floor is paved with
them. They are the tombstones of the dead, that were dis
tinguished in their day, but who have long since been forgot
ten. Here is a date of 1532, on one of them. It is much de
faced and worn by the footsteps of the generations that have
passed over it, but we can see by the mitre and crozier, that
have been sculptured on it, in bas-relief, that the remains of a
bishop lie beneath. His name? We cannot make it out.
The record of a bishop, carved upon the enduring marble, and
placed upon the floor of his own cathedral, has been lost.
What a sermon is here in this stone ! Raise your eyes now
from the floor, and cast them on the wall opposite. In that
niche, in the great cathedral wall, sang the choir of ancient
days. These vaulted roofs have resounded with music from
the lips of many generations of beauties, that have faded
like the butterfly of the field, leaving no more trace of their

570 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
names and lineage than that little wanderer of an hour. There
stands the silent organ, whose last note was sounded a century
or more ago, with its gilding all tarnished, its stately carving
tumbled down and lying in debris at its feet, and the bat and
the spider building their nests in the cylinders that once mim
icked the thunder, and sent thrills of devotion through the
hearts of the multitude. There are remains of frescoes on the
walls, but the damp and the mildew, in this humid climate,
have so effectually performed their office, that the bright
colors have disappeared, and only a dim outline of their design
is visible.
Let us step over from the cathedral,, to the conventual por
tion of the massive block. The walls, as you see, are exten
sive, and are standing, in a sufficient state of preservation, to
enable us to trace out the ground-plan, and reconstruct, in
imagination, the ancient edifice. Its design is that of a hollow
square, after the fashion prevalent in Spain. On all four sides
of the square are arrayed the cells of the monks, the colon
nades in front of which are still standing. In the centre of
the square, occupying the space, which, in a private house,
would have been appropriated to a jet d'eau, and flowers in
vases, is an oblong hall, connected at either end with the main
building. This was the refectory of the ancient establishment.
What scenes does not the very sight of this refectory present
to the imagination? We see the table spread, with its naked
board, humble service, and still more humble food ; we hear
the dinner-signal sound ; and we see long lines of bearded and
hooded monks, with crosses and beads pendent from their
girdles, enter, and seat themselves to partake of the wonted
refreshment. We hear the subdued hum of many voices —
the quiet joke, and half-suppressed merriment. There, at the
head of the board, sits the venerable abbot, whilst the chaplain
reads his Latin text, from his stand, during the repast. Let
now the years begin to roll by. We shall miss, first one
familiar face from the humble board, and then another, until
finally they all disappear, being carried away, one by one, to
their silent tombs ! The abbots repose beneath those marble
slabs in the cathedral that we so lately wandered over, with
lightened footfall, and subdued breath ; but the brothers are

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 571
carried to the common burial-ground of the order, in the out
skirts of the town. New generations enter, occupy the same
seats, go through the same routine of convent life, and in turn
disappear, to give place to newer comers still ; andthus is ever
swollen the holocaust of the mighty dead ! " What is man,
0 Lord ! that thou shouldst be mindful of him ? "
"The dead — the honored dead are here —
For whom, behind the sable bier,
Through many a long-forgotten year,
Forgotten crowds have come,
With solemn step and falling tear,
Bearing their brethren home.
"Beneath these boughs, athwart this grass,
I see a dark and moving mass,
Like Banquo's shades across the glass,
By wizard hands displayed ;
Stand back, and let these hearses pass,
Along the trampled glade."
The Convent of St. Dominic being situated in the southern
part of the old city, in the angle formed by the river Ozama,
and the sea, observe what a delightful sea-breeze meets us, as
we emerge from the ruined refectory. Let us pause a while, to
lift our hats, from our heated brows, and refresh ourselves,
while we listen to the unceasing roar of the surf, as it beats
against the rocky cliff below, and throws its spray half-way to
our feet. What a charming view we have of the sea, as it lies
in its blue expanse, dotted here and there with a sail ; and of
the coasts of the island east and west of us — those blackened,
rock-bound shores that seem hoary with age, and so much in
unison with the train of thought we have been pursuing.
There are but three crafts anchored in the roadstead, where
formerly fleets used to lie. Of two of these, we have already
spoken. The third is the Alabama. There is a little current
setting out of the river, and she lies, in consequence, broadside
to the sea, which is setting in to the beach. She is rolling
gently to this sea, displaying every now and then, bright streaks
of the copper on her bottom. She is full of men, and a strange
flag is flying from her peak — not only strange to the dead
generations of whom we have been speaking, but new even to
our own times and history. It is the flag of a nation which has

572 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
just risen above the horizon, and is but repeating the history
of the world. The oppressed has struggled against the op
pressor since time began. The struggle is going on still. It
will go on forever, for the nature of man will always be the
same. The cockatrice's egg has been hatched, and swarms of
the Puritan have come forth to overrun the fair fields of the
South that they may possess them; just as the wild Germans
overran the plains of Italy centuries before.
But away with such thoughts for the present. We came on
shore to get rid of them. They madden the brain, and quicken
the pulse. The little craft, with the strange flag, has borne her
captain hither, on a pilgrimage to the shrine of the great dis
coverer, whose history may be written in a single couplet.
"A Castilla, y Leon
Nuevo Mundo, dio Colon."
On her way hither, her keel has crossed the very track of the
three little vessels from Palos — two of them mere open cara
vels — that first ventured across the vast Atlantic ; and now
her commander is standing where the great admiral himself
once stood — on the very theatre of his early glory. And alas I
for Spain, on the theatre of his shame, or rather of her shame,
too ; for there stands the fortress still, in which are exhibited
to the curious spectator the rings in the solid masonry of the
wall, to which Columbus was chained !
A short walk will take us to the ruins of the palace of Diego
Columbus. We must ascend the river a few hundred yards.
Here it is, a little below the port of the present day. When
built it stood alone, and we may remember that the towns
people complained of it, on -this account — saying that it was
intended as a fortress, to keep them in subjection. It is now
surrounded, as you see, by the ruins of many houses. H you
have read Oviedo's description of it, you are disappointed in
its appearance ; for that historian tells us, that " no man in
Spain had a house to compare with it." Its form is that of
two quadrangles connected by a colonnade, but it, by no
means, comes up to the modern idea of a palace. The roof
has entirely disappeared, and the quadrangles are mere shells
filled with the accumulating debris of centuries, amid which

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 573
large forest-trees have taken root and are flourishing. It was
built of solid and substantial blocks of stone, and in any other
country but the tropics, would have scarcely shown signs of
age in three centuries. But here the fierce rays of a perpen
dicular sun, the torrents of rain in the wet season, and the
occasional hurricanes and earthquakes, that desolate and de
stroy everything in their path, soon beat down the stanchest
buildings — the very blocks of granite being disintegrated, by
the alternate rain and sunshine, and crumbling away beneath
their influence. It is situated on a rising ground, command
ing a fine view of the sea, and the surrounding country. It
is surrounded by walls and battlements, but the. most imposing
feature about it, must have been the approach to it from the
city — the visitor passing through a wide avenue of shade-
trees, and gaining admission to it by a majestic flight of stone
steps. The shade-trees have disappeared, and the stone steps
have been removed to be worked up into other buildings.
We have called this house, the palace of Diego Columbus
but it must have been constructed either by his father, the
admiral, or his uncle Bartholomew, the Adelantado, as we read
that when Diego came out, after his father's death, to assume
the viceroyalty, he found it ready built at his hand. Its
blackened walls and dirt-filled saloons, now in the midst of a
squalid purlieu of the modern city, must have witnessed many
a scene of revelry in its day, as Oviedo tells us, that when the
young admiral was restored to the honors and command of
his father, he brought out to his new government, with him,
some of the most elegant young women of Spain, as a sort of
maids of honor to his own beautiful young wife — the mar
riage portions of all of whom he undertook to provide. And
that in due time these young women were all happily be
stowed upon gallant knights and wealthy planters.
There, now, reader, we have taken a stroll through the
classical old city of St. Domingo — a piece of good fortune,
which falls to the lot of very few. Its romantic history seems
to have been forgotten ; it has fallen into the hands of a mon
grel race of blacks and whites, and is rarely visited for any
other purpose than that of trade. The negro and the mulatto
in this oldest of American cities are thought rather more of

574 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
than the white man, and the Yankee skipper finds in it, a con
genial mart, in which to vend his cheese and his codfish, and
distribute his tracts — political and moral — and put forth hia
patent medicines!
We did not get under way, the next morning, until eight
o'clock, as the supplies from the butchers and fruiterers could
not be gotten on board at an earlier hour. Bartelli came off
from the market, loaded as usual, bringing with him a bunch of
wild pigeons, very similar to those found in our forests, and som«
excellent cigars. The flavor of the latter is not quite equal to
those of the Havana, but they are mild and pleasant smokers.
He brought off, also, a specimen of the Haytian paper money,
worth five cents on the dollar. Like the American greenback,
it is the offshoot of revolution and political corruption.
As eight o'clock struck, turning out of the ship the motley
crowd of negroes and mulattoes who had come off to trade
with the sailors, we tripped our anchor, and turning the ship's
head again to the eastward, gave her the steam. The day was
fine, and the sea smooth, and we had a picturesque run along
the Haytian coast, for the rest of the day. The coast is gen
erally clean, what few dangers there are being all visible.
The only sails sighted were fishing-boats and small coasters
laden with farm produce, running down to St. Domingo for a
market. At times a number of these were in sight, and the
effect was very pleasing. The coasts of Hayti abound in fish,
and as there is a succession of fruits all the year round, it is
the paradise of the negro. A canoe and a fishing-line, or cast-
net, and a few plantain and mango-trees supply his table ; and
two or three times a year, he cuts a mahogany log, and floats
it down the little mountain streams, to the coast, where he sells
it for paper money enough to buy him a few yards of cotton
cloth, or calico. Voila tout!
We entered the Mona Passage at half-past eight P. M. It
was unguarded as before. During the night, we let our steam
go down, to give the engineer an opportunity of screwing up
the cylinder-head. Under way again before daylight. The
weather continued fine, and we began again to fall in with
sails. They were all neutral, however. We spoke a Spanish
schooner, among the rest, and gave her the longitude. As

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 575
soon as we had well cleared the passage, we banked fires, and
lowering the propeller, put the ship under sail. On Sunday,
February 1st, we had our first muster since leaving Jamaica.
We had been out now a week, and in that time I had gotten my
crew straightened up again. The rum had been pretty well
worked out of them ; most of the black rings around the eyes
had disappeared, and beards had been trimmed, and heads
combed. The court-martial which had been trying the few cul
prits, that had been retained for trial, had gotten through its
labors, and been dissolved, and Jack, as he answered to his
name, and walked around the capstan, was "himself again," in
all the glory of white " ducks," polished shoes, straw hats, and
streaming ribbons. No more than two or three desertions had
occurred, out of the whole crew, and this was very gratifying.
The next day, we had an alarm of fire on board. It was near
twelve o'clock. I happened to be standing on the horse-block,
at the time, observing the sun for latitude, when suddenly I
heard a confusion of voices below, and simultaneously the offi
cer of the deck, with evident alarm depicted in his countenance,
came running to me, and said, " The ship is on fire, sir ! " This
is an alarm that always startles the seaman. The "fire-bell
in the night" is sufficiently alarming to the landsman, but the
cry of fire at sea imports a matter of life and death — espe
cially in a ship of war, whose boats are always insufficient to
carry off her crew, and whose magazine and shell-rooms are
filled with powder, and the loaded missiles of death. The fire-
bell on board a ship of war, whose crew is always organized
as a fire company, points out the duty of every officer and man
in such an emergency. The first thing to be done is to " beat to
quarters," and accordingly I gave this order to the officer ; but
before the drummer could brace his drum for the operation, it
was announced that all danger had disappeared. When we
had a little leisure to look into the facts, it appeared, that the
alarm had arisen from the carelessness of the " captain of the
hold," who, in violation of the orders of the ship, had taken a
naked light below with him, into the spirit-room, to pump off
the grog by. The candle had ignited some of the escaping
gas, but the flame was suppressed almost immediately. The
captain of the hold, who is a petty officer, paid the penalty
37

576 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
of his disobedience, by being dismissed from his office ; and in
half an hour, the thing was forgotten.
Since leaving the Mona Passage, we had been steering about
N. N. W., or as near north as the trade- wind would permit us.
We expected, as a matter of course, to meet with the usual
calms, as we came up with the Tropic of Cancer, but the
north-east trade, instead of dying away, as we, had expected,
hauled to the south-east, and shot us across the calm-belt, with
a fine breeze all the way. We carried this wind to the twenty-
seventh parallel, when we took, with scarcely any intermis
sion, a fresh north-wester. This does not often happen in the
experience of the navigator, as the reader has seen, when he
has before been crossing the calm-belts with us.
On the 3d of February, we made our first capture since
leaving St. Domingo. It was the schooner Palmetto, bound
from New York to St. John's, in the island of Porto Rico.
We gave chase to her, soon after breakfast, and came up with
her about half-past one P. M. It was a fair trial of heels, with
a fine breeze and a smooth sea ; both vessels being on a wind ;
and it was beautiful to see how the Alabama performed her
task, working up into the wind's eye, and overhauling her
enemy, with the ease of a trained courser coming up with a
saddle-nag. There was no attempt to cover the cargo of the
Palmetto. The enemy merchants seemed to have come to the
conclusion, that it was no longer of any use to prepare bogus
certificates, and that they might as well let their cargoes run
the chances of war, without them. Upon examination of the
papers of the schooner, it appeared that the cargo was shipped
by the Spanish house of Harques & Maseras, domiciled, and
doing business in New York, to Vincent Brothers, in San
Juan, Porto Rico, on joint account ; the shippers owning one
third, and the consignee two thirds. The case came, therefore,
under the rule applied in a former case, viz., that when part
ners reside, some in a belligerent, and some in a neutral coun
try, the property of all of them, which has any connection
with the house in the belligerent country, is liable to confisca
tion. (3 Phillimore, 605, and 1 Robinson, 1, 14, 19. Also, The
Susa, ib. 255.) Getting on board from the Palmetto, such arti
cles of provisions — and she was chiefly provision-laden — as

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 577
we needed, we applied the torch to her about sunset, and filled
away, and made sail.
The next afternoon we sighted a sail on our weather-bow
close hauled, like ourselves, and continued to gain upon her,
until night shut her out from view, when we discontinued the
chase. We were satisfied from her appearance, that she was
neutral, or we should, probably, have expended a little steam
upon her. At night the weather set in thick, and the wind
blew so fresh from the north-east, that we took a single reef
in the topsails. This bad weather continued for the next two
or three days, reducing us, a part of the time, to close reefs.
The reader is probably aware, that a ship bound from the West
Indies to the coast of Brazil, is compelled to run up into the
"variables," and make sufficient easting, to enable her to
weather Cape St. Roque. This is what the Alabama is now
doing — working her way to the eastward, on the parallel of
about 30°. We observed on the 20th of February, in lati
tude 28° 32' ; the longitude being 45° 05'.
The next day, the weather being very fine, with the wind
light from the southward and eastward, a sail was descried
from aloft, and soon afterward another, and another, until
four were seen. We gave chase to the first sail announced ;
standing to the eastward, in pursuit of her, for an hour or
two, but she being a long distance ahead, and to windward,
and the chase being likely, in consequence, to be long,
and to draw us away from the other three sail, besides, we
abandoned it, and gave chase to two of the latter. These
were fine, tall ships, under a cloud of canvas, steering, one
to the eastward, and the other to the westward. Being quite
sure that they were Americans, and the wind falling light, we
got up steam for the chase. Coming up with the eastward-
bound ship, we hove her to, but not until we had thrown a
couple of shot at her, in succession — the latter whizzing over
the master's head on the quarter-deck. She was evidently
endeavoring to draw us after her, as far to the eastward as
possible, to give her consort, with whom she had spoken, and
who was running, as the reader has seen, to the westward, an
opportunity to escape. Throwing a boat's crew hastily on
board of her, and directing the prize-master to follow us, we

578 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
now wheeled in pursuit of the other fugitive. The iattei
was, by this time, fifteen miles distant — being hull down —
and was running before the wind with studding sails, "alow
and aloft." Fortunately for the Alabama, as before remarked,
the wind was light, or the chase might have put darkness be
tween us, before we came up with her. As it was, it was three
P. M. before we overhauled her, and we had run our other prize
nearly out of sight. She was less obstinate than her consort
and shortened sail, and hove to, at the first gun, hoisting the
United States colors at her peak. She proved to be the bark
Olive Jane, of New York, from Bordeaux, bound to New
York, with an assorted cargo of French wines, and brandies,
canned meats, fruits, and other delicacies. There was no at
tempt to cover the cargo. There were a great many shippers.
Some few of these had consigned their goods to their own
order, but most of the consignments were to New York houses.
It is possible that some of the consignments, "to order," really
belonged to French owners, but if so, I was relieved from the
necessity of making the investigation, by the carelessness of the
owners themselves, who had taken no pains to protect their
property, by proper documentary evidence of its neutral char
acter. In the absence of sworn proof, as before remarked, the
rule of law is imperative, that all property found on board of an
enemy's ship, is presumed to belong to the enemy. I acted upon
this presumption, and set fire to the Olive Jane. What a splendid
libation was here to old Neptune ! I did not permit so much
as a bottle of brandy, or a basket of champagne to be brought
on board the Alabama, though, I doubt not, the throats
of some of my vagabonds, who had so recently cooled off,
from the big frolic they had had^ in Jamaica, were as dry
as powder-horns. There were the richest of olives, and pates
de fois gras, going to tickle the palates of the New York shod-
dyites, and other nouveau-riche plebeians, destroyed in that ter
rible conflagration. I should have permitted Bartelli, and the
other stewards to have a short run among these delicacies, but
for the wine and the brandy. A Fouche' could not have pre-
vented the boats' crews from smuggling some of it on board,
and then I might have had another Martinique grog-watering
on my hands.

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 579
Amid the crackling of flames, the bursting of brandy casks,
the shrivelling of sails, as they were touched by the fire, and
the tumbling of the lighter spars of the Olive Jane from aloft,
we turned our head to the eastward again, and rejoined our
first prize, coming up with her just as the shades of evening
were closing in. I had now a little leisure to look into her
character. She, like the Olive Jane, had shown me the " old
flag," and that, of course, had set at rest all doubts as to the
nationality of the ship. There was as little doubt, as soon ap
peared, about the cargo. The ship was the Golden Eagle, and
I had overhauled her near the termination of a long voyage.
She had sailed from San Francisco, in ballast, for Howland's
Island, in the Pacific; a guano island of which some adven
turous Yankees had taken possession. There she had taken
in a cargo of guano, for Cork and a market ; the guano being
owned by, and consigned to the order of the American Guano
Company. This ship had buffeted the gales of the frozen
latitudes of Cape Horn, threaded her pathway among its ice
bergs, been parched with the heats of the tropic, and drenched
with the rains of the equator, to fall into the hands of her enemy,
only a few hundred miles from her port. But such is the for
tune of war. It seemed a pity, too, to destroy so large a cargo
of a fertilizer, that would else have made fields stagger under
a wealth of grain. But those fields would be the fields of the
enemy ; or if it did not fertilize his fields, its sale would pour
a stream of gold into his coffers ; and it was my business upon
the high seas, to cut off, or dry up this stream of gold. The
torch followed the examination of the papers. The reader
may, perhaps, by this time have remarked, how fond the
Yankees had become of the qualifying adjective, "golden,"
as a prefix to the names of their ships. I had burned the
Golden Rocket, the Golden Rule, and the Golden Eagle.
We were now in latitude 30°, and longitude 40°, and if the
curious reader will refer to a map, or chart of the North At
lantic Ocean, he will see that we are on the charmed " crossing,"
leading to the coast of Brazil. By " crossing " is meant the
point at which the ship's course crosses a given parallel of
latitude. We must not, for instance, cross the thirtieth paral
lel, going southward, until we have reached a certain meridian

580 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT.
—say that of 40° W. If we do, the north-east trade- wind will
pinch us, and perhaps prevent us from weathering Cape St.
Roque. And when we reach the equator, there is another crossing
recommended to the mariner, as being most appropriate to his
purpose. Thus it is, that the roads upon the sea have been
blazed out, as it were — the blazes not being exactly cut upon
the forest-trees, but upon parallels and meridians. The chief
blazer of these roads, is an American, of whom all Americans
should be proud — Captain Maury, before mentioned in these
pages. He has so effectually performed his task, in his "Wind
and Current Charts," that there is little left to be desired.
The most unscientific and practical navigator, may, by the aid
of these charts, find the road he is in quest of. Maury has
been, in an eminent degree, the benefactor of the very men
who became most abusive of him, when they found that he,
like other Southern statesmen — for he is a statesman as well as
sailor — was obliged to preserve his self-respect, by spitting
upon the " old flag." He has saved every Yankee ship, by
shortening her route, on every distant voyage she makes,
thousands of dollars. The greedy ship-owners pocket the dol
lars, and abuse the philosopher.*
* ' ' Now let us make a calculation of the annual saving to the commerce of the
United States, effected by these charts, and sailing directions. According to Mr.
Maury, the average freight from the United States to Rio Janeiro, is 1 7. 7 cents
per ton, per day ; to Australia, 20 cents ; to California, 20 cents. The mean of
this is a little over 19 cents per ton, per day ; but to be within the mark, we will
take it at 15 cents, and include all the ports of South America, China, and the
East Indies. The 'Sailing Directions' have shortened the passage to Cali
fornia, thirty days ; to Australia, twenty days ; and to Rio Janeiro, ten days.
The mean of this is twenty, but we will take it at fifteen, and also include
the above-named ports of South America, China, and the East Indies. We
estimate the tonnage of the United States, engaged in trade with these places,
at 1,000,000 tons per annum. With these data, we see that there has been
effected, a saving for each one of those tons, of 16 cents per day, for a period
of fifteen days, which will give an aggregate of $2,250,000 saved per annum.
This is on the outward voyage alone, and the tonnage trading with all other
parts of the world is also left out of the calculation. Take these into con
sideration, and also the fact that there is a vast amount of foreign tonnage,
trading between those places and the United States, and it will be seen that
the annual sum saved will swell to an enormous amount." — Hunt's VerchanW
Magazine, May, 1854.

CHAPTER XLII.
tile "crossing" of the thirtieth parallel  the
toll-gate upon the sea  how the travellers
pass along the highway  capture of the
washington; the john a. parks; the bathiah
thayer; the punjaub ; the morning star; the
ktngflsher; the charles hill; and the nora —
crosses the equator  capture of the louisa
hatch  arrival at fernando de noronha.
T) EACHING the blazed road, of which I spoke in the last
J\ chapter, I shortened sail, at the crossing mentioned, that
I might waylay such of the passengers as chanced to be ene
mies. There were a great many ships passing, both ways, on
'this road, some going to the Pacific, or the Far East, and
others returning from those distant points; but they were
nearly all neutral. The American ships, having, by this time,
become thoroughly alarmed, especially since they learned that
neither English sealing-wax, nor Admiral Milne could save
them, had dodged the highways, as skulkers and thieves are
wont to do, and taken to the open fields and by-ways for
safety. On the day after the capture of the Olive Jane and
Golden Eagle, the weather being cloudy and rainy, and the
wind light, four more sail were seen — all European bound.
At eight A. M. we showed the United States colors to one of
them, which proved to be a French bark. It now became
calm, and we were compelled to get up steam, to overhaul the
rest. They lay long distances apart, and we were several
hours in passing from one to the other. They were all Eng
lishmen, with various histories and destinations, one of them —
a fine frigate-built ship — being a Melbourne and Liverpool 681

582 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
packet. We received a paper from her, printed at the anti
podes, but there was not much in it, besides the proceedings
of the Australian Parliament, news from the gold-diggings,
and the price of wool ; in neither of which subjects were we
much interested.
On the next day but a solitary passenger came over the
road. It was late at night when she made her appearance —
there being a bright moon and a brisk breeze. We made sail
in chase, and the chase, taking the alarm, gave us a very pretty
run for a few hours. We overhauled her, however, at length,
and fired the usual blank cartridge, to heave her to. She was
an hermaphrodite brig, and might be, for aught we could see, in
the uncertain light, American. The gun had no effect. We
waited a few minutes for a response, but none coming, we fired
again — sending a shot whizzing, this time, over the little craft.
Still no response. We were now only a few hundred yards
distant. What could the fellow mean ? All was as silent on
board the chase as death, and not a tack or sheet had been
started. We ran now almost on board of her, and hailing her,
commanded her to heave to. Great confusion followed. We
could hear voices speaking in a foreign tongue, and presently
a disorderly array of sails whipping and flapping in the wind,
and of yards swinging to and fro, presented itself. At last the
little craft managed to come to the wind, and make a halt.
She proved to be a Portuguese brig, and the crew had been so
alarmed, at being chased and fired at, by night, as to lose all
presence of mind, and become incapable of any action what
ever, until they were somewhat reassured, by the near pres
ence of our ship and the sound of our voices. She was bound
from Pernambuco to Lisbon, with a cargo of hides and sugar.
It was, indeed, something like a ghost-chase, to see the Ala
bama coming, in the dead of night after the little craft, with
her seven-league boots on, and those awful trysails of hers
spread out in the moonlight like so many winding-sheets.
On the day after this adventure, a Dutch bark and an Eng
lish brig came along ; and on the same night, we boarded the
English four-master, the Sarah Sands, from the East Indies for
Falmouth. At daylight, the next morning, the look-out at the
mast-head began to cry sails, until he reported as many as

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 583
seven in sight at one time. They were all European bound,
and were jogging along, in company, following Maury's blazes,
like so many passengers on a highway. The Alabama stood
like a toll-gate before them, and though we could not take toll
of them, as they were all neutral, we made each traveller show
us his passport, as he came up. One obstinate fellow — a
Hamburger — refused to show us his colors, until he was com
manded to do so by a gun. I made it a practice to punish
these unmannerly fellows, for their want of civility. On the
present occasion, the Hamburger was detained a considerable
time, whilst I exercised, at my leisure, my belligerent right of
viseing his papers. When his travelling companions were
some miles ahead of him, I told the surly fellow to pick up
his hat and be off.
On the next day, being still in latitude 30°, and longitude
40°, or at the "crossing," an English and an American ship
came along. The Englishman saluted us civilly as he passed.
He was from the East Indies, laden with silks and wines. But
the American, seeing that we were under short sail — ¦ though
the weather was fine — resting by the wayside, as it were, and
remembering that there was a little unpleasantness between
the North and South, fought rather shy of us, and endeavored
to get out of the way of possible harm. She was a fine, large
ship, and the moment she showed an intention not to pass
through the toll-gate, we made sail in pursuit. She had heels,
but they were not quite as clean as the Alabama's, and we
came up with her, in the course of two or three hours ; she
having approached pretty close, before she smelt the rat. She
was obstinate, and compelled me to wet the people on her
poop, by the spray of a shot, before she would acknowledge
that she was beaten. The shower-bath made a stir among the
bystanders ; there was a running hither and thither, a letting
go of sheets and halliards, and pretty soon the main-yard
swung aback, and the stars and stripes were seen ascending
to the stranger's peak. When the boarding-officer brought the
master of the captured ship on board, with his papers, she
proved to be the ship Washington, of New York, from the
Chincha Islands, bound to Antwerp, with a cargo of guano,
laden on account of the Peruvian government, and consigned

584 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
to its agent at Antwerp, for sale. Being unable to destroy
the ship, jecause of the neutral ownership of her cargo, I re
leased her on ransom-bond, sent my prisoners on board of her
to be landed, and permitted her to depart. This capture was
made on the 27th of February. On the 28th we overhauled
two English ships, from the East Indies, homeward bound,
and a French ship, from Batavia, for Nantes. The weather
continued very fine, and we had had a uniformly high barom
eter, ever since we had reached the " crossing."
The morning of the 1st of March dawned charmingly, with
a very light breeze, The night had been rather dark, and we
had been lying-to under topsails. In the darkness of the
night, an enemy's ship had approached us unawares. She had
been following the blazes, without seeing the toll-gate, and
the revelations made by the morning's light, must have startled
her ; for she found herself within half a mile of an exceed
ingly saucy-looking gunboat, lying in wait for somebody, or
something. It was nearly calm, and she could not help her
self if she would. On the other hand, the gunboat was de
lighted to see a tall ship, whose masts tapered like a lady's fin
gers, arrayed in the whitest of petticoats — to carry out our
figure — and which, from the course she was steering, was
evidently just out from Yankee-land, with that mail on board,
which we had been anxiously looking for, for several days
past. We were in the midst of the scrubbing and cleaning of
the morning watch, and to effect the capture, it was not even
necessary to lay aside a holy-stone, or a scrubbing-brush. A
gun and a Confederate flag, were all that was required to bring
the tall ship to a halt, and remove her doubts, if she had had
any. She was the John A. Parks, of Hallowell, Maine.
The cargo of the Parks consisted of white pine lumber
which she had taken on board at New York, and she was
bound to Montevideo, or Buenos Ayres, as the consignee
might elect. There was an affidavit found among her papers,
made by one Snyder, before a Mr. Edwards Pierrepont, who
appears to have been acting as British Consul, claiming that
the cargo was shipped on account of a London house. The
real facts of the case, however, as gathered from the correspon
dence, and the testimony of the master, were, that one David-

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 585
son, a lumber dealer in New York had chartered the ship, and
shipped the lumber, in the usual course of his business, to the
parties in Montevideo ; that he had paid most of the freight,
in advance, and insured himself against the war risk, both
apon the cargo and the freight. The manner in which this
case was "put up," in the papers, was an improvement upon
some others I had examined. The New York merchants were
evidently becoming expert in the preparation of bogus certifi
cates. It was no longer merely stated that the property be
longed to "neutral owners," but the owners themselves were
named. In short, the certificate found on board the Parks
was in due form, but unfortunately for the parties who con
trived the clever little plot, the master forgot to throw over-1
board his letter-bag, and among the letters found in that bag,
was one written by Davidson, giving instructions to the con
signees, in which the following expressions occur: "The cargo
of the John A. Parks, I shall have certified to, by the British
Consul, as the property of British subjects. You will find it
a very good cargo, and should command the highest prices."
By the time that I had finished the examination of the case,
Bartelli announced breakfast, and I invited my Hallowell
friend to take a cup of coffee with me, telling him, at the same
time, that I should burn his ship. As weU as I recollect, he
declined the coffee, but I am quite certain that the ship was
burned. The carpenter of the Alabama was thrown into ecsta
sies by this capture. All the other departments of the ship
had been kept well supplied, except his own. The paymaster,
who was also commissary, the boatswain, the sailmaker, had
all been "plundering" the enemy quite extensively, but no
"boards" had come along, until now, for the poor carpenter.
Here they were at last, however, and if I had not put some
restraint upon my zealous officer of the adze and chisel, I be
lieve he would have converted the Alabama into a lumberman.
We received from the Parks, sure enough, the mail we had
been waiting for. There must have been a barrel-full, and more
of newspapers and periodicals, going to the Mcntevideans and
Buenos Ayr cans — many of them in the best of Spanish, and
all explaining the "great moral ideas," on which the Southern
people were being robbed of their property, and having their

586 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
throats cut. We gleaned one gratifying piece of intelligence,
however, from these papers. "The Pirate Florida" had put to
sea from Mobile, to assist the "British Pirate," in plundering,
and burning the "innocent merchant-ships of the United States,
pursuing their peaceful commerce," as Mr. Charles Francis
Adams, so often, and so naively expressed it to Earl Russell.
Whilst the Parks was still burning, an English bark passed
through the toll-gate, the captain of which was prevailed upon,
to take the master of the burning ship, his wife, and two
nephews, to London. We were glad, on the poor lady's ac
count, that she was so soon relieved from the discomforts of
a small and crowded ship.
The next traveller that came along was the Bethiah Thayer,
of Rockland, Maine, last from the Chincha Islands, with a
cargo of guano for the Peruvian Government. The cargo
being properly documented, I put the ship under ransom-bond,
and permitted her to pass. It was Sunday ; the Bethiah was
dressed in a new suit of cotton canvas, and looked quite de
mure and saint-like, while her papers were being examined.
I have no doubt if I had questioned her master, that he would
have been found to have voted for Breckinridge.
I now resolved to fill away, stand down toward the equator,
and hold myself stationary, for a few days, at the " crossing "
of that famous great circle. I was far enough to the eastward,
to make a free wind ofthe north-east trade, and we jogged along
under topsails, making sail only when it became necessary to
chase. We lost our fine weather almost immediately upon
leaving the " crossing," and took a series of moderate gales — -
sometimes, however, reducing us to close reefs — which lasted
us for a week or ten days, or until we began to approach the
rains and calms of the equator. We met a number of sails on
the road, and now and then chased one, but they all proved to
be neutral. On the night of the 15th of March, at a few min
utes before midnight, the weather being thick and murky,
the look-out at the cat-head suddenly cried " sail ho ! close
aboard ;" and in a few minutes a large ship passed us on the
opposite tack, within speaking distance. We hailed, but she
passed on like a goblin ship, without giving us any reply.
She had all sails set, there was no one stirring on board of het

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 587
and the only light that was visible, was the one which twinkled
in the binnacle. We wore ship with all expedition, shook the
reefs out of the topsails, and made sail in pursuit. It took us
some minutes to accomplish this, and by the time we were
well under way, the stranger was nearly out of sight. Both
ships were on a wind, however, and this, as the reader has
seen, was the Alabama's best point of -sailing. Our night-
glasses soon began to tell the usual tale. We were overhaul
ing the chase ; and at a quarter past three, or a little before dawn,
we were near enough to heave her to, with a gun. She proved
to be the Punjaub, of Boston, from Calcutta for London. Her
cargo consisted chiefly of jute and linseed, and was properly
certificated as English property. The goods were, besides, of
foreign growth, and were going from one English port ter
arother. I released her on ransom-bond, and sent on board
of her the prisoners from the last ship burned.
Soon after daylight, we gave chase to another sail in the E.
S. E., with which we came up about eight A. M. She was an
English ship, from the Mauritius, for Cork. She confirmed
our suspicion, that the Yankee ships were avoiding, as a gen
eral rule, the beaten tracks, having spoken one of them on the
"line," bound to the coast of Brazil, which had travelled as
far east as the twenty-third meridian; or about four hundred
miles out of her way. We were still standing to the south
ward, and on the 21st of March we were very near the sun,
for while he was crossing the equator, we were in latitude
2° 47' N.; our longitude being 26° W. On that day, the
weather is thus recorded in my journal: "Cloudy, with
squalls of rain, and the wind shifting, indicating that we have
lost the ' trades.' It is pleasant to hear the thunder roll, for
the first time in several months, sounding like the voice of an
old friend ; and the crew seem to enjoy a ducking from the
heavy showers — rain having been a rare visitor of late."
And on the next day, the following is the record : " Rains,
and calms all day ; the officers and crew alike, are paddling
about the deck in bare feet, and enjoying the pelting of the
rain, like young ducks. Three neutrals, in company, bound
'ike ourselves, across the 'line.' They look, at a distance,
with their drooping sails flapping idly in the calm, as discon
solate as wet barn-yard fowls at home, on a rainy day."

588 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
On the 23d of March, the weather being still as described,
and very little change having taken place in our position, we
made two more captures ; the first, the Morning Star of Boston,
from Calcutta for London, and the second the whaling schooner
Kingfisher, of Fairhaven, Massachusetts. The cargo of the
Morning Star being in the same category as that ofthe Punjaub,
we released her also, on ransom-bond. The Kingfisher we
burned. This adventurous little whaler had a crew of twenty-
three persons, all of whom were Portuguese, except the master,
and mate, and one or two boat-steerers. We set fire to her
just at nightfall, and the conflagration presented a weird-like
spectacle on the "line," amid the rumbling of thunder, the
shifting, but ever black scenery, of the nimbi, or rain clouds,
and the pouring and dashing of torrents of rain. Sometimes
the flames would cower beneath a drenching shower, as
though they had been subdued, but in a moment afterward,
they would shoot up, mast-head high, as brightly and raven
ously as before. The oil in her hold kept her burning on the
surface of the still sea, until a late hour at night.
On the next day, we boarded, as usual, a number of neutral
ships, of different nationalities, some going south, and some
tfoing north. We were at the "crossing" of the equator,
"blazed" by Maury, and with the main topsail at the mast,
were reviewing, as it were, the commerce of the world. We
were never out of sight of ships. They were passing, by
ones, and twos, and threes, in constant succession, wreathed in
rain and mist, and presenting frequently the idea of a funeral
procession. The honest traders were all there, except the
most honest of them all — the Yankees — and they were a little
afraid of the police. Still we managed to catch a rogue now
and then.
On the second day after burning the Kingfisher, we made
two more captures. Late in the afternoon of that day, we de
scried two large ships approaching us, in company. They
came along lovingly, arm-in-arm, as it were, as though in the
light airs and calms that were prevailing, they had been
having a friendly chat, or one of the masters had been dining
on board of the other. They were evidently American ships,
and had most likely been having a cosy talk about the war.

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 589
The "sainted" Abraham's Emancipation Proclamation was the
favorite topic of the day, as we had learned from the mail-
bags of the Parks, and perchance they had been discussing that;
or perhaps the skippers were congratulating themselves upon
having escaped the Alabama; they probably supposing her
to be at the other toll-gate still. Whatever may have been
the subject of their discourse, they evidently pricked up their
ears, as soon as they saw the Alabama, stripped like a gentle
man who was taking it coolly, with nothing buf her topsails
set, and lying across their path. They separated gradually ;
and quietly, and by stealth, a few more studding-sails were
sent up aloft.
It was time now for the Alabama to move. Her main yard was
swung to the full, sailors might have been seen running up aloft,
like so many squirrels, who thought they saw "nuts " ahead, and
pretty soon, upon a given signal the top-gallant sails and royals
might have been seen fluttering in the breeze, for a moment,
and then extending themselves to their respective yard-arms.
A whistle or two from the boatswain and his mates, and the
trysail sheets are drawn aft, and the Alabama has on those
seven-league boots which the reader has seen her draw on so
often before. A stride or two, and the thing is done. First,
the Charles Hill, of Boston, shortens sail, and runs up the " old
flag," and then the Nora, of the same pious city, follows her ex
ample. They were both laden with salt, and both from Liver
pool. The Hill was bound to Montevideo, or Buenos Ayres,
and there was no attempt to cover her cargo. The Nora was
bound to Calcutta, under a charter-party with one W. N. de
Mattos. In the bill of lading, the cargo was consigned to
order, and on the back of the instrument was the following
indorsement : " I hereby certify, that the salt shipped on board
the Nora, is the property of W. N. de Mattos, of London, and
that the said W. N. de Mattos is a British subject, and was so
at the time of the shipment." This certificate was signed by
one H. E. Folk, and at the bottom of the certificate were the
words, "R. C. Gardner, Mayor" — presumed to mean the Mayor
of Liverpool.
Here was a more awkward attempt to cover a cargo than any
of my Yankee friends ef New York or Boston had ever made.

5v0 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
There was very little doubt that the salt was English-owned,
but the certificate, I have recited, did not amount even to an
ex parte affidavit, it not being sworn to. As a matter of course,
I was bound to presume the property to be enemy, it being
found, unprotected by any legal evidence, in an enemy's ship.
The Hill and the Nora were, therefore, both consigned to the
flames, after we had gotten on board from them such articles
as we stood in need of. We received from the two ships be
tween thirty and forty tons of coal, or about two days' steaming.
It took us nearly all the following day to transport it in our
small boats, and we did not set fire to the ships until five in
the afternoon. We received, also, half a dozen recruits from
them. I had now quite as many men as I wanted.
Among the papers of the Hill was found the following brief
letter of instructions from her owner to her master. It is
dated from the good city of Boston, and was written while the
ship was lying at that other good city, Philadelphia. It is ad
dressed to Captain F. Percival, and goes on to say : —
" Dear Sir : — I have received your several letters from Philadel
phia. As a rebel privateer has burned several American ships, it
may be as well if you can have your bills of lading indorsed as
English property, and have your cargo certified to by the British
Consul." Such nice little missives as these, written from one city of
"grand moral ideas," to another city, whose ideas were no less
grand or moral, quietly instructing ship-masters to commit
perjury, were of great assistance to me, when, in the classical
words of the New York " Commercial Advertiser," I had a
" Yankee hash " to deal with.
On the 29th of March we crossed the equator. The event
is thus recorded in my journal: "Crossed the equator at five
p. M. in the midst of a dense rain- squall, with lowering, black
clouds, and the wind from the south-west. We were in chase
of a sail at the time, but lost her in the gloom. It rained all
night, with light airs and calms. We have experienced a south
easterly current, setting at the rate of a knot and a half the
hour, for the last twenty-four-hours." We made our crossing
a little farther to the eastward than usual — 26°— on purpose

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 591
to counteract the Yankee dodge spoken of a little while back.
We now encountered a variety of currents, some setting to
the south-east as just mentioned, others to the east, others to
the south, until finally we fell in with the great equatorial cur
rent setting to the westward.
The study of the phenomena of the currents, is one of the
most interesting that can engage the attention of the marine
philosopher. We have already had occasion to explain the
circulation of the atmosphere — how the wind "cometh and
goeth," not at random, but in obedience to certain well-defined
natural laws. The circulation of the sea is no less regular than
that of the atmosphere, and has equally important offices to
perform. If the sea were a stagnant mass of waters, some por
tions of the earth which now enjoy temperate climates, and
teem with millions of population in the enjoyment of an abun
dant fauna and flora, would be almost uninhabitable because
of the extreme cold. Some portions of the sea would dry up,
and become beds of salt, and others again would, from the
superabundance of precipitation, become fresh, or nearly so.
In short, there would be a general disturbance of the harmo
nies of creation. To obviate this, and' to put the sea in motion,
various agencies have been set at work by the great Architect;
chief among which is the unequal distribution of heat over
the earth's surface. We have already called the sun the Father
of the Winds ; he is equally the father of the currents. The
warm water of the equator is constantly flowing off to the
poles, and the cold water of the poles flowing back, as under
currents, to the equator. This flow is not directly north, or
directly south, but by a variety of tortuous channels. The dif
ferent depths of the ocean, the obstructions of islands, and con
tinents, clouds and sunshine, and a great many other agencies,
combine to give this tortuosity and seeming irregularity to the
currents. Let us take an example. The Alabama has just experienced
a south-east current in a locality where the current sets, as a
general rule, to the westward. How are we to account for
this? It may be due to a variety of causes, all working
in harmony, however, with the general design. In the first
place, it may be a counter-current going to fill the place left
38

592 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
vacant by some other current ; for, as a matter of course, when
a given quantity of water flows away from a place, the same
quantity must flow back to it. Or it may be a principal, and
not an accessory current, set in motion, say by heat. Let us
see how easily this may be^accomplished. Suppose a dense
canopy of clouds to overshadow some considerable space of
the sea, for a day, or it may be, for a few hours only. Whilst
the rays of the sun are shut out from this space, they are pour
ing down their heat with tropical fervor, say to the south of
this cloud-bank. Under the cloud-bank the water is cooling,
beyond the bank it is being heated Under the bank evapora
tion has ceased almost altogether, beyond the bank it is going
on at the rate of about an inch in twenty-four hours. Here
are powerful agencies at work, changing both the temperature,
and specific gravity of the waters.
Waters to be at rest must have the same temperature and
specific gravity. These waters therefore cannot remain at rest,
and a current is the consequence. To-morrow, perhaps, the
process will be reversed* the cloud and the sunshine changing
places, and the current flowing in a contrary direction. These
are local disturbances of the system of oceanic circulation —
little venous derangements, as it were, the great arterial system
not being materially affected by them.
There are other exceedingly beautiful agencies at work, on a
smaller scale, to disturb the oceanic equilibrium, and set the
waters in motion. It has puzzled philosophers to account for
the saltness of the sea. Whatever may be its cause, it plays
a very important part in giving vitality to its circulation. If
sea-water were fresh, evaporation would not produce any
change in its specific gravity. One element of motion, there
fore, would be wanted. But being salt, and the salts not being
taken up by the thirsty air, in the process of evaporation, every
rain-drop that is withdrawn from it, helps to put the currents
in motion.
But these are surface operations ; let us dive beneath the sur
face, and witness some of the wonders that are going on in the
depths below. We have before shown the reader, the coralline
insect, that wonderful little stone-mason of the sea, which, in
the hands of Providence, is the architect of islands and conti
nents. The sea-water is the quarry from which this little

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STaIES. 593
toilsr extracts his tiny blocks of masonry. If the water were
fresh, it would not hold the materials in solution, which he
needs for his work. But being salt, it has just the materials
which he needs.
But how does he affect the currents ? the reader will ask.
As follows : Every particle of solid matter that he extracts
from the sea- water — and he must have limestone to build those
islands and continents of which he is the architect — alters its
specific gravity. The little globule of water, from which he
has just taken the block of stone that would be scarcely vis
ible under a powerful microscope, has become lighter than the
surrounding globules, and ascends to the surface. In obe
dience to the law which we have mentioned, that as much
water must flow back to a place, as flows away from it, a
globule of water from the surface now descends to take the
place of that which has arisen ; descends to the little stone
mason, that he may rob it, in turn, of the block of stone that
it contains. The globules of water thus become the hod-car
riers for these little stone-masons, working away, in countless
myriads, at the bottom of the sea.
But what becomes of this lighter globule of water, whick
has arisen to the surface, because it has been deprived of its
solid matter ? It must flow away somewhere in search of the
salts it has lost, for if it remain stationary, in course of time,
the sea in its neighborhood will all be deprived of its salts,
and there will be no more globules to descend to the little stone
mason. But when the globule starts to flow off, a current is
established. The reader may recollect that when we were at the Azores,
breaking up that Yankee whaling station, we spoke of the
currents, in connection with the whales, and other fishes ; how,
like "reapers and gleaners," they bore to them the food which
was prepared for them in other latitudes. The reader sees,
now, how the currents build the coral bank. Every sea-shell,
as it secretes the solid matter for its edifice, helps on the move
ment set on foot by the coral insect.
On the 3d of April, we observed in latitude 2° 11' S.;
our longitude being 26° 02'. The weather was still thick and
rainy, and w? had fitful gusts of wind, and calms by turns

594 MEMOIRS OI SERVICE AFLOAT
During the morning watch, the dense clouds lifted for a while,
and showed us a fine, tall ship, steering, like ourselves, tc
the southward. We immediately made sail in chase. The
wind was blowing quite fresh from the south-west, at the time,
and we gained very rapidly upon the stranger. At twelve
o'clock the wind died away, and the heavy rains being renewed,
she was entirely shut out from view. We continued the chase
all day ; now being sure of her, and now being baffled by the
ever-shifting clouds, and changing wind and weather. At
length, at five p. M., it being no longer safe to trust to contin
gencies, as night would set in, in another hour, I sent a whale-
boat to board, and halt her, although she was still two miles
distant. The boarding was successfully accomplished, and
just before dark, we could see the stranger's head turned in
our direction. We knew from this circumstance that she -was
a prize, and hoisting a light, as night set in, to guide the board
ing-officer, in an hour or two more she was alongside of us.
The prize proved to be the Louisa Hatch, of Rockland, Maine,
from Cardiff, with a cargo of the best Welsh coal, for Point-de-
Galle, in the island of Ceylon. The bill of lading required the
cargo to be delivered to the " Messageries Imperiales," steam
ship company, and there was a certificate on the back of the
bill of lading to the effect that the coal belonged to that com
pany, but the certificate was not sworn to by the subscriber.
This was tantamount to no evidence at all, and I condemned
both ship and cargo as prize of war. Here was quite a wind
fall — a thousand tons of coal, near the coast of Brazil, where
it was worth $17 per ton. But what was I to do with the
prize ? It would be an interminable job to attempt to supply
myself from her, by means of my boats, and hauling the two
ships alongside of each other, at sea, was not to be thought of.
I was bound to the island of Fernando de Noronha, that being
the second rendezvous which I had assigned to my old Scotch
collier, the Agrippina, and I resolved to take the Hatch in, with
me, to abide contingencies. If the Agrippina should arrive in
due time, I could burn the Hatch ; if not, the Hatch -^ould
supply her place.
This being determined upon, I sent a prize crew on board
the captured ship, and directed the prize-master to keep com
pany with me. We overhauled an English bark, the next

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 595
day, bound from Lisbon to Rio Janeiro, from which we re
ceived some late Portuguese newspapers, of no particular in
terest ; and on the day afterward, we chased what we took cer
tainly to be a Yankee whaling schooner, but which we found,
upon coming up with her, to be a Portuguese. The schooner
was a capital imitation of the "down East" fore-and-after, but
upon being boarded, she not only proved to be foreign built, but
her master and crew were all Portuguese, nearly as black as
negroes, with a regular set of Portuguese papers. What added
considerably to the cheat was, that the little craft had heels,
and I was some two or three hours in coming up with her".
The weather was so thick for the next two or three days,
that it was necessary to keep the prize very close to me, to
prevent losing sight of her. At night I showed her a light
from my peak, and we jogged along within speaking distance
of each other. Having had no observation for fixing the posi
tion of my ship, during the prevalence of this thick weather,
and the direction and velocity of the currents being somewhat
uncertain, I was quite anxious lest I should drift past the
island I was in quest of, and fall upon some of the foul ground
lying between it and the coast of Brazil. On the 9th of April,
the sun showed himself for an hour or two, near noon, and I
got latitude and longitude, and found that we were in the
great equatorial current, as I had supposed, setting us about
S. W. by W. at the rate of a knot and a half per hour. I now
got up steam, and taking the prize in tow, for it was nearly
calm, with but a few cats'-paws playing upon the water, made
the best of my way toward Fernando de Noronha.
At daylight, the next morning, we made the famous peak,
some forty miles distant, and at half-past two p. M. we came to
anchor in thirteen fathoms water. The prize, having been
cast off as we ran in, anchored near us. The Agrippina had
not arrived ; nor did I ever see her afterward. Captain Bul
lock had duly dispatched her, but the worthless old Scotch
master made it a point not to find me, and having sold his
coal in some port or other, I have forgotten where, returned to
England with a cock-and-a-bull story, to account for his failure.
The fact is, the old fellow had become alarmed lest he should
fall into the hands of the Yankees. It was fortunate that I
had not burned the Louisa Hatch.

CHAPTER XLIII.
FERNANDO DE NORONHA  ITS FAMOUS PEAK — IS A
PENAL SETTLEMENT OF BRAZIL — A VISIT FROM THE
GOVERNOR'S AMBASSADORS — A VISIT TO THE GOV
ERNOR IN RETURN — THE ARISTOCRACY OF THE ISL
AND — CAPTURE OF THE LAFAYETTE AND THE KATE
CORY  BURNING OF THE TWO LAST SHIPS, WITH THE
LOUISA HATCH — PRISONERS SENT TO PERNAMBUCO 
THE CLOUD RING, AND THE RAINY AND DRY SEASONS.
FERNANDO DE NORONHA lies not a great way from
Cape St. Roque in Brazil. It forms the western end of a
chain of volcanic islands and deep-sea soundings that extend
some distance along the equator. Earthquakes have been fre
quently experienced by ships when passing along this chain,
and the charts point out a number of supposed dangers here
about. Many of these dangers have no real existence, but still
the prudent mariner gives them a wide berth, when sailing
past the localities assigned them. The island of Fernando de
Noronha is evidently of volcanic origin. Its whole appear
ance indicates that it was thrown from the depths of the sea,
by nature, when in one of her most fearful paroxysms. Its
abrupt and rugged sides of solid rock, rent and torn, and
blackened by the torrents, rise almost perpendicularly from
the waters to the height of several hundred feet.
The famous peak before spoken of, and which the mariner
at sea descries long before the body of the island becomes vis
ible, is a queer freak of nature. It looks as though the giants
had been playing at church-steeples, and had upraised this
immense shaft of granite to mark one of nature's cathedrals.
The illusion is almost perfect. When "land ho !" is first cried
by the look-out at the mast-head, and the glass is applied in
596

MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT. 597
the given direction, the observer is startled at the resemblance.
Nor is his surprise diminished, as his ship approaches nearer,
and the body of the island begins to make its appearance
above the water ; for there is the roof of the massive cathedral,
to which the steeple belongs ! The peak is a mass of solid
granite, shot by the earthquake through the solid crust of
the mountain, and is almost symmetrical enough to have been
shaped by human hands. We lay nearly two weeks at Fer
nando de Noronha, and I was never tired of gazing upon this
wonderful evidence of the power of volcanic forces.
The winds, the rains, and the sunshine have, in the course
of ages, disintegrated enough of the surface of this rocky
island, to form a rich soil, which is covered with a profusion
of tropical vegetation, including forest-trees of considerable
size ; and a number of small farms, with neat farm-houses, add
to the picturesqueness of the scene. Fruits and vegetables,
the Indian corn, and the sugar-cane, flourish in great perfec
tion, and a few ponies and horned cattle have been introduced
from the main land. Swine, goats, and domestic fowls abound.
Fernando de Noronha stands as a great sign-board, as it were,
on the principal commercial thoroughfare of the world. Al
most all the ships that cross the line, from Europe and Amer
ica, to the East Indies and Pacific Ocean, and vice versa, sight
it, for the purpose of taking a new departure from it. The
dwellers on its lonely hills look out upon a constant stream
of commerce, but they are like prisoners looking out from
their prison-windows upon a scene of which they are not a
part. A ship rarely ever touches at the island. There is
nothing to invite communication. It is too insignificant for
traffic, and has no good harbor where a ship could repair
damages or refit. It is, besides, a penal colony of Brazil, to
which it belongs. It is under the government of an officer of
the Brazilian Army, who has a battalion of troops under him,
and hither are sent from Rio Janeiro, and the other cities of
the empire, all the noted criminals who are condemned to long
terms of imprisonment. Very few of the prisoners are kept
in close confinement. The island itself is prison enough, and
there are no possible means of escape from it. The prisoners
are, therefore, permitted to run at large, and mitigate the hor-

598 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
rors of their lot by manual labor on the farms, or engage in
the mechanic arts.
Our arrival was announced in due form to the Governor,
and the paymaster had, besides, at my suggestion, addressed
him a letter on the subject of supplies. In the meantime, we
hauled the Louisa Hatch alongside, and commenced coaling.
The next morning a couple of gentlemen visited me, on the
part of the Governor, to arrange personally with the paymas
ter, the matter of supplies, and to welcome me to the island.
No objection was made to our bringing in the Hatch, or to our
receiving coal from her. The state of my diplomatic relations
with the Governor was thus so satisfactory, that I invited his
ambassadors into the cabin, and summoned Bartelli to provide
champagne. A popping of corks, and a mutual clinking of
glasses ensued, and when we had resumed conversation and
lighted cigars, one of the gentlemen diplomats informed me, in
the most easy and san souciant manner possible, that he was
one of the convicts of the island ! He had been sentenced for
six years, he said, but had nearly served his term out. He was
a German, and spoke very good English. Several of my offi
cers were present, and there was, of course, a casting of glances
from one to the other. But Bartelli, who was still standing a
few paces in the rear, with a fresh bottle of uncorked cham
pagne in his hand, seemed to be most shocked. My faithful
steward felt the honors and dignity of my station much more
than I did myself, and it was amusing to see the smile of
derision and contempt, with which he wheeled round, and
replaced the uncorked bottle in the champagne basket.
The next day, accompanied by my paymaster — by the way,
I have forgotten to mention that I had appointed Dr. Gait, my
esteemed surgeon, paymaster, at the time I made a present of
my former paymaster to Mr. Adams, as related ; and that I
had promoted Dr. Llewellyn to be surgeon — I made a visit
to the Governor at his palace. He had kindly sent horses for
us to the beach, and we had a pleasant ride of about a mile,
before we reached his headquarters. It was about eleven A.
M., when we alighted, and were escorted by an aide-de-camp to
his presence. The Governor was a thin, spare man, rather
under the medium height, and of sprightly manners and con-

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 599
versation. His complexion, like that of most Brazilians, was
about that of a side of tanned sole-leather. His rank was that
of a major in the Brazilian Army He received us very cor
dially. We found him at breakfast with his family and some
guests, and he insisted that we should be seated at the break
fast-table, and partake of a second breakfast, though we en
deavored to decline. The meal was quite substantial, consist
ing of a variety of roast meats, as well as fruits and vegetables.
As soon as I could find a little time to look around me, I
discovered that her ladyship, the governess, was a very sprightly
and not uncomely mulatto, and that her two little children, who
were brought to me with all due ceremony, to be praised, and
have their heads patted, had rather kinky, or, perhaps, I should
say curly, hair. But I was a man of the world, and was not
at all dismayed by this discovery ; especially when I observed
that my vis-a-vis — one ofthe guests — was a beautiful blonde,
of sweet seventeen, with a complexion like a lily, tinted with
the least bit of rose, and with eyes so melting and lovely, that
they looked as though they might have belonged to one of the
houris, of whom that old reprobate Mahomet used to dream.
To set off her charms still further, she was arrayed in a robe
of the purest white, with a wreath of flowers in her flaxen
hair. She was a German, and was seated next to her father, a
man of about sixty, who, as the Governor afterward informed
me, was one of his chief criminals.
The Governor seeing me start a little as he gave me this in
formation, made haste to explain, that his guest was not of the
canaille, or common class of rogues, but a gentleman, who, in
a moment of weakness, had signed another gentleman's name
to a check for a considerable amount, which he had been clever
enough to have cashed. " He is only a forger, then ! " said I
to the Governor. "That is all," replied he; "he is a very
clever old gentleman, and, as you see, he has a very pretty
daughter." There was certainly no gainsaying the latter propo
sition. The chaplain of the penal colony — which numbered
about one thousand convicts, the entire population of the
island being about two thousand — a portly and dignified
priest, was also at the breakfast-table, and my paymaster and
myself spent a very pleasant halfhour around this social board,

600 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
at which were represented so many of the types of mankind,
and so different moral elements.
From the breakfast-table, we retired to a withdrawing-room,
which was pretty well filled when we entered, showing that his
Excellency had done me the honor to get some guests together
to greet me. The paymaster and myself were personally pre
sented to most of these distinguished gentlemen — some mili
tary men, some civilians. Among others, was present the am
bassador ofthe day previous, who had given such a shock to Bar-
telli's nerves, as to render him incapable of doing that which he
loved above all other things to do — draw a champagne cork for
the Captain's guests, whom he regarded, after a certain fashion,
as his own. The Governor had evidently been select in his
society, for most of these gentlemen were not only well dressed,
tbut well-mannered, and some of them were even distinguished
iin appearance. They were mostly homicides and forgers, and
seemed rather to pride themselves upon the distinction which
they had attained in their professions. There was one young
fellow present, upon whom all seemed to look with admiration.
He was a dashing young German, who had evidently driven fast
horses, and kept the best of company. He wore an elaborately
embroidered shirt-bosom, on which glittered a diamond brooch
of great brilliancy, and there were chains hung about his neck,
and signet and other rings on his fingers. This fellow was such
a master of the pen, that he could cheat any man out of his signa
ture, after having seen him write but once. To give us an ex
ample of his skill, he sketched, whilst we were talking to him,
the Alabama, and her surroundings, as they appeared from the
window of the saloon in which we were sitting, so perfectly,
with pen and ink, as to create a murmur of applause among
the bystanders. This charming young gentleman had " done "
the Bank of Rio Janeiro out of a very large sum, which
was the cause of his being the guest of the Governor.
Wine and cigars were brought in, and as we chatted, and
smoked with these fellows, the paymaster, and I were highly
amused — amused at our own situation, and by the variety of
characters by whom we were surrounded. The levee being at
an end, the Governor ordered horses, and, accompanied by an
orderly, we rode over his dominions. It was in the midst of
Hon rainy season, and the island was almost constantly wreathed

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 601
in mists and rain, but as these rains continue for months, no
one thinks of housing himself on account of them.
We passed within a stone's throw of the Peak, and were
more struck than ever, with the grandeur of its proportions
and the symmetry of its form. The island is broken and pic
turesque, as all volcanic countries are, and in the midst of the
rains, it was one mass of rank vegetation, it being as much as
the farmers could do to keep a few patches of cultivation free
from the encroaching weeds and jungle. We had not been
in the saddle more than twenty minutes, when a heavily laden,
vaporous cloud swept over us, and drenched us to the skin.
But I found that this was not to interfere, in the least, with our
ride. Its only effect was, to induce the Governor to call a tem
porary halt, at a Manioc factory, in which he was interested,
and whistle up a boy, who brought each of us a very small
glass filled with the villanous aguadiente of the country. The
Governor tossed his off at a single gulp, and not to be dis
courteous, we made wry faces, and disposed of as much of ours
as we could.
We passed through tangled forests, the trees of which were
all new to us, and through dells and ravines, in which the liv
ing, and the decaying vegetation seemed to be struggling for
the mastery, and emerged in a beautiful cocoanut plantation,
on the south end of the island, which lay only a few feet above
the sea-level. I was now at the end of the Governor's domin
ions — an hour's ride had brought me from the sea, on one
side of them, to the sea, on the other, and there was nothing
more to be seen. Other showers coming on, we entered a tiny
country house of the Governor's, and had some grapes, figs,
and melons brought in to us by the major domo. The green
cocoanut was brought to us among other delicacies, to be eaten
with spoons. We were quite amused at the manner in which
these nuts were gathered. The major domo called a boy, and
tying his legs together, just above the ankles, so that the
ankles were about six inches apart, set him down at the foot
of a tree. Thesr trees, as the reader knows, grow to a great
height, are perfectly cylindrical, and have not an excrescence
of any kind from root to top ; and yet the boy, by the aid of
the bandage described, wriggled himself to the top of one of
the tallest, with the agility of a squirrel.

602 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
There being at length a pause in the rains, the sun even
peeping through an occasional rift in the ragged and watery
clouds, we remounted, and rode back. The tiny mountain
paths had, many of them, by this time become rills and tor
rents, and our horses were frequently knee-deep in water.
The paymaster and I pulled on board at five p. M., without
having suffered any inconvenience, either from the rains, or
the Governor's aguadiente; nor did our morals suffer materi
ally by what we had seen and heard in the island of Fernando
de Noronha. The next morning the Governor's wife sent me
a fat turkey for dinner, accompanied by the most charming of
bouquets. This was evidently my reward for patting the
little curly heads of her children. My diplomacy from this
time onward was all right. I did not hear a word from the
Governor, or any one in authority, about neutral rights, or the
violation of neutral jurisdictions. Brazil had, I knew, followed
the lead of the European powers, in excluding prizes from her
ports, and I had fully expected to receive some remonstrance
against my bringing in the Louisa Hatch, but Madame was too
strong for the Governor, and, as the reader has seen, I received
fat turkeys, and bouquets, instead of remonstrances. The
anchorage being nothing but an open roadstead, we soon found
it too rough to permit a ship to lie alongside of us, and so
were obliged to haul the Hatch off to her anchors, and continue
our coaling with boats. This was rather a tedious process,
and it was not until the 15th of April, or five days after our
arrival, that we were coaled.
We had not once thought of a prize, since we came in. Our
whole attention had been given to coaling ship, and refitting
for another cruise, refreshing the crew, and attending to the
ladies at the Government House. But the ubiquitous Yankee
would turn up in spite of us. Just as we had gotten our last
boat-load of coal on board, two ships appeared off the harbor,
and were seen to heave to, and lower boats. We soon made
them out to be whalers, and knew them to be American,
though they had not as yet hoisted any colors. The boats
pulled in apace, and soon entered the harbor. They contained
the masters of the two whalers, who had come in to barter a
little whale oil for supplies. The Alabama waf lying, without

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 603
any colors hoisted, as was her wont while she remained at this
island, and, of course, the Louisa Hatch, her prize, had none
set. The boats pulled in quite unsuspiciously, and observing
that the Hatch was an American-built ship, went alongside of
her. The prize-master, who was taking it easily, in his shirt
sleeves, and so had no uniform on which could betray him,
went to the gangway and threw them a rope. The two masters
declined to come on board, as they were in a hurry, they said,
but remained some time in conversation — the prize-master,
who was an Englishman, endeavoring to play Yankee, the
best he could. He repeatedly invited them to come on board,
but they declined. They wanted to know what steamer " that
was," pointing to the Alabama,. They were told that it was a
Brazilian packet-steamer, come over to the colony to bring
some convicts. " What are you doing here," they now inquired.
"We sprang a pretty bad leak, in a late gale, and have come
in to see if we can repair damages." Presently there was a
simultaneous start, on the part of both the boat's crews, and
the words "starn, all!" being bawled, rather than spoken,
both boats backed out, in " double quick," and put off, with
the most vigorous strokes of their oars, for the shore, like men
who were pulling for their lives. The prize-master, a little
astonished at this sudden movement, looked around him to
see what could have caused it. The cause was soon apparent.
A small Confederate flag — a boat's ensign — had been thrown
by the coxswain of one of the boats on the spanker -boom to
dry, and while the conversation was going on, a puff of wind
had blown out the folds, and disclosed the little tell-tale to the
gaze of the astonished whalers. It was not precisely a Gor
gon's head ; they did not turn to stone, but perhaps there was
some of the tallest pulling done, that day, at Fernando de
Noronha, that was ever done by a Yankee boat's crew.
In the meantime, the "Brazilian packet-steamer" having
gotten up steam, was moving quietly out of the harbor, to look
after the ships outside. They were still lying to, and fortu
nately for me, they were four or five miles off; outside of the
charmed marine league. There was an outlying shoal or two,
in the direction in which they were, and this was the reason,
probably, why they had not ventured nearer. It did not take

604 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
us 1 ,ng to come up with them. We fired the usuaJ gun as we
approached, and as there was no occasion for ruse, we-showed
them our own flag. They saw in a moment that their fate was
sealed, and did not attempt to stir, but hoisted the United
States colors, and patiently waited to be taken possession of.
The first we came up with, was the bark Lafayette, of New
Bedford. There were no papers to be examined — the mate, in
the absence of the captain, having thrown them overboard, as
we approached — and we gave her a short shrift. She was
burning brightly, in less than an hour. We now ranged up
alongside of the other, which proved to be the hermaphrodite
brig, Kate Cory, of Westport. Instead of burning the Cory, I
took her in tow, and stood back to the anchorage with her, it
being my intention to convert her into a cartel, and dispatch
her to the United States, with my prisoners, who were now
quite as numerous as my crew, there being 110 of them. By
seven p. M., we had again anchored in our old berth ; the burn
ing ship outside lighting us into the roadstead, and throwing a
bright glare over much of the island. A number of ships that
passed Fernando de Noronha that night, must have been aston
ished at this illumination of the lonely mile-post. The sea was
smooth, and the ship was still burning, the next morning,
though by this time she had drifted so far, that there was no
thing visible except a column of smoke. I afterward changed
my determination of converting the Cory into a cartel. A
small Brazilian schooner having come into the anchorage,
offered to take all my prisoners to Pernambuco, if I would
provision them, and give her, besides, a few barrels of pork
and flour for her trouble. This I at once consented to do, and
the Governor having no objection, the arrangement was forth
with made. I was thus enabled to burn the Cory, and to put
the enemy, to the expense of sending his released prisoners to
the United States. I burned the Louisa Hatch along with the
Cory, having no farther use for her; taking the pains to send
them both beyond the marine league, that I might pay due
respect to the jurisdiction of Brazil.
And now we were ready for sea again, though I remained
a few days longer at my anchors, hoping that the Agrippina
might arrive. She was past due, but I had not yet given up
all hope of her.

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 605
We were now getting well along into the latter part of
April, and a great change was taking place in the weather. It
had been raining, as the reader has observed, ever since we
reached the vicinity of the equator. The rains were now becom
ing less frequent, from day to day, and we had the showers agree
ably alternated with sunshine. The rainy season was passing
away, and the dry season was about to set in. I watched this
phenomenon with great interest — all the more narrowly, be
cause I had nothing to do, but look out for the weather, and
the Agrippina ; except, indeed, to attend to the refreshment, and
recreation of my crew, and send Bartelli on shore, occasionally,
with messages to the ladies at the Government House. The
reader, who has now been a passenger with us for some time,
has watched the trade-winds, as he has crossed the tropics, and
has fanned himself and panted for breath, when we have been
working our tedious way through the calm-belts. " He has
seen how this system of trade- winds and calm-belts wanders
up and down the earth, from north to south, and south to north,
drawn hither and thither by the sun. But we have had no
conversation, as yet, about the Equatorial Cloud Ring. He
has been, for the last three weeks, under this very Cloud Ring,
but has probably failed to remark it. He has only seen that
the flood-gates of the heavens have been raised, and witnessed
the descending torrents, and the roll of the thunder, and the
play of the lightning, without stopping to ask himself the
reason. Let us pause a moment, and look into this beautiful phe
nomenon of the Equatorial Cloud Ring, before we flit away to
other seas, and are absorbed by new phenomena. The north
east and south-east trade-winds, meeting near the equator,
produce the Cloud Ring. Let us suppose the Alabama back
at the crossing of the 30th parallel, where, as the reader will
recollect, we established the toll-gate. She had, whilst there,
a high barometer. Starting thence on her way to the equator,
as soon as she enters the north-east trade, she finds that her
barometer settles a little — perhaps a tenth of an inch on an
average. The reader has seen, that we had, whilst passing
through this region, a series of half gales, and bad weather ;
but this was an exceptional state of the atmospheric phe-

606 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
nomena. The normal condition of the weather is that of a
clear sky, with passing trade-clouds, white and fleecy, and
with moderate breezes. If the reader has watched his barome
ter narrowly, he has observed a very remarkable phenomenon,
which is not known to prevail outside of the trade- wind belts —
an atmospheric tide. The atmosphere ebbs and flows as regu
larly as the sea. This atmospheric tide is due, no doubt, to
the same cause that produces the aqueous tides — the attrac
tion of the moon. It occurs twice in twenty -four hours, just
like the aqueous tides, and there is no other cause to which
we can attribute it.
The needle has a like semi-diurnal — indeed, hourly varia
tion — showing the normal, electrical condition of the atmos
phere. The atmospherical, tidal wave, as it ebbs and flows,
seems to carry the needle backward and forward with it.
The average barometer being but a very little under thirty,
there is an agreeable elasticity in the atmosphere, and officers,
and crew are generally in fine spirits. The sailors enjoy their
evening dances, and story -tellings, and when the night-watches
are set, sleep with impunity about the decks — guarded, how
ever, by those woollen garments, of which I spoke, when de
scribing our routine life. But observe, now, what a change
will take place, as we approach the equator. We are ap
proaching not only the calm-belt, which has been before de
scribed, but the Cloud Ring, for the latter is the concomitant
of the former. The winds die away, the muttering of thunder
is heard, and a pall of black clouds, along which dart frequent
streaks of lightning, is seen hanging on the verge of the
horizon, ahead of the ship. As she advances, fanned along
by puffs of wind from various quarters, she loses sight of the
sun altogether, and enters beneath the belt of clouds, where
she is at once deluged with rain. She is at once in the equa
torial calm-belt, and under the Equatorial Cloud Ring.
The north-east and south-east trade-winds, as they came
sweeping along, charged to saturation with the vapors which
they have licked up from a torrid sea, have ascended as they
met, and when they have reached the proper dew-point, or
point of the wet-bulb of the thermometer, precipitation has
commenced. The barometer falls another tenth of an inch, or

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 607
so, all elasticity departs from the atmosphere, and officers and
crew lose their cheerfulness. They feel all the lassitude
and weariness of men in a perpetual vapor-bath. The sailor
no longer mounts the ratlines, as if he had cork in his heels,
but climbs up sluggishly and slothfully, devoid of his usual
pride to be foremost. In other words, though not absolutely
sick, he is "under the weather." The rays of the sun being
perpetually excluded, the thermometer stands lower under the
Cloud Ring, than on either side of it. At least this is the
normal condition. Sometimes, however, the most oppressive
heats occur. They are local, and of short duration. These
local heats are occasioned as follows : When a cooler stratum
of the upper air sweeps down nearer the earth than usual,
^bringing with it the dew-point, condensation takes place so
near the surface, that the rain-drops have not time to cool, at
the same time that an immense quantity of latent heat has
been liberated in the act of condensation. At other times,
when the dew-point is far removed from the earth, the latent
heat is not only thrown off at a greater distance from us, but
the rain-drops cool in their descent, and greatly reduce the
temperature. The Cloud Ring is being perpetually formed, and is perpetu
ally passing away. Fresh volumes of air, charged as described,
are constantly rushing in from the north and from the south,
and as constantly ascending, parting with a portion of their
water, and continuing their journey to the poles, in obedience
to the laws providing for the equal distribution of rain to the
two hemispheres, before explained. The Cloud Ring encircles
the entire earth, and if it could be viewed by an eye at a dis
tance from our planet, would appear like a well-defined black
mark drawn around an artificial globe. Its width is consider
able, being from three to six degrees.
It remains to speak of the offices which this remarkable ring
performs. It is an important cog-wheel in the great atmos
pherical machine, for the distribution of water over the earth;
but, besides its functions in the general system, it has local
duties to perform. These are the hovering by turns over cer
tain portions of the earth, giving them an alternation of rain
and sunshine. In short, it causes the rainy, and dry seasons
39

608

MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT

in certain parallels, north and south, within the limits assigned
to it. The ancients were of the opinion that the equatorial
regions of the earth were a continuous, burning desert, devoid
of vegetation, and of course uninhabitable; and perhaps this
opinion would not be very far wrong, but for the arrangement
of which I am about to speak. The Cloud Ring is a part of the
system of calm-belts, and trade-winds. It overhangs the equa
torial calm-belt, as has been stated, and it travels north and
south with it. It travels over as much as twenty degrees of
latitude — from about 5° S. to 15° N., carrying, as before re
marked, rain to the regions over which it hovers, and letting
in the sunshine upon those regions it has left. If the reader
will inspect a map, he will find that it extends as far into our
hemisphere, as the island of Martinique, in the West Indies.
Fernando de Noronha, where we are now lying in the Alabama,
is near its southern limit, being in the latitude of about 4° &

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 609
The reader has seen that the rainy season was still prevailing,
when we arrived at this island, on the 10th of April; and that
it had begun to pass away, while we still lay there — the rain
and the sunshine playing at "April showers." The preceding
diagram will explain how the Cloud Ring travels: —
Figure 1 represents the island of Fernando de Noronha still
under the Cloud Ring. It is early in April, and only about
three weeks have elapsed since the sun crossed the equator on
his way back to the northern hemisphere. When he was in the
southern hemisphere, he had drawn the ring so far south, as to
cover the island. His rays had been shut out from it, and it
was constantly raining. The little island would have been
drowned out, if this state of things had continued ; but it was
not so ordered by the great Architect.
Suppose now a month to elapse. It is early in May, and
behold ! the sun has travelled sufficiently far north, to draw
the Cloud Ring from over the island, and leave it in sunshine,
as represented in figure 2. Thus the island is neither parched
by perpetual heat, nor drowned by perpetual rains, but its
climate is delightfully tempered by an alternation of each, and
it has become a fit abode for men and animals.
As we have seen in a former chapter, a benign Providence
has set the trade-winds in motion, that they might become the
water-carriers of the earth, ordering them, for this purpose, to
cross the equator, each into the hemisphere of the other. We
now see that he has woven, with those same winds, a shield,
impenetrable to the sun's rays, which he holds in his hand, as
it were, first over one parched region of the earth, and then
over another — the shield dropping "fatness" all the while!

CHAPTER XLIV.
THE ALABAMA LEAVES FERNANDO DE NORONHA FOR A
CRUISE ON THE COAST OF BRAZIL — ENTERS THE
GREAT HIGHWAY AND BEGINS TO OVERHAUL THE
TRAVELLERS — CAPTURE OF THE WHALER NYE; OF
THE DORCAS PRINCE; OF THE UNION JACK; OF THE
SEA LARK — A REVEREND CONSUL TAKEN PRISONER
— ALABAMA GOES INTO BAHIA — WHAT OCCURRED
THERE — ARRIVAL OF THE GEORGIA — ALABAMA PRO
CEEDS TO SEA AGAIN — CAPTURES THE FOLLOWING
SHIPS: THE GILDERSLIEVE ; THE JUSTINA ; THE JA
BEZ SNOW; THE AMAZONIAN, AND THE TALISMAN.
THE 22d of April having arrived, we gave up all further
hopes of the Agrippina, and went to sea. As we 'passed
out of the roadstead, we cut adrift the four whale-boats which
we had brought in from the captured whalers, rather than
destroy them. They would be valuable to the islanders, who
had treated us kindly, and it was amusing to see the struggle
which took place for the possession of them. The good people
seemed to have some anticipation of what was to take place,
and all the boatmen of the island had assembled to contest the
prizes, in every description of craft that would float, from the
dug-out to the tidy cutter. The boatmen stripped themselves
like athletes for the fray, and as whale-boat after boat was cut
adrift, there was a pulling and splashing, a paddling and a
screaming that defy all description ; the victors waving their
hats, and shouting their victory and their good-bye to us, in
the same breath.
We steamed due east from the island some forty miles, when
we let our steam go down, raised the propeller, and put the
610

MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT. 611
ship under sail. The Alabama, with full coal-bunkers and a
refreshed crew, was again in pursuit of the enemy's commerce.
I had at last accomplished my cherished design — which had
been frustrated in the Sumter — of a cruise on the coast of
Brazil. In my stanch and fleet little ship, I was in a condi
tion to defy both winds and currents. On the day after leav
ing Fernando de Noronha, I observed in latitude 5° 45' S..
and had thus run entirely from under the Cloud Ring. We
were met by a bright sky, and the first gentle breathings of
the south-east trade. This change in the weather had an elec
tric effect upon my people. Cheerfulness returned to their
countenances, and elasticity to their step. It took us some
time to dry and ventilate the ship, the rigging being filled, for
a day or two, with wet pea-jackets and mattresses, and the
decks strewed with mouldy boots and shoes.
Before we had been twenty-four hours at sea, the usual bugle-
note was sounded from the mast-head, and the Alabama had
pricked up her ears in chase. It was another unfortunate
whaler. The fates seemed to have a grudge against these New
England fishermen, and would persist in throwing them in my
way, although I was not on a whaling-ground. This was the
sixteenth I had captured — a greater number than had been
captured from the English by Commodore David Porter, in
his famous cruise in the Pacific, in the frigate Essex, during
the war of 1812. The prize proved to be the bark Nye, of
New Bedford. This bluff old whaler was returning home
from a cruise of thirty-one months in the far-off Pacific, dur
ing which her crew had become almost as much Sandwich
Islanders, as Americans in appearance, with their garments so
saturated with oil that they would have been quite valuable
to the soap-boiler. She had sent " home " one or two cargoes
of oil, and had now on board 425 barrels more. It seemed
a pity to break in upon the menage of these old salts, who had
weathered so many gales, and chased the whale through so
many latitudes, but there was no alternative. The New Eng
land wolf was still howling for Southern blood, and the least
return we could make for the howl, was to spill a little " ih"
Everything about the Nye being greased to saturation, she
made a splendid conflagration.

612 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
The next day the wind freshened, and we might now be said
to be in the well-pronounced south-east trades. Indeed, it blew
so fresh at nightfall, that we took the single reefs in the top
sails. We were jogging along leisurely on the great Brazilian
highway, waiting for the passengers, rather than hunting them
up. Presently another came along — a fine, taunt ship, that
represented the boxes and bales of merchandise, rather than
harpoons and whale-oil. We gave chase under the enemy's
colors, but the chase was coy and shy, and refused to show
colors in return, until she was commanded to do so by a gun.
The stars and stripes, which now fluttered to the breeze, suffi
ciently explained her reluctance. Upon being boarded she
proved to be the Dorcas Prince, of New York, bound for
Shanghai. Her cargo consisted chiefly of coal. She had been
fourty-four days out, an unusually long passage, and what was
quite wonderful for an American ship, she had no documents
on board from the college, either of the political or religious
propaganda, and only three or four old newspapers. When
we learned she was from New York, we had been in hopes of
capturing a mail. We burned her as soon as we could trans
fer her crew, there being no claim of neutral cargo found
among her papers. Her master had his wife on board, which
resulted, as usual, in sending one of my young lieutenants into
the "country."
Reducing sail again, we jogged along as before, but for the
next few days we overhauled nothing but neutrals. A St.
John's, New Brunswick, ship, brought us the mail we had ex
pected to receive by the Dorcas Prince, but it contained noth
ing of interest. On the 3d of May, the weather being fine,
though interrupted occasionally by a rain-squall, we gave
chase, about eleven A. M., to a clipper-ship, with square yards,
white canvas, and long mast-heads — and the reader must be
enough of an expert, by this time, to know what these mean.
In an hour and a half of fine sailing, we came near enough to
the chase, to make her show the Federal colors, and heave to.
She proved to be the Union Jack, of Boston, bound for Shang
hai. Whilst we had been pursuing the Union Jack, another
"suspicious" sail hove in sight, and as soon as we could throw
a prize-crew on board of the former, we started off in pursuit

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 613
of the latter. This second sail proved also to be a prize, being
the Sea Lark, of New York, bound for San Francisco. Here
were two prizes, in as many hours.
There was no attempt to cover the cargo of the Sea Lark,
and the only attempt that was made in the case of the Union
Jack, was made by one Allen Hay, who was anxious to save
five cases of crackers, and ten barrels of butter from capture.
In this case, a Mr. Thomas W. Lillie, made oath before the
British Consul in New York, that the said articles were shipped
"for and on account of subjects of her Britannic Majesty."
The reader has seen me burn several other ships, with similar
certificates, the reasons for which burnings were assigned at
the time. I will not stop, therefore, to discuss this. In due
time both ships were consigned to the flames. I was sorry to
find three more women, and two small children on board of
the Union Jack. That ship was, in fact, about to expatriate
herself for several years, after the fashion of many of the Yan
kee ships in the Chinese coasting-trade, and the master was
taking his family out to domicile it somewhere in China.
There were several male passengers also on board this ship,
among them an ex-New-England parson, the Rev. Franklin
Wright, who was going out as Consul to Foo Chow. The
Rev. Mr. Wright had been editor of a religious paper for some
years, in one of the New England villages, and probably owed
his promotion to the good services he had rendered in hurry
ing on the war. He had Puritan written all over his lugu
brious countenance, and looked so solemn, that one wondered.
how he came to exchange the clergyman's garb for the garb
of Belial. But so it was ; Franklin was actually going out to
India, in quest of the dollars. We deprived him of his Con
sular seal and commission, though we did not molest his pri
vate papers, and of sundry very pretty Consular flags, that had
been carefully prepared for him by Mr. Seward, fils, at the
State Department, in Washington. I am pained to see, by that
"little bill" of Mr. Seward, pere, against the British Govern
ment, for " depredations of the Alabama," before referred to,
that the Rev. Mr. Wright puts his damages down at $10,015.
I had no idea that a New England parson carried so much
plunder about with him.

614 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
We received large mails from these two last ships, and had
our "moral ideas" considerably expanded, for the next few
days, by the perusal of Yankee newspapers. We found among
other interesting items, a vivid synopsis of the war news, in a
speech of Governor Wright, of Indiana, who, if I mistake not,
had been charge" to Berlin, where he had been in the habit of
holding conventicles and prayer-meetings. The Governor ia
addressing a meeting ofthe "truly loil" at Philadelphia, and
among other things, said: —
" The stars and stripes now wave over half the slave grounds.
I believe in less than thirty days we will open the Mississippi and
take Charleston. [Loud applause.] Leave Virginia alone, that
can't sprout a black-eyed pea. [Laughter.] Scripture teaches us
that no people can live long where there is no grass. The question
then is only, whether they can live thirty or sixty days."
Thus, amid the laughter and jeers of an unwashed rabble, did
an ex-Governor, and ex-U. S. Minister, gloat over the prospect
of starving an entire people, women and children included.
Did we need other incitement on board the Alabama, to apply
a well-lighted torch to the enemy's ships ?
There were copious extracts from the English papers found
in this mail, and I trust the reader will excuse me, while I
give a portion of a speech made to his constituents, by a mem
ber of the British Parliament, who was also a member of the
cabinet. The speaker is Mr. Milner Gibson, President of the
Board of Trade. A great war, which covered a continent
with the fire and smoke of battle, was raging between a people,
who were the near kinsmen of the speaker. Battles were
being fought daily, that dwarfed all the battles that had gone
before them. Feats of brilliant courage were being performed,
on both sides, that should have made the blood of the speaker
course more rapidly through his veins, and stir to their depths
the feelings of humanity and brotherhood. Under such cir
cumstances, what think you, reader, was the subject of Mr.
Gibson's discourse ? It was bacon and eggs ! Listen: —
"Now," continues Mr. Gibson, "these large importations of
foreign wheat and flour, and other provisions, into this country,
must, to some extent, have tended to mitigate the distress, and

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 615
have enabled many to provide for the wants of others out of their
own surplus means. But supposing that the Government of this
jountry had been induced, as they were urged frequently, to involve
themselves in interference in the affairs of the United States ; sup
posing, by some rash and precipitate recognition of those who are
conducting hostilities against the United States — called the Con
federate States of America — we had brought ourselves into col
lision with the United States, where would have been this flour,
and ham, and bacon, and eggs ? I suppose, if we had been com
pelled to take up arms against the United States, by any unfortu
nate policy, blockading would have been resorted to, and we should
have been obliged to establish a blockade of the coast of America,
for the very purpose of keeping out of this country all this wheat,
flour, and eggs which have gone to mitigate the distress of the
cotton industry in the present alarming state of affairs. We have
from the commencement carried out the doctrine of non-interven
tion. We have endeavored to preserve a strict neutrality between
the two contending parties. It was impossible to avoid recognizing
the belligerent rights of the South at the outset of the contest,
because it was a contest of "such magnitude, and the insurgents, as
they were called, were so numerous and so powerful, that it would
have been impossible to recognize them in any other capacity but
as persons entitled to bear arms ; and if we had not done so, and
if their armed vessels found on the seas were treated as pirates, il
must be obvious to every one that this would have been an unpar
alleled course of action. We were compelled to recognize the bel
ligerent rights of the South, but there has been no desire on the
part of the Government to favor either the one side or the other.
My earnest desire is to preserve strict neutrality ; and, whatever
may be my individual feelings — for we must have our sympathies
on the one side or the other — whatever may be my feelings as a
member of Parliament and the executive administration, I believe
it to be for the interest of England that this neutrality should be
observed." Poor old John Bull ! What a descent have we here, from
the Plantagenets to Mr. Milner Gibson ? From Coeur de Leon,
"striking for the right," to Mr. Milner Gibson, of the Board
of Trade, advising his countrymen to smother all their more
noble and generous impulses, that they might continue to fry
cheap bacon and eggs I
We had been working our way, for the last few days,
toward Bahia, in Brazil, and being now pretty well crowded
with prisoners, having no less than the crews of four captured
ships on board, I resolved to run in and land them. We
anchored about five P. M., on the 11th of May. Bahia if) the

616 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
second city, in size and commercial importance, in the Bra
zilian empire. We found a large number of ships at anchor
in the harbor, but no Yankees among them. The only man-
of-war present was a Portuguese. We were struck with the
spaciousness of the bay, and the beauty of the city as we ap
proached. The latter crowns a crescent-shaped eminence, and
its white houses peep cosily from beneath forest-trees, of the
richest and greenest foliage. The business part of the city
lies at the foot of the crescent, near the water's edge. It, too,
looks picturesque, with its quays, and shipping, and tugs, and
wherries. But, as is the case with most Portuguese towns —
for the Brazilians are only a better class of Portuguese — the
illusion of beauty is dispelled, as soon as you enter its narrow
and crooked streets, and get sight of its swarthy population,
the chief features of which are sombreros and garlic. We were
boarded by the health-officer just at dark, and admitted to
pratique. The next morning, the weather set in gloomy and rainy.
The requisite permission having been obtained, we landed our
prisoners, there being upward of a hundred of them. Parson
Wright here took the back track, I believe. Whether, after
stating his grievances at the State Department in Washington,
he renewed his commission, and proceeded, in some more for
tunate Yankee ship to Foo Chow, or went back to his religious
paper, and his exhortations against the Southern heathen, I
have never learned. The reverend gentleman forgot his Chris
tian charity, and did not come to say "good-bye," when he
landed, though we had treated him with all due consideration.
I had now another little diplomatic matter on my hands. I
had scarcely risen from the breakfast-table, on the morning
after my arrival, when an aide-de-camp of the Governor, or
rather President of the Department, came off to see me on offi
cial business. He brought on board with him a copy of the
" Diario de Bahia," a newspaper very respectable for its size and
typography, containing an article, which I was requested to
read, and answer in writing. This I promised to do, and the
messenger departed. I found, upon glancing over the article,
which filled a couple of columns, that it was a Yankee pro
duction done into very good Portuguese — the joint work,

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 617
probably, of the Yankee Consul at Pernambuco, where the
article had originated — for it had been copied into the Bahia
paper — and the President of that province. It was written after
the style of a proclamation, was signed by the President, and
strangely enough addressed to myself — supposed to be still at
Fernando de Noronha, with the Alabama. After charging me
with sundry violations of the neutrality of Brazil, it ordered
me to depart the island, within twenty-four hours.
Instead of sending a ship of war, to examine into the facts,
and enforce his order, if necessary, the President had been
satisfied to send this paper bullet after me. It reminded me
very much of the " stink-pots," which the Chinese are in the
habit of throwing at their enemies, and I could not restrain a
smile, as I called upon Bartelli to produce my writing materials.
The aide-de-camp who had brought me the paper, had brought
off a message, along with it, from the President, to the effect
that he desired I would hold no communication with the shore,
until I had answered the article ; which was tantamount to in
forming me, that he was somewhat in doubt whether he would
permit me to communicate at all or not. I really wanted noth
ing — though I afterward took in a few boat-loads of coal,
merely to show the President that I was disposed to be civil —
and this consideration, along with the fact, that I had the
heaviest guns in the harbor, induced me to be rather careless,
I am afraid, in the choice of phraseology, as I penned my de
spatch. I simply charged that the whole proclamation was a
budget of lies, and claimed that I had been insulted by the
Government of Brazil, by the lies having been put into an
official shape by it, without first communicating with me.
The Brazilians are a very polite people, and my reply was
"perfectly satisfactory." Jack went on shore, and had his
frolic, and the Alabama remained a week in the port, enjoying
the hospitalities of the numerous English, and other foreign
residents. Among other entertainments, we had a splendid
ball given us by Mr. Ogilvie, a British merchant, at which
much of the foreign and native beauty was present. Mr. Ogil-
vie's tasteful residence overlooked the bay from the top of the
crescent I have described ; his grounds, redolent of the per
fumes of tropical flowers, were brilliantly illuminated, and a

618 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
fine band of music charmed not only the revellers, but the au-
merous ships in the Bay. Several Brazilian dignitaries and
foreign Consuls were present. I took all my young gentlemen
on shore with me, who could be spared from the ship, and they
did their " devoirs " as only gallant knights can, and carried on
board with them, in the "wee sma'" hours of the morning,
several tiny kid gloves and scarfs, as mementos to accompany
them on their cruises — every villain of them swearing to re
turn at some future day. So it is always with the sailor. As
before remarked, his very life is a poem, and his heart is capa
cious enough to take in the whole sex.
On the morning after this brilliant entertainment, an officer
came below to inform me that a strange steamer of war had
entered during the night, which, as yet, had shown no colors.
I directed our own colors to be shown to the stranger — for
the regular hour of hoisting them had not yet arrived — and
the reader may judge of our delight, when we saw the Confed
erate States flag thrown to the breeze in reply, by the new
comer. It was the Georgia, Commander Lewis F. Maury, on
a cruise, like ourselves, against the enemy's commerce. She
had come in to meet her coal-ship, the Castor, which had been
ordered to rendezvous here. We had now other troubles with
the authorities. The President, seeing another Confederate
steamer arrive, became nervous, lest he should be compro
mised in some way, and be called to account by the Emperor.
The little gad-fly of a Yankee Consul was, besides, constantly
buzzing around him. He declined to permit the Georgia to
receive coal from her transport, though he was forced to admit
that the transport had the right to land it, and that, when
landed, the Georgia might receive it on board, like any other
coal. Still it must be landed. The gad-fly had buzzed in his
ear, that there was a " cat in the meal tub ;" the Castor having
as he alleged, some guns and ammunition covered up in her
coal ! His Excellency then wanted to see my commission —
the gad-fly having buzzed " pirate ! pirate ! " To add to tha
complication, news now came in that the Florida also had ar
rived at Pernambuco! Diablo! what was to be done? An
aide-de-camp now came off with a letter from his Excellency,
telling me, that I had already tarried too long in the port of

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 619
Bahia, and that he desired me to be off. I wrote him word
that I was not ready, and sent another batch of liberty men
on shore. Presently another missive came. His Excellency
had learned from the gad-fly, that I had enlisted one of my
late prisoners, after setting him on shore, which, as he said,
was a grave breach of the laws of nations. I replied that I had
not only not enlisted one of my late prisoners, after setting him
on shore, but that, my crew being full, I had refused to enlist a
good many of my late prisoners, who had applied to me before
being set on shore, which was the literal fact. I mention these
occurrences to show what a troublesome little insect I found
the gad-fly in Brazil.
We had a few days of very pleasant intercourse with the
Georgia. Maury had been my shipmate in the old service,
and two of my old Sumter lieutenants, Chapman and Evans,
were serving on board of her. In company with her officers,
we made a railroad excursion into the interior, upon the invi
tation of the English company which owned the road. A
splendid collation was prepared in one of the cars, decorated
and furnished for the occasion, and a variety of choice wines
broke down the barrier between strangers, and drew men of
the same blood closer together.
At length, when I was entirely ready for sea, I delighted
the President one evening, by sending him word that I should
go to sea the next morning. The Georgia was nearly through
coaling, and would follow me in a day or two. The poor
President of the province of Bahia! The Yankees treated
him, afterward, as they do everybody else with whom they
have to do. They first endeavored to use him, and then kicked
him. The Florida coming into Bahia, a few months after
ward, as related in a former page, a Federal ship of war vio
lated the neutrality of the port, by seizing her, and carrying
her off; and the Yankee nation, rather than make the amends
which all the world decided it was bound to make, by deliver
ing back the captured ship to Brazil, ordered her to be sunk
by accident in Hampton Roads! The "trick" was eminently
Yankee, and I presume could not possibly have been practised
in any other civilized nation of the earth.
Whilst the Alabama is heaving up her anchor, I deem it

620 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
proper to say a word or two, about emigration to Brazil ; a
subject which has been a good deal canvassed by our people.
Brazil is an immense Empire, and has almost all the known
climates and soils of the world. Nature has bestowed upon
her her choicest gifts, and there is perhaps no more delightful
country to reside in than Brazil. But men live for society,
as well as for climate and soil. The effete Portuguese race
has been ingrafted upon a stupid, stolid, Indian stock, in that
country. The freed negro is, besides, the equal of the white
man, and as there seems to be no repugnance, on the part of
the white race — so called — to mix with the black race, and
with the Indian, amalgamation will go on in that country,
until a mongrel set of curs will cover the whole land. This
might be a suitable field enough for the New England school-
ma'am, and carpet-bagger, but no Southern gentleman should
think of mixing his blood or casting his lot with such a race
of people.
Sail ho ! was shouted from the mast-head of the Alabama,
on the afternoon of the 25th of May, a few days after she had
put to sea from Bahia. We had regained the track of com
merce, and were again looking out for our friends. We im
mediately gave chase, and had scarcely gotten the canvas on
the ship, before the look-out announced a second sail, in the
same direction. The wind was fresh, there was a heavy sea
on, and the Alabama darted forward, making her eleven, and
twelve knots. As we began to raise the fugitives above the
horizon from the deck, it was plain to see, that they were both
American. We overhauled them rapidly, making them show
their colors, and heaving them to, with the accustomed guns.
By the time we had gotten up with them, the sun had set, and
it was blowing half a gale of wind. Our boats had a rough
job before them, but they undertook it with a will. The first
ship boarded was the Gilderslieve, and the second, the Justina.
The former was a New York ship, last from London, with a
cargo of coal, purporting to be shipped for the service of the
"Peninsular, and Oriental Steam Navigation Company," but
there was no certificate of neutral ownership on board. Ship
and cargo were therefore condemned. The Justina was a Bal
timore, ship, with some neutral property not amounting to a

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 621
full cargo, on board. I converted her into a cartel, and throw
ing the prisoners from the Gilderslieve on board of her, re
leased her on ransom-bond. I then burned the Gilderslieve.
The sea was so rough, and the boating so difficult, that it was
eleven P. M. before the torch could be applied to the doomed
ship. We lay to during the remainder of the night, under
reefed topsails.
The next day the weather moderated somewhat, though the
wind still continued fresh from about S. S. E. At about
half-past eight p. M., the night being quite light, we gave
chase to an exceedingly rakish-looking ship, whose canvas
showed white under the rays of the moon, and which was car
rying a press of sail. We, too, crowded sail, and for a long
time it was doubtful which ship was the faster. The Alabama
seemed to have found her match at last. Our pride was
aroused, and we put our best foot foremost. We saw all the
sheets snugly home, the sails well hoisted, and properly
trimmed, and put the most skilful seamen at the wheel. Little
by little we began to crawl upon the chase, but hour after
hour passed, and still we were almost as far astern as ever
Midnight came, and the watch was relieved, and still the fugi
tive was beyond our grasp. Four A. M. arrived, and the old
watch came back on deck again, only to wonder that the chase
still continued. At last the day dawned and still the ship,
with the square yards, and white canvas, was four or five
miles ahead of us. We had been all night in chase of a single
ship — a thing which had never happened to us before. When
laylight appeared, I went below, and turned in, handing the
chase over to the first lieutenant. At half-past seven — my
usual time for rising — I heard the report of a gun, and pretty
soon afterward an officer came below to say, that the chase
proved to be a Dutchman ! I must have looked a little sour at
the breakfast- table, that morning, as Bartelli was evidently a
little nervous and fidgety.
Forty-eight hours after this night-chase, we had another,
though with better success, as a prize rewarded me for my loss
of rest. Thr chase commenced about two A. M., and it was
half-past seven A. M., before we were near enough to heave the
fugitive to, with a gun. She proved to be the Jabez Snow, of

622 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
Buekport, Maine, last from Cardiff, with a cargo of coal, for
Montevideo. On the back of the bill of lading was the follow
ing certificate: "We certify that the cargo of coals per Jabez
Snow, for which this is the bill of lading, is the bona fide pro
perty of Messrs. Wilson, Helt, Lane & Co., and that the same
are British subjects, and merchants, and also that the coals are
for their own use." This certificate was signed by "John
Powell & Sons," but unfortunately for the owners of the
"coals" was not sworn to, and was therefore of no more valid
ity as evidence, than the bill of lading itself. Having gotten
on board from the prize, a quantity of provisions, and cordage,
of both of which we were in need, we consigned her to the
flames. We found on board this ship, from the sober "State
of Maine," a woman who passed under the sobriquet of "cham
ber-maid." These shameless Yankee skippers make a common
practice of converting their ships into brothels, and taking
their mistresses to sea with them. For decency's sake, I was
obliged to turn the junior lieutenant out of his state-room for
her accommodation.
There were some letters found on board the Snow not in
tended for our eyes, inasmuch as they informed us of the dam
age we were doing the Yankee commerce. Here is. one of
them from the owner to the master. It is dated Boston, No
vember 25th, 1862. "We hope you may arrive safely, and in
good season, but we think you will find business rather flat at
Liverpool, as American ships especially are under a cloud,
owing to dangers from pirates, more politely styled privateers,
which our kind friends in England are so willing should slip
out of their ports, to prey on our commerce." Our torches
always grew brighter as we read such effusions of joint stupid
ity and malice.
Here is another wail from Buekport, Maine, under date of
January 16th, 1863. It instructs the master as to the best
mode of employing his ship. "In the first place, it will not do
to come this way with the ship ; as New York business for
ships is flat enough — a large fleet in that port, and nothing for
them to do, that will pay expenses, and more arriving daily."
And another from the same place. "I hope you will be as
prudent and sconomical as possible in managing your f?hip

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 623
matters, as your owners want all the money they can get hold
of, to aid in putting down this terrible rebellion of ours. The
progress our war is making, I shall leave for you to gather
from the papers, for it makes me sick to think of it, much
more to talk about it." No doubt — the ships were being laid
up, and no freights were coming in. We knew very well, on
board the Alabama, the use to which all the " money the ship
owners could get hold of" was being put. It was to purchase
" gold bonds " at half price, and push on the war. Hence our
diligence in scouring the seas, and applying the torch. When
ever we heard a Yankee howl go up over a burned ship, we
knew that there were fewer dollars left, with which to hire the
canaille of Europe to throttle liberty on the American con
tinent. We captured the Jabez Snow, on the 29th of May. On the
2d of June, being in latitude 15° 01', and longitude 34° 56' at
half-past three A. M., or just before daylight, we passed a large
ship on the opposite tack. We were under topsails only,
standing leisurely across the great highway. We immediately
wore ship, and gave chase, crowding all sail. When day
dawned, the fugitive was some six or seven miles ahead of
us, and as the chase was likely to be long, I fired a gun, and
hoisted the Confederate colors, to intimate to the stranger, that
I would like him to be polite, and save me the trouble of
catching him, by heaving to. Pretty soon, I fired a second
gun — blank cartridge — with the same intent. But the
stranger had faith in his heels, and instead of heaving to,
threw out a few more kites to the balmy morning breeze.
But it was of no use. Both ships were on a wind, and the
Alabama could, in consequence, use her monster trysails. My
large double glasses — themselves captured from a Yankee
ship, the captain of which had probably bought them to look
out for the "pirate" — soon told the tale. We were gaining,
but not very rapidly. Still anxious to save time, when we
had approached within about four miles of the stranger, we
cleared away our pivot rifle, and let him have a bolt. We
did not quite reach him, but these rifle-bolts make such an
ugly whizzing, and hissing, and humming as they pass along,
that their commands are not offan disobeyed. The stranger
40

624 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
clewed up, and backed his main yard, and hoisted tl e Federal
colors. We were alongside of him about half-past eleven
A. M. — the chase having lasted eight hours.
The prize proved to be the bark Amazonian of Boston, from
New York, with an assorted cargo, for Montevideo. There
was an attempt to cover two of the consignments of this ship,
in favor. of French citizens, but the "hash" being evidently
Yankee, the certificates were disregarded. The prisoners, and
such "plunder" as we desired, being brought on board the
Alabama, the ship was consigned to the flames. The follow
ing letter from a merchant in New York, to his correspondent
in Buenos Ayres, was found among a very large commercial
and literary mail — the literature being from the college ofthe
Republican Propaganda — on board the Amazonian. "When
you ship in American vessels, it would be well to have the
British Consul's certificate of English property attached to
bill of lading and invoice, as in the event of falling in with
the numerous privateers, it would save both cargo and vessel
in all probability. An American ship recently fallen in with,
was released by the Alabama, on account of British Consul's
certificate, showing greater part of cargo to be English prop
erty. If you ship in a neutral vessel, we save five per cent, war
insurance." On the day after capturing the Amazonian, we boarded an
English brig, and I made an arrangement with the master to
take my prisoners — forty-one in number — to Rio Janeiro,
whither he was bound. The consideration was, twice as many
provisions as the prisoners could consume, and a chronometer.
The master had been afraid of offending Earl Russell, until
the chronometer was named to him, when his scruples were at
once removed. Virtuous Briton ! thou wert near akin to the
Yankee. On the following night, a little before daylight, whilst we
were lying to, with the main-topsail to the mast, a large, tall
ship suddenly loomed up in close proximity to us, and as sud
denly passed away into the gloom, gliding past us like a ghost.
We filled away and made chase on the instant, and being still
within gun-shot, fired a blank cartridge. The chase at once hove
to, and we ranged up, just as day was breaking, alongside of
the clipper-ship Talisman, from New York, with an assorted

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 625
cargo, for Shanghai. There was no claim of neutral cargo among
her papers, and as soon as we could remove the crew, and some
necessary articles, we consigned her also, to that torch which
Yankee malice had kept burning so brightly in our hands.
The rebellion of the Taepings was still going on in China,
and we found a nice little " speculation " in connection with it,
embarked on board the Talisman. The speculators had put
on board four very pretty rifled 12-pounder brass guns, and
steam boilers and machinery for a gun-boat ; the design being
to build, and equip one of this class of vessels in the East,
and take part in the Chinese war. I am afraid I spoiled a
" good thing." With a Yankee Mandarin on board, and a good
supply of opium, and tracts, what a smashing business this
little cruiser might have done ? We took a couple of these
brass pieces on board the Alabama, and in due time, sent them
afloat after the Yankee commerce, as the reader will see.
The next vessel that we overhauled was a " converted " ship
— that is, a Yankee turned into an Englishman. I desired
very much to burn her, but was prevented by the regularity
of her papers and the circumstances surrounding her. She
was a Maine-built ship, but had evidently been bona fide trans
ferred, as her master and crew were all Englishmen, and she
was then on a voyage from London to Calcutta. She received
on board from us, a couple of the passengers — an Irishman
and his wife — captured on board of the Talisman, who were
anxious to go to Calcutta. For the next two or three days, we
had a series of blows, amounting almost to gales of wind.
We had arrived off the Abrolhos Shoals — a sort of Brazilian
Cape Hatteras, for bad weather. On the 9th and 10th of June,
we were reduced to close reefs ; and, which was remarkable,
we had a high barometer all the time. We had, for some days,
experienced a northerly current. The whole coast of Brazil
is coral-bound, and it is, for this reason, very dangerous. The
coral shoals rise abruptly, from great depths, and are some
times found in very small patches, with deep water all around
them. Many of these patches have been missed by the sur
veyor, and are not laid down on any charts, in consequence.
Hence it behooves the prudent mariner, to give the banks that
fringe tha coasts of Brazil, a pretty wide berth.

CHAPTER XLV.
THE ALABAMA CONTINUES HER CRUISE ON THE COAST OF
BRAZIL — AMERICAN SHIPS UNDER ENGLISH COLORS —
THE ENEMY'S CARRYING-TRADE IN NEUTRAL BOTTOMS
 THE CAPTURE OF THE CONRAD — SHE IS COMMIS
SIONED AS A CONFEDERATE STATES CRUISER — THE
HIGHWAYS OF THE SEA, AND THE TACTICS OF THE FED
ERAL SECRETARY OF THE NAVY — THE PHENOMENON
OF THE WINDS IN THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE — ARRI-
VA.L AT SALDANHA BAY, ON THE COAST OF AFRICA.
WE captured our last ship off the Abrolhos, as related in
the last chapter. We have since worked our way as
far south, as latitude 22° 38', and it is the middle of June —
equivalent in the southern hemisphere, to the middle of De
cember, in the northern. Hence the blows, and other bad
weather we are beginning to meet with. On the 16th of June,
we overhauled two more American ships, under English colors.
One of these was the Azzapadi of Port Louis, in the Mauritius.
She was formerly the Joseph Hah, and was built at Portland,
Maine. Having put into Port Louis, in distress, she had been
sold for the benefit of " whom it might concern," and pur
chased by English parties, two years before. The other was
the Queen of Beauty, formerly the Challenger. Under her new
colors and nationality, she was now running as a packet be
tween London, and Melbourne in Australia. These were both
bona fide transfers, and were evidence of the straits to which
Yankee commerce was being put. Many more ships disap
peared from under the "flaunting lie " by sale, than by capture,
their owners not being able to employ them.
The day after we overhauled these ships, we boarded a Bre
men bark, from Buenos Ayres, for New York, with hides and tal-
626

MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT. 627
low, on Yankee account. The correspondents of the New York
merchants were taking the advice of the latter, and shipping in
neutral bottoms to avoid paying the premium on the war risk.
On the 20th of June, we observed in latitude 25° 48', and
found the weather so cool, as to compel us to put on our thick
coats. On that day we made another capture. It was the Conrad,
of Philadelphia, from Buenos Ayres, for New York, with part of
a cargo of wool. There were certificates found on board
claiming the property as British, but as there were abundant
circumstances in the res gestae, pointing to American ownership,
I disregarded the certificates, and condemned both ship and
cargo as good prize. The Conrad being a tidy little bark, of
about three hundred and fifty tons, with good sailing qualities,
I resolved to commission her as a cruiser. Three or four offi
cers, and ten or a dozen men would be a sufficient crew for her,
and this small number I could spare from the Alabama, with
out putting myself to material inconvenience. Never, per
haps, was a ship of war fitted out so promptly before. The
Conrad was a commissioned ship, with armament, crew, and
provisions on board, flying her pennant, and with sailing orders
signed, sealed, and delivered, before sunset on the day of her
capture. I sent Acting-Lieutenant Low on board to command
her, and gave him Midshipman George T. Sinclair, as his first
lieutenant; and promoted a couple of active and intelligent
young seamen, as master's mates, to serve with Mr. Sinclair, as
watch officers. Her armament consisted of the two 12-pounder
brass rifled guns, which we had captured from the Yankee
mandarin, who was going out, as the reader has seen, on board
of the Talisman, to join the Taepings ; twenty rifles, and half
a dozen revolvers. I called the new cruiser, the Tuscaloosa,
after the pretty little town of that name, on the Black Warrior
River in the State of Alabama. It was meet that a child of
the Alabama should be named after one of the towns of the
State. The baptismal ceremony was not very elaborate.
When all was ready — it being now about five P. m. — at a con
certed signal, the Tuscaloosa ran up the Confederate colors, and
the crew of the Alabama leaped into the rigging, and taking
off their hats, gave three hearty cheers I The cheers were
answered by the small crew of the newly commissioned ship,

628 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
and the ceremony was over. Captain Low had now only to
fill away, and make sail, on his cruise. Our first meeting was
to be at the Cape of Good Hope. My bantling was thus born
upon the high seas, in the South Atlantic Ocean, and no power
could gainsay the legitimacy of its birth. As the reader will
see, England was afterward compelled to acknowledge it, though
an ill-informed cabinet minister — the Duke of Newcastle — at
first objected to it.
On the same evening that we parted with the Tuscaloosa, we
boarded the English bark, Mary Kendall, from Cardiff for
Point de Galle, but which having met with heavy weather,
and sprung a leak, was putting back to Rio Janeiro for re
pairs. At the request of her master I sent my .surgeon on
board to visit a seaman who had been badly injured by a fall.
As we were within a few days' sail of Rio, I prevailed upon
the master of this ship to receive my prisoners on board, to
be landed. There were thirty-one of them, and among the
rest, a woman from the Conrad, who claimed to be a passenger.
The time had now arrived for me to stretch over to the
Cape of Good Hope. I had been three months near the equa
tor, and on the coast of Brazil, and it was about time that some
of Mr. Welles' ships of war, in pursuance of the tactics of that
slow old gentleman, should be making their appearance on the
coast in pursuit of me. I was more than ever astonished at the
culpable neglect or want of sagacity of the head of the Federal
Navy Department, when I arrived on the coast of Brazil, and
found no Federal ship of war there. Ever since I had left the
island of Jamaica, early in January, I had been working my
way, gradually, to my present cruising ground. My ship had
been constantly reported, and any one of his clerks could have
plotted my track, from these reports, so as to show him, past
all peradventure, where I was bound. But even independently
of any positive evidence, he might have been sure, that sooner
or later I would make my way to that great thoroughfare.
As has been frequently remarked in the course of these
pages, the sea has its highways and byways, as well as the
land. Every seaman, now, knows where these highways are,
and when he is about to make a voyage, can plot his track in
advance. None of these highways are better defined, or per-

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 629
haps so well defined, as the great public road that leads along
the coast of Brazil. All the commerce of Europe and Amer
ica, bound to the Far East or the Far West, takes this road. The
reader has seen a constant stream of ships passing the toll-gate
we established at the crossing of the thirtieth parallel, north,
all bound in this direction. And he has seen how this stream
sweeps along by the island of Fernando de Noronha, on its
way to the great highway on the coast of Brazil. The road
thus far is wide — the ships having a large discretion. But
when the road has crossed the equator, and struck into the
region of the south-east trades, its limits become much circum
scribed. It is as much as a ship can do now, to stretch by the
coast of Brazil without tacking. The south-east trades push
her so close down upon the coast, that it is touch and go
with her. The road, in consequence, becomes very narrow.
The more narrow the road, the more the stream of ships is
condensed. A cruiser, under easy sail, stretching backward
and forward across this road, must necessarily get sight of
nearly everything that passes. If Mr. Welles had stationed a
heavier and faster ship than the Alabama — and he had a
number of both heavier and faster ships — at the crossing of
the 30th parallel ; another at or near the equator, a little to
the eastward of Fernando de Noronha, and a third off Bahia,
he must have driven me off, or greatly crippled me in my
movements. A few more ships in the other chief highways,
and his commerce would have been pretty well protected.
But the old gentleman does not seem once to have thought of
so simple a policy as stationing a ship anywhere.
The reader who has followed the Alabama in her career
•thus far, has seen how many vital points he left unguarded.
His plan seemed to be, first to wait until he heard of the Ala
bama being somewhere, and then to send off a number of
cruisers, post-haste, in pursuit of her, as though he expected
her to stand still, and wait for her pursuers ! This method of
his left the game entirely in my own hands. My safety de
pended upon a simple calculation of times and distances. For
instance, when I arrived off the coast of Brazil, I would take
up my pencil, and make some such an estimate as this : I dis
charged my prisoners from the first ship captured, on such a

630 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
day. It will take these prisoners a certain number of days to
reach a given port. It will take a certain other number of
days, for the news of the capture to travel thence to Washing
ton. And it will take a certain other number still, for a ship
of war of the enemy to reach the coast of Brazil. Just . efore
this aggregate of days elapses, I haul aft my trysail sheets,
and stretch over to the Cape of Good Hope. I find no enemy's
ship of war awaiting me here. I go to work on the stream of
commerce doubling the Cape. And by the time, I think, that
the ships which have arrived on the coast of Brazil in pursuit
of me, have heard of my being at the Cape, and started in fresh
chase ; I quietly stretch back to the coast of Brazil, and go to
work as before. Voila tout ! The reader will have occasion
to remark, by the time we get through with our cruises, how
well this system worked for me ; as he will have observed, that
I did not fall in with a single enemy's cruiser at sea, at any
time during my whole career!
We had, some days since, crossed the tropic of Capricorn,
and entered the "variables" of the southern hemisphere; and
having reached the forks of the great Brazilian highway, that
is to say, the point at which the stream of commerce separates
into two principal branches, one passing around Cape Horn,
and the other around the Cape of Good Hope, we had taken
the left-hand fork. We had not proceeded far on this roadf
however, before we found upon examination of our bread-room,
that the weevil, that pestilent little destroyer of bread-stuffs in
southern climates, had rendered almost our entire supply of
bread useless ! It was impossible to proceed on a voyage of
such length, as that to the Cape of Good Hope, in such a
dilemma, and I put back for Rio Janeiro, to obtain a fresh sup
ply; unless I could capture it by the way. We were now in
latitude 28° 01', and longitude 28° 29', or about 825 miles from
Rio; some little distance to travel to a baker's shop. We were
saved this journey, however, as the reader will presently see,
by a Yankee ship which came very considerately to our relief.
For the next few days, the weather was boisterous and un
pleasant — wind generally from the north-west, with a south
easterly current. Ships were frequently in sight, but they all
proved to be neutral. On the 30th of June, the weather

T)URING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 631
moderated, and became fine for a few days. On the 1st of
July, after overhauling as many as eleven neutral ships, we
gave chase, at eleven P. M., to a twelfth sail looming up on the
horizon. She looked American, and had heels, and the chase
continued all night. As the day dawned, a fine, tall ship, with
taper spars, and white canvas, was only a few miles ahead of
us. A blank cartridge brought the United States colors to her
peak, but still she kept on. She was as yet three miles distant,
and probably had some hope of escape. At all events, her
captain had pluck, and held on to his canvas until the last
moment. It was not until we had approached him near
enough to send a shot whizzing across his bow, that he con
sented to clew up, and heave to. She proved to be the Anna
F. Schmidt, of Maine, from Boston, for San Francisco, with a
valuable cargo of assorted merchandise ; much of it consisting
of ready-made clothing, hats, boots, and shoes. Here was a
haul for the paymaster ! But unfortunately for Jack, the coats
were too fine, and the tails too long. The trousers and under
garments were all right, however, and of these we got a large
supply on board. The Schmidt had on board, too, the very arti
cle of bread, and in the proper quantity, that we were in want
of. We received on board from her thirty days' supply, put up
in the nicest kind of air-tight casks. Crockery, china-ware,
glass, lamps, clocks, sewing-machines, patent medicines, clothes
pins, and the latest invention for killing bed-bugs, completed
her cargo. No Englishman or Frenchman could possibly own
such a cargo, and there was, consequently, no attempt among
the papers to protect it. It took us nearly the entire day to
do the requisite amount of "robbing" on board the Schmidt,
and the torch was not applied to her until near nightfall.
We then wheeled about, and took the fork of the road again,
for the Cape of Good Hope.
Whilst we were yet busy with the prize, another American
mip passed us, but she proved, upon being boarded, to have
been sold, by her patriotic Yankee owners, to an Englishman,
and was now profitably engaged in assisting the other ships of
John Bull in taking away from the enemy his carrying-trade.
I examine I the papers and surroundings of all these ships,
with great care, being anxious, if possible, to find a peg on

632 MEMOIRS 01 SERVICE AFLOAT
which 1 might hang a doubt large enough to enable me to burffl
them. But, thus far, all the transfers had been bona fide. In
the present instance, the papers were evidently genuine, and
there was a Scotch master and English crew on board. At
about nine p. M., on the same evening, the Schmidt being in
flames, and the Alabama in the act of making sail from her,
a large, taunt ship, with exceedingly square yards, passed us
at rapid speed, under a cloud of canvas, from rail to truck,
and from her course seemed to be bound either to Europe or
the United States. She had paid no attention to the burning
ship, but flew past it as though she were anxious to get out of
harm's way as soon as possible. I conceived thence the idea,
that she must be one of the enemy's large clipper-ships, from
" round the Horn," and immediately gave chase, adding, in my
eagerness to seize so valuable a prize, steam to sail. It was
blowing half a gale of wind, but the phantom ship, for such
•she looked by moonlight, was carrying her royals and top-gal
lant studding-sails. This confirmed my suspicion, for surely,
I thought, no ship would risk carrying away her spars, under
such a press of sail, unless she were endeavoring to escape from
an enemy. By the time we were well under way in pursuit,
the stranger was about three miles ahead of us. I fired a gun
to command him to halt. In a moment or two, to my astonish
ment, the sound of a gun from the stranger came booming
back over the waters in response. I now felt quite sure that
I had gotten hold of a New York and California clipper-ship.
She had fired a gun to make me believe, probably, that she
was a ship of war, and thus induce me to desist from the pur
suit. But a ship of war would not carry such a press of sail,
or appear to be in such a hurry to get out of the way — unless,
indeed, she were an enemy's ship of inferior force ; and the
size of the fugitive, in the present instance, forbade such a sup
position. So I sent orders below to the engineer, to stir up
his fires, and put the Alabama at the top of her speed. My
crew had all become so much excited by the chase, some of the
sailors thinking we had scared up the Flying Dutchman, who
was known to cruise in these seas, and others expecting a fight,
that the watch had forgotten to go below to their hammocks.
About midnight we overhauled the stranger near enough to

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 633
speak her. She loomed up terribly large as we approached.
She was painted black, with a white streak around her waist,
man-of-war fashion, and we could count, with the aid of
our night-glasses, five guns of a side frowning through her
ports. "What ship is that? " now thundered my first lieuten
ant through his trumpet. " This is her Britannic Majesty's
ship, Diomede!" came back in reply very quietly. "What
ship is that? " now asked the Diomede. "This is the Confed
erate States steamer Alabama." "I suspected as much," said
the officer, " when I saw you making sail, by the. light of the
burning ship." A little friendly chat now ensued, when we
sheared off, and permitted her Britannic Majesty's frigate to
proceed, without insisting upon an examination of " her pa
pers ;" and the sailors slunk below, one by one, to their ham
mocks, disappointed that they had neither caught the Flying
Dutchman, a California clipper, or a fight.
The next day, and for several days, the weather proved fine.
We were running to the eastward on the average parallel of
about 30°, with the wind from N. N. E. to the N. W. Satur
day, July 4th, 1863, is thus recorded in my journal: — "This is
' Independence day ' in the ' old concern ; ' a holiday, which I
feel half inclined to throw overboard, because it was estab
lished in such bad company, and because we have to fight the
battle of independence over again, against a greater tyranny
than before. Still, old feelings are strong, and it will not hurt
Jack to give him an extra glass of grog."
The morning of the 6th proved cloudy and squally, and we
had some showers of rain, though the barometer kept steadily
up. At thirty minutes past midnight, an officer came below
to inform me, that there was a large sail in sight, not a great
way off. I sent word to the officer of the deck to chase, and
repaired on deck pretty soon myself. In about three hours,
we had approached the chase sufficiently near, to heave her to,
with a shot, she having previously disregarded two blank car
tridges. She proved to be another prize, the ship Express, of
Boston, from Callao, for Antwerp, with a cargo of guano from
the Chincha Islands. This cargo probably belonged to the
Peruvian Government, for the guano of the Chincha Islands
is s government monopoly, but our Peruvian friends had been

634

MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT

unfortunate in their attempts to cover it. It had been shipped
by Messrs. Sescau, Valdeavellano & Co., and consigned to J.
Sescau & Co., at Antwerp. On the back of the bill of lading
was the following indorsement:— "Nous soussigne, Charge
d' Affairs, et Consul General de France, a Lima, certifions que
la chargement de mille soixante deuze tonneaux, de register, de
Huano, specifics au present connaissement, est propriete neutre.
Fait a Lima, le 27 Janvier, 1863." This certificate was no
better than so much waste paper, for two reasons. First, it
was not sworn to, and secondly, it simply averred the property
to be neutral, without stating who the owners were. I was
sorry to burn so much property belonging, in all probability,
to Peru, but I could make no distinction between that govern
ment and an individual. I had the right to burn the enemy's
ship, and if a neutral government chose to put its property on
board of her, it was its duty to document it according to the
laws of war, or abide the consequences of the neglect. The
certificate would not have secured individual property, and I
could not permit it to screen that of a government, which was
presumed to know the law better than an individual. As the
case stood, I was bound to presume that the property, being in
an enemy's bottom, was enemy's. The torch followed this
decision. The Express had had a long and boisterous passage around
Cape Horn, and gave signs of being much weather-beaten —
some of her spars and sails were gone, and her sides were
defaced with iron rust. The master had his wife on board, a
gentle English woman, with her servant-maid, or rather hum
ble companion, and it seemed quite hard that these two females,
after having braved the dangers of Cape Horn, should be car
ried off to brave other dangers at the Cape of Good Hope.
We were now in mid-winter, July 15th, when the storms
run riot over these two prominent head-lands of our globe.
We were fast changing our skies as we proceeded southward.
Many of the northern constellations had been buried beneath
the horizon, to rise no more, until we should recross the equa
tor, and other new and brilliant ones had risen in their places.
We had not seen the familiar "North Star" for months. The
Southern Cross had arisen to attract our gaze to the opposite

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 635
pole instead. The mysterious Magellan clouds hovered over
the same pole, by day, and caused the mariner to dream of far-
off worlds. They were even visible on very bright nights.
The reader will perhaps remember the meteorological phe
nomena which we met with in the Gulf Stream — how regu
larly the winds went around the compass, from left to right,
or with the course of the sun, obeying the laws of storms.
Similar phenomena are occurring to us now. The winds are
still going round with the sun, but they no longer go from
left to right, but from right to left ; for this is now the motion
of the sun. Instead of watching the winds haul from north
east to east ; from east to south-east ; from south-east to south,
as we were wont to do in the northern hemisphere, we now
watch them haul from north-east to north; from north to
north-west; and from north-west to west. And when we
get on shore, in the gardens, and vineyards, at the Cape of
Good Hope, we shall see the tendrils of the vine, and the creep
ing plants, twining around their respective supports, in the
opposite direction, from left to right, instead of from right to
left, as the reader has seen them do in the writer's garden in
Alabama. After capturing the Express, we passed into one of the by
ways of the sea. The fork of the road which we had been
hitherto pursuing, now bore off to the south-east — the India-
bound ships running well to the southward of the Cape. We
turned out of the road to the left, and drew in nearer to the
coast of Africa. With the exception of an occasional African
trader, or a chance whaler, we were entirely out of the track
of commerce. In the space of seven or eight hundred miles,
we sighted but a single ship.
As we drew down toward the Cape, that singular bird, the
Cape pigeon came to visit us. It is of about the size of a
small sea-gull, and not unlike it in appearance. Like the petrel,
it is a storm-bird, and seems to delight in the commotion of
the elements. It is quite gentle, wheeling around the ship,
and uttering, from time to time, its cheerful scream, or rather
whistle. A peculiarity of this bird is, that it is entirely un
known in the northern hemisphere ; from which it would ap
pear, that, like the "right" whale, it is incapable of enduring

636 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
the tropical heats. It would probably be death to it, to at
tempt to cross the equator.
On the 28th of July, we observed in latitude 33° 46', and
longitude 17° 31', and the next day, at about nine A. m., we
made Daffen Island, with its remarkable breaker, lying a short
distance to the northward of the Cape of Good Hope. Instead
of running into Cape Town, I deemed it more prudent to go
first to Saldanha Bay, and reconnoitre. There might be
enemy's ships of war off the Cape, and if so, I desired to get
news of them, before they should hear of my being in these
seas. As we were running in for the bay, we overhauled a
small coasting schooner, the master of which volunteered to
take us in to the anchorage ; and early in the afternoon, we
came to, in five and three quarter fathoms of water, in a cosy
little nook of the bay, sheltered from all winds. There was
no Yankee man-of-war at the Cape, nor had there been any
there for some months ! Mr. Welles was asleep, the coast was
all clear, and I could renew my "depredations" upon the
enemy's commerce whenever I pleased.
There is no finer sheet of land-locked water in the world
than Saldanha Bay. Its anchorage is bold, and clean, and
spacious enough to accommodate the largest fleets. It is within
a few hours' sail of the cape, which is the halfway mile-post,
as it were, between the extreme east, and the extreme west, and
yet commerce, with a strange caprice, has established its relay
house at Cape Town, whose anchorage is open to all the win
ter gales, from which a ship is in constant danger of being
wrecked. We did not find so much as a coaster at anchor, in
this splendid harbor. The country around was wild and pic
turesque in appearance ; the substratum being of solid rock,
and nature having played some strange freaks, when chaos was
being reduced to order. Rocky precipices and palisades meet
the beholder at every turn, and immense boulders of granite
lie scattered on the coast and over the hills, as if giants had
been amusing themselves at a game of marbles. A few farm
houses are in sight from the ship, surrounded by patches of
cultivation, but all the rest of the landscape is a semi-bar
ren waste of straggling rocks, and coarse grass. The country
improves, however, a» short distance back from the coast, and

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 637
the grazing becomes fine. Beef cattle are numerous, and of
fair size, and the sheep flourishes in great perfection — wool
being one of the staple products of the colony. The cereals
are also produced, and, as every one knows, the Cape has long
been famous for its delicate wines.
My first care was to send the paymaster on shore, to con
tract for supplying the crew with fresh provisions, during our
stay, and my next to inform the Governor at the Cape of my
arrival. As I turned into my cot that night, with a still ship,
in a land-locked harbor, with no strange sails, or storms to dis
turb my repose, I felt like a weary traveller, who had laid
down, for the time, a heavy burden. The morning after our
arrival — the 30th of July — was bright and beautiful, and I
landed early to get sights for my chronometers. It was the
first time I had ever set foot on the continent of Africa, and I
looked forth, from the eminence on which I stood, upon a wild,
desolate, and yet picturesque scene. The ocean was slumber
ing in the distance, huge rocky precipices were around me, the
newly risen sun was scattering the mists from the hills, and
the only signs of life save the Alabama at my feet, and the ox-
team of a boer which was creeping along the beach, were the
screams of the sea-fowl, as they whirled around me, and, from
time to time, made plunges into the still waters in quest of
their prey. A profusion of wild flowers bloomed in little par
terres among the rocks, and among others, I plucked the gera
nium, in several varieties. This was evidently its native home.
ReturniAg on board at the usual breakfast hour, I found
that Bartelli had made excellent use of his time. There was
a hut or two on the beach, to which a market-boat had been
sent from the ship, to bring off the fresh beef and vegetables
for the crew, which the paymaster had contracted for on the
previous evening. Bartelli had accompanied it, and the result
was a venison steak, cut fresh from a spring-bok that a hunter
had just brought in, simmering in his chafing dish. There
were some fine pan-fish on the table, too ; for my first lieuten
ant, ever mindful of the comfort of his people, had sent a party
on shore with the seine, which had had fine success, and re
ported the bay full of fish. Jack, after having been nearly
three months on a diet of salted beef and pork, was once more

638 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
in clover, and my young officers were greatly excited by the
reports that came off to them from the shore, of the variety
and abundance of game, in the neighborhood. Besides the
curlew, snipe, and plover, that were to be found on the beach.
and in the salt marshes adjacent, the quail, pheasant, deer in
several varieties, and even the ostrich, the lion, and the tiger
awaited them, if they should think proper to go a little dis
tance inland. The small islands in the bay abounded in rab ¦
bits, which might be chased and knocked on the head with
stieks. Hunting-parties were soon organized, and there was a
great cleaning and burnishing of fowling-pieces, and adjusting
and filling of powder-flasks and shot-pouches going on.
But all was not to be pleasure ; there was duty to be thought
of as well. The Alabama required considerable overhauling
after her late cruise, both in her machinery, and hull, and rig
ging. Among other things, it was quite necessary that she
should be re-caulked, inside and out, and re-painted. There
were working-parties organized, therefore, as well as hunting
and fishing-parties. We soon found, too, that we had the
duties of hospitality to attend to. The fame of the " British
Pirate" had preceded her. Every ship which had touched at
the Cape, had had more or less to say of the Alabama. Mr.
Seward and Mr. Adams, Lord Russell and the "London Times"
had made her famous, and the people manifested great curiosity
to see her. We were, in a measure, too, among our own kins
men. The Cape of Good Hope, as all the world knows, had
been a Dutch colony, and was now inhabited by a mixed popu
lation of Dutch and English. The African had met the usual
fate of the savage, when he comes in contact with civilized
man. He had been thrust aside, and was only to be seen as a
straggler and stranger in his native land.
From far and near, the country-people flocked in to see us,
in every description of vehicle, from the tidy spring- wagon,
with its pair of sleek ponies, to the ox-cart. The vehicles,
containing mostly women and children, were preceded or fol
lowed by men on horseback, by twos and threes, and some
times by the dozer The men brought along with them their
shot-guns and rifles, thus converting their journey into a hunt
ing-party, as well as one of curiosity. Those from a distance

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 639
came provided with tents and camp-equipage. Almost every
one had some present of game or curiosity to offer, as he came
on board. One would bring me a wild-peacock for dinner,
which he had shot on the wayside ; another a brace of pheas
ants; others ostrich-eggs fresh from the nest, plumes of ostrich-
feathers, spikes from the head of the spring-bok three and four
feet in length, &c. We showed them around the ship — the
young boers lifting our hundred-pound rifle-shot, and looking
over the sights of our guns, and the young women looking at
the moustaches of my young officers.
The Saldanha settlement is almost exclusively Dutch, not
withstanding it has been fifty years and more in possession of
the English. Dutch is the language universally spoken ; all
the newspapers are published in that melodious tongue, and
the " young idea " is being taught to " shoot " in it. One
young man among our visitors, though he was twenty-three
years of age, and lived within twenty miles of the sea, told
me he had never been on board of a ship before. He became
very much excited, and went into ecstasies at everything he
saw, particularly at the size and weight of the guns, which
seemed to transcend all his philosophy — the largest gun which
he had hitherto seen, being his own rifle, with which he was
in the habit of bringing down the ostrich or the tiger. The
climate seemed to be well suited to these descendants of the
Hollanders. The men were athletic and well-proportioned,
and the young women chubby, and blooming with the blended
tints ofthe lily and the rose — the rose rather preponderating.
The beauty of these lasses — and some of them were quite
pretty — was due entirely to mother Nature, as their large and
somewhat rough hands, and awkward courtesies showed that
they were rather more familiar with milking the cows and
churning the butter, than with the airs and graces of the saloon.
We remained a week in Saldanha Bay, during the whole of
which, we had exceedingly fine weather ; the wind generally
prevailing from the south-east, and the sky being clear, with
now and then a film of gray clouds. This was quite remark
able for the first days of August — this month being equiva
lent, at the " stormy Cape," to the month of February, in the
northern hemisphere. The natives told us that so gentle a
41

640 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
winter aad not been known for years before. The temperature
was delightful. Although we were in the latitude of about
34° — say the equivalent latitude to that of south-western Vir
ginia — we did not feel the want of fires. Indeed, the grasses
were green, and vegetation seemed to have been scarcely sus
pended. The graziers had no need to feed their cattle.
A schooner came in while we lay here, bringing us some
letters from merchants at Cape Town, welcoming us to the
colony, and offering to supply us with coal, or whatever else we
might need. I had left orders both at Fernando de Noronha,
and Bahia, for the Agrippina, if she should arrive at either of
those places, after my departure, to make the best of her way
to Saldanha Bay, and await me there. She should have pre
ceded me several weeks. She was not here — the old Scotch
man, as before remarked, having played me false.
When Kell had put his ship in order, he took a little recrea
tion himself, and in company with one or two of his messmates
went off into the interior, on an ostrich hunt. Horses and dogs,
and hunters awaited them, at the country-seat of the gentleman
who had invited them to partake of this peculiarly African
sport. They had a grand hunt, and put up several fine birds,
at which some of the party — Kell among the number, got
shots — but they did not bring any " plumes " on board ; at
least of their own capturing. The devilish birds, as big as
horses, and running twice as fast, as some of the young officers
described them, refused to " heave to," they said, though they
had sent sundry whistlers around their heads, in the shape of
buck-shot. A sad accident occurred to one of our young hunters before
we left the bay. One afternoon, just at sunset, I was shocked
to receive the intelligence that one of the cutters had returned
alongside, with a dead officer in it. Third Assistant Engineer
Cummings was the unfortunate officer. He had been hunting
with a party of his messmates. They had all returned with
well-filled game-bags to the boat, at sunset, and Cummings was
in the act of stepping into her, when the cock of his gun strik
ing against the gunwale, a whole load of buck-shot passed
through his chest in the region of the heart, and he fell dead,
in an instant upon the sands. The body was lifted tenderly

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 641
into the boat, and taken on board, and prepared by careful and
affectionate hands for interment on the morrow. This young
gentleman had been very popular, with both officers and crew,
and his sudden death cast a gloom over the ship. All amuse
ments were suspended, and men walked about with softened
foot-fall, as though fearing to disturb the slumbers of the dead.
Arrangements were made for interring him in the grave-yard
of a neighboring farmer, and the next morning, the colors of
the ship were half-masted, and all the boats — each with its
colors also at half-mast — formed in line, and as many of the
officers and crew as could be spared from duty, followed the
deceased to his last resting-place. There were six boats in the
procession, and as they pulled in for the shore, with the well-
known funeral stroke and drooping flags, the spectacle was one
to sadden the heart. A young life had been suddenly cut
short in a far distant land. A subscription was taken up to
place a proper tomb over his remains, and the curious visitor
to Saldanha Bay may read on a simple, but enduring marble
slab, this mournful little episode in the history of the cruise of
the Alabama.

CHAPTER XLVI.
THE CONNECTING THREAD OF THE HISTORY OF THE WAR
TAKEN UP — A BRIEF REVIEW OF THE EVENTS OF THE
TWELVE MONTHS DURING WHICH THE ALABAMA HAD
BEEN COMMISSIONED  ALABAMA ARRIVES AT CAPE
TOWN — CAPTURE OF THE SEA BRIDE — EXCITEMENT
THEREUPON  CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN THE AMER
ICAN CONSUL AND THE GOVERNOR ON THE SUBJECT OF
THE CAPTURE.
THE Alabama has been commissioned, now, one year. In
accordance with my plan of connecting my cruises with a
thread — a mere thread — of the history of the war, it will be
necessary to retrace our steps, and take up that thread at the
point at which it was broken — August, 1862. At that date, as
the reader will recollect, the splendid army of McClellan had
been overwhelmed with defeat, and driven in disorder, from
before Richmond, and the fortunes of the Confederacy had
greatly brightened in consequence. Lee followed up this
movement with the invasion of Maryland; not for the pur
pose of fighting battles, but to free the people of that Southern
State from the military despotism whieh had been fastened
upon them by the enemy, and enable them, if they thought
proper, to join their fortunes with those of the Confederacy.
But he penetrated only that portion of the State in which the
people had always been but lukewarm Southerners, and an
indifferent, if not cold, reception awaited him. The result
might have been different if he could have made his way into
the city of Baltimore, and the more Southern parts of the State.
There the enemy was as cordially detested, as in any part of
the Confederacy. The Federal Government had, by this time,
gotten firm military possession of the State, through the trea-
642

MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT. 643
son of Governor Bradford, Mayor Swann, and others, and no
thing short of driving out the enemy from the city of Balti
more, and occupying it by our troops, could enable the people
of that true and patriotic city to move in defence of their liber
ties, and save their State from the desecration that awaited her.
Harper's Ferry was captured by a portion of Lee's forces ;
the battle of Sharpsburg was fought (17th September, 1862)
without decisive results, and Lee recrossed his army into
Virginia. In the West, Corinth was evacuated by General Beauregard,
who was threatened with being flanked, by an enemy of supe
rior force.
Memphis was captured soon afterward, by a Federal fleet,
which dispersed the few Confederate gunboats that offered it
a feeble resistance.
The fall of Fort Pillow and Memphis opened the way for
the enemy, as far down the Mississippi as Vicksburg. Here
Farragut's and Porter's fleets — the former from below, the lat
ter from above — united in a joint attack upon the place, but
Van Dorn beat them off.
The Confederates made an attempt to dislodge the enemy
from Baton Rouge, the capital of Louisiana, about forty miles
below the mouth of the Red River, but failed. The expedi
tion was to be a joint naval and military one, but the naval
portion of it failed by an unfortunate accident. Breckinridge,
with less than 3000 men, fought a gallant action against a
superior force, and drove the enemy into the town, but for
want of the naval assistance promised could not dislodge him.
We now occupied Port Hudson below Baton Rouge, and the
enemy evacuated Baton Rouge in consequence. We thus held
the Mississippi River between Port Hudson and Vicksburg, a
distance of more than 200 miles.
General Bragg now made a campaign into Kentucky, which
State he occupied for several weeks, but was obliged finally to
evacuate, by overwhelming forces of the enemy. During this
campaign, the battles of Richmond and Perry ville were fought.
Bragg gathered immense supplies during his march, killed,
wounded, or captured 25,000 of the enemy's troops, and re
turned with a well-clothed, well-equipped, more numerous, and

644 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
better disciplined army than he had at the beginning of the
campaign. The effect of this campaign was to relieve North
Alabama and Middle Tennessee of the presence of the enemy
for some months.
In September, 1862, Van Dorn attacked Rosencrans at Cor
inth, but was obliged to withdraw after a gallant and bloody
fight. He retreated in good order.
After Lee's retreat into Virginia, from his march into Mary
land, which has been alluded to, McClellan remained inactive
for some time, and the Northern people becoming dissatisfied,
clamored for a change of commanders. Burnside was ap
pointed to supersede him — a man, in every way unfit for the
command of a large army. With an army of 150,000 men,
this man of straw crossed the Rappahannock, and attacked
Lee at Fredericksburg, in obedience to the howl of the North
ern Demos, of " On to Richmond ! " A perfect slaughter of
his troops ensued. As far as can be learned, this man did not
cross the river at all himself, but sent his troops to assault
works in front which none but a madman would have thought
of attempting — especially with a river in his rear. It is only
necessary to state the result. Federal loss in killed, 1152;
wounded, 7000. Confederate loss in killed and wounded, 1800.
During a storm of wind and rain, the beaten army regained
the shelter of its camps on the opposite side of the river. Burn-
side was now thrown overboard by the Northern Demos, as
McClellan had been before him.
As the old year died, and the new year came in, the battle
of Murfreesborough, in Middle Tennessee, was fought between
Bragg and Rosencrans, which was bloody on both sides, and
indecisive. Bragg retired from Murfreesborough, but was not
molested by the enemy during his retreat. The year 1862
may be said, upon the whole, to have resulted brilliantly for
the Confederate arms. We had fought drawn battles, and had
made some retrograde movements, but, on the other hand, we
had gained splendid victories, made triumphant marches into
the enemy's territory, and even threatened his capital. The
nations of the earth were looking upon us with admiration,
and we had every reason to feel encouraged.
One of the first events of the year 1863, was the dispersion

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 645
of the enemy's blockading fleet, off Charleston, by Commo
dore Ingraham, with two small iron-clads, the Chicora and the
Palmetto State. This gallant South Carolinian, in his flag-ship,
the Chicora, first attacked the Mercedita, Captain Stellwagen.
Having run into this vessel, and fired one or two shots at her,
she cried for quarter, and surrendered, believing herself to be
in a sinking condition. In a few minutes, the Mercedita sent
a boat alongside the Chicora, with her first lieutenant, who, by
authority of his captain, surrendered the ship, and assented to
the paroling of the officers and crew. The two little iron-clads
then went in pursuit of the enemy's other ships, and succeeded
in getting a shot at one or two of them, but they were all too
fast for them, and betaking themselves to their heels, soon put
themselves out of harm's way. In a short time there was not
a blockader to be seen !
Judge of the surprise of Commodore Ingraham, when, upon
his return, he found that his prize, the Mercedita, which he had
left at anchor, under parole, had cleared out. Captain Stell
wagen, and every officer and man on board the Mercedita, had
solemnly promised on honor — for this is the nature of a parole
— that they would do no act of war until exchanged. From
the moment they made that promise, they were hors du combat.
They were prisoners at large, on board the ship which they had
surrendered to the enemy. And yet, when that enemy turned
his back — relying upon the parole which they had given him
— they got up their anchor, and steamed off to Port Royal,
and reported to their Admiral — Dupont ! Did Dupont send
her back to Ingraham ? No. He reported the facts to Mr.
Secretary Welles. And what did Mr. Secretary Welles do ?
He kept possession of the ship at the sacrifice of the honor of
the Department over which he presided. And what think you,
reader, was the excuse ? It is a curiosity. Admiral Dupont
reported the case thus to Mr. Welles : — " * * * Unable to
use his [Stellwagen's] guns, and being at the mercy of the
enemy, which was lying alongside, on his starboard quarter,
all further resistance was deemed hopeless by Captain Stell
wagen, and he surrendered. The crew and officers were pa
roled, though nothing was said about the ship; the executive offi
cer Lieutenant-Commander Abbot, having gone on board the

646 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
enemy's ship, and made the arrangements." Mr. Welles, thus
prompted by Admiral Dupont, adopted the exceedingly bril
liant idea, that as nothing had been said about the ship — that is,
as the ship had not been paroled, she might, like every other
unparoled prisoner, walk off with herself, and make her escape I
But to say nothing of the odd idea of paroling a ship, these hon
orable casuists overlooked the small circumstance that the ship
could not make her escape without the assistance of the pa
roled officers ; and it was an act of war for paroled officers to
get under way, and carry off from her anchors, a prize-ship of
the enemy. It was a theft, and breach of honor besides.
A few days after Ingraham's raid, Galveston was recaptured
by the Confederates, as already described when speaking of
the victory of the Alabama over the Hatteras.
Sherman made an attempt upon Vicksburg, and failed. Ad
miral Dupont, with a large and well appointed fleet of iron
clads, attacked Charleston, and was beaten back — one of hip
ships being sunk, and others seriously damaged. On the Po
tomac, Hooker had been sent by the many-headed monster to
relieve Burnside, which was but the substitution of one dun
derhead for another. But Hooker had the sobriquet of "fight
ing Joe," and this tickled the monster. "With the most
splendid army on the planet," as characterized by the hyper-
bolous Joe himself, he crossed the Rappahannock, on his way
to Richmond. Lee had no more than about one third of Hook
er's force, with which to oppose him. Three battles ensued —
at the Wilderness, Chancellorsville, and Salem Church, which
resulted in the defeat and rout of "fighting Joe," and his rapid
retreat to the north bank of the Rappahannock. But these
victories cost us the life of Stonewall Jackson, the Coeur de
Leon of the Southern Confederacy. His body has been given
to the worms, but his exploits equal, if they do not excel, those
of Napoleon in his first Italian campaign, and will fire the youth
of America as long as our language lives, and history con
tinues to be read.
A third attempt was made upon Vicksburg ; this time by
General Grant, with a large army that insured success. With
this army, and a fleet of gunboats, he laid siege to Pemberton.
On the 4th of July Pemberton surrendered. This was a ter-

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 647
rible blow to us. It not only lost us an army, but cut the
Confederacy in two, by giving the enemy the command of the
Mississippi River. Port Hudson followed. As a partial set
off to these disasters, General Dick Taylor captured Brasher
City, a very important base which the enemy had established
for operations in Louisiana and Texas. Nearly five million
dollars' worth of stores fell into Taylor's hands.
After the defeat of Hooker, Lee determined upon another
move across the enemy's border. Hooker followed, keeping
himself between Lee and Washington, supposing the latter tc
be the object of Lee's movement. But Lee moved by the
Shenandoah Valley, upon Gettysburg in Pennsylvania. Hooker
now resigned the command, for which he found himself un
fitted, and Meade was sent to relieve him. The latter marched
forthwith upon Gettysburg, cautiously disposing his troops,
meanwhile, so as to cover both Baltimore and Washington.
The greatest battle of the war was fought here during the first
three days of July. Both parties were whipped, and on the
4th of July, when Pemberton was surrendering Vicksburg to
Grant, Lee was preparing to withdraw from Gettysburg for the
purpose of recrossing the Potomac. If the battle had been
fought in Virginia, Meade would have been preparing, in like
manner, to cross the same river, but to a different side. Lee
withdrew without serious molestation, Meade being too badly
crippled, to do more than follow him at a limping gait. The
disproportion of numbers in this battle was greatly in favor
of Meade, and he had, besides, the advantage of acting on the
defensive, in an intrenched position.
Vicksburg and Gettysburg mark an era in the war. The
Confederates, from this time, began to show signs of weak
ness. In consequence of the great disparity of numbers, we
had been compelled, at an early day in the war, to draw upon
our whole fighting population. The Northern hive was still
swarming, and apparently as numerous as ever. All Europe
was, besides, open to the North as a recruiting station, and we
have seen, in the course of these pages, how unscrupulously
and fraudulently the Federal agents availed themselves of
this advantage. We were being hard pressed, too, for mate
rial, for the enemy was maintaining a rigid blockade of our

648 MEMOIRS OV SERVICE AFLOAT
ports, and was, besides, with a barbarity unknown in civilized
war, laying waste our plantations and corn-fields. We need
no better evidence of the shock which had been given to public
confidence in the South, by those two disasters, than the simple
fact, that our currency depreciated almost immediately a thou
sand per cent. ! Later in the summer, another attempt was
made upon Charleston, which was repulsed as the others had
been. Dupont, after his failure, had been thrown overboard,
and Admiral Foote ordered to succeed him ; but Foote dying
before he could assume command, Dahlgren was substituted.
This gentleman had, from a very early period in his career,
directed his attention to ordnance, and turned to account the
experiments of Colonel Paixan with shell-guns and shell-
firing. He had much improved upon the old-fashioned naval
ordnance, in vogue before the advent of steamships, and for
these labors of his in the foundries and work-shops, he had
been made an Admiral. He was now sent to aid General
Gilmore, an engineer of some reputation, to carry out the
favorite Boston idea of razing Charleston to the ground, as the
original hot-bed of secession. They made a lodgment on
Morris Island, but failed, as Dupont had done, against the
other works. We have thus strung, as it were, upon our
thread of the war, the more important military events that
occurred during the first year of the cruise of the Alabama.
We will now return to that ship. We left her at Saldanha
Bay, near the Cape of Good Hope.
On the morning of the 5th of August, the weather being
fine, and the wind light from the south, we got under way for
Table Bay. As we were steaming along the coast, we fell in
with our consort, the Tuscaloosa, on her way to join us, at
Saldanha Bay, in accordance with her instructions. She had
been delayed by light winds and calms. She reported the
capture of the enemy's ship Santee, from the East Indies, laden
with rice, en British account, and bound for Falmouth, in
England. She had released her on ransom-bond. The Tus
caloosa being in want of supplies, I directed her to proceed to
Simon Town, in Simon's Bay, to the eastward of the Cape,
and there refit, and provide herself with whatever might be
necessary. A little after mid-day, as we were hauling in for

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 649
Cape Town, "sail ho!" was cried from aloft; and when we bad
raised the sail from the deck, we could see quite distinctly that
the jaunty, newly painted craft, with the taper spars, and whit©
canvas, was an American bark, bound, like ourselves, into
Table Bay. As before remarked, the wind was light, and the
bark was not making much headway. This was fortunate, for
if there had been a brisk breeze blowing, she must have run
within the charmed marine league, before we could have over
hauled her.
Hoisting the English colors, we gave the Alabama all steam
in chase, and came near enough to heave the stranger to, when
she was still five or six miles from the land. She proved to be
the Sea-Bride, of Boston, from New York, and bound, with an
assorted cargo of provisions and notions, on a trading voyage
along the eastern coast of Africa. I threw a prize crew on
board of her, and as I could not take her into port with me, I
directed the officer to stand off and on until further orders —
repairing to Saldanha Bay, by the 15th of the month, in case
he should be blown off by a gale. The capture of this ship
caused great excitement at Cape Town, it having been made
within full view of the whole population. The editor of a
daily newspaper published at the Cape — the "Argus" — wit
nessed it, and we will let him describe it. The following is an
extract from that paper, ofthe date of the 6th of August, 1863 : —
" Yesterday, at almost noon, a steamer from the northward was
made down from the signal-post, on Lion's Hill. The Governor
had, on the previous day, received a letter from Captain Semmes,
informing his Excellency that the gallant captain had put his ship
into Saldanha Bay for repairs. This letter had been made public
in the morning, and had caused no little excitement. Cape Town,
that has been more than dull — that has been dismal for months,
thinking and talking of nothing but bankruptcies — bankruptcies
fraudulent, and bankruptcies unavoidable — was now all astir, full
of life and motion. The stoop of the Commercial Exchange was
crowded with merchants, knots of citizens were collected at the
corner of every street; business was almost, if not entirely sus
pended. "All that could be gleaned, in addition to the information of Cap
tain Semmes' letter to the Governor, a copy of which was sent to
the United States Consul, immediately it was received, was that
the schooner Atlas had just returned from Malagas Island, where
she had been with water and vegetables for men collecting guano

650 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
there. Captain Boyce, the master of the Atlas, reported that he
had himself actually seen the Alabama ; a boat from the steamer
had boarded his vessel, and he had been on board of her. His
report of Captain Semmes corroborated that given by every one
else. He said the Captain was most courteous and gentlemanly
He asked Captain Boyce to land thirty prisoners for him, in Tabln
Bay, with which request Captain Boyce was unable to comply.
Captain Semmes said that the Florida was also a short distance
off the Cape, and that the Alabama, when she had completed her
repairs, and was cleaned and painted, would pay Table Bay a visit.
He expected to be there, he said, very nearly as soon as the Atlas.
Shortly after the Atlas arrived, a boat brought up some of the pri
soners from Saldanha Bay, and among them one of the crew of
the Alabama, who said he had left the ship. All these waited on
the United States Consul, but were unable to give much informar
tion, beyond what we had already received.
" The news that the Alabama was coming into Table Bay, and
would probably arrive about four o'clock this afternoon, added to
the excitement. About noon, a steamer from the north-west was
made down by the signal-man on the hill. Could this be the Ala
bama ? or was it the Hydaspes, from India, or the Lady Jocelyn
from England ? All three were now hourly expected, and the city
was in doubt. Just after one, it was made down ' Confederate
steamer Alabama from the north-west, and Federal bark from the
south-east.' Here was to be a capture by the celebrated Confed
erate craft, close to the entrance of Table Bay. The inhabitants
rushed off to get a sight. Crowds of people ran up the Lion's Hill,
and to the Kloof Road. All the cabs were chartered — every one
of them ; there was no cavilling about fares ; the cabs were taken,
and no questions asked, but orders were given to drive as hard as
possible. " The bark coming in from the south-east, and, as the signal-man
made down, five miles off ; the steamer coming in from the north
west, eight miles off, led us to think that the kloof road was the
best place for a full view. To that place we directed our Jehu to
drive furiously. We did the first mile in a short time ; but the
kloof-hill for the next two and a half miles is up-hill work. The
horse jibbed, so we pushed on, on foot, as fast as possible, and left
the cab to come on. When we reached the summit, we could only
make out a steamer on the horizon, from eighteen to twenty miles
off. This could not be the Alabama, unless she was making off to
sea again. There was no bark. As soon as our cab reached the
u-own of the hill, we set off at a break-neck pace, down the hill, on
past th* Round-house, till we came near Brighton, and as we reached
the corner, there lay the Alabama within fifty yards of the unfortu
nate Yankee. As the Yankee came around from the south-east,
and about five miles from the Bay, the steamer came down upon
her. The Yankee was evidently taken by surprise. The Alabama
fired a gun, and brought her to.
"When first we got sight of the Alabama, it was difficult to make

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 651
out what she was doing ; the bark's head had been put about, and
the Alabama lay off quite immovable, as if she were taking a sight
of the ' varmint.' The weather was beautifully calm and clear,
and the sea was as smooth and transparent as a sheet of glass.
The bark was making her way slowly from the steamer, with every
bit of her canvas spread. The Alabama, with her steam off, ap
peared to be letting the bark get clear off. What could this mean?
No one understood. It must be the Alabama. ' There,' said the
spectators, ' is the Confederate flag at her peak ; it must be a Fed
eral bark, too, for there are the stars and stripes of the States flying
at her main.' What could the Alabama mean lying there —
' As idly as a painted ship
Upon a painted ocean.1
What it meant was soon seen. Like a cat, watching and playing
with a victimized mouse, Captain Semmes permitted his prize to
draw off a few yards, and then he up steam again, and pounced
upon her. She first sailed round the Yankee from stem to stern,
and stern to stem again. The way that fine, saucy, rakish craft
was handled was worth riding a hundred miles to see. She went
round the bark like a toy, making a complete circle, and leaving an
even margin of water between herself and her prize, of not more
than twenty yards. From the hill it appeared as if there was no
water at all between the two vessels. This done, she sent a boat
with a prize crew off, took possession in the name of the Confed
erate States, and sent the bark off to sea.
" The Alabama then made for the port. We came round the
Kloof to visit Captain Semmes on board. As we came, we found
the heights overlooking Table Bay covered with people ; the road
to Gregn Point lined with cabs. The windows of the villas at the
bottom of the hill were all thrown up, and ladies waved their hand
kerchiefs, and one and all joined in the general enthusiasm ; over
the quarries, along the Malay burying-ground, the Gallows Hill,
and the beach, there were masses of people — nothing but a sea of
heads as far as the eye could reach. Along Strand Street, and
Alderley Street, the roofs of all the houses, from which Table Bay
is overlooked, were made available as standing-places for the people
who could not get boats to go off to her. The central, the north, the
south, and the coaling jetties were all crowded. At the central
jetty it was almost impossible to force one's way through to get a
boat. However, all in good time, we did get a boat, and went off,
in the midst of dingies, cargo-boats, gigs, and wherries, all as full
as they could hold. Nearly all the city was upon the bay ; the
rowing clubs in uniform, with favored members of their respective
clubs on board. The crews feathered their oars in double-quick
time, and their pulling, our ' stroke ' declared, was a ' caution, and
no mistake.' * * * On getting alongside the Alabama, we found
about a dozen boats before us, and we had not been on board five
minutes before she was surrounded by nearly every boat in Table

652 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
Bay, and as boat after boat arrived, three hearty cheers weie given
for Captain Semmes and his gallant privateer. This, upon the
part of a neutral people, is, perchance, wrong ; but we are not argu
ing a case — we are recording facts. They did cheer, and cheer
with a will, too. It was not, perhaps, taking the view of either
side, Federal or Confederate, but in admiration of the skill, pluck,
and daring of the Alabama, her captain, and her crew, who afford
a general theme of admiration for the world all over.
" Visitors were received by the officers of the ship most cour
teously, and without distinction, and the officers conversed freely
and unreservedly of their exploits. There was nothing like brag
in their manner of answering questions put to them. They are as
fine and gentlemanly a set of fellows as ever we saw ; most of them
young men. The ship has been so frequently described, that most
people know what she is like, as we do who have seen her. We
should have known her to be the Alabama, if we had boarded her
in the midst of the ocean, with no one to introduce us to each other.
Her guns alone are worth going off to see, and everything about
her speaks highly of the seamanship and discipline of her com
mander and his officers. She had a very large crew, fine, lithe-
looking fellows, the very picture of English man-of-war's men."
The editor of the "Argus" has not overdrawn the picture when
he says, that nearly all Cape Town was afloat, on the evening
of the arrival of the Alabama. The deck of the ship was so
crowded, that it was almost impossible to stir in any direction.
Nor was this simply a vulgar crowd, come off to satisfy mere
curiosity. It seemed to be a generous outpouring of the
better classes. Gentlemen and ladies of distinction pressed
into my cabin, to tender me a cordial greeting. Whatever may
have been the cause, their imaginations and their hearts seemed
both to have been touched. I could not but be gratified at
such a demonstration on the part of an entire people. The in
habitants of the Cape colony seemed to resemble our own peo
ple in their excitability, and in the warmth with which they
expressed their feelings, more than the phlegmatic English
people, of whom they are a part. This resemblance became
still more apparent, when I had the leisure to notice the tone,
and temper of their press, the marshalling of political parties,
and the speeches of their public men. The colony, with its
own legislature, charged with the care of its own local con
cerns, was almost a republic. It enjoyed all the freedom of a
republic, without its evils. The check upon the franchise, and

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 653
the appointment of the Executive by the Crown, so tempore ^
the republican elements, that license was checked, without lib
erty being restrained.
Bartelli, my faithful steward, was in his element during the
continuance of this great levee on board the Alabama. He
had dressed himself with scrupulous care, and posting himself
at my cabin-door, with the air of a chamberlain to a king, he
refused admission to all comers, until they had first presented
him with a card, and been duly announced. Pressing some
of the ward-room boys into his service, he served refreshments
to his numerous guests, in a style that did my menage infinite
credit. Fair women brought off bouquets with them, which
they presented with a charming grace, and my cabin was soon
garlanded with flowers. Some of these were immortelles pecu
liar to the Cape of Good Hope, and for months afterward, they
retained their places around the large mirror that adorned the
after-part of my cabin, with their colors almost as bright as
ever. During my entire stay, my table was loaded with flow
ers, and the most luscious grapes, and other fruits, sent off to
me every morning, by the ladies of the Cape, sometimes with,
and sometimes without, a name. Something has been said be
fore about the capacity of the heart of a sailor. My own was
carried by storm on the present occasion. I simply surrendered
at discretion, and whilst Kell was explaining the virtues of his
guns to his male visitors, and answering the many questions
that were put to him about our cruises and captures, I found
it as much as I could do, to write autographs, and answer the
pretty little perfumed billets that came off to me. Dear ladies
of the Cape of Good Hope ! these scenes are still fresh in my
memory, and I make you but a feeble return for all your kind
ness, in endeavoring to impress them upon these pages, that
they may endure "yet a little while." I have always found
the instincts of women to be right, and I felt more gratified at
this spontaneous outpouring of the sympathies of the sex, for
our cause, than if all the male creatures of the earth had ap
proved it, in cold and formal words.
I found, at the Cape of Good Hope, the stereotyped Ameri
can Consul ; half diplomat, half demagogue. Here is a letter
which the ignorant fellow wrote to the Governor, whilst I was
still at Saldanha Bay : —

654 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
"Sir: From reliable information received by me, and which you
are also doubtless in possession of, a war-steamer called the Ala
bama, is now in Saldanha Bay, being painted, discharging prison
ers of war, &c. The vessel in question was built in England, to
prey upon the commerce of the United States, and escaped there
from while on her trial-trip, forfeiting bonds of £20,000 (!) which
the British Government exacted under the Foreign Enlistment Act.
Now, as your Government has, a treaty of amity and commerce
with the United States, and has not recognized the persons in re
volt against the United States as a government at all, the vessel
alluded to should be at once seized, and sent to England, whence
she clandestinely escaped. Assuming that the British Government
was sincere in exacting the bonds, you have, doubtless, been in
structed to send her home to England, where she belongs. But if,
from some oversight, you have not received such instructions, and
you decline the responsibility of making the seizure, I would most
respectfully protest against the vessel remaining in any port of the
Colony, another day. She has been at Saldanha Bay four days
already, and a week previously on the coast, and has forfeited all
right to remain an hour longer, by this breach of neutrality. Paint
ing a ship [especially with Yankee paint] does not come under the
head of "necessary repairs," an-d is no proof that she is unsea-
worthy ; and to allow her to visit other ports, after she has set the
Queen's proclamation of neutrality at defiance, would not be re
garded as in accordance with the spirit and purpose of that docu
ment." This letter, in its loose statement of facts, and in its lucid
exposition of the laws of nations, would have done credit to
Mr. Seward himself, the head of the department to which this
ambitious little Consul belonged. Instead of a week, the Ala
bama had been less than a day on the coast, before she ran into
Saldanha Bay ; and, if she had chosen, she might have cruised on
the coast during the rest ofthe war, in entire conformity with the
Queen's proclamation, and the laws of nations. But the richest
part of the letter is that wherein the Consul tells the Governor,
that inasmuch as the Confederate States had not been acknowl
edged as a nation, they had no right to commission a ship of
war ! Ii, is astonishing how dull the Federal officials, generally,
were on this point. The Consul knew that Great Britain had
acknowledged us to be in possession of belligerent rights, and
that the only rights I was pretending to exercise, in the Ala-
'•ama, were those of a belligerent. But the Consul was not to
Dlame. He was only a Consul, and could not be supposed to
know better. Mr. Seward's despatches on the subject of the

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 655
Alabama had so muddled the brains of his subordinates, that
they could never make head or tail of the subject.
The following was the reply of the Governor, through tb»
Colonial Secretary : —
" I am directed by the Governor, to acknowledge the receipt of
your letter of yesterday's date, relative to the Alabama. His Ex
cellency has no instructions, neither has he any authority, to seize,
or detain that vessel ; and he desires me to acquaint you, that he
has received a letter from the Commander, dated the 1st instant,
stating that repairs were in progress, and as soon as they were
completed he intended to go to sea. He further announces his in
tention of respecting the neutrality of the British Government,
The course which Captain Semmes here proposes to take, is, in the
Governor's opinion, in conformity with the instructions he has him
self received, relative to ships of war and privateers, belonging to
the United States, and the States calling themselves the Confed
erate States of America, visiting British ports. The reports re
ceived from Saldanha Bay induce the Governor to believe, that the
vessel will leave that harbor, as soon as her repairs are completed ;
but he will immediately, on receiving intelligence to the contrary,
take the necessary steps for enforcing the observance of the rules
laid down by her Majesty's Government."
Another correspondence now sprang up between the Consul
and the Governor in relation to the capture of the Sea-Bride.
The Consul wrote to the Governor, as follows : —
" The Confederate steamer Alabama has just captured an Ameri
can bark off Green Point, or about four miles from the nearest
land — Robben Island. I witnessed the capture with my own eyes,
as did hundreds of others at the same time. This occurrence at
the entrance of Table Bay, and clearly in British waters, is an in
sult to England, and a grievous injury to a friendly power, the
United States."
This remark about the honor of England will remind the
reader of the article I quoted some pages back, from the New
York " Commercial Advertiser," to the same effect. How won
derfully alive these fellows were to English honor, when Yan
kee ships were in danger ! But as the Consul admits, upon
the testimony of his " own eyes," that the capture was made
four miles from the nearest land, the reader will, perhaps, be
curious_ to see how he brings it within British waters. The
marine league is the limit of jurisdiction, and the writers on
international law say that that limit was probably adopted,
42

656 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
because a cannon-shot could not be thrown farther than threa
miles from the shore. It may have been the cannon-shot
which suggested the league, but it was the league, and not the
cannot-shot, which was the limit. Now the Consul argued
that the Yankees had invented some " big guns," which would
throw a shot a long way beyond the league — ergo, the Yan
kee guns had changed the Laws of Nations.
But the Consul wrote his letter in too great a hurry. He
had not yet seen the master of the captured ship. This clever
Yankee, backed by several of his crew equally clever, made a
much better case for him ; for they swore, in a batch of affida
vits before the Consul himself, and in spite of the Consul's
" own eyes," that the ship had been captured within two miles
and a half of Robben Island ! Imprudent Consul, to have thus
gone off half cocked ! This discovery of new testimony was
communicated to the Governor, as follows : " I beg now to en
close for your Excellency's perusal, the affidavit of Captain
Charles F. White, of the Sea-Bride, protesting against the cap
ture of the said bark in British waters. The bearings taken
by him at the time of capture, conclusively show that she was
in neutral waters, being about two and a half miles from Rob
ben Island. This statement is doubtless more satisfactory than
the testimony of persons, who measured the distance by the
eye." Doubtless, if the bearings had been correct ; but unfor
tunately for Captain White, there were too many other wit
nesses, who were under no temptation to falsify the truth. A
fine ship, and a lucrative trading voyage along the eastern
coast of Africa were to be the reward of his testimony ; tha
simple telling of the truth the reward of the other witnesses,
The usual consequences followed. The interested witness
perjured himself, and was disbelieved. I remained entirely
neutral in the matter, volunteered no testimony, and only re
sponded to such questions as were asked me — not under oath
— by the authorities. The following was the case made in
rebuttal of this "Yankee hash": —
STATEMENT OF JOSEPH HOPSON.
Joseph Hopson, keeper of the Green Point Light-house,
states: —

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 657
" I was on the look-out on Wednesday afternoon, when the Ala
bama and Sea-Bride were coming in. When I first saw them, the
Bteamer was coming round the north-west of Robben Island, and
the bark bore from her about five miles W. N. W. The bark was
coming in under all sail, with a good breeze, and she took nothing
in, when the gun was fired. I believe two guns were fired, but the
gun I mean was the last, and the steamer then crossed the stern of
the bark, and hauled up to her on the starboard side. He steamed
ahead gently, and shortly afterward I saw the bark put round, with
her head to the westward, and a boat put off from the steamer and
boarded her. Both vessels were then good five miles off the main
land, and quite five, if not six, from the north-west point of Robben
Island." STATEMENT OP W. S. FIELD, COLLECTOR OP THE CUSTOMS.
"I was present at the old light-house, on Green Point, on
Wednesday afternoon at two p. M., and saw the Alabama capture
the American bark Sea-Bride, and I agree with the above state
ment, as far as the position of the vessels, and their distance from
shore are concerned. I may also remark that I called the attention
of Colonel Bisset and the lighthouse keeper, Hopson, to the dis
tance of the vessels at the time of the capture, as it was probable
we should be called upon to give our evidence respecting the affair,
and we took a note of the time it occurred."
STATEMENT OP JOHN ROE.
" I was, yesterday, the 5th day of August, 1863, returning from
f. whale chase in Hunt's Bay, when I first saw the bark Sea-Bride
standing from the westward, on to the land. I came on to Table
Bay, and when off Camp's Bay, I saw the smoke of the Alabama,
some distance from the westward of Robben Island. When I
reached the Green Point lighthouse, the steamer was standing up
toward the bark, which was about five miles and a half to the west
ward of Green Point, and about four and a half from the western
point of Robben Island. This was their position — being near each
other — when the gun was fired."
STATEMENT OP THE SIGNAL-MAN AT THE LION'S RUMP TELEGRAPH
STATION.
" On Wednesday last, the 5th day of August, 1863, 1 sighted the
bark Sea-Bride, about seven o'clock in the morning, about fifteen
or twenty miles off the land, standing into Table Bay from the
south-west. There was a light breeze blowing from the north-west,
which continued until mid-day. About mid-day I sighted the Ala
bama, screw-steamer, standing from due north, toward Table Bay,
intending, as it appeared to me, to take the passage between Rob
ben Island, and the Bluaberg Beach. She was then between. fifteen
and eighteen miles off the land. After sighting the steamer, I
hoisted the demand fo» the bark, when she hoisted the American

658 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
flag, which I reported to the port-office, the bark being then abont
eight miles off the land, from Irville Point. No sooner had the
bark hoisted the American flag, than the steamer turned sharp
round in the direction of, and toward the bark. The steamer ap
peared at that time to be about twelve miles off the land, from
Irville Point, and about four or five miles outside of Robben Island,
and about seven miles from the bark. The steamer then came up
to, and alongside of the bark, when the latter was good four miles
off the land, at or near the old lighthouse, and five miles off the
island. The steamer, after firing a gun, stopped the farther pro
gress of the bark, several boats were sent to her, and after that
the bark stood out to sea again, and the Alabama steamed into
Table Bay."
At the time of the capture, her Majesty's steamship Valor
ous was lying in Table Bay, and the Governor, in addition to
the above testimony, charged Captain Forsyth, her commander,
also, to investigate the subject, and report to him. The fol
lowing is Captain Forsyth's report : —
Her Majesty's Ship Valorous, August 6, 1863.
In compliance with the request conveyed to me by your Excel
lency, I have the honor to report that I have obtained from Cap
tain Semmes, a statement of the position of the Confederate States
steamer Alabama, and the American bark Sea-Bride, when the
latter was captured, yesterday afternoon. Captain Semmes asserts,
that at the time of his capturing the Sea-Bride, Green Point light
house bore from the Alabama, south-east, about six or six and a
half miles. [The Yankee master said that it bore south, by east.]
This statement is borne out by the evidence of Captain Wilson,
Port-Captain of Table Bay, who has assured me, that at the time
of the Sea-Bride being captured, he was off Green Point, in the
port-boat, and that only the top of the Alabama's hull was visible.
I am of opinion, if Captain Wilson could only see that portion
of the hull of the Alabama, she must have been about the distance
from shore, which is stated by Captain Semmes, and I have,
therefore, come to the conclusion, that the bark Sea-Bride was
beyond the limits assigned, when she was captured by the Alabama.
The Governor, after having thus patiently investigated' the
case, directed his Secretary to inform the Consul of the result
in the following letter : —
" With reference to the correspondence that has passed, relative
to the capture, by the Confederate States steamer Alabama, of the
bark Sea-Bride, I am directed by the Governor to acquaint you,
that, on the best information he has been enabled to procure, he has
come to the conclusion, that the capture cannot be held to be illegal,
or in violation of the neutrality of the British Government, by
reason of the distance from the land at which it took place."

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 659
The Consul was foiled ; but he was a man of courage, and
resolved to strike another blow for the Sea-Bride. He next
charged that the prize-master had brought her within the
marine league after her capture. He made this charge upon
the strength of another affidavit — that ready resource of the
enemy when in difficulty. Enclosing this affidavit to the
Governor, he wrote as follows : —
" From the affidavit of the first officer, it appears that the alleged
prize was brought within one mile and a half of Green Point light
house, yesterday, at one o'clock A. m. Now, as the vessel was, at
the time, in charge of a prize-crew, it was a violation of neutrality,
as much as if the capture had been made at the same distance from
the land."
And he required that the ship should be seized.
Without stopping to inquire into the truth of the fact stated,
the Governor directed his Secretary to reply, that —
" His Excellency is not prepared to admit that the fact of a vessel
having been brought, by the prize-crew, within one and a half mile
of the Green Point lighthouse 'was a violation of the neutrality,
as much as if the capture had taken place at the same distance
from the land,' although both the belligerents are prohibited from
bringing their prizes into British ports. The Governor does not
feel warranted in taking steps for the removal of the prize.-crew
from the Sea-Bride."

CHAPTER XLVIL
a gale at cape town — alabama gets under way
for simon's town — capture of the martha wen-
zell — the tuscaloosa; her status as ship of
war considered — the tuscaloosa proceeds to
sea — the alabama follows her — they, with
the sea-bride, rendezvous at angra pequena.
i
HAYING brushed away Mr. Seward's gadfly, as described
in the last chapter, we may turn our attention again to
the Alabama. On the 7th of August, we took one ofthe gales
so common at the Cape, in the winter season. Dense banks of
black clouds hove up in the north-west, soon overspreading
the whole heavens, and the wind came out whistling from that
quarter. The reader must bear in mind, that when he crossed
into the southern hemisphere he reversed the points of the
compass, so far as wind and weather are concerned, and that
the north-wester, at the Cape of Good Hope, answers to our
south-easter, on the American coast — bringing with it thick,
rainy weather. There was a number of ships in the harbor,
and the gale drove in upon them without the least protection.
These ships, forewarned by the usual signs, had all struck
their upper masts, sent down their yards, and let go second
anchors, and veered to long scopes. We did the same in the
Alabama. It was a sublime spectacle to look abroad upon the bay m
the height of the gale. The elements seemed to be literally
at war, a low scud rushing to the shore, and climbing, as if
pursued by demons, up and over the Lion's Rump and Table
Mountain. Huge waves were rolling in upon the struggling
shipping, trying its ground- tackle to its utmost tension ; the
jetties and landings were covered with spray ; and Cape
660

MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT. 661
Town, though only a mile off, looked like a spectre town, as
viewed through the spray and driving scud. And what added
much to the interest of the scene, was the daring and skill of
the watermen. These men, in substantial launches, under
close-reefed sails, and with spare anchors and cables on board,
for the use of any ships that might be in distress for want of
sufficient ground-tackle, were darting hither and thither, like
so many spirits of the storm. They seemed to be sporting
with the dashing and blinding waves and the fury of the gale,
in very wantonness, as though they would defy the elements.
The ships at anchor were all fortunate enough to hold on ; but
a luckiest, Bremen brig, outside, which had ventured too near
the land, was wrecked, during the night, on Green Point.
Fortunately, no lives were lost.
The gale lasted about twenty-four hours ; and when it had
sufficiently abated, we communicated with the shore, and got
off such supplies as we needed ; it being my intention to run
round to Simon's Town, on the opposite side of the Cape, where
there is shelter from these gales, for the purpose of completing
my repairs. On the 9th, the weather had again become fine.
The wind had gone round to south-east, the fair-weather quar
ter, and the Devil had spread his table-cloth on Table Moun
tain. Every one has heard of this famous table-cloth at
the Cape of Good Hope. It is a fleecy, white cloud, which
hangs perpetually over Table Mountain during fine weather.
The south-east winds, as they climb the steep ascent, bring
with them more or less moisture. This moisture is sufficiently
cooled as it passes over the "table" — a level space on the top
of the mountain — to become condensed into a white vapor,
very similar to that which escapes from a steam-pipe. When
the wind shifts, and the storm begins to gather, the table-cloth
disappears. At nine o'clock, on this morning, we got under way, and
steamed out of the harbor, on our way to Simon's Town. The
day was charmingly fine. The atmosphere was soft and trans
parent, and the sun bright, bringing out all the beauties of the
bold promontories and the deep-water bays that indent the
coast. We were now really doubling the Cape of Good Hope.
As we approached the famous headland, with its lighthouse

662 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
perched several hundred feet above the bold and blackened
rocks, our imaginations busy with the past, endeavoring to de
pict the frail Portuguese bark, which had first dared its stormy
waters, the cry of " sail ho ! " resounded most musically from
the mast-head. Imagination took flight at once, at the sound
of this practical cry. It recalled us from our dream of John
of Portugal, to one Abraham Lincoln and his surroundings.
Here was not the' poetical bark, of four centuries ago, that had
at last found its way to those "Indies," which Columbus so
long sought for in vain, but a Yankee ship laden with rice ;
for an hour's steaming brought us alongside of the Martha
Wenzell, of Boston, from Akyab for Falmouth in England.
The Wenzell had better luck than the Sea-Bride, for she had
clearly entered the mouth of False Bay, and though seven or
eight miles yet from the land, was within a line drawn from
point to point of the Bay. Being thus within British juris
diction, I astonished the master by releasing, instead of burn
ing his ship. He looked so dumfounded when I announced
to him this decision, that if I had been a Yankee, he would, no
doubt, have suspected me of some Yankee trick. He gathered
his slow ideas together, by degrees, however, and was profuse
in his thanks. I told him he had none to give me, for I waa
only too sorry not to be able to burn him.
We now hauled in for the coast, and taking a pilot, as we
approached the harbor, anchored at two p. M. in Simon's Bay.
This is the naval station of the colony, and we found here the
frigate Narcissus, wearing the flag of Rear Admiral Sir Bald
win Walker, the commander-in-chief of the British naval
forces at the Cape. We were visited immediately upon anchor
ing by a lieutenant from the flag-ship. The Tuscaloosa had
preceded me, as the reader has seen, a few days, and we found
her still here, not having quite completed her preparations for
sea. The gadfly, I found, had been buzzing around her, too,
but her difficulties were all ended. As the correspondence is
short, I will give it to the reader. The Federal Consul wrote
to the Governor, as follows : —
" An armed vessel named the Tuscaloosa, claiming to act under
the authority of the so-called Confederate States, entered Simon's
Bay, on Saturday, the 8th instant. That vessel was formerly

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 663
owned by citizens of the United States, and while engaged in law
ful commerce [as if lawful commerce was not a subject of capture,
during war] was captured as a prize by the Alabama. She was
subsequently fitted out with arms, by the Alabama, to prey upon
the commerce of the United States, and now, without having been
condemned as a prize, by any Admiralty Court of any recognized
government, she is permitted to enter a neutral port, in violation
of the Queen's proclamation, with her original cargo on board
Against this proceeding, I, hereby, most emphatically protest, and
I claim that the vessel ought to be given up to her lawful owners."
It is quite true that the Tuscaloosa had not been condemned
by a prize court of the Confederacy, but it was equally true
that the Sovereign Power of the Confederacy, acting through
its authorized agent, had commissioned her as a ship of war,
which was the most solemn condemnation of the prize, that
the Sovereign could give. It was equally true, that no nation
has the right to inquire into the antecedents of the ships of war
of another nation. But these were points beyond the compre
hension of the gadfly. The following was the answer of the
Governor. The Colonial Secretary writes : —
"I am directed by the Governor to acknowledge the receipt of
your letter of this date, and to acquaint you, that it was not until
late last evening, that his Excellency received from the Naval
Commander-in-Chief, information, that the condition of the Tusca-
l y>sa was such as, as his Excellency is advised, to entitle her to be
regarded as a vessel of war. The Governor is not aware, nor do
you refer him to the provisions of the International Law, by which
captured vessels, as soon as they enter our neutral ports, revert to
their original owners, and are forfeited by their captors. But his
Excellency believes, that the claims of contending parties to vessels
captured can only be determined, in the first instance, by the courts
of the captor's country."
We remained five days at Simon's Town. We did not
need coal, but we had some caulking of the bends, and re
placing of copper about the water-line to do, and some slight
repairs to put upon our engine. Whilst these preparations
for sea were going on, we had some very pleasant intercourse
with the officers of the station and the citizens on shore. Be
sides the Narcissus, flag-ship, there were one or two other
British ships of war at anchor. There were some officers sta
tioned at the navy-yard, and there was a Chinese gunboat,

664 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
the Kwan-Tung, with an English commander and crew, which
had put into the harbor, on her way to the east. Simon's
Town was thus quite gay. The Governor, Sir Philip Wode-
house, also came over from Cape Town during our stay.
Lunches on board the different ships, excursions on board the
Kvjan-Tung, and dinner-parties were the order of the day.
As I have before remarked, the English naval officers dis
carded all the ridiculous nonsense about our not being "re
cognized," and extended to us official, as well as private
civilities. The Admiral was kind enough to give me a dinner-party,
at which the Governor, and his lady, and the principal officers
of his squadron were present. I found the ladies of the Ad
miral's family exceedingly agreeable. They were living in a
picturesque cottage, near the sea-shore, and solaced themselves
for their temporary banishment from "dear old England," by
•making their home as English as possible. They had sur
rounded themselves by fine lawns and shrubbery and flowers,
and Mrs. Walker, and one of the bewitching young ladies
were kind enough to show me over their extensive and well-
cultivated garden, in which they took much interest. Horse
back riding, picnics to the country, and balls on board the
•ships were the principal amusements of the young people.
Whilst my officers and. myself were thus relaxing ourselves,
my sailors were also making the most of their time. Kell had
told them off, by quarter watches, and sent them on " liberty."
Each batch was mustered, and inspected as it was sent on
shore, and pretty soon we had the old Jamaica scenes over
again. Most of them went over to Cape Town, in the stage
coach that was running between the two places, and put that
lively commercial town " in stays." The sailor quarter was a
continuous scene of revelry for several days. The towns
people humored and spoiled them. They all overstayed their
time, and we only got them back by twos and threes. It was
of no use to muster, and inspect them now. The tidy, new
suits, in which they had gone on shore, were torn and drag
gled, and old-drunks were upon nearly all of them.
The Tuscaloosa went to sea at daylight on the 14th, and we
followed her in the Alabama the next day. The former was

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 665
to proceed to Saldanha Bay, and thence take the Sea-Bride
with her to one of the uninhabited harbors, some distance to
the northward, and the Alabama was to follow her thither,
after a cruise of a few days off the Cape. The object of these
movements will be explained in due time. I now threw my
self into that perpetual stream of commerce, that comes setting
around the Cape of Good Hope from the East Indies. From
daylight until dark, ships are constantly in sight from the
lighthouse on the Cape. The road is about twenty miles
wide — no more. We kept our station in this road, day in
and day out for ten days,% during which we chased and over
hauled a great number of ships, but there was not a Yan
kee among them! It was winter-time, we were off the
"stormy Cape," and we had the weather suited to the season
and the locality. Storms and fogs and calms followed in suc
cession — the storm being the normal meteorological condition.
As we would be lying to, in this track, under reefed sails, in a
dark and stormy night, our very hair would sometimes be
made to stand on end, by the apparition of a huge ship rush
ing past us at lightning speed, before the howling gale, at no
more than a few ships' lengths from us. A collision would
have crushed us as if we had been an egg-shell.
At length, when I supposed the Tuscaloosa and the Sea-
Bride had reached their destination, I filled away and followed
them. As we were making this passage, it was reported to
me that our fresh-water condenser had given out. Here was
a predicament ! The water was condensed once a week, and
we had no more than about one week's supply on hand. The
joints of the piping had worked loose, and the machine had
become nearly useless. It was now still more necessary to
make a harbor, where we might get access to water, and see
what could be done in the way of repairs. We worked our
way along the African coast somewhat tediously, frequently
encountering head-winds and adverse currents. On the morn
ing of the 28th of August, we sighted the land, after having
been delayed by a dense fog for twenty -four hours, and in the
course of the afternoon we ran into the Bay of Angra Pe-
quefia, and anchored. This was our point of rendezvous. I
found the Tuscaloosa and the Sea-Bride both at anchor. I had

666 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
at last found a port into which I could take a prize ! I was
now, in short, among the Hottentots; no civilized nation
claiming jurisdiction over the waters in which I was anchored.
When at Cape Town, an English merchant had visited me,
and made overtures for the purchase of the Sea-Bride and her
cargo. He was willing to run the risk of non-condemnation
by a prize-court, and I could put him in possession of the
prize, he said, at some inlet on the coast of Africa, without the
jurisdiction of any civilized power. I made the sale to him.
He was to repair to the given rendezvous in his own vessel,
and I found him here, according to his agreement, with the
stipulated price — about one third the value of the ship and
cargo — in good English sovereigns, which, upon being counted,
were turned over to the paymaster, for the military chest.
The purchaser was then put in possession of the prize. I had
made an arrangement with other parties for the sale of the
wool still remaining on board the Tuscaloosa. This wool wan
io be landed at Angra Pequefia, also, the purchaser agreeing
to ship it to Europe, and credit the Confederate States with
two thirds of the proceeds. The reader will see how easy it
would have been for me, to make available many of my prizes
in this way, but the great objection to the scheme, was the loss
of time which it involved, and the risks I ran of not getting
back my prize crews. If I had undertaken, whenever I cap
tured a prize, to follow her to some out-of-the-way port, and
spend some days there, in negotiating for her sale, and getting
back my prize crew, I should not have accomplished half the
work I did. The great object now was to destroy, as speedily
as possible, the enemy's commerce, and to this I devoted all
my energies. I did not, therefore, repeat the experiment of
the Sea- Bride.
I could not have chosen a better spot for my present pur
pose. At Angra Pequefia I was entirely out of the world,
It was not visited at all, except by some straggling coaster in
quest of shelter in bad weather. There was, indeed, no other
inducement to visit it. It was in a desert part of Africa. The
region was rainless, and there was not so much as a shrub, or
even a blade of grass to be seen. The harbor was rock-bound,
and for miles inland the country was a waste of burning sand.

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 667
The harbor did not even afford fresh water, and we were
obliged to supply ourselves from the vessel of my English
friend, until our condenser could be repaired. The whole
country was a waste, in which there was no life visible away
from the coast. On the coast itself, there were the usual sea-
birds — the gannet and the sea-gull — and fish in abundance.
We hauled the seine, and caught a fine mess for the crews of
all the ships. Three or four naked, emaciated Hottentots, hav
ing seen the ships from a distance, had made their way to the
harbor, and came begging us for food. They remained during
our stay, and had their emptiness filled. Some thirty or forty
miles from the coast, they said, vegetation began to appear,
and there were villages and cattle.
I ordered Lieutenant Low, the commander of the Tuscaloosa,
as soon as he should land his cargo, to ballast his ship with
the rock which abounded on every hand, and proceed on a
cruise to the coast of Brazil. Sufficient time had now elapsed,
I thought, for the ships of war of the enemy, which had been
sent to that coast, in pursuit of me, to be coming in the direc
tion of the Cape of Good Hope. Lieutenant Low would,
therefore, in all probability, have a clear field before him.
Having nothing further to detain me in the Alabama, I got
under way, on my return to Simon's Town, intending to fill
up with coal, and proceed thence to the East Indies, in compli
ance with the suggestion of Mr. Secretary Mallory. The Tus
caloosa, after cruising the requisite time on the coast of Brazil,
was to return to the Cape to meet me, on my own return from
the East Indies.
When I reached the highway off the Cape again, I held my
self there for several days, cruising off and on, and sighting
the land occasionally, to see if perchance I could pick up an
American ship. But we had no better success than before.
The wary masters of these ships, if there were any passing,
gave the Cape a wide berth, and sought their way home, by
the most unfrequented paths, illustrating the old adage, that
"the farthest way round is the shortest way home." Impa
tient of further delay, without results, on Wednesday, the 16th
of September, I got up steam, and ran into Simon's Bay. I
learned, upon anchoring, that the United States steamer Van-

668 MEMOIRS JF SERVICE AFLOAT
derbilt, late the flag-ship of Admiral Wilkes, and now under
the command of Captain Baldwin, had left the anchorage, only
the Friday before, and gone herself to cruise off the Cape, in
the hope of falling in with the Alabama. She had taken her
station, as it would appear, a little to the eastward of me, off
Cape Agulhas and Point Danger. On the day the Vandetbilt
went to sea, viz., Friday, the 11th of September, it happened
that the Alabama was a little further off the land than usual,
which accounts for the two ships missing each other. The fol
lowing is the record on my journal, for that day : " Weather
very fine, wind light from the south-west. At half-past six,
showed the English colors to an English ' bark, after a short
chase." On the following Sunday, we were in plain sight of
Table Mountain. The two ships were thus cruising almost in
sight of each other's smoke.
The Vanderbilt visited both Cape Town, and Simon's Town,
and lay several days at each. I did not object that she had
been "painting ship," and should have been sent to sea earlier.
The more time Baldwin spent in port, the better I liked it.
Indeed, it always puzzled me, that the gadflies should insist
upon my being sent to sea so promptly, when nearly every
day that the Alabama was at sea, cost them a ship.
I had scarcely come to anchor, before Captain Bickford, of
the Narcissus, came on board of me, on the part of the Admi
ral, to have an " explanation." The gadfly had continued its
buzzing, I found, during my late absence from the Cape. A
short distance to the northward of the Cape of Good Hope, in
the direction of Angra Pequefia, there is an island called Icha-
boe, a dependency of the Cape colony. It had been repre
sented to the Admiral, by the Consul, that the transactions
which have been related as taking place at Angra Pequefia,
had taken place at this island, in violation of British neutral
ity. In what the evidence consisted I did not learn, but the
Consul, in his distress and extremity, had probably had re
course to some more Yankee affidavits. It was this charge
which Captain Bickford had come on board to ask an expla
nation of. The following letter from Sir Baldwin Walker, to
the Secretary of the Admiralty in London, will show how
easily I brushed off the gadfly, for the second time : —

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 669
"With reference to my letters, dated respectively the 19th and
31st ult., relative to the Confederate States ship-of-war Alabama,
and the prizes captured by her, I beg to enclose, for their lord
ships information, the copy of a statement forwarded to me by the
Collector of Customs at Cape Town, wherein it is represented, that
the Tuscaloosa and Sea-Bride had visited Ichaboe, which is a
dependency of this colony. Since the receipt of the above-men
tioned document, the Alabama arrived at this anchorage, (the 16th
instant,) and when Captain Semmes waited on me, I acquainted him
with the report, requesting he would inform me if it was true. I
was glad to learn from him that it was not so. He frankly ex
plained that the prize Sea-Bride, in the first place, had put into
Saldanha Bay, through stress of weather, and on being joined there,
by the Tuscaloosa, both vessels proceeded to Angra Pequefia, on
the west coast of Africa, where he subsequently joined them iD
the Alabama, and there sold the Sea-Bride and her cargo, to an
English subject who resides at Cape Town. The Tuscaloosa had
landed some wool at Angra Pequefia, and received ballast, but he
states, is still in commission as a tender. It will, therefore, be seen,
how erroneous is the accompanying report. I have no reason to
doubt Captain Semmes' explanation ; and he seems to be fully aliv»
to the instructions of her Majesty's Government, and appears to be
most anxious not to commit any breach of neutrality. The Ala
bama has returned to this port for coal, some provisions, and to
repair her condensing apparatus. From conversation with Captain
Semmes, I find he has been off this Cape for the last five days, and
as the Vanderbilt left this, on the 'night of the 11th inst., it is sur
prising they did not meet each other."
The Vanderbilt, I found, had exhausted the supply of coal at
Simon's Town, having taken in as much as eight or nine hun
dred tons. Commodore Yanderbilt, as he is called, had cer
tainly presented a mammoth coal-consumer to the Federal
Government, if nothing else. I was obliged, in consequence,
to order coal for the Alabama, around from Cape Town. And
as the operation of coaling and making the necessary repairs
would detain me several days, and as I was, besides, bound on
a long voyage, I yielded to the petitions of my crew, and per
mitted them to go on liberty again. The officers of the station
were as courteous to us as before, and I renewed my very
pleasant intercourse with the Admiral's family. The owner
of the famous Constantia vineyard, lying between Simon's Town
and Cape Town, sent me a pressing invitation to come and spend
a few days with him, but I was too busy to accept his hospi
tably. He afterward sent me a cask of his world-renowned

670 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
wine This cask of wine, after making the voyage to India,
was offered as a libation to the god of war. It went down in
the Alabama off Cherbourg. We had another very pleasant
dinner at the Admiral's — the guests being composed, this
time, exclusively of naval officers. After our return to the
drawing-room, the ladies made their appearance, and gave ua
some delightful music. These were some of the oases in the
desert of my life upon the ocean.
In the course of five or six days, by the exercise of great
diligence, we were again ready for sea. But unfortunately all
my crew were not yet on board. My rascals had behaved
worse than usual, on this last visit to Cape Town. Some of
them had been jugged by the authorities for offences against
the peace, and others had yielded to the seductions of the
ever vigilant Federal Consul, and been quartered upon his
bounty. The Consul had made a haul. They would be cap
ital fellows for "affidavits" against the A labama. I need not
say that they were of the cosmopolitan sailor class, none of
them being citizens of the Southern States. I offered large
rewards for the apprehension and delivery to me of these fel
lows; but the police were afraid to act — probably forbidden
by their superiors, in deference to their supposed duty under
the neutrality laws. That was a very one-sided neutrality,
however, which permitted the Federal Consul to convert his
quarters into a hostile camp, for the seduction of my sailors,
and denied me access to the police for redress. My agent at
Cape Town, having made every exertion in his power to secure
the return of as many of my men as possible, finally telegraphed
me, on the evening of the 24th of September, that it was use
less to wait any longer. As many as fourteen had deserted ;
enough to cripple my crew, and that, too, with an enemy's ship
of superior force on the coast.
What was to be done ? Luckily there was a remedy at
hand. A sailor -landlord, one of those Shylocks who coin
Jack's flesh and blood into gold, hearing of the distress of the
Alabama, came off to tell me that all his boarders, eleven in
number, had volunteered to supply the place of my deserters.
This seemed like a fair exchange. It was but "swapping
horses," as the "sainted Abraham" would hav<j said, if he

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 671
had been in my place — only I was giving a little "boot" —
fourteen well-fed, well-clothed fellows, for eleven ragged, whis
key-filled vagabonds. It was a " swap " in another sense, too,
as, ten to one, all these eleven fellows were deserters from
other ships that had touched at this " relay house " of the sea.
There was only one little difficulty in the way of my shipping
these men. There was my good friend, her Majesty, the Queen
— I must not be ungallant to her, and violate her neutrality
laws. What monstrous sophists we are, when interest prompts
us ? I reasoned out this case to my entire satisfaction. I said
to myself, My sailors have gone on shore in her Majesty's
dominions, and refuse to come back to me. When I apply to
her Majesty's police, they tell me that so sacred is the soil of
England, no man must be coerced to do what he does n't want
to do. Good ! I reply that a ship of war is a part of the ter
ritory to which she belongs, and that if some of the subjects
cf the Queen should think proper to come into my territory,
and refuse to go back, I may surely apply the same principle,
and refuse to compel them.
When I had come to this conclusion, I turned to the land
lord, and said : " And so you have some gentlemen boarding at
your house, who desire to take passage with me ? " The land
lord smiled, and nodded assent. I continued : " You know I
cannot ship any seamen in her Majesty's ports, but I see no
reason why I should not take passengers to sea with me, if they
desire to go." "Certainly, your honor — they can work their
passage, you know." "I suppose you '11 charge something
for bringing these gentlemen on board ? " " Some'at, your
honor." Here the landlord pulled out a greasy memorandum,
and began to read. " Bill Bunting, board and lodging, ten shil
lings — drinks, one pound ten. Tom Bowline, board and lodg
ing, six shillings — Tom only landed yesterday from a Dutch ship
— drinks, twelve shillings." " Hold ! " said I ; " never mind the
board and lodging and drinks — go to the paymaster," — and
turning to Kell, I told him to give the paymaster the necessary
instructions, — "and he will pay you your fares for bringing
the passengers on board." The "passengers" were already
alongside, and being sent down to the surgeon, were exanined,
and passed as sou id and able-bodied men.
43

672 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
It was now nine o'clock at night. It had been blowing a
gale of wind, all day, from the south-east ; but it was a fair-
weather gale, if I may use the solecism ; the sky being clear,
and the barometer high. These are notable peculiarities of
the south-east gales at the Cape of Good Hope. The sky is
always clear, and the gale begins and ends with a high barom
eter. I was very anxious to get to sea. A report had come
in, only a day or two before, that the Vanderbilt was still cruis
ing off Cape Agulhas, and I was apprehensive that she might
get news of me, and blockade me. This might detain me sev
eral days, or until I could get a dark night — and the moon
was now near her full — in which to run the blockade. I need
not remark that the Vanderbilt had greatly the speed of me,
and threw twice my weight of metal. The wind having par
tially lulled, we got up steam, and at about half-past eleven,
we moved out from our anchors. The lull had only been tem
porary, for we had scarcely cleared the little islands that give
a partial protection to the harbor from these south-east winds,
when the gale came whistling and howling as before. The wind
and sea were both nearly ahead, and the Alabama was now put
upon her metal, under steam, as she had been so often before, un
der sail. False Bay is an immense sheet of water, of a horse-shoe
shape, and we had to steam some twenty miles before we could
weather the Cape of Good Hope, under our lee. We drove
her against this heavy gale at the rate of five knots per hour.
This struggle of the little ship with the elements was a thing
to be remembered. The moon, as before remarked, was near
her full, shedding a flood of light upon the scene. The Bay
was whitened with foam, as the waters were lashed into fury
by the storm. Around the curve of the "horse-shoe" arose
broken, bald, rocky mountains, on the crests of which were
piled fleecy, white clouds, blinking in the moonlight, like banks
of snow. These clouds were perfectly motionless. It appeared
as if the D — 1 had spread a great many "table-cloths " around
False Bay, that night ; or, rather, a more appropriate figure
would be, that he had touched the mountains with the stillness
of death, and wreathed them with winding-sheets. The scene
was wild and weird beyond description. It was a picture for
the eye of a poet or painter to dwell upon. Nor was the im-

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 673
agination less touched, when, from time to time, the revolving
light upon the grim old Cape — that Cape which had so long
divided the Eastern from the Western world — threw its full
blaze upon the deck of the struggling ship. Overhead, the
sky was perfectly clear, there being not so much as a speck of
a cloud to be seen — and this in the midst of a howling gale
of wind ! At three a.'m. we cleared the Cape, and keep
ing the ship off a few points, gave her the trysails, with the
bonnets off. She bounded over the seas like a stag-hound
unleashed. I had been up all night, and now went below to
vsnatch some brief repose, before the toils of another day should
begin.

CHAPTER XLYIII.
THE ALABAMA ON THE INDIAN OCEAN — THE PASSEN
GERS QUESTIONED, AND CONTRACTED WITH — THE
AGULHAS CURRENT — THE "BRAVE WEST WINDS " —
A THEORY  THE ISLANDS OF ST. PETER AND ST.
PAUL — THE TROPIC OF CAPRICORN — THE SOUTH-EAST
TRADES AND THE MONSOONS — THE ALABAMA ARRIVES
OFF THE STRAIT OF SUNDA, AND BURNS ONE OF THE
SHIPS OF THE ENEMY  RUNS IN AND ANCHORS UNDER
THE ISLAND OF SUMATRA.
WHEN Bartelli awakened me, at the usual hour of " seven
bells" — half-past seven A. M., — on the morning after
the events described in the last chapter, the Alabama was well
launched upon the Indian Ocean. She had run the Cape of
Good Hope out of sight, and was still hieing off before the
gale, though this had moderated considerably as she had run
off the coast. We were now about to make a long voyage,
tedious to the unphilosophical mariner, but full of interest to
one who has an eye open to the wonders and beauties of
nature. My first duty, upon going on deck, was to put the
ship under sail, and let the steam go down ; and my second, to
have an interview with the "passengers," who had come on
board, overnight. We were now on the high seas, and might,
with all due respect to Queen Yictoria, put them under contract.
Lf the reader recollects Falstaff's description of his ragged bat
talion, he will have a pretty good idea of the personnel I had
before me. These subjects of the Queen stood in all they pos
sessed. None of them had brought any baggage on board with
them. Ragged blue and red flannel shirts, tarred trousers, and
a mixture of felt hats and Scotch caps, composed their wardrobe.
Their persons had passed muster of the surgeon, it is true, but it
674

MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT. 675
was plain that it would require a deal of washing and scrubbing
and wholesome feeding, and a long abstinence from " drinks,"
to render them fit for use. Upon questioning them, I found
that each had his cock-and-a-bull story to tell, of how he was
" left " by this ship, or by that, without any fault of his own,
and how he had been tricked by his landlord. I turned them
over to the first lieutenant, and paymaster, and they were soon
incorporated with the crew. I hold that her Majesty owes me
some "boot," for the "swap" I made with her, on that remark
able moonlight night when I left the Cape. At all events, I
never heard that she complained of it.
I was grieved to find that our most serious loss among the
deserters, was our Irish fiddler. This fellow had been remark
ably diligent, in his vocation, and had fiddled the crew over
hah? the world. It was a pity to lose him, now that we were
going over the other half. When the evening's amusements
began, Michael Mahoney's vacant camp-stool cast a gloom over
the ship. There was no one who could make his violin "talk "
like himself, and it was a long time before his place was sup
plied. Poor Michael ! we felt convinced he had not been un
true to us — it was only a " dhrop " too much of the "crayture "
he had taken.
For the first few days after leaving the Cape, we ran off due
south, it being my intention to seek the fortieth parallel of
south latitude, and run my easting down on that parallel. As
icebergs have been known to make their appearance near the
Cape in the spring of the year, I ordered the temperature of
the' air and water to be taken every hour during the night, to
aid me in detecting their presence. We did not discover any
icebergs, but the thermometer helped to reveal to me some of
the secrets of the deep, in this part of the ocean. Much to
my surprise, I found myself in a sort of Gulf Stream ; the
temperature of the water being from three to five degrees
higher, than that of the air. My celestial observations for fix
ing the position of the ship, informed me at the same time
that I was experiencing a south-easterly current ; the current
bending more and more toward the east, as I proceeded south,
until in the parallel of 40°, it ran due east. The rate of this
current was from thirty to fifty miles per day. This was un
doubtedly a branch of the great Agulhas current.

676 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
If the reader will inspect a map, he will find that the North
Indian Ocean is bounded wholly by tropical countries — Hin-
dostan, Beloochistan, and Arabia to the Red Sea, and across
that sea, by Azan and Zanguebar. The waters in this great
bight of the ocean are intensely heated by the fervor of an
Indian and African sun, and flow off in quest of cooler regions
through the Mozambique Channel. Passing thence over the
Agulhas Bank, which lies a short distance to the eastward of
the Cape of Good Hope, they reach that Cape, as the Agulhas
current. Here it divides into two main prongs or branches ;
one prong pursuing a westerly course, and joining in with the
great equatorial current, which, the reader recollects, we encoun
tered off Fernando de Noronha, and the other bending sharply
to the south-east, and forming the Gulf Stream of the South
Indian Ocean, in which the Alabama is at present. What it
is, that gives this latter prong its sudden deflection to the
southward is not well understood. Probably it is influenced,
to some extent, by the southerly current, running at the rate
of about a knot an hour along the west coast of Africa, and
debouching at the Cape of Good Hope. Here it strikes the
Agulhas current at right angles, and hence possibly the deflec
tion of a part of that current.
But if there be a current constantly setting from the Cape
of Good Hope to the south-east, how is it that the iceberg
finds its way to the neighborhood of that Cape, from the south
polar regions ? There is but one way to account for it. There
must be a counter undercurrent. These bergs, setting deep
in the water, are forced by this counter-current against the
surface current. This phenomenon has frequently been wit
nessed in the Arctic seas. Captain Duncan, of the English
whaler Dundee, in describing one of his voyages to Davis'
Strait, thus speaks of a similar drift of icebergs: — "It was
awful to behold the immense icebergs working their way to
the north-east from us, and not one drop of water to be seen ;
they were working themselves right through the middle of
the ice." Here was an undercurrent of such force as to carry
a mountain of ice, ripping and crashing through a field of solid
ice. Lieutenant De Haven, who made a voyage in search of
Sir John Franklin, describes a similar phenomenon as fol-

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 677
lows: — "The iceberg, as before observed, came up very near
to the stern of our ship ; the intermediate space, between the
berg and the vessel, was filled with heavy masses of ice, which,
though they had been previously broken by the immense
weight of the berg, were again formed into a compact body
by its pressure. The berg was drifting at the rate of about
four knots, and by its force on the mass of ice, was pushing
the ship before it, as it appeared, to inevitable destruction."
And again, on the next day, he writes : — " The iceberg still in
sight, but drifting away fast to the north-east." Here was an
other undercurrent, driving a monster iceberg through a field
of broken ice at the rate of four knots per hour !
When we had travelled in the Alabama some distance to
the eastward, on the 39th and 40th parallels, the current made
another curve — this time to the north-east. If the reader
will again refer to a map, he will find that the Agulhas cur
rent, as it came along through the Mozambique Channel and
by the Cape of Good Hope, was a south-westerly current. It
being now a north-easterly current, he observes that it is run
ning back whence it came, in an ellipse ! We have seen, in a
former part of this work, that the Gulf Stream of the North
Atlantic performs a circuit around the coasts of the United
States, Newfoundland, the British Islands, the coasts of Spain
and Portugal, the African coast, and so on, into the equatorial
current, and thence back again to the Gulf of Mexico. From
my observation of currents in various parts of the world, my
impression is, that the circle or ellipse is their normal law.
There are, of course, offshoots from one circle, or ellipse, to
another, and thus a general intermingling of the waters of the
earth is going on — but the normal rule for the guidance of the
water, as of the wind, is the curve.
As we approached the 40th parallel of latitude, my attention
was again forcibly drawn to the phenomena of the winds.
The "Brave West Winds" — as the sailors call them — those
remarkable polar trade-winds, now began to prevail with won
derful regularity. On the 30th of September, we observed in
latitude 39° 12', and longitude 31° 59'. The following is the
entry on my journal for that day : — " Rough weather, with the
wind fresh from the N. N. W. with passing rain-squalls. Sea

678 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
turbulent. Barometer 29.47 ; thermometer, air 55°, water 58 •
distance run in the last twenty -four hours, 221 miles. Weather
looking better at noon. The water has resumed its usual deep-
sea hue. [We had been running over an extensive tract of
soundings, the water being of that pea-green tint indicating a
depth of from sixty to seventy-five fathoms.] In high southern
latitudes, in the Indian Ocean, the storm-fiend seems to hold high
carnival all the year round. He is constantly racing round the
globe, from west to east, howling over the waste of waters in his
mad career. Like Sisyphus, his labors are never ended. He
not only does not rest himself, but he allows old Ocean none,
constantly lashing him into rage. He scatters the icebergs
hither and thither to the great terror of the mariner, and con
verts the moisture of the clouds into the blinding snow-flake or
the pelting hail. As we are driven, on dark nights, before these
furious winds, we have only to imitate the Cape Horn naviga
tor — 'tie all fast, and let her rip,' iceberg or no iceberg.
When a ship is running at a speed of twelve or fourteen knots,
in such thick weather that the look-out at the cat-head can
scarcely see his own nose, neither sharp eyes, nor water ther
mometers are of much use."
These winds continued to blow from day to day, hurrying
us forward with great speed. There being a clear sweep of
the sea for several thousand miles, unobstructed by continent
or island, the waves rose into long, sweeping swells, much
more huge and majestic than one meets with in any other
ocean. As our little craft, scudding before a gale, would be
overtaken by one of these monster billows, she would be
caught up by its crest, like a cock-boat, and darted half-way
down the declivity that lay before her, at a speed that would
cause the sailor to hold his breath. Any swerve to the right,
or the left, that would cause the ship to "broach to," or come
broadside to the wind and sea, would have been fatal. These
"brave west winds," though thus fraught with danger, are a
great boon to commerce. The reader has seen how the cur
rents in this part of the ocean travel in an ellipse. We have
here an ellipse of the winds. The Alabama is hurrying to the
Far East, before a continuous, or almost continuous north-west
gale. If she were a few hundred miles to the r irthward of

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 679
her present position, she might be hurrying, though not quite
with equal speed, before the south-east trades, to the Far West.
We have thus two parallel winds blowing all the year round
in opposite directions, and only a few hundred miles apart.
Storms are now admitted by all seamen to be gyratory, as
we have seen. When I was cruising in the Gulf Stream, I
ventured to enlarge this theory, as the reader may recollect,
and suggested that rotation was the normal condition of all
extra-tropical winds on the ocean, where there was nothing to
obstruct them — of the moderate wind, as well as of the gale.
I had a striking confirmation of this theory in the " brave west
winds." These winds went regularly around the compass, in
uniform periods; the periods occupying about three days.
We would take them at about N. N. W., and in the course of
the "period" they would go entirely around the compass, and
come back to the same point ; there being an interval of calm
of a few hours. The following diagram will illustrate this
rotary motion.
Let Figure 1, on the opposite pagej represent a circular wind
— the wind gyrating in the direction of the arrows, and the
circle travelling at the same time, along the dotted lines from
west to east. If the northern segment of this circular wind
passes over the ship, the upper dotted line from A to A2, will
represent her position during its passage. At A, where the
ship first takes the wind, she will have it from about north
west ; and at A3, where she is about to lose it, she will have it
from about south-west. The ship is supposed to remain sta
tionary, whilst the circle is passing over her. Now, this is
precisely the manner in which we found all these winds to
haul in the Alabama. We would have the wind from the
north-west to the south-west, hauling gradually from one point
to the other, and blowing freshly for the greater part of three
days. It would then become light, and, in the course of a few
hours, go round to the south, to the south-east, to the east, and
then settle in the north-west, as before.
Figure 2 represents two of these circular winds — and the
reader must recollect that there is a constant series of them —
one following the other so closely as to overlap it. Now, if
the reader will cast his eye upon the letter C, np"r the upper

680 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 681
dotted line, in the overlapped space, he will observe why it is,
that there is always a short interval of calm before the north
west wind sets in, the second time. The wind within that
space is blowing, or rather should blow, according to the
theory, two opposite ways at once — from the N. N. W., and
the S. S. E. The consequence is, necessarily, a calm. It is
thus seen that the theory, that these " brave west winds " are
a series of circular winds, harmonizes entirely with the facts
observed by us. The lower dotted line is merely intended to
show in what direction the wind would haul, if the southern
segment, instead of the northern, passed over the ship. In
that case, the ship would take the wind, from about N. N.
E., as at B, and lose it at south-east, as at B2. In the region
of the "brave west winds," it would seem that the northern
segment always passes over that belt of the ocean. The re
ceived theory of these south polar- winds, is not such as I have
assumed. Former writers have not supposed them to be cir
cular winds at all. They suppose them to pass over the south
east trade-winds, as an upper current, and when they have
reached the proper parallel, to descend, become surface-winds,
and blow home, as straight winds, to the pole. But I found a
difficulty in reconciling this theory with the periodical veering
of the wind entirely around the compass, as above described.
If these were straight winds, blowing contrary to the trades,
why should they not blow steadily like the trades ? But if we
drop the straight- wind theory, and take up the circular hy
pothesis, all the phenomena observed by us will be in con
formity with the latter. The periodical hauling of the wind
will be accounted for, and if we suppose that the northern half
of the circle invariably passes over the ship, in the passage-
parallels, we shall see how it is that the wind is blowing nearly
all the time from the westward. To account for the fact that
the northern half of the circle invariably passes over these
parallels, we have only to suppose the circle to be of sufficient
diameter to extend to, or near the pole.
Here is the figure. It extends from the parallel of 40°, to
the pole ; it is therefore fifty degrees, or three thousand miles,
in diameter. Half-way from its northern to its southern edge,
would be tl'.e 65th parallel. Along this parallel, represented

682

MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT

by the dotted line, which passes through the centre of the cir.
cle, the vortex, Y, or calm spot, would travel. There should

W

be calms, therefore, about the 65th parallel. In the southern
half of the circle, or that portion of it between the vortex and
the pole, easterly winds should prevail. Navigators between
the parallels of 65° and 75°, speak of calms as the normal
meteorological condition. All nature seems frozen to death,
the winds included. Unfortunately, we have no reliable data
for the parallels beyond, and do not know, therefore, whethei
easterly winds are the prevalent winds or not. It is probable
as we approached the pole, that we should find another calm
The winds, [see the arrows,] as they come hurrying along the
circle, from its northern segment, bring with them an impetus
toward the east, derived from the diurnal motion of the earth,
on its axis. As these winds approach the pole, this velocity
increases, in consequence of the diminishing diameter of the
parallels. To illustrate. If a particle of air on the equator,
having a velocity eastward of fifteen miles per minute — and
this is the rate of the revolution of the earth on its axis —
should be suddenly transported to a point, distant five miles
from the pole, it would have sufficient velocity to carry it
entirely around the pole in one minute. Here we have two forces
acting in opposition to each other — the impetus of the wind
Uward the east, given to it by the diurnal motion of the earth,

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 683
and an impetus from the east, given to it by whatever causes
are hurrying it around the circle. These two forces neces
sarily neutralize each other, and a calm is the consequence.
It is in this calm region near the poles, that the winds prob
ably ascend, to take their flight back to the equator, in obedi
ence to that beautiful arrangement for watering the earth,
which I described some pages back.
There remains but one other fact to be reconciled with our
theory. It has been seen that consecutive circles of wind
passed over the Alabama, in periods of three days each. Did
this time correspond with the known rate of travel of the
circles ? Almost precisely. Referring again to the last dia
gram, it will be remembered that the Alabama was near the
northern edge of the circle. Let A A represent her position
at the beginning and end of each wind. The chord of the
segment, represented by the dotted line, is about 1500 miles in
length. The circles travel at the rate of about 20 miles per
hour. Multiply the number of hours — 72 — in three days,
by 20, and we shall have 1440 miles. It is not pretended, of
course, that these figures are strictly accurate, but they are
sufficiently so to show, at least, that there is no discordance
between the fact and the theory.
Soon after leaving the Cape of Good Hope, the storm-birds
began to gather around us in considerable numbers — the Cape
pigeon, the albatross, and occasionally the tiny petrel, so abun
dant in the North Atlantic. These birds seemed to be quite
companionable, falling in company with the ship, and travel
ling with her for miles at a time. On the occasion of one of
the short calms described, we caught an albatross, with hook
and line, which measured ten feet across the wings. The mon
ster bird was very fat, and it was quite a lift to get it inboard.
Though very active on the wing, and rising with great facility
from the water, in which it sometimes alights, it lay quite help
less when placed upon the deck. It did not seem to be much
alarmed at the strangeness of its position, but looked at us
with the quiet dignity and wisdom of an owl, as though it
would interrogate us as to what we were doing in its dominions.
These birds live in the midst of the great Indian Ocean, thou
sands of miles away from any land — only making periodical

684 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
visits to some of the desert islands; cr, it may De, to the
Antarctic Continent, to incubate and rear their young.
I have described at some length the nature of the great
circles of wind which form the normal meteorological condition
of the region of ocean through which we were passing. This
normal condition was sometimes interfered with by the passage
of cyclones of smaller diameter — a circle within a circle;
both circles, however, obeying the same laws. We took one
of these cyclones on the 5th of October. I do not design to
repeat, here, the description of a cyclone, and only refer to that
which we now encountered, for the purpose of showing that
the Alabama ran a race with it, and was not very badly beaten.
This race is thus described in my journal: "Morning dull,
cloudy, and cool. The wind hauled, last night, to north, and
is blowing a fresh breeze at noon. Barometer, 30.14. Ther
mometer, air 54°, water 60°. Current during the last twenty
four hours, thirty miles east. The weather continued to thicken
in the afternoon, and the wind to increase, with a falling bar
ometer, indicating the approach of a gale. At nine P. M., the
squalls becoming heavy, we furled the top-gallant sails and
foresail, close-reefed the topsails, and took the bonnets off the
trysails. Under this reduced sail we continued to scud the
ship all night — the barometer still falling, the wind increasing,
and a heavy sea getting up. We had entered the north-east
ern edge of a cyclone. The next morning the wind was still
north by west, having hauled only a single point in twelve
hours; showing that we had been running, neck and neck, with
the gale.
H the reader will recollect that, in these circular gales, the
change of the wind is due to the passage of the circle over the
ship, he will have no difficulty in conceiving that, if the ship
travels as fast as the circle, and in the same direction, the
wind will not change at all. Now, as the wind had changed
but a single point in twelve hours, it is evident that the Ala
bama had been travelling nearly as fast as the circular gale.
The race continued. all the next day — the wind not varying
half a point, and the barometer settling by scarcely perceptible
degrees. Toward night, however, the barometer began to
settle quite rapidly, and the wind increased, and began to haul

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 685
to the westward. The gale had acquired accelerated speed,
and was now evidently passing ahead of us quite rapidly ; for
by half-past four A. M. the wind was at west, having hauled
nearly a quadrant in twelve hours. At this point we had the
lowest barometer, 29.65. The' centre of the storm was then
just abreast of us, bearing about south, and distant perhaps a
hundred miles. At five A. m., or in half an hour afterward,
the wind shifted suddenly from W. to W. S. W. showing that
the vortex had passed us, and that the Alabama was at last
beaten ! The wind being still somewhat fresher than I desired,
I hove the ship to, on the port tack, to allow the gale to draw
farther ahead of me. After lying to three hours, the barom
eter continuing to rise, and the wind to moderate, we filled
away, and shaking out some of the reefs, continued on our
course. On the 12th of October, we passed the remarkable islets of
St. Peter and St. Paul, a sort of half-way mile-posts between
the Cape of Good Hope and the Strait of Sunda. These islets
are the tops of rocky mountains, shooting up from great depths
in the sea. They are in the midst of a dreary waste of waters,
having no other land within a thousand miles and more, of
them. They are composed of solid granite, without vegeta
tion, and inhabited only by the wild birds of the ocean. I
cannot imagine a more fitting station for a meteorologist. He
would be in the midst of constant tempests, and might study
the laws of his science, without interruption from neighboring
isle or continent. There being an indifferent anchorage under
the lee of St. Paul, we scanned the island narrowly with our
glasses, as we passed, not knowing but we might find some
adventurous Yankee whaler, or seal-catcher, trying out blub
ber, or knocking a seal on the head. These islands are fre
quently sighted by India-bound ships, and it was my inten
tion to cruise a few days in their vicinity, but the bad weather
hurried me on.
We took another gale, on the night after leaving them, and
had some damage done to our head-rail and one of our quar
ter-boats. The scene was a sublime one to look upon. The
seas — those long swells before described — were literally run
ning mountains high, the wind was howling with more than

686 memoirs of service afloat
usual fury, and a dense snow-storm was pelting us from the
blackest and most angry-looking of clouds. I was now in lon
gitude 83° E., and bore away more to the northward. Although
the thermometer had not settled below 50°, we felt the cold
quite piercingly — our clothing being constantly saturated with
moisture. On the 14th of October, we had the first tolerably
fine day we had experienced for the last two weeks, and we
availed ourselves of it, to uncover the hatches and ventilate
the ship, getting up from below, and airing the damp bedding
and mildewed clothing. The constant straining of the ship,
in the numerous gales she had encountered, had opened the
seams in her bends, and all our state-rooms were leaking more
or less, keeping our beds and clothing damp. On the next
day, another gale overtook us, in which we lay to ten hours, to
permit it, as we had done the gale we ran the race with, to pass
ahead of us.
And thus it was, that we ran down our easting, in the region
ofthe "brave west winds," with every variety of bad weather,
of the description of which, the reader must, by this time, be
pretty well tired. On the 17th of October, I was nearly antip
odal with my home in Alabama. By the way, has the reader
ever remarked that land is scarcely ever antipodal with land ?
Let him take a globe, and he will be struck with the fact, that
land and water have been almost invariably arranged opposite
to each other. May not this arrangement have something to
do with the currents, and the water-carriers, the winds ?
On the morning of the 21st of October, at about five o'clock,
we crossed the tropic of Capricorn, on the 100th meridian
of east longitude. We still held on to our west winds,
though they had now become light. We took the trade-
wind from about S. S. E. almost immediately after crossing
the tropic. We thus had the good fortune, a second time,
to cross the tropic without finding a calm-belt ; the two coun
ter-winds blowing almost side by side with each other. We
had been twenty-four days and three quarters from the Cape
of Good Hope, and in that time had run, under sail alone —
occasionally lying to, in bad weather — 4410 miles; the aver
age run, per day, being 178 miles. We had brought the east
erly jurrent with us, too, all the way. It had set us twenty

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 687
miles to the north-east, on the day we reached the tropic. In
all this lengthened run, we had sighted only two or three sails.
One of these was a steamer, which we overhauled, and boarded,
but which proved to be English. For nineteen days we did
not see a sail ; and still we were on the great highway to India.
There must have been numerous travellers on this highway,
before and behind us, but each was bowling along at a rapid,
and nearly equal pace, before the " brave west winds," envel
oped in his own circle, and shut out from the view of his
neighbor by the mantle of black rain-clouds in which he was
wrapped. Our mysterious friends, the Cape-pigeons, disap
peared, as we approached the tropics.
We now ran rapidly through the south-east trades, with fine
weather, until we reached the 12th parallel of south latitude, when
we passed suddenly into the monsoon region. The monsoons
were undergoing a change. The east monsoon was dying out,
and the west monsoon was about to take its place. The struggle
between the outgoing, and the incoming wind would occupy
several weeks, and during all this time I might expect sudden
Bhifts and squalls of wind and rain, with densely overcast
skies, and much thunder and lightning. My intention was to
make for the Strait of Sunda, that well-known passage into,
and out of the China seas, between the islands of Java and
Sumatra, cruise off it some days, and then run into the China
seas. On the evening of the 26th we spoke an English bark
just out of the Strait, which informed us that the United
States steamer Wyoming was cruising in the Strait, in com
pany with a three-masted schooner, which she had fitted up as
a tender, and that she anchored nearly every evening under the
island of Krakatoa. Two days afterward, we boarded a Dutch
ship, from Batavia to Amsterdam, which informed us, that a
boat from the Wyoming had boarded her, off the town of An
ger in the Strait. There seemed, therefore, to be little doubt,
that if we attempted the Strait, we should find an enemy bar
ring our passage.
As we drew near the Strait, we began to fall in with ships
in considerable numbers. On the 31st of October, no less
than six were cried from aloft, at the same time, all standing
to the south-west, showing that they were just out of the
44

688 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
famous passage. The wind being light and baffling, we
got up steam, and chased and boarded four of them — three
English, and one Dutch. By this time, the others were out
of sight — reported, by those we had overhauled, to be neu
tral — and the night was setting in dark and rainy. The Dutch
ship, like the last one we had boarded, was from Batavia, and
corroborated the report of the presence of the Wyoming in
these waters. She had left her at Batavia, which is a short
distance only from the Strait of Sunda. The weather had
now become exceedingly oppressive. Notwithstanding the
almost constant rains, the heat was intense. On the morning
of the 6th of November, we boarded an English ship, from
Foo Chow for London, which informed us, that an American
ship, called the Winged Racer, had come out of the Strait, in
company with her. In the afternoon, two ships having been
cried from aloft, we got up steam, and chased, hoping that one
of them might prove to be the American ship reported. They
were both English ; but whilst we were chasing these two
English ships, a third ship hove in sight, farther to windward,
to which we gave chase in turn.
This last ship was to be our first prize in East-Indian waters.
A gun brought the welcome stars and stripes to her peak, and
upon being boarded, she proved to be the bark Amanda,
of Boston, from Manilla bound to Queenstown for orders.
The Amanda was a fine, rakish-looking ship, and had a cargo
of hemp, and sugar. She was under charter-party to proceed
first to Queenstown, and thence to the United States, for a
market, if it should be deemed advisable. On the face of each
of the three bills of lading found among her papers, was the
following certificate from the British Consul at Manilla : — " I
hereby certify that Messrs. Ker & Co., the shippers of the mer
chandise specified in this bill of lading, are British subjects
established in Manilla, and that according to invoices produced,
the said merchandise is shipped by order, and for account of
Messrs. Holliday, Fox & Co., British subjects, of London, in
Great Britain." As nobody swore to anything, before the
Consul, his certificate was valueless to protect the property
and the ship and cargo were both condemned. The night set
in very dark and squally, whilst we were yet alongside of this

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN TEE STATES. 689
Bhip. We g Dt on board from her some articles of provisions,
and some sails and cordage to replace the wear and tear of the
late gales we had passed through, and made a brilliant bonfire
of her at about ten p. M. The conflagration lighted up the sea for
many miles around, and threw its grim and ominous glare to
the very mouth of the Strait.
The next day we ran in and anchored under Flat Point, on
the north side of the Strait, in seventeen fathoms water, about
a mile from the coast of Sumatra. My object was to procure
some fruits and vegetables for my crew, who had been now a
long time on salt diet.

CHAPTER XLIX.
THE ALABAMA PASSES THROUGH THE STRAIT OF SUNDA,
SEEING NOTHING OF THE WYOMING — BURNS THE
WINGED RACER JUST INSIDE THE STRAIT — THE
MALAY BOATMEN AND THEIR ALARM — ALABAMA
MAKES FOR THE GASPAR STRAIT, AND BURNS THE CON
TEST, AFTER AN EXCITING CHASE — PASSES THROUGH
THE CAEIMATA PASSAGE — DISCHARGES HER PRISON
ERS INTO AN ENGLISH SHIP — MINIATURE SEA-SER
PENTS — THE CURRENTS — PULO CONDORE — ARRIVAL
AT SINGAPORE
SOON after anchoring as described in the last chapter, we
had a false alarm. It was reported that a bark some dis
tance off had suddenly taken in all sail, and turned her head
in our direction, as though she were a steamer coming in chase.
Orders were given to get up steam, to be ready for any emer
gency, but countermanded in a few minutes, when upon a par
tial lifting of the rain-clouds, it was ascertained that the strange
sail was a merchant-ship and had only taken in her top-gallant
sails to a squall, and clewed down her topsails, to reef. She
was indeed^ coming in our direction, but it was only to take
shelter for the night. She was a Dutch bark from Batavia,
for the west coast of Sumatra.
The next morning, we got under way, at an early hour, to
pass through the Strait of Sunda into the China Sea. We
hove up our anchor in the midst of a heavy rain-squall, but
the weather cleared as the day advanced, and a fresh and
favorable wind soon sprang up. We ran along by Keyser
Island, and at half-past ten lowered the propeller and put the
ship under steam. Under both steam and sail we made rapid
headway. We passed between the high and picturesque islands
690

MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT. 691
of Beezee and Soubooko, the channel being only about a mile
in width. Groves of cocoanut-trees grew near the ^each on
the former island, among which were some straw-thatched
huts. From these huts, the natives, entirely naked, except a
breech-cloth around the loins, flocked out in great numbers to
see the ship pass. Ships do not often take this narrow chan
nel, and the spectacle was, no doubt, novel to them. They
made no demonstration, but gazed at us in silence as we flew
rapidly past them. We ran through the Strait proper of Sun
da, between one and two o'clock in the afternoon, passing to
the westward of the island called Thwart-the-Way, and close
to the Stroom Rock, lying with its blackened and jagged sur
face but a few feet above the water. This course carried us in
full view of the little town and garrison of Anjer, but we saw
nothing of the Wyoming. We found the Strait of Sunda as
unguarded by the enemy, as we had found the other highways
of commerce along which we had passed.
Just where the Strait debouches into the China Sea, we
descried, in the midst of a rain-squall, to which we were both
obliged to clew up our top-gallant sails, a tall clipper ship, evi
dently American. She loomed up through the passing shower
like a frigate. We at once gave chase, and in a very few min
utes hove the stranger to with a gun. It was the Winged
Racer, which our English friend told us had passed out of the
Strait some days before in his company. She had lingered
behind for some reason, and as a consequence had fallen into
the power of her enemy, with no friendly gun from the Wyo
ming to protect her. The Winged Racer was a perfect beauty
— one of those New York ships of superb model, with taunt,
graceful masts, and square ya^ds, known as "clippers." She
was from Manilla, bound for New York, with a cargo consisting
chiefly of sugar, hides, and jute. There was no claim of neutral
property, and condemnation followed the capture as a matter
of course. We anchored her near North Island, and came to,
ourselves, for the convenience of "robbing" her. She had
sundry provisions on board — particularly sugar and coffee —
of which we stood in need. She had, besides, a large supply of
Manilla tobacco, and my sailors' pipes were beginning to want
replenishing. It took us a greater part of the night — for night

692 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
had set in by the time the two ships were well anchored — to
transport to the Alabama such things as were needed. In the
meantime, the master of the captured ship, who had his family
on board, requested me to permit him and his crew to depart in
his own boats. The portion of the Javan sea in which wp were
anchored was a mere lake, the waters being shallow, an _ stud
ded every few miles with islands. He proposed to make his
way to Batavia, and report to his Consul for further assistance.
I granted his request, made him a present, of all his boats, and
told him to pack into them as much plunder as he chose.
About one o'clock he was ready, and his little fleet of boats
departed. The prisoners from the Amanda took passage with
him. Whilst these things were going on, a number of Malay bum-
boatmen had collected around us, with their stores of fruits,
and vegetables, and live stock. These boatmen, like the Chi
nese, live on the water, and make a business of supplying ships
that pass through the Strait. The stewards of the different
messes had all been busy trading with them, and there was
a great squalling of chickens, and squealing of pigs going on.
An amusing scene was now to occur. The boatmen had no
suspicion that the Alabama had captured the Winged Racer,
and was about to destroy her. They were lying on their oars,
or holding on to lines from the two ships, with the most perfect
insouciance. Presently a flame leaped up on board the Winged
Racer, and in a few minutes enveloped her. Terror at once
took possession of the Malay boatmen, and such a cutting of
lines, and shouting, and vigorous pulling were perhaps never
before witnessed in the Strait of Sunda. These boats had
informed us that the Wyoming was at Anger only two days
before, when they left.
It was now about two o'clock A. M., and the Alabama getting
up her anchor, steamed out into the China Sea, by the light of
the burning ship. We had thus lighted a bonfire at either end of
the renowned old Strait of Sunda. After having thus advertised
our presence in this passage, it was useless to remain in it
longer. Ships approaching it would take the alarm, and seek
some other outlet into the Indian Ocean. Most of the ships
coming down the China Sea, with a view of passing out at the

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 693
Strait of Sunda, come through the Gaspar Strait. I resolved
now to steam in the direction of this latter strait, and forestall
such as might happen to be on their way. By daylight we
had steamed the coast of Sumatra and Java out of sight, and
soon afterward we made the little island called the North
Watcher, looking, indeed, as its name implied, like a lone sen
tinel posted on the wayside. We had lost the beautiful blue
waters of the Indian Ocean, with its almost unfathomable
depths, and entered upon a sea whose waters were of a whitish
green, with an average depth of no more than about twenty
fathoms. Finding that I should be up with Gaspar Strait, some
time during the night, if I continued under steam, and prefer
ring to delay my arrival until daylight the next morning, I let
my steam go down, and put my ship under sail, to take it more
leisurely. We were about to lift the propeller out of the water, when
the cry of " sail ho ! " came from the vigilant look-out at the
mast-head. We at once discontinued the operation, not know
ing but we might have occasion to use steam. As the stranger
was standing in our direction, we soon raised her from the
deck, and as my glass developed, first one, and then another of
her features, it was evident that here was another clipper-
ship at hand. She had the well-known tall, raking masts,
square yards, and white canvas. She was on a wind, with
everything set, from courses to skysails, and was ploughing her
way through the gently ruffled sea, with the rapidity, and at
the same time, the grace of the swan. We made her a point
or two on our lee bow, and not to excite her suspicion we kept
away for her, so gradually, that she could scarcely perceive
the alteration in our course. We hoisted at the same time the
United States colors. When we were within about four miles
of the chase, she responded by showing us the same colors.
Feeling now quite sure of her, we fired a gun, hauled down
the enemy's flag, and threw our own to the breeze. (We were
now wearing that splendid white flag, with its cross and stars,
which was so great an improvement upon the old one.) So
far from obeying the command of our gun, the gallant ship
kept off a point or two — probably her best point of sailing —
gave herself top-gallant and topmast studding-sails, and away
she went !

694 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
I had been a little premature in my eagerness to clutch so
beautiful a prize. She was not as yet under my guns, and it
was soon evident that she would give me trouble before I
could overhaul her. The breeze was tolerably fresh, but not
stiff. We made sail at once in chase. Our steam had been
permitted to go down, as the reader has seen ; and as yet we
had not much more than enough to turn over the propeller.
The chase was evidently gaining on us. It was some fifteen
or twenty minutes before the engineer had a head of steam on.
We now gave the ship all steam, and trimmed the sails to the
best possible advantage. Still the fugitive ship retained her
distance from us, if she did not increase it. It was the first time
the Alabama had appeared dull. She was under both sail and
steam, and yet here was a ship threatening to run away from
her. She must surely be out of trim. I tried, therefore, the
effect of getting my crew aft on the quarter-deck, and shifting
aft some of the forward guns. This helped us visibly, and the
ship sprang forward with increased speed. We were now at
least holding our own, but it was impossible to say, as yet,
whether we were gaining an inch. If the breeze had freshened,
the chase would have run away from us beyond all question.
I watched the signs of the weather anxiously. It was between
nine and ten o'clock A. M. Fortunately, as the sun gained
power, and drove away the mists of the morning, the breeze
began to decline 1 Now came the triumph of steam. When
we had come within long range, I threw the spray over the
quarter-deck of the chase, with a rifle-shot from my bow-
chaser. Still she kept on, and it was not until all hope was
evidently lost, that the proud clipper-ship, which had been
beaten rather by the failure of the wind, than the speed of
the Alabama, shortened sail and hove to.
When the captain was brought on board, I congratulated
him on the skilful handling of his ship, and expressed my
admiration of her fine qualities. He told me that she was one
of the most famous clipper-ships out of New York. She was
the Contest, from Yokohama, in Japan, bound to New York.
She was light, and in fine sailing trim, having only a partial
cargo on board. There being no attempt to cover the cargo,
consisting mostly of light Japanese goods, lacker-ware, and

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 695
curiosities, I condemned both ship and cargo. I was sorry to
be obliged to burn this beautiful ship, and regretted much that
I had not an armament for her, that I might commission her
as a cruiser. Both ships now anchored in the open sea, with
no land visible, in fourteen fathoms of water, whilst the crew
was being removed from the prize, and the necessaiy prep
arations made for burning her. It was after nightfall before
these were all completed, and the torch applied. We hove up
our anchor, and made sail by the light of the burning ship.
Having now burned a ship off Gaspar Strait, I turned my
ship's head to the eastward, with the intention of taking the
Carimata Strait.
My coal was running so short, by this time, that I was
obliged to dispense with the use of steam, except on emergen
cies, and work my way from point to point wholly under sail.
Fortune favored me however, for I passed through the Cari
mata Strait in the short space of five days against the north
west monsoon, which was a head-wind. Ships have been
known to be thirty days making this passage. I generally
anchored at night, on account of the currents, and the exceed
ing difficulty of the navigation — shoals besetting the naviga
tor on every hand in this shallow sea. We began now to fall
in with some of the curiosities of the China Sea. Salt-water
serpents made their appearance, playing around the ship, and
cutting up their antics. These snakes are from three to five
feet long, and when ships anchor at night, have been known
to crawl up the cables, and make their way on deck through
the hawse-holes, greatly to the annoyance of the sailors who
chance to be sleeping on deck. They are not known to be
poisonous. Never having been in the China seas before, I
was quite amused at the gambols of these minature sea-ser
pents. Seeing an old sailor stopping up the hawse-holes, with
swabs, one evening after we had anchored, I asked him what
he was about. "I 'm stopping out the snakes, y'r honor," he
replied. "What," said I, "do they come on deck ? " "Oh! yes,
y'r honor ; when- 1 was in the ship Flying Cloud, we killed
forty of them on deck in one morning watch."
Naked Malays frequently paddled off to us, when we an
chored near their villages, with fowls, and eggs, and fruits,

696 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
and vegetables, which they desired to exchange for rice and
ship-bread. In frail piraguas, these amphibious bipeds will
make long voyages from island to island. They seem to be a
sort of wandering Arabs of the sea, and, as a rule, are a great
set of villains, not hesitating to take a hand at piracy when
opportunity offers. So intricate are some of the archipelagos
which they inhabit, that it is next to impossible to track them
to their hiding-places. These nomads, upon whom no civiliza
tion seems to make any impression, will probably long remain
the pests of the China seas, in spite of the steamship.
Emerging from the Carimata passage, we stood over to the
west end of the island of Souriton, where we anchored at four
p. M., on the 18th of November. Here we lay several days,
and for the convenience of overhauling passing ships, without
the necessity of getting under way, we hoisted out, and rigged
our launch, a fine cutter-built boat, and provisioning and wa
tering her for a couple of days at a time, sent her out cruising;
directing her, however, to keep herself within sight of the
ship. A number of sails were overhauled, but they all proved
to be neutral — mostly English and Dutch. I was much struck
with the progress the Dutch were making in these seas. Hol
land, having sunk to a fourth or fifth rate power in Europe, is
•building up quite an empire in the East. The island of Java
is a little kingdom in itself, and the boers, with the aid of the
natives, whom they seem to govern with great success are
fast bringing its fertile lands into cultivation. Batavia, Sou-
rabia, and other towns are rising rapidly into importance. The
Dutch are overrunning the fine island of Sumatra, too. They
have established military stations over the greater part of it,
and are gradually bringing the native chiefs under subjection.
They occupy the spice islands, and are extending their domin
ion thence to the northward. In short, Great Britain must
look to her laurels in the China seas, if she would not divide
them with Holland.
In the meantime, the inquiry naturally presents itself, Where
is the Yankee ? that he is permitting all this rich harvest of
colonization and trade in the East to pass away from him. It
was at one time thought that he would contest the palm of
enterprise with England herself, but this dream has long since

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 697
been dispelled. Even before the war, his trade began to dwin
dle. During the war it went down to zero, and since the war
it has not revived. Is he too busy with his internal dissen
sions and politics ? Is the miserable faction which has ruled
the country for the last seven years determined to destroy all
its prosperity, foreign as well as domestic ?
While lying at Souriton, we boarded the British ship Ava
lanche, two days from Singapore, with newspapers from Amer
ica just forty days old! Here was a proof of the British enter
prise of which we have just been speaking. The Atlantic, the
Mediterranean, the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean, and a part of
the China Sea, are traversed by British steam and sail, and the
Alabama shakes out the folds of a newspaper from the land of
her enemy, at an out-of-the-way island in the China Sea, just forty
days old ! The Avalanche kindly consenting, we sent by her our
prisoners to Batavia. We now got under way, and stood over
to the west coast of Borneo, where we cruised for a few days,
working our way gradually to the northward ; it being my in
tention as soon as I should take the north-east monsoon, which
prevails at this -season in the China Sea, to the northward of
the equator, to stretch over to the coast of Cochin China, and
hold myself for a short time in the track of the ships coming
down from Canton and Shanghai. I was greatly tempted as
I passed Sarawak, in the island of Borneo, to run in and visit
my friend Rajah Brooke, whose career in the East has been so
remarkable a one. Cruising in these seas, years ago, when he
was a young man, in his own yacht, a jaunty little armed
schooner of about 200 tons, he happened in at Sarawak. The
natives, taking a fancy to him and his tiny man-of-war, insisted
upon electing him their Rajah, or Governor. He assented, got
a foothold in the island, grew in favor, increased his dominions,
and was, at the period of our visit to the coast, one of the most
powerful Rajahs in Borneo. Since my return from the China
seas, the Rajah has died, full of years and full of honors, be
queathing his government to a blood relation. It would be
difficult for even a Yankee to beat that !
Upon reaching this coast, we struck a remarkable northerly
current. It ran at the rate of two knots per hour, its general
set being about north-east. The weather falling calm, we were

698 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
several days within its influence. When it had drifted us a£
far to the northward as I desired to go, I was obliged to let go
a kedge in fifty fathoms water to prevent further drift. The
current now swept by us at so rapid a rate, that we were
compelled to lash two deep-sea leads together, each weighing
forty-five pounds, to keep our drift-lead on the bottom. Here
was another of those elliptical currents spoken of a few pages
back. If the reader will look at a map of the China Sea, he
will observe that the north-east monsoon, as it comes sweeping
down that sea, in the winter months, blows parallel with the
coasts of China and Cochin China. This wind drives a cur
rent before it to the south-west. This current, as it strikes
the peninsula of Malacca, is deflected to the eastward toward
the coast of Sumatra. Impinging upon this coast, it is again
deflected and driven off in the direction of the island of Borneo.
This island in turn gives it a northern direction, and the con
sequence is, that the south-westerly current which came sweep
ing down the western side of the China Sea, is now going up
on the eastern side of the same sea, as a north-easterly current.
We lay five days at our kedge, during a calm that lasted all
that time. The monsoons were changing ; the west monsoon
was setting in in the East Indian archipelago, and the north-east
ern monsoon in the China Sea. Hence the calms, and rains,
and sudden gusts of wind, now from one quarter, and now
from another, which we had experienced. At the end of these
five days of calm, we took the north-east monsoon, from about
N. N. E., and, getting up our kedge, we made our way over
to the coast of Cochin China, in accordance with the intention
already expressed.
There is no navigation, perhaps, in the world, so trying to
the vigilance and nerves of the mariner as that of the China
seas. It is a coral sea, and filled with dangers in almost every
direction, especially in its eastern portion, from the Philippine
Islands down to the Strait of Sunda. The industrious little
stone-mason, which we have before so often referred to, has
laid the foundation of a new empire, at the bottom of the China
Sea, and is fast making his way to the surface. He has already
dotted the sea with ten thousand islands, in its eastern portion,
and is silently and mysteriously piling up his tiny blc »ks of

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 699
stone, one upon another, in the central and western portions
He is working very irregularly, having large gangs of
hands employed here, and very few there, and is running up
his structures in very fantastic shapes, some in solid blocks,
with even surfaces, some as pyramids, and some as cones. The
tops of the pyramids and cones are sometimes as sharp as
needles, and pierce a ship's bottom as readily as a needle
would a lady's finger. It is impossible to survey such a sea
with accuracy. A surveying vessel might drop a lead on
almost every square foot of bottom, and yet miss some of these
mere needle-points. A ship, with the best of modern charts,
may be threading this labyrinth, as she thinks, quite securely,
and suddenly find herself impaled upon one of these dangers.
To add to the perplexity of the navigator, days sometimes
elapse, especially when the monsoons are changing, during
which it is impossible to get an observation for fixing the
position of his ship; and during these days of incessant
darkness, and drenching rains, he is hurried about by currents,
he knows not whither. And then, perhaps, the typhoon comes
along — that terrible cyclone of the China seas — at the very
moment, it may be, when he is, by reason of the causes men
tioned, uncertain of his position, and compels him to scud his
ship at hazard, among shoals and breakers ! I lost many nights
of rest when in these seas, and felt much relieved when the
time came for me to turn my back upon them. The wind
freshened as we drew out from the coast of Borneo, and by
the time we had reached the track of the westward-bound
ships, we found the monsoon blowing a whole topsail-breeze.
We struck, at the same time, the south-westerly current de
scribed, and what with the wind and the current, we found it
as much as we could do to hold our own, and prevent ourselves
from being drifted to leeward. It soon became apparent that
it would be useless to attempt operations here, unless assisted
by steam. Every chase would probably carry us miles to lee
ward, whence it would be impossible, under sail alone, to re
gain our position. Still, we held ourselves a day or two in
the track, in accordance with my previous determination, over
hauling several ships, none of which, however, proved to be
enemy.

700 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
At the 2nd of this short cruise, we made sail for the island
of Conda re, or, as it is called on the charts of the China Sea,
Pulo Condore, the word " pulo " being the Chinese term for
island. My intention was to run into this small island, which
has a snug harbor, sheltered from the monsoon, do some neces
sary repairs with my i own mechanics, refit and repaint, and
then run down to Singapore, and fill up with coal. My future
course would be guided by contingencies. We made Pulo
Condore early in the afternoon of the second of December, and
passing to the northward of the "White Rock," bore up, and
ran along the western side of the island until nightfall, when
we anchored under the lee of a small, rocky island, near the
mouth of the harbor. The scenery was bold, picturesque, and
impressive. All was novelty ; the shallow sea, the whistling
monsoon, and the little islands rising so abruptly from the sea,
that a goat could scarcely clamber up their sides. The richest
vegetation covered these islands from the sea-level to their
summits. Occasionally a break or gap in the mountain — -"for
Pulo Condore rises to the height of a mountain — disclosed
charming ravines, opening out into luxuriant plains, where
were grazing the wild cattle of the country — the bison, or
small-humped buffalo of the East.
At daylight the next morning, upon looking into the harbor
with our glasses, we were surprised to see a small vessel at an
chor, wearing the French flag ; and pretty soon afterward we
were boarded by a French boat; Pulo Condore — lying off the
coast of Cochin China — having recently become a French
colony. The island had been taken possession of by France
two years before. The vessel was a ship of war, keeping
watch and ward over the lonely waters. This was a surprise.
I had expected to find the island in the hands of the Malay
nomads who infest these seas, and to have converted it into
Confederate territory, as I had done Angra Pequefia, on the
west coast of Africa — at least during my stay. And so when
I had invited the French officer, who was himself the com
mander ofthe little craft, into my cabin, I remarked to him,
"Yen have spoiled a pet project of mine." " How so ? " said
he. I then explained to him how, in imitation of my friend
Bra jke, I had intended to play Rajah for a few weeks, in Pulo

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 701
Condore. He laughed heartily, and said, "Sera tout le meme
chose, Monsieur. Vous portez plus de cannons que moi, et vous
serez Rajah, pendant votre sSjour." I did carry a few more guns
than my French friend, for his little man-of-war was only a
craft of the country, of less than a hundred tons burden, armed
with one small carronade. His crew consisted of about twenty
men. I found him as good as his word, with reference to my play
ing Rajah, for he did not so much as mention to me, once, any
rule limiting the stay of belligerents in French waters. We
now got under way, and stood in to the anchorage, the French
officer kindly consenting to show me the way in ; though there
was but little need, as the harbor was quite free from obstruc
tions, except such as were plainly visible. The water in this
cosy little harbor was as smooth as a mill-pond, notwithstand
ing occasional gusts of the monsoon swept down the moun
tain sides. There were mountains on two sides of us, both to
the north and south. The harbor was, in fact, formed by two
mountainous islands, both passing under the name of Condore ;
there being only a boat-passage separating them on the east.
This was our first real resting-place, since leaving the Cape
of Good Hope, and both officers and men enjoyed the relaxa
tion. The island was full of game, the bay full of fish, and
the bathing very fine. We felt quite secure, too, against the
approach of an enemy. The only enemy's steamer in these
seas was the Wyoming, for which we regarded ourselves as
quite a match. We had, besides, taken the precaution, upon
anchoring, to lay out a spring, by which we could, in the
course of a few minutes, present our broadside to the nar
row entrance of the harbor, and thus rake anything that
might attempt the passage. The Governor of the island now
came on board to visit us. He had his headquarters at a small
Malay village on the east coast, where, by the aid of a ser
geant's guard, he ruled his subjects with despotic sway. He
brought me on board a present of a pig, and generously offered
to share with me a potato-patch near the ship. What more
could a monarch do ? This was an exceedingly clever young
Frenchman — Monsieur Bizot — he was an ensign in the French

702 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
Navy, about twenty-two years of age, and a graduate of the
French naval school. The commander of his flag-ship — the
small country craft already described — was a midshipman.
These two young men had entire control of the government of
the island, civil and military.
Kell having set his mechanics at work in the various depart
ments, to effect the necessary repairs on the ship, I relaxed the
reins of discipline, as much as possible, that, by boat-sailing,
fishing, and hunting excursions, my people might recruit from
the ill effects of their long confinement on ship-board, and the
storms and bad weather they had experienced. The north
east monsoon having now fairly set in, the weather had become
fine. The heat was very great, it is true, but it was much tem
pered by the winds. During the two weeks that we remained
in the island, almost every part of it was explored by my ad
venturous hunters — even the very mountain tops — and mar
vellous were the reports of their adventures which they brought
on board. Some small specimens of deer were found; tha
bison — the bull of which is very savage, not hesitating to as
sault the hunter, under favorable circumstances — abounded on
the small savannas ; monkeys travelled about in troops ; parrots,
and other birds of beautiful plumage, wheeled over our heads
in flocks — in short, the whole island seemed teeming with life
The natives told us that there were many large, and some poi
sonous serpents in the jungles, but fortunately none of my
people were injured by them.
We found here the famous vampyre of the East. Several
specimens were shot, and brought on board. Some of these
monster bats measure from five to six feet from tip to tip of
wing. The head resembles that of a wolf. It has long and
sharp incisor-teeth and tusks, and would be a dangerous ani
mal to attack an unarmed man. The reptile tribe flourishes in
perfection. A lizard, measuring five feet ten inches in length,
was brought on board by one of the hunters. Nature runs
riot in every direction, and the vegetable world is as curious
as the animal. The engineer coming on board, one day, from
one of his excursions, pulled out his cigar case, and offered
me a very tempting Havana cigar. Imagine my surprise when
I found it a piece of wood ! It had been plucked fresh from

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 703
the tree. The size, shape, and color — a rich brown — were all
perfect. It was not a capsule or a seed-pod, but a solid piece
of wood, with the ordinary woody fibre, and full of sap. I
put it away carefully among my curiosities, but after a few
days it shrivelled, and lost its beauty.
The apes did not appear to be afraid of the gun — probably
because they were not accustomed to be shot at. They would
cluster around a hunting-party, and grin and chatter like so
many old negroes, one sometimes sees on the coast of Africa.
One of the midshipmen having shot one, described the death
of the old gentleman to me, and said that he felt almost as if
he had killed his old "uncle" on his father's plantation. The
wounded creature — whatever it may be, man or animal —
threw its arms over the wound, and moaned as plaintively and
intelligibly as if it had been gifted with the power of speech,
and were upbraiding its slayer. During our stay I made the
acquaintance — through my opera-glass — of several of these
lampoons upon human nature. A gang of apes, old and young,
came down to the beach regularly every morning, to look at
the ship. The old men and women would seat themselves in
rows, and gaze at us, sometimes for an hour, without changing
their places or attitudes — seeming to be absorbed in wonder.
I became quite familiar with some of their countenances.
The young people did not appear to be so strongly impressed.
They would walk about the beach in twos and threes — making
love, most likely, and settling future family arrangements.
The children, meanwhile, would be romping around the old
people, screaming and barking in very delight. If a boat ap
proached them, the old people would give a peculiar whistle,
when the younger members of the tribe would betake them
selves at once to the cover of the adjoining jungle.
A hunting party, landing here one morning, shot one of
these old apes. The rest scampered off, and were seen no
more that day. The next morning, upon turning my opera-
glass upon the beach, I saw the monkeys as usual, but they
were broken into squads, and moving about in some disorder,
instead of bei^.g seated as usual. I could plainly see some of
them at work Some appeared to be digging in the sand, and
others to be bringing twigs and leaves of trees, and such of the
45

704 MEMOIRS OF SEEV ,E AFLOAT
debris of the forest as they could gather conveniently. It was
my usual hour for landing, to get sights for my chronometers.
As the boat approached, the whole party disappeared. I had
the curiosity to walk to the spot, to see what these semi-human
beings had been doing. They had been burying their dead
comrade, and had not quite finished covering up the body,
1 when they had been disturbed ! The deceased seemed to have
been popular, for a large concourse had come to attend his
funeral. The natives told us, that this burial of the monkeys
was a common practice. They believe in monkey doctors, too,
for they told us that when they have come upon sick monkeys
in the woods, they have frequently found some demure old
fellows looking very wise, with their fingers on their noses
sitting at their bed-sides. The ladies may be curious to know,
from the same good authority, how the monkeys of Pulo Con
dore treat their women. As among the Salt Lake saints,
polygamy prevails, and there are sometimes as many as a
dozen females "sealed" to one old patriarch — especially if he-
be broad across the shoulders, and have sharp teeth. The
young lady monkeys are required to form matrimonial con
nections during the third or fourth season of their belledom;
that is to say, the parent monkeys will permit their daughters
to sally out and return home as often as they please, after they
have "come out," until three or four moons have elapsed.
After that time they are expected to betake themselves to
their own separate trees for lodging.
I was frequently startled, whilst we lay at Pulo Condore,
at hearing what appeared to be the whistle of a locomotive —
rather shrill, it may be, but very much resembling it. It
proceeded from an enormous locust.
Pulo Condore lies in the route of the French mail-steamer, be
tween Singapore and Saigon, the latter the capital of the French
possessions in Cochin China, and the Governor receiving a large
mail while we were here, was kind enough to send us some
late .papers from Paris and Havre. Every two or three days,
too, he sent us fresh beef, fowls, and fruits. On the Sunday
evening after our arrival, he, and his paymaster repeated their
visit to us, and brought in the same boat with themselves, a
bullock — a fine fat bison! In a country comparatively wild

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 705
and where supplies were so difficult to be obtained, these pres
ents were greatly enhanced in value. Poor Monsieur Bizot 1
we all regretted to learn, upon our return to Europe, that this
promising young officer, so full of talent, life, energy, hope,
had fallen a victim to a malarial fever.
Kell performed quite a feat at Pulo Condore in the way of
ship-carpentry. Our copper having fallen off, some distance
below the water-line, he constructed a coffer or caisson, that
fitted the side of the ship so nicely, when sunk to the required
depth, that he had only to pump it out, with our fire-engine and
suction-hose, to enable his mechanics to descend into a dry box
and effect the necessary repairs. We found our ship so much
out of order, that it required two weeks to get her ready for
sea. At the end of this time, we took an affectionate leave of
our French friends, and getting under way, under sail, we again
threw ourselves into the monsoon, and south-west current, and
turned our head in the direction of Singapore. We crossed
the Gulf of Siam under easy sail, that we might have the benefit
, of any chance capture, that might present itself. There was a
number of vessels hurrying on before the brisk monsoon, but
no Yankee among them. The Yankee flag had already be
come a stranger in the China Sea. On the evening of the 19th
of December, we ran in, and anchored under Pulo Aor, in
twenty fathoms water, within half a mile of the village, on the
south-west end of the island. The island is high, and broken
— its forests being composed almost entirely of the cocoanut —
and is inhabited by the same class of Malay nomads already
described. Their houses were picturesquely scattered among
the trees, and several large boats were hauled up near them,
on the beach, ready for any enterprise that might offer, in their
line. The head man came off to visit me, and some pira
guas with fowls and fruits came alongside, to trade with the
sailors. These islanders appeared to be a merry set of fellows, for
during nearly the whole night, we could hear the sound of tom
toms, and other musical instruments, as though they were en
gaged in the mysteries of the dance. Some very pretty speci
mens of young women, naked to the middle, came off in their
light piraguas, handling the paddle equally with the men, and

706 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
appearing quite as much at home on the water. The next day
being Sunday, and the weather not being very propitious for
our run to Singapore, it being thick and murky, we remained
over at our anchors, at this island, mustering the crew, and
inspecting the ship as usual. After muster, some of the offi
cers visited the shore, and were hospitably received by the
natives. They saw no evidences of the cultivation of the soil,
or of any other kind of labor. Nature supplied the inhabi
tants, spontaneously, with a regular succession of fruits all the
year round, and as for clothing, they needed none, so near the
equator. The sea gave them fish ; and the domestic fowl, which
seemed to take care of itself, and the goat which browsed
without care also on the mountain-side, secured them against
the caprice of the elements. Their physique was well devel
oped, and life seemed to be with them a continual holiday.
Who shall say that the civilized man is a greater philosopher,
than the savage of the China seas?
On the next morning, at a very early hour — just as the
cocks on shore were crowing for early daylight — we hove up
our anchor, and giving the ship both steam and sail, shaped our
course for Singapore. Soon after getting under way, we fell in
company with an English steamer running also in our direc
tion. The navigation, as one approaches the Strait of Malacca,
on which Singapore is situated, is very difficult, there being
some ugly shoals by the wayside ; and the weather coming on
thick, and heavy rains setting in, we were obliged to anchor
in the mouth of the Strait for several hours. The weather
now lifting, and the clouds breaking away, we got under way,
again, and taking a Malay pilot soon afterward, we ran into
Singapore, and anchored, at about five P. M. The harbor was
filled with shipping, but there was no United States ship of
war among the number. The reader has seen that the Wyo
ming was at Anger in the Strait of Sunda, only two days
before we burned the Winged Racer. She must have heard of
that event soon after its occurrence, and also of our burning
the Contest near Gaspar Strait. The English ship Avalanche
had, besides, carried news to Batavia, that we were off Sorouton,
still higher up the China Sea. The Wyoming, if she had any
intention of seeking a fight with us, was thus entirely deceived

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 707
by our movements. These indicated that we were bound to
Canton and Shanghai, and thither, probably, she had gone.
She must have passed within sight of Pulo Condore, while
we were scraping down our masts, tarring our rigging, and
watching the funeral of the dead monkey described ; and
about the time she was ready to run into Hongkong, in the
upper part of the China Sea, we had run into Singapore,
and anchored in the iower part.

CHAPTER L.
THE ALABAMA AT SINGAPORE — PANIC AMONG THE EN
EMY'S SHIPPING IN THE CHINA SEA — THE MULTITUDE
FLOCK TO SEE THE ALABAMA — CURIOUS RUMOR CON
CERNING HER — AUTHOR RIDES TO THE COUNTRY, AND
SPENDS A NIGHT  THE CHINESE IN POSSESSION OF ALL
THE BUSINESS OF THE PLACE — ALABAMA LEAVES SIN
GAPORE  CAPTURE OF THE MARTABAN, ALIAS TEXAN
STAR — ALABAMA TOUCHES AT MALACCA — CAPTURE
OF THE HIGHLANDER AND SONORA — ALABAMA ONCE
MORE IN THE INDIAN OCEAN.
IT turned out as I had conjectured in the last chapter. The
Wyoming had been at Singapore on the 1st of December.
She had gone thence to the Rhio Strait, where a Dutch settle
ment had given her a ball, which she had reciprocated. Whilst
these Yankee and Dutch rejoicings were going on, the Alabama
was crossing the China Sea, from Borneo to Pulo Condore.
All traces of the Wyoming had since been lost. She had
doubtless filled with coal at Rhio, and gone northward. We
had thus a clear sea before us.
A very gratifying spectacle met our eyes at Singapore.
There were twenty -two American ships there — large India-
men — almost all of which were dismantled and laid up ! The
burning of our first ship in these seas, the Amanda, off the
Strait of Sunda, had sent a thrill of terror through all the
Yankee shipping, far and near, and it had hastened to port, to
get out of harm's way. We had recent news here from all
parts of the China seas, by vessels passing constantly through
the Strait of Malacca, and touching at Singapore for orders or
refreshments. There were two American ships laid up in Ban-
kok, in Siam ; one or two at Canton ; two or three at Shang
708

MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT. 709
hai ; one at the Phillippine Islands ; and one or two more in
Japanese waters. These, besides the twenty-two ships laid up
in Singapore, comprised all of the enemy's once ramerous
Chinese fleet ! No ship could get a freight, and the commerce
of the enemy was as dead, for the time being, as if every ship
belonging to him had been destroyed. We had here the key
to the mystery, that the Alabama had encountered no Amer
ican ship, in the China Sea, since she had burned the Contest.
The birds had all taken to cover, and there was no such thing
as flushing them. This state of things decided my future
course. I had, at first, thought of running up the China Sea,
as far as Shanghai, but if there were no more than half a
dozen of the enemy's ships to be found in that part of the sea,
and these had all fled to neutral ports for protection, cui bono f
It would be far better to return to the western hemisphere,
where the enemy still had some commerce left. Indeed, my
best chance of picking up these very ships, that were now an
chored under my guns in Singapore, and disconsolate for want
of something to do, would be to waylay them on their home
ward voyages. They would not venture out in a close sea like
that of China, so long as I remained in it. After I should
have departed, and they had recovered somewhat from their
panic, they might pick up partial cargoes, at reduced rates, and
once more spread their wings for flight.
I had another powerful motive influencing me. My ship was
getting very much out of repair. The hard usage to which
she had been subjected since she had been commissioned
had very much impaired her strength, and so constantly had
she been under way, that the attrition of the water had worn
the copper on her bottom so thin that it was daily loosening
and dropping off in sheets. Her speed had, in consequence,
been much diminished. The fire in her furnaces, like that of
the fire-worshipping Persian, had never been permitted to go
out, except for a few hours at rare intervals, to enable the en
gineer to clink his bars, and remove the incrustations of salt
from the bottoms of his boilers. This constant action of fire
and salt had nearly destroyed them. I resolved, therefore, to
turn my ship's head westward from Singapore, run up into the
Bay of Bengal, along the coast of Hindostan to Bombay,

710 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
through the Seychelle Islands to the mouth of the Red Sea,
thence to the Comoro Islands ; from these latter to the Strait
of Madagascar, and from the latter Strait to the Cape of Good
Hope — thus varying my route back to the Cape.
We were received with great cordiality by the people of
Singapore, and, as at the Cape of Good Hope, much curiosity
was manifested to see the ship. After she had hauled along
side of the coaling wharf, crowds gathered to look curiously
upon her, and compare her appearance with what they had
read of her. These crowds were themselves a curiosity to
look upon, formed, as they were, of all the nations of the
earth, from the remote East and the remote West. Singapore
being a free port, and a great centre of trade, there is always
a large fleet of shipping anchored in its waters, and its streets
and other marts of commerce are constantly thronged with a
promiscuous multitude. The canal — there being one leading
to the rear of the town — is filled with country boats from the
surrounding coasts, laden with the products of the different
countries from which they come. There is the pepper-boat
from Sumatra, and the coaster of larger size laden with tin-
ore ; the spice-boats from the spice islands ; boats with tin-ore,
hides, and mats from Borneo ; boats from Siam, with gums,
hides, and cotton; boats from different parts of the Malay
peninsula, with canes, gutta-percha, and India-rubber. In the
bay are ships from all parts of the East — from China, with
silks and teas ; from Japan, with lacker- ware, raw silk, and
curious manufactures of iron, steel, and paper ; from the Phil-
lippine Islands, with sugar, hides, tobacco, and spices. Inter
mixed with these are the European and American ships, with
the products of their various countries. As a consequence, all
the races and all the religions of the world were represented
in the throngs that crowded the coaling jetty, to look upon
the Alabama, wearing the new flag of a new nation, mysterious
for its very distance from them. We were to their eastern
eyes a curious people of the antipodes.
The physical aspect of the throng was no less curious than
its moral. There Was the Malay, the Chinese, the Japanese,
the Siamese, the Hindoo, the Persian, the wild Tartar, the Bor-
nese, the Sumatran, the Javanese, and even the New Zealander

DURING THE WAE BETWEEN THE STATES. 711
—all dressed, or undressed, as the case might be, in the garb
of their respective tribes and countries. Some of the most
notable objects among the crowd, were jet-black Africans, with
the amplest of petticoat trousers gathered at the knee, san
dalled feet, and turbaned heads — the more shining the jet of
the complexion, the whiter the turban. The crowd, so far from
diminishing, increased daily, so that it was at times difficult to
pass into and out of the ship ; and it was some time before
we could learn what had excited all this curiosity among those
simple inhabitants of the isles and continents. Some of these
wonder-mongers actually believed, that we kept chained in the
hold of the Alabama, several negro giants — they had heard
something about the negro and slavery having something to
do with the war — whom we armed with immense weapons
and let loose, in time of battle, as they were wont to do their
elephants ! They waited patiently for hours, under their paper
umbrellas, hoping to catch a sight of these monsters.
Singapore, which was a fishing village half a century ago,
contains a hundred thousand inhabitants, and under the free-
port system has become, as before remarked, a great centre of
trade. It concentrates nearly all the trade of the southern
portion of the China Sea. There are no duties on exports or
imports ; and the only tonnage due paid by the shipping, is
three cents per ton, register, as a lighthouse tax. The cur
rency is dollars and cents; Spanish, Mexican, Peruvian, and
Bolivian dollars are current. Great Britain, with an infinite
forecaste, not only girdles the seas with her ships, but the land
with her trading stations. In her colonization and commerce
consists her power. Lop off these, and she would become as
insignificant as Holland. And so beneficent is her rule, that
she binds her colonies to her with hooks of steel. A senseless
party in that country has advocated the liberation of all her
colonies. No policy could be more suicidal. Colonization is
as much of a necessity for Great Britain as it was for the Gre
cian States and for Rome, when they became overcrowded with
population. Probably, in the order of nature, colonies, as they
reach maturity, may be expected to go off to themselves, but
for each colony which thus puts on the toga virilis, Great Bri
tain should establish another, if she would preserve her em
pire, and her importance with the nations of the earth.

712 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
The most notable feature about Singapore is its Chinese
population. I consider these people, in many respects, the
most wonderful people of the earth. They are essentially a
people of the arts, and of trade, and in the changing aspect of
the world must become much more important than they have
hitherto been. It is little more than half a century since
Napoleon twitted the English people with being a nation of
" shop-keepers." So rapid have been the changes since, that
other nations besides Great Britain are beginning to covet the
designation as one of honor. Even military France, the very
country which bestowed the epithet in scorn, is herself becom
ing a nation of mechanics and shop-keepers. Industrial Con
gresses, and Palaces of Industry attract more attention, in that
once martial country, than military reviews, and the marching
and countermarching of troops on the Campus Martius. An
Emperor of France has bestowed the cordon of the Legion of
Honor on a Yankee piano-maker ! These are some of the signs
of the times in which we live. And they are signs which the
wise statesman will not ignore. A nation chooses wisely and
well, which prefers the pursuits of peace to those of war ; and
that nation is to be envied, which is better constituted by the
nature of its people for peaceful, than for warlike pursuits.
This is eminently the case with the Chinese. Nature has
kindly cast them in a mould, gentle and pacific. They are
human, and have, therefore, had their wars, but compared with
the western nations, their wars have been few. The Taeping
rebellion of our day, which has lasted so long, had its origin in
the brigandage of an idle and leprous soldiery, who sought to
live at ease, at the expense of the honest producer.
It is only lately that we have been able to obtain an interior
view of these people. A few years back, and China was a
sealed book to us. Our merchants were confined to certain
" factories " outside of the walls of Canton, and we were per
mitted to trade at no other points. But since we have gotten a
glimpse of these wonderful people, we have been astonished at
the extraordinary productiveness and vitality of Chinese com
merce. We have been amazed whilst we have looked upon
the wonderful stir and hum and bustle of so immense a hive
of human beings, all living and prospering by the mechanio

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 713
arts and commerce. The Chinaman is born to industry, as
naturally as the negro is to sloth. He is the cheapest producer
on the face of the earth, because his habits are simple and
frugal. The proof of this is, that no western nation can sell
its goods in the Chinese market. We are all compelled to
purchase whatever we want from them, for cash. When we can
work cheaper than the Chinese, we may hope to exchange our
manufactured goods with them, but not until then.
Singapore is a miniature Canton, and the visitor, as he passes
through its streets, has an excellent opportunity of comparing
the industry of the Chinese with that of other nations. As a
free port, Singapore is open to immigration from all parts of
the earth, on equal terms. There are no jealous laws, guilds,
or monopolies, to shackle the limbs, or dampen the energy or
enterprise of any one. Free competition is the presiding genius
ofthe place. The climate is healthy — the English call it the
Madeira of the East — and the European artisan can labor in
it as well as the East Indian or the Chinese. All nations flock
hither to trade, as has already been remarked. Now what is
the result ? Almost all the business of every description is in
the hands of the Chinese. Large Chinese houses monopolize
the trade, and the Chinese artisan and day-laborer have driven
out all others. Ninety thousand of the one hundred thousand
of the population are Chinese.
Now that the exclusivenes's of China has been broken in
upon, and emigration permitted, what a destiny awaits such a
people in the workshops and fields of the western world!
Already they are filling up the States on the Pacific coast, and
silently, but surely, possessing themselves of all the avenues
of industry in those States, thrusting aside the more expensive
European and American laborers. They will cross the Rocky
Mountains, and effect, in course of time, a similar revolution
in the Western and Southern States. In the latter States their
success will be most triumphant ; for in these States, where
the negro is the chief laborer, the competition will be between
frugality, forecast, and industry on the one hand, and wasteful
ness, indifference to the future, and laziness on the other. The
negro must, of necessity, disappear in such a conflict. Cheap
labor must and will drive out dear labor. This law is as inex-

714 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
orable as any other of Nature's laws. This is the probable
fate, which the Puritan has prepared for his friend the negro,
on the American continent. Our system of slavery might
have saved his race from destruction — nothing else can.
The Governor of Singapore was a colonel in the British
army. He had a small garrison of troops — no more, I believe,
than a couple of companies — to police this large population.
I sent an officer, as usual, to call on him and acquaint him
with my wants and intention as to time of stay. Mr. Beaver,
of the firm of Cumming, Beaver & Co., a clever English mer
chant, came on board, and offered to facilitate us all in his
power, in the way of procuring supplies. I accepted his kind
offer, and put him in communication with the paymaster, and
the next day rode out, and dined, and spent a night with him
at his country-seat. He lived in luxurious style, as do most
European merchants in the East. The drive out took us
through the principal streets of the city, which I found to be
laid out and built with great taste — the edifices having a semi-
English, semi-Oriental air. The houses of the better classes
were surrounded by lawns and flower-gardens, and cool veran
dahs invited to repose. Mr. Beaver's grounds were extensive,
and well kept, scarcely so much as a stray leaf being visible
on his well- mown lawns. His household — the lady was absent
in England — was a pattern of neatness and comfort. His
bath-rooms, bed-rooms, library, and billiard-room — all showed
signs of superintendence and care, there being an air of clean
liness and neatness throughout, which one rarely ever sees in
a bachelor establishment. His servants were all Chinese, and
males. Chi-hi, and Hu-chin, and the rest of them, ploughed
his fields, mowed his hay, stabled his horses, cooked his din
ners, waited on his guests, washed his linen, made his beds,
and marked his game of billiards ; and all at a ridiculously
low rate of hire. If there had been a baby to be nursed, it
would have been all the same.
On my return to the city, next day, I lunched, by invitation,
at the officers' mess. English porter, ale, and cheese, cold
meats, and a variety of wines were on the table. An English
officer carries his habits all over the world with him, without
stopping to consider climates. No wonder that so many of

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 715
them return from the east with disordered hepatic arrange
ments. When I returned to the ship, in the evening, I found that
Kell and Gait had made such good use of their time, that
everything was on board, and we should be ready for sea on
the morrow. Our coaling had occupied us but ten hours —
so admirable are the arrangements of the P. and 0. Steamship
Company, at whose wharf we had coaled. A pilot was en
gaged, and all the preparations made for an early start. There
was nothing more to be done except to arrange a little settlement
between the Queen and myself, similar to the one which had
taken place at the Cape of Good Hope. As we were obliged to
lie alongside of the wharf, for the convenience of coaling, it had
been found impossible, in the great press and throng of the
people who were still anxious to get a sight of my black
giants, to prevent the sailors from having grog smuggled to
them. When an old salt once gets a taste of the forbidden
nectar, he is gone — he has no more power of resistance than a
child. The consequence on the present occasion was, that a
number of my fellows " left " on a frolic. We tracked most
of them up, during the night, and arrested them — without
asking any aid of the police, this time — and brought them on
board. One of the boozy fellows dived under the wharf, and
played mud-turtle for some time, but we finally fished him
out. When we came to call the roll, there were half a dozen
still missing. A number of applications had been made to us
by sailors who wanted to enlist, but we had hitherto resisted
them all. We were full, and desired no more. Now, how
ever, the case was altered, and the applications being renewed
after the deserters had run off — for sailors are a sort of Free
masons, and soon learn what is going on among their craft —
we permitted half a dozen picked fellows to come on board, to
be shipped as soon as we should get out into the Strait.
The next morning, bright and early, the Alabama was
under way, steaming through the Strait of Malacca. At half
past eleven a. m., "sail ho! " was cried from the mast, and about
one P. m., we came up with an exceedingly American-looking
Bhip, which, upon being hove to by a gun, hoisted the English
colors. Lowering a boat, I sent Master's Mate FuUam, one

716 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
of the most intelligent of my boarding-officers, and who was
himself an Englishman, on board to examine her papers.
These were all in due form — were undoubtedly genuine, and
had been signed by the proper custom-house officers. The
register purported that the stranger was the British ship Mar-
taban, belonging to parties in Maulmain, a rice port in India.
Manifest and clearance corresponded with the register; the
ship being laden with rice, and having cleared for Singapore
— of which port, as the reader sees, she was within a few hours'
sail. Thus far, all seemed regular and honest enough, but
the ship was American — having been formerly known as the
Texan Star — and her transfer to British owners, if made at all,
had been made within the last ten days, after the arrival of
the Alabama in these seas had become known at Maulmain.
Mr. Fullam, regarding these circumstances as at least suspi
cious, requested the master ofthe ship to go on board the Ala
bama with him, that I might have an opportunity of inspect
ing his papers in person. This the master declined to do. I
could not, of course, compel an English master to come on
board of me, and so I was obliged to go on board of him —
and I may state, by the way, that this was the only ship I ever
boarded personally during all my cruises.
I could not but admire the beautiful, " bran new " English
flag, as I pulled on board, but, as before remarked, every line
ofthe ship was American — her long, graceful hull, with flaring
bow, and rounded stern, taunt masts with sky-sail poles, and
square yards for spreading the largest possible quantity of can
vas. Passing up the side, I stepped upon deck. Here every
thing was, if possible, still more American, even to the black,
greasy cook, who, with his uncovered woolly head, naked
breast, and uprolled sleeves in the broiling sun, was peeling
his Irish potatoes for his codfish. I have before remarked
upon the national features of ships. These features are as well
marked in the interior organism, as in the exterior. The
master received me at the gangway, and, after I had paused
to take a glance at things on deck, I proceeded with him into
his cabin, where his papers were to be examined. His mates
were standing about the companion-way, anxious, of course,
to know the fate of their ship. If I had had any doubts

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 717
before, the unmistakable persons of these men would have re
moved them. In the person of the master, the long, lean,
angular-featured, hide-bound, weather-tanned Yankee skipper
stood before me. Puritan, May-Flower, Plymouth Rock, were
all written upon the well-known features. No amount of
English custom-house paper, or sealing-wax could, by any
possibility, convert him into that rotund, florid, jocund Briton
who personates the English shipmaster. His speech was even
more national — taking New England to be the Yankee nation
— than his person ; and when he opened his mouth, a mere
novice might have sworn that he was from the " State of
Maine" — there, or thereabouts. When he told me that I
" hadn't-ought-to " burn his ship, he pronounced the shibboleth
which condemned her to the flames.
The shrift was a short one. When the papers were pro
duced, I found among them no bill of sale or other evidence
of the transfer of the property — the register of an English
ship, as every seaman knows, not being such evidence. His
crew list, which had been very neatly prepared, was a mute
but powerful witness against him. It was written, throughout,
signatures and all. in the same hand — the signatures all being
as like as two peas. After glancing at the papers, and making
these mental observations as I went along, I asked the master
a few questions. As well as I recollect, he was from Hallo-
well, Maine. His ship had been two years in the East Indies,
trading from port to port ; and, as before remarked, had only
been transferred within a few days. The freshly painted as
sumed name on her stern was scarcely dry. The master had
sat with comparative composure during this examination, and
questioning, evidently relying with great confidence upon his
English flag and papers ; but when I turned to him, and told
him that I should burn his ship, he sprang from his chair, and
said with excited manner and voice — "You dare not do it,
sir; that flag — suiting the action to the word, and pointing
with his long, bony finger up the companion-way to the flag
flying from his peak — won't stand it I" "Keep cool, captain,"
I replied, "the weather is warm, and as for the flag, I shall
not ask it whether it will stand it or not — the flag that ought
to be at your peak, will have to stand it, though " In half

718 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
an hour, or as soon as the crew could pack their duds, ana be
transferred to the Alabama, the Texan Star — alias the Marta-
ban — was in flames; the beautiful, new English ensign being
marked with the day, and latitude and longitude of the cap
ture, and stowed away carefully by the old signal-quartermas
ter, in the bag containing his Yankee flags.
The cargo was bona fide English property, and if the owner
of it, instead of combining with the master of the ship to per
petrate a fraud upon my belligerent rights, had contented him
self with putting it on board under the American flag, prop
erly documented as British property, he might have saved it,
and along with it, the ship ; as, in that case, I should have been
obliged to bond her. But when I had stripped off the dis
guise, and the ship stood forth as American, unfortunately for
the owner of the cargo, no document could be presented to
show that it was English ; for the very attempt to document it
would have exposed the fraud. Unfortunate Englishman!
He had lost sight of the " copy " he had been used to tran
scribe at school — "Honesty is the best policy."
It was still early in the afternoon when we resumed our
course, and gave the ship steam. After a few hours had
elapsed, and Captain Pike — for this was the name of the mas
ter of the captured ship — had realized that his ship was no
more, I sent for him, into my cabin, and directing my clerk to
produce writing materials, we proceeded to take his formal
deposition; preliminary to which, my clerk administered to
him the usual oath. I felt pretty sure now of getting at the
truth, for I had resorted to a little arrangement for this pur
pose quite common in the courts of law — I had released the
interest of the witness. As soon, therefore, as the witness
was put upon the stand, I said to him : — " Now, captain, when
you and I had that little conversation in your cabin, you had
hopes of saving your ship, and, moreover, what you said to
me was not under oath. You were, perhaps, only practising
a pardonable ruse de guerre. But now the case is altered.
Your ship being destroyed, you have no longer any possible
interest in misstating the truth. You are, besides, under oath.
Be frank ; was, or was not, the transfer of your ship a bona
fide transaction ? " After a moment's reflection he replied : —

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES 719
"I will be frank with you, captain. It was not a bor.a fide
transaction. I was alarmed when I heard of your arrival in
the East Indies, and I resorted to a sham sale in the hope of
saving my ship." Upon this answer being recorded, the court
adjourned. At a late hour in the night, the moon shining quite brightly,
we ran in past some islands, and anchored off the little town
of Malacca — formerly a Portuguese settlement, but now, like
Singapore, in the possession of the English. My object was
to land my prisoners, and at early dawn we dispatched them
for the shore, with a note to the military commander asking
the requisite permission. It was Christmas-day, and as the
sun rose, we could see many signs of festive preparation On
shore. The little town, with its white houses peeping out of
a wilderness of green, was a pretty picture as it was lighted
up by the rays of the rising sun. Back of the town, on an
isolated hill, stood the lighthouse, whose friendly beacon had
guided us into our anchorage over night, and near by was
the barrack, from whose flag-staff floated, besides the proud
old flag of our fatherland, a number of gay streamers. Oui
ship in the offing, and our boats in the harbor, created quite
a stir in this quiet Malay-English town; and forthwith a
couple of boats filled with officers and citizens — ladies in
cluded — came off to visit us. It was still very early, and the
excitement of the morning's row, and the novelty of the
presence of the Alabama seemed greatly to excite our new
friends. The males grasped our hands as though they had
been our brothers, and the ladies smiled their sweetest smiles
— and no one knows how sweet these can be, better than the
sailor who has been a long time upon salt water, looking upon
nothing but whiskers and mustachios. They were very press
ing that we should remain a day, and partake of their Christ
mas dinner with them. But we excused ourselves, telling
them that war knows no holidays. They left us after a short
visit, and at half-past nine A. M., our boats having returned, we
were again under steam. Bartelli was seen lugging a basket-
full of fine Malacca oranges into the cabin, soon after the re
turn of our boats — a gift from some of our lady friends whc
had visited us.
46

720 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
I have observed by Mr. Seward's "little bill," before referred
to, that Pike, having been foiled in that game of flags which
he had attempted to play with me, has put in his claim, along
with other disconsolate Yankees, for the destruction of his
ship. When will naughty England pay that little bill ?
After a good day's run — during which we overhauled an
English bark, from Singapore, for Madras — we anchored at
night-fall near Parceelar Hill, in twenty-five fathoms of water.
The only Christmas kept by the Alabama was the usual
" splicing of the main-brace " by the crew. We were under
way again, the next morning at six o'clock ; the weather was
clear, with a few passing clouds, and the look-out had not been
long at the mast-head before he cried "sail ho! "twice, in
quick suggestion. Upon being questioned, he reported two
large ships at anchor, that looked " sort o' Yankee." We soon
began to raise these ships from the deck, and when we got a
good view of them through our powerful glasses, we were of
the same opinion with the look-out. They were evidently
Yankee. As they were at anchor, and helpless — waiting for
a fair wind with which to run out of the Strait — we had noth
ing to gain by a concealment of our character, and showed
them at once the Confederate flag. That flag — beautiful
though it was — must have been a terrible wet blanket upon
the schemes of these two Yankee skippers. It struck them
dumb, for they refused to show me any bunting in return. 1
captured them both, with the "flaunting lie" stowed away
snugly in their cabins. They were monster ships, both of
them, being eleven or twelve hundred tons burden. In theii
innocence — supposing the Alabama had gone up the China
Sea — they had ventured, whilst lying at Singapore, to take
charter-parties for cargoes of rice to be laden at Akyab, for
Europe; and were now on their way to Akyab in ballast.
They had left Singapore several days before our arrival there,
and had been delayed by head-winds.
Both were Massachusetts ships — one the Sonora of New
buryport, and the other, the Highlander of Boston. The mas
ter of one of these ships, when he was brought on board, came
up to me good-humoredly on the quarter-deck, and offering
me his hand, which I accepted, said : "Well, Captain Semmes,

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 721
I have been expecting every day for the last three years, to
fall in with you, and here I am at last ! " I told him I was
glad he had found me after so long a search. " Search ! " said
he ; " it is some such search as the Devil may be supposed to
make after holy water. The fact is," continued he, " I have
had constant visions of the Alabama, by night and by day;
she has been chasing me in my sleep, and riding me like a
night-mare, and now that it is all over, I feel quite relieved." I
permitted the masters and crews of both these ships to hoist
out, and provision their own boats, and depart in them for
Singapore. The ships when overhauled were lying just inside
of the light-ship, at the western entrance of the Strait of Ma
lacca, and it was only pleasant lake or river sailing to Singa
pore. Having fired the ships, we steamed out past the light
ship, and were once more in the Indian Ocean. We found on
board one of the prizes a copy of the Singapore " Times," of
the 9th of December, 1863, from which I give the following
extract. At the date of the paper, we were at Pulo Condore,
and the Yankee ships were still flocking into Singapore : —
" From our to-day's shipping-list it will be seen that there are no
fewer than seventeen American merchantmen at present in our
harbor, and that they include some of the largest ships at present
riding there. Their gross tonnage may be roughly set down at
12,000 tons. Some of these have been lying here now for upward
of three months, and most of them for at least half that period.
And all this, at a time when there is no dulness in the freight mar
ket ; but, on the contrary, an active demand for tonnage to all parts
of the world. It is, indeed, to us, a home picture — the only one
we trust to have for many years to come — of the wide-spread evils
of war in these modern days. But it is a picture quite unique in
its nature ; for the nation to which these seventeen fine ships belong
has a Navy perhaps second only to that of Great Britain, and the
enemy with which she has to cope, is but a schism from herself,
possessed of no port that is not blockaded, and owning not more
than five or six vessels no the high seas ; and yet there is no apathy
and nothing to blame on the part of the United States Navy. The
tactics with which the Federals have to combat are witho it prece
dent, and the means to enable them successfully to do so have not
yet been devised."

CHAPTER LI.
ALABAMA CROSSES THE BAY OF BENGAL — TEE PIL
GRIMS CO MECCA AND THE BLACK GIANTS — BURNING
OF THE EMMA JANE — THE TOWN OF AUJENGA, AND
THE HINDOOS — THE GREAT DESERTS OF CENTRAL
ASIA, AND THE COTTON CROP OF HINDOSTAN — ALA
BAMA CROSSES THE ARABIAN SEA — THE ANIMALCULE
OF THE SEA — THE COMORO ISLANDS — JOHANNA AND
ITS ARAB POPULATION — THE YANKEE WHALERS AT JO
HANNA — ALABAMA PASSES THROUGH THE MOZAMBIQUE
CHANNEL, AND ARRIVES AT THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.
ON the afternoon after leaving the Strait of Malacca, we
overhauled another American ship under neutral colors
— the Bremen ship Ottone. The transfer had been made at
Bremen, in the previous May ; the papers were genuine, and
the master and crew all Dutchmen, there being no Yankee on
board. The change of property, in this case, having every
appearance of being bona fide, I permitted the ship to pass on
her voyage, which was to Rangoon for rice. For the next few
days we coasted the island of Sumatra — taking a final leave
of the North end of that island on the last day of the year
1863. A court-martial had been in session several days, set
tling accounts with the runaways at Singapore, whom we had
arrested and brought back. Having sentenced the prisoners,
and gotten through with its labors, it was dissolved on this
last day of the old year, that we might turn over a new leaf.
Clearing the Sumatra coast, we stretched across to the Bay
of Bengal, toward Ceylon, overhauling a number of neutral
ships by the way. Among others, we boarded a large English
ship, which had a novel lot of passengers on board. She was
722

DURING THE WAR BETWi EN THE STATES. 723
from Singapore, bound for Jiddah on the Red Sea, and was
filled with the faithful followers of Mohammed, on a pilgrim
age to Mecca — Jiddah being the nearest seaport to that re
nowned shrine. My boarding-officer was greeted with great
cordiality by these devotees, who exchanged salaams with him,
in the most reverential manner, and entered into conversation
with him. They wanted to know, they said, about those black
giants we had on board the Alabama, and whether we fed them
on live Yankees, as they had heard. The boarding-officer, who
was a bit of a wag, told them that we had made the experiment,
but that the Yankee skippers were so lean and tough, that the
giants refused to eat them. Whereupon there was a general
grunt, and as near an approach to a smile as a Mohammedan
ever makes. They then said that they "had heard that w.e were
in favor of a plurality of wives." They had heard of Brigham
Young and Salt Lake. The officer said, " Yes, we had a few ;
three or four dozen a piece." They now insisted upon his
smoking with them, and plied him with other questions, to
which they received equally satisfactory answers ; and when
he got up to depart, they crowded around him at the gangway,
and salaamed him over the side, more reverentially than ever.
I have no doubt that when these passengers arrived at Mecca,
and discussed learnedly the American war, half the pilgrims
at that revered shrine became good Confederates.
Having doubled the island of Ceylon, and hauled up on the
coast of Malabar, we captured on the 14th of January, the
Emma Jane, of Bath, Maine, from Bombay, bound to Amherst.
Having removed from her such articles of provisions as we
required, and transferred her crew to the Alabama, we burned
. her. She was in ballast, seeking a cargo, and there was, there
fore, no claim of neutral property. The master had his wife
on board. Being not a great distance from the land, we ran
in for the purpose of discharging our prisoners; and descried
the Ghaut mountains the next day. Coasting along a short
distance to the eastward, we made the small Hindoo-Portuguese
town of Anjenga, where we came to anchor at about four P. M.
The town lies on the open coast, having a roadstead, but no
harbor. We ran in and anchored without a pilot. We were
soon surrounded by native boats — large canoes capable of

724 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
carrying considerable burdens — filled with Portuguese and
Hindoos, and a mixture of both. Though the dominion of
Portugal, on the Malabar coast, has long since departed, there
are many mementos of that once enterprising people still to be
found. Her churches and fortifications are still standing, the
blood of her people is still left — in most cases mixed — and
her language, somewhat corrupted, is still spoken. There
was no Englishman at Anjenga— -the resident magistrate being
a Portuguese. He sent his son off to visit us, and make
arrangements for landing our prisoners. Later in the after
noon, I sent a lieutenant to call on him. The boat being
delayed until some time in the night, and a firing of musketry
being heard, I feared that my lieutenant had gotten into some
difficulty with the natives, and dispatched Kell, with an armed
boat to his assistance. It proved to be a false alarm. It was
a feast day, the magistrate had gone to church, — which caused
the delay of the officer — and the firing was a feu de joie.
The next morning we sent the prisoners on shore. They
were to proceed by inland navigation — parallel with the coast,
through a series of lagoons and canals — to Cochin, a sea-port
town about sixty miles distant, where they would find English
men and English shipping. I was to provision them, and the
Resident Magistrate would send them forward free of expense.
The prisoners landed in presence of half the town, who had
flocked down to the beach to see the sight. As our boats ap
proached the shore, on which there was quite a surf breaking,
a number of native boats came out to receive and land the pris
oners. These boats were managed with great dexterity, and
passed in and out through the roaring surf, without the ^st
accident. This matter of business accomplished, the natives
came off to visit us, in considerable numbers, both men and
women. They were a fine, well-formed, rather athletic people,
nearly as black as the negro, but with straight hair and promi
nent features. Yery few of them wore any other dress than a
cloth about the loins. They were sprightly and chatty, and
ran about the decks as pleased as children, inspecting the guns,
and other novelties. Some of the young women had very
regular and pleasing features. The best description I can give
of them is to request the reader to imagine some belle of his

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 725
acquaintance to be divested of those garments which would be
useless to her in Anjenga — latitude 8° — and instead of charm
ing him with the lily and the rose, to be shining in lustrous
jet. Having received on board some fresh provisions for the
crew, and gotten rid of our lady and gentlemen visitors, we
got under way and stood out to sea, and were still in sight of
the Ghaut Mountains when the sun went down. These moun
tains will be lost to our view to-morrow ; but before they dis
appear, I have a word to say concerning them, and the fertile
country of Hindostan, in which they are situated ; for nature
elaborates here one of her most beautiful and useful of meteor
ological problems. British India is the most formidable com
petitor of the Confederate States for the production of cotton,
for the supply of the spindles and looms of the world. The
problem to which I wish to call the reader's attention may be
stated thus : — The Great Deserts of Central Africa produce the
cotton crop of Hindostan. I have before had frequent occasion
to speak of the monsoons of the East — those periodical winds
that blow for one half of the year from one point of the com
pass, and then change, and blow the other half of the year
from the opposite point. It is these monsoons that work out
the problem we have in hand ; and it is the Great Deserts al
luded to that produce the monsoons.
On the succeeding page will be found a diagram, which will
assist us in the conception of this beautiful operation of nature.
It consists of an outline sketch of so much of Asia and the
Indian Ocean as are material to our purpose. The Great
Deserts, the Himalayas and the Ghauts, are marked on the
sketch. Let the dotted line at the bottom of the sketch repre
sent the equator, and the arrows the direction of the winds.
Hindostan being in the northern tropic, the north-east monsoon
or trade-wind, represented by the arrow A, would prevail there
all the year round, but for the local causes of which I am
about to speak. The reader will observe that this wind, com
ing from a high northern latitude, passes almost entirely over
land before it reaches Hindostan. It is, therefore, a dry wind.
It is rendered even more dry, by its passage over the Himalaya
range of mountains which wring from it what little moisture

726

MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT

^¦&^';ZZ

GREAT DESERTS ^^h^SS

aKsm'Mi»^p

INDIAN OCEAN

V

N .

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 727
it may have evaporated from the lakes and rivers over which
it has passed. When it reaches the extensive plains between
the Himalayas and Ghauts, which are the great cotton region
of Hindostan, it has not a drop of water with which to nour
ish vegetation ; and if it were to prevail all the year round,
those plains would speedily become parched and waste deserts.
Let us see, now, how this catastrophe is avoided. When the
sun is in the southern hemisphere, that is, during the winter
season, the north-east monsoon prevails in Hindostan. When
he is in the northern hemisphere, the south-west monsoon,
which is the rainy monsoon, or crop monsoon, prevails. This
change of monsoons is produced as follows : Soon after the
sun crosses the equator into the northern hemisphere, he be
gins to pour down his fierce rays upon Hindostan, and, passing
farther and farther to the north, in the latter part of April, or
the beginning of May, he is nearly perpendicularly over the
Great Deserts marked in the sketch. These deserts are inter
minable wastes of sand, in which there is not so much as a
blade of grass to be found. They absorb heat very rapidly,
and in a short time become like so many fiery furnaces. The
air above them rarefies and ascends, a comparative vacuum of
great extent is formed, and a great change begins now to take
place in the atmospheric phenomena. This vacuum being in
the rear of the arrow A, or the north-east monsoon blowing
over Hindostan, first slackens the force of this wind — drawing
it back, as it were. It becomes weaker and weaker, as the fur
naces become hotter and hotter. Calms ensue, and after a long
struggle, the wind is finally turned back, and the south-west
monsoon has set in.
If the reader will cast his eye on the series of arrows, B, C,
D, E, and F, he will see how this gradual change is effected. I
say gradual, for it is not effected per saltum, but occupies several
weeks. The arrow F represents the south-east trade- wind, blow
ing toward the equator. As this wind nears the equator, it be
gins to feel the influence of the deserts spoken of. The calm
which I have described as beginning at the arrow A, is
gradually extended to the equator. As the south-east wind
approaches that great circle, it finds nothing to oppose its pas
sage. Pretty soon, it not only finds nothing to oppose its pas
sage, but something to invite it over; for the calm begins

728 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
now to give place to an indraught toward the Great Deserts.
The south-east wind, thus encouraged, changes its course, first
to the north, and then to the north-east, and blows stronger
and stronger as the season advances, and the heat accumulates
over the deserts ; until at last the south-east trade-wind of the
southern hemisphere has become the south-west monsoon of
the northern hemisphere ! This monsoon prevails from about
the 1st of May to the 1st of November, when the sun has again
passed into the southern hemisphere, and withdrawn his heat
from the great deserts. The normal condition of things being
thus restored, the vanquished north-east trade- wind regains its
courage, and, chasing back the south-west monsoon, resumes
its sway.
If the reader will again cast his eye upon the sketch, he will
see that the south-west winds which are now blowing over
Hindostan, instead of being dry winds, must be heavily laden
with moisture. They have had a clean sweep from the tropic
of Capricorn, with no land intervening between them and the
coast of Hindostan. They have followed the sun in his course,
and under the influence of his perpendicular rays have lapped
up the waters like a thirsty wolf. The evaporation in these
seas is enormous. It has been stated, on the authority of the
Secretary of the Geographical Society of Bombay, that it has
¦been found in the Bay of Bengal to exceed an inch daily.
tFrom having too little water during the winter months in
Hindostan, we are now, in the summer months, in danger of
having too much. The young cotton crop will be drowned
out. What is to prevent it ? Here we have another beautiful
provision at hand. The reader has observed the Ghaut Moun
tains stretching along parallel with the west coast of Hindos
tan. These mountains protect the plains from inundation.
They have, therefore,- equally important functions to perform
with the deserts. The south-west monsoon blows square
across these mountains. As the heavily laden wind begins
to ascend the first slopes, it commences to deposit its moisture.
Incessant rains set in, and immense quantities of water fall
before the winds have passed the mountains. The precipita
tion has been known to be as great as twelve or thirteen inches in a
single day! The winds, thus deprived of their excess of water

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 729
are now in a proper condition to fertilize, without drowning
the immense plains that lie between the Ghauts and the Him
alayas — which, as before remarked, is the cotton region of
India. It is thus that the Great Deserts of Central Asia produce
ihe cotton crop of Hindostan. To the ignorant Tartar who ven
tures across the margins of these deserts, all seems dreary,
desolate, and death-like, and he *s at a loss to conceive for what
purpose they were created. Clothe these deserts with verdure,
and intersperse them with rivers and mountains, and forthwith
the fertile plains of Hindostan would become a great desert,
and its two hundred millions of inhabitants perish.
We captured on board the last prize a batch of Bombay
newspapers — large "dailies," edited with ability, and filled
with news from all parts of the world. It is the press, more
than anything else, that indicates the growth and prosperity
of a country. One only needed to look at the long columns
of these immense dailies, filled with advertisements, to realize
the fact that Bombay was a bee-hive, containing its three hun
dred thousand inhabitants. We were, indeed, in the midst of
a great empire, of which, in the western world, we read, it is
true, but of which we have no just conception until we visit
it. The British empire in India, stretching from the Persian
Gulf to the Strait of Malacca, is a creation which does honor
to' our race and language. I had coasted nearly its whole
extent, and everywhere I found evidences of contentment,
thrift, and prosperity. A constant stream of British shipping
was passing to and fro, developing its immense commerce, and
pouring its untold millions into the British exchequer. Pow
erful and swift steamships bring the home mails to three or
four prominent points along the coast, as Aden, Ceylon, Singa
pore, Hong Kong, and from these points other steamers spread
it broadcast over the empire. Railroads are pushed in every
direction, there being as many as three thousand miles in
operation, and the navigation of the coast districts of Hindos
tan has been carried, by means of a series of lagoons and
canals, from Cape Comorin, hundreds of miles to the north
ward. These railroads and canals have opened up new fields
of industry, and have been of especial service in developing
that pet idea of England, the production of cotton.

730 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
Up to the breaking out of our war, the cultivation of this
valuable staple in India was a mere experiment. It is now
an assured success. Those great fields lying between the
Ghauts and the Himalayas of which we have been speaking,
are being brought into connection with the sea-board, by lines
of easy and cheap transportation. They have been found equal
to our Southern plantations in the production of the article,
and labor is a hundred per cent, cheaper, at least, than with
us. Here are all the elements of cheap production. Our
Yankee brethren have talked a good deal of what they "con
quered" in the war, and have been quarrelling ever since over
the fruits of their victory. Here is one of their conquests
which no one can doubt — the transfer of the cotton supply of
the world, from these Southern States to British India. The
time is not far distant when Yankee spindles and looms will
be spinning and weaving India cotton for the supply of their
own people.
The moral conquest of India, by the British people, is even
more remarkable and more admirable than its physical con
quest. Since their last Indian war, the whole country, from
one end of it to the other, has settled down in the most. pro
found peace. Nor is this the peace of despotism, for in com
parison with the extent of territory, and the two hundred mil
lions of people to be governed, the number of troops is ridicu
lously small. The conquest is one of arts and civilization,
and not of arms. The railroad, the canal, the ship, the print
ing press, and above all, a paternal and beneficent government
have worked out the wonderful problem of the submission of
teeming millions to the few. It is flhe conquest of race and
of intellect. The docile Hindoo, not devoid of letters himself,
has realized the fact that a superior people has come to settle
in his country, to still domestic broils, strip former despots of
their ill-gotten and much-abused power, and to rule him with
humanity and justice. The torch of civilization has shone in
dark places, dispelled many prejudices, and brought to light
and broken up many hideous practices. Schools and colleges
have sprung up everywhere, and the natural taste of the native
population for letters has been cultivated. In the very news
papers which we are reviewing are to be found long disserta

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 731
tions and criticisms, by Hindoo scholars, on various matters of
morals, science, and literature.
A government whose foundations are thus laid will be dur
able. In Australia, New Zealand, and other colonies, where
the white population, in the course of a few years, will greatly
preponderate over the native, mere adolescence will bring
about independence. But India will never become adolescent
in this sense. She will remain indefinitely a prosperous ward
in chancery — the guardian and the ward living amicably to
gether, and each sharing the prosperity of the other.
On the day after leaving the Malabar coast, we spoke a
Portuguese bark, from Rio Janeiro bound to Goa, a short dis
tance to the northward of us. This was the only Portuguese we
met in these seas, of which they were, at one period of their his
tory, entire masters. Yasco de Gama had made the seas classic
by his adventures, and his countrymen, following in his track,
had studded the coast with towns, of which Goa was one of
the most ancient and important. As between the Hindoo and
the Portuguese, the latter would probably long have main
tained his ascendency, but there came along that superior race,
— that white race which has never submitted to any admix
ture of its blood — of which we have just been speaking, and
nature, with her unvarying laws, had done the rest. The
Portuguese gave place to the Englishman, as naturally as the
African, and afterward the Hindoo, had given place to the
Portuguese. Passing through the chain of islands which extends parallel
with the Malabar coast for some distance, we stretched across
the Arabian Sea in the direction of the east coast of Africa.
We were now in the height of the season of the north-east
monsoon, which was a fair wind for us, and the weather was
as delightful as I have ever experienced it in any part of the
globe — not even excepting our own Gulf of Mexico, and coasts
of Alabama, and Florida, in the summer season. For twelve
successive days, we did not have occasion to lower a studding
sail, day or night I We had a constant series of clear skies,
and gentle breezes. The nights were serene, and transparent,
and the sunsets were magnificent beyond description. The
trade wind is, par excellence, the wind of beautiful sunsets.

732 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
Bright, gauzy clouds, float along lazily before it, and some
times the most charming cumuli are piled up on the western
horizon while the sun is going down. Stately cathedrals, with
their domes and spires complete, may be traced by the eye of
fancy, and the most gorgeous of golden, violet, orange, purple,
green, and other hues, light up now a colonnade, now a dome
and now a spire of the aerial edifice. And then came on the
twilight, with its gray and purple blended, and with the twi
light, the sounds of merriment on board the Alabama — for we
had found a successor for Michael Mahoney, the Irish fiddler, and
the usual evening dances were being held. We had been now
some time at sea, since leaving Singapore ; the "jail had been
delivered," the proper punishments administered, and Jack,
having forgotten both his offences, and their punishment, had
again become a " good boy," and was as full of fun as ever.
We had some fine fishing while passing through the Arabian
Sea. The dolphin came around us in schools, and a number
of them were struck with the " grains," and caught with lines
— the bait being a piece of red flannel rag. And some of the
seamen resorted to an ingenious device for entrapping the
flying fish by night. A net being spread, with out-riggers, un
der the bow of the ship, and a light being held just above it,
the fish, as they would rise in coveys — being flushed from time
to time by the noise of the ship through the water — would
rush at the light, and striking against the bow of the ship,
tumble into the net beneath. Bartelli, on several mornings,
spread my breakfast-table with them.
On the 29th of January, we observed in latitude 2° 43' north,
and longitude 51° east ; and on the following evening passed
through a remarkable patch of the sea. At about eight P. M.,
there being no moon, but the sky being clear, and the stars
shining brightly, we suddenly passed from the deep blue water
in which we had been sailing, into a patch of water so white
that it startled me ; so much did it appear like a shoal. To
look over the ship's side, one would have sworn that she was
in no more than five or six fathoms of water. The officer of
the deck became evidently alarmed, and reported the fact to
me, though I myself had observed it. There was no shoal
laid down, within several hundred miles of our position, on

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 733
the chart, and yet here was so manifestly one, that I shortened
sail — we were running seven or eight knots per hour at the
time, with a fresh breeze — hove the ship to, and got a cast of
the deep-sea lead. The line ran out, and out, until a hundred
fathoms had been taken by the lead, and still we found no bot
tom. We now checked the line, and hauling in the lead,
made sail again. My fears thus quieted, I observed the phe
nomenon more at leisure. The patch was extensive. We
were several hours in running through it. Around the horizon
there was a subdued glare, or flush, as though there were a
distant illumination going on, whilst overhead there was a
lurid, dark sky, in which the stars paled. The whole face of
nature seemed changed, and with but little stretch of the
imagination, the Alabama might have been conceived to be a
phantom ship, lighted up by the sickly and unearthly glare
of a phantom sea, and gliding on under the pale stars one
knew not whither.
Upon drawing a bucket of this water, it appeared to be full
of minute luminous particles ; the particles being instinct with
hfe, and darting, and playing about in every direction; but
upon a deck-lantern being brought, and held over the bucket,
the little animals would all disappear, and nothing but a bucket
full of grayish water would be left. Here was an area of
twenty miles square, in which Nature, who delights in life,
was holding one of her starlight revels, with her myriads upon
myriads of living creatures, each rejoicing in the life given it
by its Creator, and dying almost as soon as born. The sun
would rise on the morrow, over a sea as blue as usual, with
only some motes in the pelluced waters glinting back his
rays ; and this twenty miles square of life would be no longer
distinguishable from the surrounding waters.
We crossed the equator on the 30th of January. The winds
had now become light, and frequer^ calms ensued, though the
bright weather continued. On the 9th of February we made
the Comoro islands, that lie not a great way from the coast of
Africa, and, getting up steam, ran in, and anchored at Johanna.
This island is the most frequented of fhe group ; ships bound
to and from the East Indies, by the way of the Mozambique
channel, frequently stopping here for refreshments. All these

734 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
islands are volcanic in origin. They are of small extent, rise
abruptly out of the sea, with deep water around them, and are
mountainous. They are not claimed by any European nation,
nor do any of the chiefs on the neighboring coast of Africa
attempt to exercise jurisdiction over them. They are inhab
ited by a mixed race of Arabs, Africans, and East Indians, and
each has its separate government, which is always a govern
ment of force, and is frequently overthrown by revolutions.
Johanna, at the time we visited it, was under the rule of an
Arab, who styled himself, the "Sultan Abdallah." From the
circumstance that English ships frequently stop here, most pf
the inhabitants who live on the sea-coast speak a little Eng
lish, and we were surprised, when we anchored, to find our
selves quite well known. The name of our ship was familiar
to the dusky inhabitants, and they were evidently much de
lighted at our arrival. The " Sultan " did not come on board
— he was busy, he said, putting up a sugar-mill — but he sent
his Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Commander-in-Chief of
his Army to see me ; and with these, Gait, my paymaster, had
no difficulty in contracting for the regular supply of bullocks
and vegetables, to be sent off to us during our stay.
I had come in solely for the purpose of refreshing my crew
and for this purpose we remained a week. During this time
we became quite friendly with the Johannese — receiving fre
quent visits from them, and visiting them at their houses in
return. We were quite surprised at the intelligence and civ
ilization which characterized them. They nearly all read and
write, and the better classes set up some pretensions to litera
ture. They are Mohammedans in faith, and I found some of
their priests, who were fond of visiting me, sprightly, well in
formed, and liberal men, acknowledging both Moses and Christ
to have been prophets, and entertaining a respect for the
Christian religion; doubtless the result of their intercourse
with the English.
I visited the houses of some of my friends with the hope of
getting a glimpse at their domestic life, but was disappointed.
They received me with all cordiality and respect, but the
females of their families were carefully kept out of sight. A
female slave would fan me, and hand me my coffee and ther-

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 735
bet, but that was all. Their slavery appeared to be of a miti
gated form, the slaves being on easy and even familiar terms
with their masters. The houries who fanned me could have
been bought for twenty dollars each. The price of a slave
fresh from the coast, is not more than half that sum.
I gave my sailors a run on shore, but this sort of "liberty "
was awful hard work for Jack. There was no such thing
as a glass of grog to be found in the whole town, and as for a
fiddle, and Sal for a partner — all of which would have been a
matter of course in civilized countries — there were no such
luxuries to be thought of. They found it a difficult matter to
get through with the day, and were all down at the beach long
before sunset — the hour appointed for their coming off —
.waiting for the approach of the welcome boat. I told Kell to
let them go on shore as often as they pleased, but no one made
a second application.
On the 15th of February, having received on board a sup
ply of half a dozen live bullocks, and some fruits and vegeta
bles, we got under way, and again turned our head to the south
west. The winds were light, but we were much assisted by
the currents ; for we were now approaching the Mozambique
Channel, and the south-west current, of which I spoke when
we left the Cape of Good Hope for our run before the "brave
west winds," to the eastward, was hurrying us forward, some
times at the rate of forty or fifty miles a day. As we pro
gressed, the wind freshened, and by the time we had entered
the narrowest part of the channel between Madagascar and the
African coast, which lies in about 15° south latitude, we lost
the fine weather and clear skies, which we had brought all the
way across the Arabian Sea. We now took several gales of
wind. Rain-squalls were of frequent occurrence. As we ap
proached the south-west end of Madagascar, which lies just
without the Tropic of Capricorn, we encountered one of the
most sublime storms of thunder and lightning I ever witnessed.
It occurred at night. Black rain-clouds mustered from every
quarter of the compass, and the heavens were soon so densely
and darkly overcast, that it was impossible to see across the
ship's deck. Sometimes the most terrific squalls of wind ac
company these storms, and we furled most of the sails, a'ld
47

736 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
awaited in silence the denouement. The thunder rolled and
crashed, as if the skies were falling in pieces ; and the light
ning — sheet lightning, streaked lightning, forked lightning —
kept the firmament almost constantly ablaze. And the rain I
I thought I had seen it rain before, but for an hour, Madagas
car beat the Ghaut Mountains. It came down almost literally
by the bucketfull. Almost a continual stream of lightning
ran down our conductors, and hissed as it leaped into the sea.
There was not much wind, but all the other meteorological ele
ments were there in perfection. Madagascar is, perhaps, above
all other countries, the bantling and the plaything of the
storm, and thunder and lightning. Its plains, heated to nearly
furnace-heat, by a tropical sun, its ranges of lofty mountains,
the currents that sweep along its coasts, and its proximity to
equatorial Africa, all point it out as being in a region fertile of
meteorological phenomena. Cyclones of small diameter are
of frequent occurrence in the Mozambique Channel. They
travel usually from south-east to north-west, or straight across
the channel. We took one of these short gales, which lasted
us the greater part of a day.
Leaving the channel, and pursuing our way toward the Cape
of Good Hope, we sounded on the Agulhas Bank on the 7th
of March — our latitude being 35° 10', and longitude 24° 08'.
This bank is sometimes the scene of terrible conflicts of the
elements in the winter season. Stout ships are literally
swamped here, by the huge, wall-like seas ; and the frames of
others so much shaken and loosened in every knee and joint,
as to render them unseaworthy. The cause of these terrible,
short, racking seas, is the meeting of the winds and currents.
Whilst the awful, wintry gale is howling from the west and
north-west, the Mozambique, or Agulhas current, as it is now
called, is setting in its teeth, sometimes at the rate of two or
three knots per hour. A struggle ensues between the billows
lashed into fury by the winds, and the angry current which is
opposing them. The ground-swell contributes to the turmoil
of the elements, and the stoutest mariner sometimes stands
appalled at the spectacle of seas with nearly perpendicular
walls, battering his ship like so many battering-rams, and
threatening her with instant destruction. Hence the name of
the " stormy cape," applied to the Cape of Good Hope.

\ DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 737
Arriving on our old cruising ground off the pitch of the
Cape, we held ourselves here a few days, overhauling the vari
ous ships that passed. But American commerce, which, as the
reader has seen, had fled this beaten track before we left for
the East Indies, had not returned to it. The few ships of the
enemy that passed, still gave the Cape a wide berth, and
winged their flight homeward over the by-ways, instead of the
highways of the ocean. We found the ooast clear again of the
enemy's cruisers. That huge old coal-box, the Vanderbilt.
having thought it useless to pursue us farther, had turned back,
and was now probably doing a more profitable business, by
picking up bockade-runners on the American coast. This
operation paid — the captain might grow rich upon it. Chasing
the Alabama did not. Finding that it was useless for us to
cruise longer off the Cape, we ran into Cape Town, and came
to anchor at half-past four, on the afternoon of the 20th of
March. We had gone to sea from Simon's Town, on our way
to the East Indies, on the 24th of the preceding September, —
our cruise had thus lasted within a day or two of six months.

CHAPTER LII.
ALABAMA AGAIN IN CAPE TOWN — THE SEIZURE OF THE
TUSCALOOSA, AND THE DISCUSSION WHICH GREW OUT OF
IT — CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN THE AUTHOR AND
ADMIRAL WALKER — FINAL ACTION OF THE HOME GOV
ERNMENT, AND RELEASE OF THE TUSCALOOSA.
AFTER our long absence in the East Indies, we felt like
returning home when we ran into Table Bay. Familiar
faces greeted us, and the same welcome was extended to us as
upon our first visit. An unpleasant surprise awaited me, how
ever, in the course the British Government had recently pur
sued in regard to my tender, the Tuscaloosa. The reader will
recollect, that I had dispatched this vessel from Angra Pe
quefia, back to the coast of Brazil, to make a cruise on tha
coast. Having made her cruise, she returned to Simon's Town,
in the latter part of December, in want of repairs and supplies.
Much to the astonishment of her commander, she was seized,
a few days afterward, by Admiral Sir Baldwin Walker, under
orders from the Home Government. Since I had left the Cape,
a correspondence had ensued between the Governor, Sir Philip
Wodehouse, and the Secretary for the Colonies, the Duke of
Newcastle ; the latter disapproving of the conduct of the for
mer, in the matter of the reception of the Tuscaloosa. It was
insisted by the Duke, that inasmuch as the Tuscaloosa was an
uncondemned prize, she was not entitled to be regarded as a
ship of war ; but that, on the contrary, having been brought
into British waters, in violation of the Queen's orders of neu
trality, she should have been detained, and handed over to her
original owners. Under these instructions, the Tuscaloosa was
seized upon her return to the Cape. This correspondence be
tween the Governor and the Duke had not yet been made pub*
738

MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT. 739
lie, and it was supposed that the seizure had been made by
order of Lord John Russell. Under this impression I sat
down, and addressed the following letter to Sir Balwin Walker,
the Admiral, on the subject : —
Confederate States Steamer Alabama, >
Table Bat, March 22, 1864. j
Sir: — I was surprised to learn, upon my arrival at this port, of
the detention, by your order, of the Confederate States bark Tus
caloosa, a tender to this ship. I take it for granted that you de
tained her by order of the Home Government, as no other supposi
tion is consistent with my knowledge of the candor of your char
acter — the Tuscaloosa having been formerly received by you as a
regularly commissioned tender, and no new facts appearing in the
case to change your decision. Under these circumstances, I shall
not demand of you the restoration of that vessel, with which de
mand you would not have the power to comply, but will content
myself with putting this, my protest, on record, for the future con
sideration of our respective Governments. Earl Russell, in reach
ing the decision which he has communicated to you, must surely
have misapprehended the facts ; for if he had correctly understood
them, he could not have been capable of so grossly misapplying
the law. The facts are briefly these : First, The Tuscaloosa was
formerly the enemy's ship Conrad, lawfully captured by me on the
high seas, in my recognized character of a belligerent, 'idly, She
was duly commissioned by me, as a tender to the Confederate
Slates steamer Alabama, then, as now, under my command.
3dly, In this character she entered British waters, was received
with the courtesy and hospitality due to a ship of war of a friendly
power, and was permitted to repair and refit, and depart on a
cruise. These were the facts up to the time of Earl Russell's issuing to
you the order in the premises. Let us consider them for a moment,
and see if they afford his lordship any ground for the extraordinary
conclusion at which he has arrived. My right to capture, and the
legality of the capture, will not be denied. Nor will you deny, in
your experience as a naval officer, my right to commission this, or
any other ship lawfully in my possession, as a tender to my princi
pal ship. British Admirals do this every day, on distant stations ;
and the tender, from the time of her being put in commission, wears
a pennant, and is entitled to all the immunities and privileges of a
ship of war, the right of capturing enemy's ships included. Numer
ous decisions are to be found in your own prize law to this effect.
In other words, this is one of the recognized modes of commission
ing a ship of war, which has grown out of the convenience of the
thing, and become a sort of naval common law of the sea, as indis
putable as the written law itself. The only difference between the
commission of such a ship, and that of a ship commissioned by the

740 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
sovereign authority at home is, that the word "tender" appears in
the former commission, and not in the latter.
The Tuscaloosa having, then, been commissioned by me, in ac
cordance with the recognized practice of all civilized nations that
have a marine, can any other government than my own look into
her antecedents? Clearly not. The only thing which can be looked
at, upon her entering a foreign port, is her commission. If this be
issued by competent authority, you cannot proceed a step further.
The ship then becomes a part of the territory of the country to
which she belongs, and you can exercise no more jurisdiction over
her, than over that territory. The self-respect, and the indepen
dence of nations require this ; for it would be a monstrous doctrine,
to admit, tjiat one nation may inquire into the title by which an
other nation holds her ships of war. And there can be no differ
ence, in this respect, between tenders, and ships originally commis
sioned. The flag and the pennant fly over them both, and they are
both withdrawn from the local jurisdiction by competent commis
sions. On principle you might as well have undertaken to inquire
into the antecedents of the Alabama as of the Tuscaloosa. Indeed,
you had a better reason for inquiring into the antecedents of the
former, than of the latter ; it having been alleged that the former
escaped from England in violation of your Foreign Enlistment Act.
Mr. Adams, the United States Minister at London, did, in fact, set
up this pretension, and demand that the Alabama should be seized
in the first British port into which she should enter ; but Earl Rus
sell, in pointed contradiction of his recent conduct in the case of
the Tuscaloosa, gave him the proper legal reply, viz : that the Ala
bama being now a ship of war, he was estopped frojm looking into hei
antecedents. /
A simple illustration will suffice to show you how untenable your
position is in this matter. If the Tuscaloosa's commission be admit
ted to have been issued by competent authority, and in due form —
and I do not understand this to be denied — she is as much a ship
of war as the Narcissus, your flag-ship. Suppose you should visit
a French port, under circumstances similar to those under which
the Tuscaloosa visited Simon's Town, and the French Government
should threaten you with seizure, unless you satisfied it as to the
antecedents of your ship, what would you think of the pretension ?
Suppose your late war with Russia was still progressing — France
being neutral — and your ship had been captured from the Rus
sians, and commissioned by your Government, without having first
been condemned by a prize court, would this make any difference ?
You see that it would not. The pretension would be an insult to
your Government. And in what does the supposed proceeding dif
fer from the one in hand ? In both it is a pretension on the part
of a foreign power, to look into the antecedents of a ship of war —
neither more nor less in the one case than in the other.
I will even put the case stronger. If I had seized a ship belong
ing to a power with which my Government was at peace, and com-

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 741
missioned her, you could not undertake to inquire into the fact.
You would have no right to know, but that I had the orders of my
Government for the seizure. In short, you would have no right to
inquire into the matter at all. My ship being regularly commis
sioned, I am responsible to my Government for my acts, and that
Government, in the case supposed, would be responsible to the
friendly power whose ship had been seized, and not to you. Nay,
the case may be put stronger still. The Federal States have cap
tured a number of British vessels, in the act of attempting to run
the blockade of the ports of the Confederate States. Suppose the
Federal States had commissioned one of these ships, without her
having been first condemned by a prize-court, and she had after
ward come into British waters, could you have seized her, even
though you might know her capture to have been wrongful ? Cer
tainly not. It would be a matter which you could inquire into in
another form, but not in this. The ship would have become a ship
of war, exempt from your jurisdiction, and you could not touch her.
If this reasoning be correct — and with all due submission to his
lordship, I think it is sustained by the plainest principles of the
International Code — it follows that the condemnation of a prize in
a prize-court, is not the only mode of changing the character of a
captured ship. When the sovereign of the captor puts his commis
sion on board such a ship, this is a condemnation in its most solemn
form ; and is notice to all the world.
Further, as to this question of adjudication. Your letter to Lieu
tenant Low, the late commander of the Tuscaloosa, assumes that
as that ship was not condemned, she was the property of the enemy
from whom she had been taken. On what ground can you under
take to make this decision? Condemnation is intended for the
benefit of neutrals, and to quiet the titles of purchasers, but is
never necessary as against the enemy. He has, and can have no
rights in a prize-court at all. He cannot appear there, either in
person or by attorney. He is divested of his property by force,.
and not by any legal process. The possession of his property by
his enemy, is all that is required as against him. What right, then,
has the British Government to step in between me and my right
of possession — waiving, for the present, the question of the com
mission, and supposing the Tuscaloosa to be nothing more than a
prize-ship? Does the fact of my prize being in British waters, in
violation of the Queen's proclamation, give it this right ? Clearly
not ; for we are speaking now of rights under the laws of nations,
and a mere municipal order cannot abrogate these. The prize may be
ordered out of the port, but my possession is as firm in port, as out.
There is but a single class of cases that I am aware of, in which
a neutral power can undertake to adjudicate a prize-case, and that
is, where it is alleged that the capture has been made in neutral
waters, in violation of the neutral jurisdiction. In that case a neu
tral Court of Admiralty may, in case the prize be afterward brought
infra presidia of the neutral country, inquire iato the facts, and

742 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
may even restore the prize to the enemy, if it should appear that
the neutral jurisdiction has been violated. But this restoration of
the property to the enemy depends upon an entirely different prin
ciple. The right of capture does not exist within the marine league.
There was, therefore, no capture ; and there having been no cap
ture, as a matter of course, the property belongs to the enemy, and
must be restored to him. To show the irrefragable nature of my
possession, permit me to quote to your Excellency, one of your own
authorities. On page forty-two of the first volume of " Phillimore
on International Law," you will find the following passage :  "In
1654 a treaty was entered into between England and Portugal, by
which, among other things, both countries mutually bound them
selves not to suffer the ships and goods of the other, taken by ene
mies and carried into the ports of the other, to be conveyed away
from the original owners or proprietors." Here two powers bound
themselves, by treaty, to do what the British Government is now
attempting to do ; that is, to interpose between the captor and his
prize, undo his possession, and hand the prize back to its original
owners. Great Britain said to Portugal, " I will not permit your
enemies to bring any ships they may capture from you, into my
ports, and if they do, I will restore them to you." In 1198, in a
case before Lord Stowell, that great admiralty judge had occasion
to comment on this treaty, and used the following language in re
lation to it: — "Now I have no scruple in saying, that this is aa
article incapable of being carried into literal execution, according to
the modern understanding of the laws of nations ; for no neutral
country can intervene to wrest from a belligerent prizes lawfully
taken. This is, perhaps, the strongest instance that could be cited of
what civilians call the consuetudo obrogatoria." The custom, in
the law of nations, abrogated even a treaty, in that case. The prize
being once lawfully made, an English Court of Admiralty could
not intervene to wrest it from the captor, even though commanded so
to do by a treaty. Will Lord Russell undertake, in face of this
decision, and of his own mere motion, without even the formality
of process from an Admiralty Court, to wrest my prize from me,
and hand it over to the enemy ? My Government cannot fail, I
think, to view this matter in the light in which I have placed it;
and it is deeply to be regretted, that a weaker people, struggling
against a stronger for very existence, should have so much cause to
complain of the unfriendly disposition of a Government, from which,
if it represents truly the generous instincts of Englishmen, we had
the right to expect, at least, a manly disposition to do us justice.
Governor Wodehouse was, from the first, very clearly of
the opinion that the Tuscaloosa was entitled to be considered
and treated as a ship of war, and in his correspondence with
the Duke of Newcastle, before referred to, he maintained this
opinion with great force and clearness. He was, besides, for
tified by the opinion of the Attorney-General of the Colony.

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 743
The seizure of the Tuscaloosa made some stir among the
politicians in England. The subject was brought to the notice
of the House of Commons, and information asked for. The
Cabinet took it up, and were obliged to reverse the decision
of the Duke of Newcastle. On the 4th of March, 1864, the
Duke wrote to Governor Wodehouse as follows : " I have re
ceived your despatches of the 11th and 19th of January, re
porting the circumstances connected with the seizure of the
Confederate prize-vessel Tuscaloosa, under the joint authority
of the naval commander-in-chief and yourself. I have to in
struct you to restore the Tuscaloosa to the lieutenant of the
Confederate States, who lately commanded her, or if he should
have left the Cape, then to retain her until she can be handed
over to some person who may have authority from Captain
Semmes, of the Alabama, or from the Government of the Con
federate States, to receive her."
The London " Times," of the 8th of March, 1864, in report
ing the proceedings of the House of Commons for the pre
ceding day, contained the following paragraph : —
"The Tuscaloosa. — Mr. Peacocke asked on what grounds the
Tuscaloosa had been seized at the Cape of Good Hope. Lord
Palmerston said, that it was in conformity with the instructions
received, that the authorities at the Cape of Good Hope had seized
this vessel, but on representations that had been made to the Govern
ment, and on full consideration of the case, it had been determined
that there had been no proper ground for the seizure of the vessel,
and its release had been ordered."
The order to restore the Tuscaloosa did not reach the Cape
until after both Lieutenant Low and myself had left, and the
war drew so speedily to a close, that possession of her was
never resumed. At the close of the war, she fell, along with
other Confederate property, into the hands of the Federals.
Besides embalming the beautiful name " Tuscaloosa " in history,
this prize-ship settled the law point I had been so long contest
ing with Mr. Seward and Mr. Adams, to wit : that " one na
tion cannot inquire into the antecedents of the ships of war
of another nation ; " and consequently that when the Alabama
escaped from British waters and was commissioned, neither
the United States nor Great Britain could object to her status
as a ship of war.

CHAPTER LIII.
THE ALABAMA AT THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE — LEAVES ON
HER RETURN TO EUROPE — CAPTURE OF THE ROCKING
HAM AND OF THE TYCOON — CROSSES THE EQUATOR
INTO THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE, AND ARRIVES AND
ANCHORS AT CHERBOURG ON THE llTH OF JUNE, 1864
 THE COMBAT BETWEEN THE ALABAMA AND THE
KEARSARGE.
WE entered Table Bay on the 20th of March, and on the
next day we had the usual equinoctial gale. The wind
was from the south-east, and blew very heavily for twenty-four
hours. We let go a second anchor, and veered to ninety
fathoms on the riding-chain. The usual phenomena accom
panied this south-east gale, viz., a clear sky and a high barom
eter. The D — 1 kept his table-cloth spread on the top of the
mountain during the whole of the gale, and it was wonderful
to watch the unvarying size and shape of this fleecy cloud,
every particle of which was being changed from moment to
moment. Some boats visited us, notwithstanding the gale, and
brought us off some of the delightful grapes and figs of the
Cape. We were in the midst of the fruit season. Our old
friend, Mr. William Anderson, of the firm of Anderson, Saxon
& Co., who had acted as our agent, on the occasion of our for
mer visit, so much to our satisfaction, also came off to arrange
for further supplies. There was no occasion any longer for
him to draw upon our public chest, the proceeds of the mer
chandise shipped by him to Europe, on our account, being
sufficient to pay all bills.
The gale having moderated the next day, lighters came
alongside, and we began coaling, and receiving such supplies of
provisions as we needed. Yisitors again thronged on board,
744

MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT. 745
and the energies and address of Bartelli were freshly taxed.
For a phlegmatic, impassible people, the English are, per
haps, the greatest sight-seekers in the world; and the Cape
of Good Hope, being, as before remarked, a relay station on
the principal highway of travel, is always filled with new
comers. Military and naval officers, governors, judges, super
intendents of boards of trade, attorney-generals, all on their
way to their missions in the Far East, came to see the Alabama.
Though we were sometimes incommoded by the crowd, in the
midst of our coaling and provisioning ship, scraping masts
and tarring down rigging, we received everybody politely, and
answered patiently their curious questions. When we were
here last, we had had occasion to notice an American bark called
the Urania, a trader between Boston and the Cape, which took
every opportunity to display a very large and very bright
"old flag," during our stay. The Urania had made, a voyage
to Boston and back, during our absence, and now came in,
tricked out so finely in her "bran-new" English flag that we
hardly knew her !
In three days we were ready for sea. On the morning of
the 25th, we got up steam, and moved out of Table Bay for the
last time, amidst lusty cheers, and the waving of handkerchiefs
from the fleet of boats by which we were surrounded. As we
were going out, it so happened that a Yankee steamer was
coming in. The Quang Tung, a fast steamer, recently built for
the China trade, and now on her way to the Flowery Land, not
dreaming that the Alabama was at the Cape, had made Table
Mountain that morning, and now came steaming into the har
bor. Both ships being within the marine league, we could not
touch her, which was a sore trial, for the Quang Tung was a
beauty, and passed so close under our guns, that the Confed
erate and United States flags nearly touched each other ; the
crews of the two ships looking on in silence. Half an hour
more, and the capture of the Sea-Bride would have been re
peated, to the gratification of our many friends at the Cape.
Reaching the offing, we permitted our fires to go down, and
put the ship, as usual, under sail. My intention now was, to
make the best of my way to England or France, for the pur
pose of docking, and thoroughly overhauling and repairing
my ship, in accordance with my previously expressed design.

746 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
I had been so much occupied with business and visitors, at
the Cape, that I had not even had time to read the newspapers.
But my friends had brought me off a bountiful supply for sea,
and I now had a little leisure to look at them. The news was
not encouraging. Our people were being harder and harder
pressed by the enemy, and post after post within our territory
was being occupied by him. The signs of weakness, on our
part, which I mentioned as becoming, for the first time,
painfully apparent, after the battle of Gettysburg, and the
surrender of Yicksburg, were multiplying. The blockade of
the coast, by reason of the constantly increasing fleets of the
enemy, was becoming more and more stringent. Our finances
were rapidly deteriorating, and a general demoralization, in
consequence, seemed to be spreading among our people. From
the whole review of the " situation," I was very apprehensive
that the cruises of the Alabama were drawing to a close. As
for ourselves, we were doing the best we could, with our lim
ited means, to harass and cripple the enemy's commerce, that
important sinew of war ; but the enemy seemed resolved to
let his commerce go, rather than forego his purpose of subju
gating us ; rendering it up a willing sacrifice on the profane
altar of his fanaticism, and the devilish passions which had
been engendered by the war. Probably, if the alternative had
been presented to him, in the beginning of the war, " Will you
lose your commerce, or permit the Southern States to go free?"
he would have chosen the latter. But he seemed, in the earlier
stages of the war, to have had no thought of losing his com
merce ; and when it became apparent that this misfortune would
befall him, he was, as before remarked, too deeply engaged in
the contest to heed it.
Among the speeches that met my eye, in the English papers,
was another from my friend, Mr. Milner Gibson, President of the
Board of Trade — him of the "ham and eggs," whom I quoted
some chapters back. Mr. Gibson had risen above ham and
eggs, this time, and was talking about English and American
shipping. As President of the Board of Trade, he was good
authoiity, and I was glad to learn from him, the extent to
which, in conjunction with other Confederate cruisers, I had
damaged the enemy's commerce. His speech was delivered at

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 747
Ashton-under-Lyne, on the 20th of January, 1864, and among
other things he said: —
" The number of British ships entering in, and clearing out with
cargoes in the United Kingdom, has increased in the present year
to an amount of something like fourteen million of tons and upward,
against seven million tons of foreign shipping ; thus showing, that
with a great increase altogether, British shipping has kept gradu
ally in advance of foreign shipping in the trade with the United
Kingdom. But it would not be fair to take credit for this improve
ment in shipping, as due to any policy in this country. I am afraid
that some of it is due to the transference of the carrying-trade from
American ships to British ships. And why this transference from
American ships to British ships ? No doubt, partially in conse
quence of the war that prevails in America, there may not be the same
power in manning and fitting out merchant vessels. But I am
afraid there is something more than that. There is the fear among
the American merchant shipping of attacks by certain armed ves
sels that are careering over the ocean, and that are burning and
destroying all United States merchant ships that they find upon the
high seas. The fear, therefore, of destruction by these cruisers, has
caused a large transfer of American carrying to British ships.
Now the decrease in the employment of American shipping is very
great in the trade between England and the United States. It is
something like 46 or 47 per cent. I mention these facts to show
you that it is right that the attention of this great commercial
nation should be seriously turned to those laws which govern the
action of belligerents upon the high seas — (hear! hear!) — for if
some two or three armed steamers, which a country with no preten
sions to a navy, can easily send upon the ocean, armed with one
or two guns, can almost clear the seas of the merchant shipping
of a particular nation, what might happen to this country, with her
extensive commerce over the seas, if she went to war with some
nation that availed herself of the use of similar descriptions of
vessels. (Hear! hear!)"
Though the subject was done up in a new form, it was still
"ham and eggs" — British interests — as the reader sees. Mr.
Milner Gibson was not over-stating the damage we had done
the enemy. He was unfriendly to us, and therefore inclined
to under-state it. According to his statistics, we had destroyed,
or driven for protection under the English flag, in round num
bers, one half of the enemy's ships engaged in the English
trade. We did even greater damage to the enemy's trade with
other powers. We broke up almost entirely his trade with
Brazil, and the other South American States, greatly crippled

748 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
his Pacific trade, and as for his East India trade, it is only
necessary to refer the reader to the spectacle presented at Sin
gapore, to show him what had become of that.
I threw my ship, now, into the " fair way," leading from the
Cape of Good Hope, to the equatorial crossing, east of our old
trysting-place, Fernando de Noronha; shortening sail, from
time to time, and see-sawing across the highway, to give any
Yankee ships that might be travelling it, the opportunity to
come up with me. I held myself in check, a day or two, in
the vicinity of St. Helena, experiencing all the vicissitudes of
weather, so feelingly complained of by the "Great Captive " on
that barren rock. Leaving St. Helena, we jogged along lei
surely under topsails, the stream of commerce flowing past us,
but there being no Yankee ships in the stream.
" Howl, ye ships of Tarshish,
For your strength is laid waste."
On the 22d of April, having reached the track of the home
ward-bound Pacific ships of the enemy, we descried an un
lucky Yankee, to whom we immediately gave chase. The
chase continued the whole night, the moon shining brightly,
the breeze being gentle, and the sea smooth. The Yankee
worked like a good fellow to get away, piling clouds of can
vas upon his ship, and handling her with the usual skill, but
it was of no use. When the day dawned we were within a
couple of miles of him. It was the old spectacle of the panting,
breathless fawn, and the inexorable stag-hound. A gun
brought his colors to the peak, and his main-yard to the mast.
The' prize proved to be the ship Rockingham, from Callao,
bound, to Cork for orders. Her cargo consisted of guano from
the Chincha Islands, and there was an attempt to protect it It
was shipped by the " Guano Consignment Company of Great
Britain." Among the papers was a certificate, of which the
following is the purport: One Joseph A. Danino, who signs
for Danino & Moscosa, certifies that the guano belongs to the
Peruvian Government ; and Her Britannic Majesty's Consul at
Lima, certifies that the said Joseph A. Danino appeared before
him, and "voluntarily declared, that the foregoing signature
is of his own handwriting, and also, that the cargo above men-

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 749
tioned is truly and verily the property of the Peruvian Gov
ernment." This was about equal to some of the Yankee
attempts, that have been noticed, to cover cargoes. With the
most perfect unconcern for the laws of nations, no one swore
to anything. Mr. Danino certified, and the Consul certified
that Mr. Danino had certified. Voila tout ! We transferred
to the Alabama such stores and provisions as we could make
room for, and the weather being fine, we made a target of the
prize, firing some shot and shell into her with good effect ;
and at five P. M. we burned her, and filled away on our course.
A few days afterward — on the 27th of April — being in
latitude 11° 16' S. and longitude 82° 07' W., the weather being
fine, and the wind light from the south-east, we descried, at
three P. M., a large ship standing directly for us. Neither ship
changed tack or sheet until we were within speaking distance.
Nor had we shown the stranger any colors. We now hailed,
and ordered him to heave to, whilst we should send aboard of
him, hoisting our colors at the same time. We had previously
seen the Yankee colors in the hands of one of his seamen,
ready to be hoisted. The whole thing was done so quietly,
that one would have thought it was two friends meeting. The
prize proved to be the Tycoon, from New York, for San Fran
cisco. She had the usual valuable and assorted cargo. There
was no claim of neutral property among the papers. The ship
being only thirty-six days from New York, we received from
her a batch of late newspapers ; and a portion of her cargo
consisting of clothing, the paymaster was enabled to replenish
his store-rooms with every variety of wearing apparel. We
applied the torch to her soon after nightfall.
On the 2d of May, we recrossed the equator into the northern
hemisphere, took the north-east trade- wind, after the usual inter
val of calm, and the usual amount of thunder, lightning, and
rain, and with it, ran up to our old toll-gate, at the crossing of
the 30th parallel, where, as the reader will recollect, we halted,
on our outward passage, and visSd the passports of so many trav
ellers. The poor old Alabama was not now what she had been
then. She was like the wearied fox-hound, limping back after
a long chase, foot-sore, and longing for quiet and repose. Her
commander, like herself, was well-nigh worn down. Yigils by

750 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
night and by day, the storm and the drenching rain, the fre
quent and rapid change of climate, now freezing, now melting
or broiling, and the constant excitement of the chase and cap
ture, had laid, in the three years of war he had been afloat, a
load of a dozen years on his shoulders. The shadows of a
sorrowful future, too, began to rest upon his spirit. The last
batch of newspapers captured were full of disasters. Might it
not be, that, after all our trials and sacrifices, the cause for
which we were struggling would be lost? Might not our
federal system of government be destroyed, and State inde
pendence become a phrase of the past ; the glorious fabric of
our American liberty sinking, as so many others had done
before it, under a new invasion of Brennuses and Attilas?
The thought was hard to bear.
We passed through our old cruising-ground, the Azores,
sighting several of the islands which called up reminiscences
of the christening of our ship, and of the sturdy blows she had
struck at the enemy's whaling fleet, in the first days of her
career. Thence we stretched over to the coasts of Spain and
Portugal, and thence to the British Channel, making the
Lizard on the 10th of June, and being fortunate enough to get
a channel pilot on board, just as night was setting in, with a
thick south-wester brewing. By eleven p. M., we were up
with the "Start" light, and at ten the next morning, we made
Cape La Hague, on the coast of France. We were now
boarded by a French pilot, and at thirty minutes past noon,
we let go our anchor in the port of Cherbourg.
This was to be the Alabama's last port. She had run her
career, her record had been made up, and in a few days more,
she would lay her bones beneath the waters of the British
Channel, and be a thing of the past. I had brought back with
me all my officers, except the paymaster, whom I had dis
charged at the island of Jamaica, as related in a former chapter,
and the young engineer, who had been accidentally killed at
Saldanha Bay. Many changes had taken place, of course,
among my crew, as is always the case with sailors, but still
a large proportion of my old men had come back with me.
These were faithful and true, and took more than an ordi
nary interest in tbsir ship and their flag. There were har>

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 751
mouy and mutual confidence between officers and men. Our
discipline had been rigid, but mercy had always tempered
justice, and the sailors understood and appreciated this. I
had been successful with the health of my men beyond prece
dent. In my two ships, the Sumter and Alabama, I had had,
first and last, say five hundred men under my command. The
ships were small and crowded. As many as two thousand pris
oners were confined, for longer or shorter periods, on board
the two ships ; and yet, out of the total of twenty-five hun
dred men, I had not lost a single man by disease. I had skilful
and attentive surgeons, I gave them carte blanche with regard
to medicines and diet, and my first lieutenant understood it to
be an important part of his duty to husband the strength of his
men. The means which were resorted to by all these officers,
for preserving the health of the crew, have been detailed. The
reader has seen, not only how their clothing was changed as we
changed our latitude, but how it was changed every evening,
when we were in warm climates. He has seen how sedulously
we guarded against intemperance, at the same time that we
gave the sailor his regular allowance of grog. And last, though
by no means least, he has seen how we endeavored to promote
a cheerful and hilarious spirit among them, being present at,
and encouraging them in their diversions.
Immediately upon anchoring, I sent an officer to call on the
Port Admiral, and ask leave to land my prisoners from the
two last ships captured. This was readily granted, and the
next day I went on shore to see him myself, in relation to dock
ing and repairing my ship. My arrival had, of course, been
telegraphed to Paris, and indeed, by this time, had been spread
all over Europe. The Admiral regretted that I had not gone
into Havre, or some other commercial port, where I would
have found private docks. Cherbourg being exclusively a
naval station, the docks all belonged to the Government, and
the Government would have preferred not to dock and repair
a belligerent ship. No positive objection was made, however,
and the matter was laid over, until the Emperor could be
communicated with. The Emperor was then at Biarritz, a
small watering-place on the south coast, and would not be back
in Paris for several days. It was my intention, if I had been
48

752 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
admitted promptly into dock, to give my crew a leave of
absence for a couple of months. They would have been dis
charged, and dispersed, in the first twenty-four hours after my
arrival, but for this temporary absence of the Emperor. The
combat, therefore, which ensued, may be said to be due to the
Emperor's accidental absence from Paris.
When the Alabama arrived in Cherbourg, the enemy's
steamer Kearsarge was lying at Flushing. On the 14th of
June, or three days after our arrival, she steamed into the har
bor of Cherbourg, sent a boat on shore to communicate with
the authorities, and, without anchoring, steamed out again, and
took her station off the breakwater. We had heard, a day or
two before, of the expected arrival of this ship, and it was
generally understood among my crew that I intended to en
gage her. Her appearance, therefore, produced no little ex
citement on board. The object which the Kearsarge had in view,
in communicating with the authorities, was to request that the
prisoners I had sent on shore might be delivered up to her.
To this I objected, on the ground, that it would augment her
crew, which she had no right to do, in neutral waters, and
especially in the face of her enemy. Captain Winslow's re
quest was refused, and the prisoners were not permitted to go
on board of him. I now addressed a note to Mr. Bonfils, our
agent, requesting him to inform Captain Winslow, through the
United States Consul, that if he would wait until I could re
ceive some coal on board — my supply having been nearly
exhausted, by my late cruising — I would come out and give
him battle. This message was duly conveyed, and the defi
ance was understood to have been accepted.
We commenced coaling ship immediately, and making other
preparations for battle ; as sending down all useless yards and
top-hamper, examining the gun equipments, and overhauling
the magazine and shell-rooms. My crew seemed not only
willing, but anxious for the combat, and I had every confi
dence in their steadiness and drill; but they labored under one
serious disadvantage. They had had but very limited oppor
tunities of actual practice at target-firing, with shot and shell.
The reason is obvious. I had no means of replenishing either
shot or shell, and was obliged, therefore, to husband the store

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 753
I had on hand, for actual conflict. The stories that ran the
round of the Federal papers at the time, that my crew was
composed mainly of trained gunners from the British practice-
ship Excellent, were entirely without foundation. I had on
board some half dozen British seamen, who had served in
ships of war in former years, but they were in no respect su
perior to the rest of the crew. As for the two ships, though the
enemy was superior to me, both in size, stanchness of construc
tion, and armament, they were of force so nearly equal, that I
cannot be charged with rashness in having offered battle. The
Kearsarge mounted seven guns: — two eleven-inch Dahlgrens,
four 32-pounders, and a rifled 28-pounder. The Alabama
mounted eight: — one eight-inch, one rifled 100-pounder, and
six 32-pounders. Though the Alabama carried one gun more
than her antagonist, it is seen that the battery of the latter
enabled her to throw more metal at a broadside — there being
a difference of three inches in the bore of the shell-guns of the
two ships.
Still the disparity was not so great, but that I might hope
to beat my enemy in a fair fight. But he did not show me a
fair fight, for, as it afterward turned out, his ship was iron-clad.
It was the same thing, as if two men were to go out to fight a
duel, and one of them, unknown to the other, were to put a
shirt of mail under his outer garment. The days of chivalry
being past, perhaps it would be unfair to charge Captain Wins
low with deceit in withholding from me the fact that he meant
to wear armor in the fight. He may have reasoned that it was
my duty to find it out for myself. Besides, if he had disclosed
this fact to me, and so prevented the engagement, the Federal
Secretary of .the Navy would have cut his head off to a cer
tainty. A man who could permit a ship of war, which had
surrendered, to be run off with, by her crew, after they had been
paroled — see the case of the Mercedita described in a former
chapter — and who could contrive, or connive at the sinking
of the Florida, to prevent the making of a reparation of honor
to Brazil, would not be likely to be very complacent toward an
officer who showed any signs of weakness on the score of honor
or honesty. Judging from the tone of the Yankee press, too,
when it came afterward to describe the engagement, Winslow

754 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
seemed to have gauged his countrymen correctly, when he
came to the conclusion that it would not do to reveal his
secret to me. So far from having any condemnation to offer,
the press, that chivalrous exponent of the opinions of a chiv
alrous people, was rather pleased at the " Yankee trick." It
was characteristic, " cute," " smart."
" Appleton's Encyclopedia of the War," much more liberal
and fair than some of its congeners, thus speaks of Winslow's
device: — "Availing himself of an ingenious expedient for the
protection of his machinery, first adopted by Admiral Farragut,
in running past the rebel forts on the Mississippi in 1862, Cap
tain Winslow had hung all his spare anchor cable over the
midship section of the Kearsarge, on either side ; and in order
to make the addition less unsightly, the chains were boxed
over with inch deal boards, forming a sort of case, which stood
out at right-angles to the side of the vessel." One sees a
twinge of honesty in this paragraph. The boxing stood out
at right-angles to the side of the ship, and therefore the Ala
bama ought to have seen it. But unfortunately for the Ala
bama, the right-angles were not there. The forward and after
ends of the " boxing," went off at so fine a point, in accordance
with the lines of the ship, that the telescope failed to detect
the cheat. Besides, when a ship is preparing for a fight, she
does not care much about show. It is a fight, and not a review
that she has on hand. Hence, we have another twinge, when
the paragraphist remarks that the boxing was resorted to, to
make the armor appear "less unsightly!" And, then, what
about the necessity for protecting the machinery at all? The
machinery of all the enemy's new sloops was below the water-
line. Was the Kearsarge an exception? The plain fact is,
without any varnish, the Kearsarge, though as effectually pro
tected as if she had been armored with the best of iron plates,
was to all appearance a wooden ship of war. But, to admit
this, would spoil the eclat of the victory, and hence the effort
to explain away the cheat, as far as possible.
In the way of crew, the Kearsarge had 162, all told — the Ala
bama, 149. I had communicated my intention to fight this battle
to Flag-Officer Barron, my senior officer in Paris, a few days
before, and that officer had generously left the matter to my own

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 755
discretion. I completed my preparations on Saturday evening,
the 18th of June, and notified the Port- Admiral of my inten
tion to go out on the following morning. The next day
dawned beautiful and bright. The cloudy, murky weather of
some days past had cleared off, and a bright sun, a gentle
breeze, and a smooth sea, were to be the concomitants of the
battle. Whilst I was still in my cot, the Admiral sent an of
ficer off to say to me that the iron-clad frigate Couronne would
accompany me a part of the way out, to see that the neutrality
of French waters was not violated. My crew had turned in
early, and gotten a good night's rest, and I permitted them to
get their breakfasts comfortably — not turning them to until
nine o'clock — before any movement was made toward getting
under way, beyond lighting the fires in the furnaces. I ought
to mention that Midshipman Sinclair, the son of Captain Terry
Sinclair, of the Confederate Navy, whom I had sent with Low,
as his first lieutenant in the Tuscaloosa, being in Paris when
we arrived, had come down on the eve of the engagement —
accompanied by his father — and endeavored to rejoin me, but
was prevented by the French authorities. It is opportune
also to state, that in view of possible contingencies, I had di
rected Gait, my acting paymaster, to send on shore for safe
keeping, the funds of the ship, and complete pay-rolls of the
crew, showing the state of the account of each officer and
man. The day being Sunday, and the weather fine, a large con
course of people — many having come all the way from Paris
— collected on the heights above the town, in the upper stories
of such of the houses as commanded a view of the sea, and on
the walls and fortifications of the harbor. Several French lug
gers employed as pilot-boats went out, and also an English
steam-yacht, called the Deerhound. Everything being in
readiness between nine and ten o'clock, we got under way, and
proceeded to sea, through the western entrance of the harbor;
the Couronne following us. As we emerged from behind the
mole, we discovered the Kearsarge at a distance of between
six and seven miles from the land. She had been apprised of
our intention of coming out that morning, and was awaiting us.
The' Couronne anchored a short distance outside of the harbor.

756 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
We were three quarters of an hour in running out to the Rear'
sarge, during which time we had gotten our people to quarters,
cast loose the battery, and made all the other necessary prep
arations for battle. The yards had been previously slung in
chains steppers prepared for the rigging, and preventer braces
rove. It only remained to open the magazine and shell-rooms,
sand down the decks, and fill the requisite number of tubs
with water. The crew had been particularly neat in their
dress on that morning, and the officers were all in the uniforms
appropriate to their rank. As we were approaching the ene
my's ship, I caused the crew to be sent aft, within convenient
reach of my voice, and mounting a gun-carriage, delivered
them the following brief address. I had not spoken to them
in this formal way since I had addressed them on the memo
rable occasion of commissioning the ship.
"Officers and Seamen of the Alabama! — You have,
at length, another opportunity of meeting the enemy — the
first that has been presented to you, since you sank the Hat
teras ! In the meantime, you have been all over the world,
and it is not too much to say, that you have destroyed, and
driven for protection under neutral flags, one half of the
enemy's commerce, which, at the beginning of the war, covered
every sea. This is an achievement of which you may well be
proud; and a grateful country will not be unmindful of it.
The name of your ship has become a household word wher
ever civilization extends. Shall that name be tarnished by
defeat? The thing is impossible! Remember that you are
in the English Channel, the theatre of so much of the
naval glory of our race, and that the eyes of all Europe are
at this moment, upon you. The flag that floats over you
is that of a young Republic, who bids defiance to her enemies,
whenever, and wherever found. Show the world that you
know how to uphold it ! Go to your quarters."
The utmost silence prevailed during the delivery of this
address, broken only once, in an enthusiastic outburst of Never !
never ! when I asked my sailors if they would permit the name
of their ship to be tarnished by defeat. My official report of
the engagement, addressed to Flag-Officer Barron, in Paris, wili

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 757
describe what now took place. It was written at Southampton,
England, two days after the battle. Southampton, June 21, 1864.
Sin: — I have the honor to inform you, that, in accordance with
my intention as previously announced to you, I steamed out of the
harbor of Cherbourg between nine and ten o'clock on the morning
of the 19th of June, for the purpose of engaging the enemy's
steamer Kearsarge, which had been lying off, and on the port, for
several days previously. After clearing the harbor, we descried the
enemy, with his head off shore, at the distance of about seven miles.
We were three quarters of an hour in coming up with him. I had
previously pivotted my guns to starboard, and made all prepara
tions for engaging the enemy on that side. When within about a
mile and a quarter of the enemy, he suddenly wheeled, and, bring
ing his head in shore, presented his starboard battery to me. By
this time, we were distant about one mile from each other, when I
opened on him with solid shot, to which he replied in a few minutes,
and the action became active on both sides. The enemy now
pressed his ship under a full head of steam, and to prevent our
passing each other too speedily, and to keep our respective broad
sides bearing, it became necessary to fight in a circle; the two
ships steaming around a common centre, and preserving a distance
from each other of from three quarters to half a mile. When we got
within good shell range, we opened upon him with shell. Some
ten or fifteen minutes after the commencement of the action, our
spanker-gaff was shot away, and our ensign came down by the
run. This was immediately replaced by another at the mizzen-mast-
head. The firing now became very hot, and the enemy's shot, and
shell soon began to tell upon our hull, knocking down, killing, and
disabling a number of men, at the same time, in different parts of
the ship. Perceiving that our shell, though apparently exploding
against the enemy's sides, were doing him but little damage, I re
turned to solid-shot firing, and from this time onward alternated
with shot, and shell. v
After the lapse of about one hour and ten minutes, our ship was
ascertained to be in a sinking condition, the enemy's shell having
exploded in our side, and between decks, opening large apertures
through which the water rushed with great rapidity. ' For some
few minutes I had hopes of being able to reach the French coast,
for which purpose I gave the ship all steam, and set such of the
fore-and-aft sails as were available. The ship filled so rapidly,
however, that before we had made much progress, the fires were
extinguished in the furnaces, and we were evidently on the point
of sinking. I now hauled down my colors, to prevent the further
destruction of life, and dispatched a boat to inform the enemy of
our condition. Although we were now but 400 yards from each
other, the enemy fired upon me five times after my colors had been
struck. It is charitable to suppose that a ship of war of a Chris-

758 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
tian nation could not have done this, intentionally. We now directed
all our exertions toward saving the wounded, and such of the boys
of the ship as were unable to swim. These were dispatched in my
quarter-boats, the only boats remaining to me ; the waist-boats having
been torn to pieces. Some twenty minutes after my furnace-fires
had been extinguished, and when the ship was on the point of set
tling, every man, in obedience to a previous order which had been
given the crew, jumped overboard, and endeavored to save himself.
There was no appearance of any boat coming to me from the enemy,
until after my ship went down. Fortunately, however, the steam-
yacht Deerhound' owned by a gentleman of Lancashire, England
— Mr. John Lancaster — who was himself on board, steamed up
in the midst of my drowning men, and rescued a number of both
officers and men from the water. I was fortunate enough myself
thus to escape to the shelter of the neutral flag, together with about
forty others, all told. About this time, the Kearsarge sent one, and
then, tardily, another boat. Accompanying, you will find lists of
the killed and wounded, and of those who were picked up by the
Deerhound; the remainder, there is reason to hope, were picked up
by the enemy, and by a couple of French pilot boats, which were
also fortunately near the scene of action. At the end of the en
gagement, it was discovered by those of our officers who went
alongside of the enemy's ship, with the wounded, that her mid-ship
section, on both sides, was thoroughly iron-coated ; this having
been done with chains, constructed for the purpose, placed perpen
dicularly, from the rail to the water's edge, the whole covered over
by a thin outer planking, which gave no indication of the armor
beneath. This planking had been ripped off, in every direction, by
our shot and shell, the chain broken, and indented in many places,
and forced partly into the ship's side. She was effectually guarded,
however, in this section, from penetration. The enemy was much
damaged, in other parts, but to what extent it is now impossible to
say. It is believed he is badly crippled. My officers and men
behaved steadily and gallantly, and though they have lost their ship,
they have not lost honor. Where all behaved so well, it would be
invidious to particularize, but I cannot deny myself the pleasure of
saying that Mr. Kell, my first lieutenant, deserves great credit for
the fine condition in which the ship went into action, with regard to
her battery, magazine and shell-rooms, and that he rendered me
great assistance, by his coolness, and judgment, as the fight pro
ceeded. The enemy was heavier than myself, both in ship, battery,
and crew ; but I did not know until the action was over, that she
was also iron-clad. Our total loss in killed and wounded, is 30, to
wit : 9 killed, and 21 wounded.
It was afterward ascertained, that as many as ten were
drowned. As stated in the above despatch, I had the satisfac
tion of saving all my wounded men. Every one of them was
passed carefully into a boat, and sent off to the enemy's ship

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 759
before the final plunge into the sea was made by the unhurt
portion of the crew. Here is the proper place to drop a tear
over the fate of a brave officer. My surgeon, D. H. Llewellyn,
of Wiltshire, England, a grandson of Lord Herbert, lost his
life by drowning. It was his privilege to accompany the
wounded men, in the boats, to the Kearsarge, but he did not
do so. He remained and took his chance of escape, with the
rest of his brethren in arms, and perished almost in sight of
his home, after an absence of two years from the dear ones
who were to mourn his loss. With reference to the drowning
of my men, I desire to present a contrast to the reader. I sank
the Hatteras off Galveston, in a night engagement. When the
enemy appealed to me for assistance, telling me that his ship
was sinking, I sent him all my boats, and saved every officer
and man, numbering more than a hundred persons. The
Alabama was sunk in open daylight — the enemy's ship being
only 400 yards distant — and ten of my men were permitted
to drown. Indeed, but for the friendly interposition of the
Deerhound, there is no doubt that a great many more would
have perished.
Captain Winslow has stated, in his despatch to his Govern
ment, that he desired to board the Alabama. He preserved a
most respectful distance from her, even after he saw that she
was crippled. He had greatly the speed of me, and could
have laid me alongside, at any moment, but, so far from doing
so, he was shy of me even after the engagement had ended.
In a letter to the Secretary of the Federal Navy, published by
Mr. Adams, in London, a few days after the engagement, he
sayS: — "I have the honor to report that, toward the close of
the action between the Alabama and this' vessel, all available
sail was made on the former, for the purpose of regaining
Cherbourg. When the object was apparent, the Kearsarge
was steered across the bow of the Alabama, for a raking fire,
but before reaching this point, the Alabama struck. Uncer
tain whether Captain Semmes was not making some ruse, the
Kearsarge was stopped." This is probably the explanation of
the whole of Captain Winslow's strange conduct at the time.
He was afraid to approach us because of some ruse that we
might be practising upon him. Before he could recover from

76C

MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT.

his bewilderment, and make up his mind that we were really
beaten, my ship went down. I acquit him, therefore, entirely,
of any intention of permitting my men to drown, or even of
gross negligence, which would be almost as criminal. It was
his judgment which was entirely at fault. I had known, and
sailed with him, in the old service, and knew him then to be a
humane and Christian gentleman. What the war may have
made of him, it is impossible to say. It has turned a great
deal of the milk of human kindness to gall and wormwood.

CHAPTER LIV.
OTHER INCIDENTS OF THE BATTLE BETWEEN THE ALA
BAMA AND THE KEARSARGE  THE RESCUE OF OFFI
CERS AND SEAMEN BY THE ENGLISH STEAM- YACHT
DEERHOUND  THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT DE
MANDS THAT THEY BE GIVEN UP  BRITISH GOVERN
MENT REFUSES COMPLIANCE  THE RESCUED PERSONS
NOT PRISONERS — THE INCONSISTENCY OF THE FEDERAL
SECRETARY OF THE NAVY.
NOTWITHSTANDING my enemy went out chivalrously
armored, to encounter a ship whose wooden sides were
entirely without protection, I should have beaten him in the
first thirty minutes of the engagement, but for' the defect of
my ammunition, which had been two years on board, and be
come much deteriorated by cruising in a variety of climates.
I had directed my men to fire low, telling them that it was
better to fire too low than too high, as the ricochet in the for
mer case — the water being smooth — would remedy the defect
of their aim, whereas it was of no importance to cripple the
masts and spars of a steamer. By Captain Winslow's own ac
count, the Kearsarge was struck twenty-eight times ; but his
ship being armored, of course, my shot and shell, except in so
far as fragments of the latter may have damaged his spars and
rigging, fell harmless into the sea. The Alabama was not mor
tally wounded, as the reader has seen, until after the Kearsarge
had been firing at her an hour and ten minutes. In the mean
time, in spite of the armor of the Kearsarge, I had mortally
wounded that ship in the first thirty minutes of the engage
ment. I say, " mortally wounded her," because the wound
would have proved mortal, but for the defect of my ammuni
tion above spoken of. I lodged a rifled percussion shell near
761

762 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
her stern post — where there were no chains — which failed to
explode because of the defect of the cap. If the cap had
performed its duty, and exploded the shell, I should have been
called upon to save Captain Winslow's crew from drowning,
instead of his being called upon to save mine. On so slight
an incident — the defect of a percussion-cap — did the battle
hinge. The enemy were very proud of this shell. It was the
only trophy they ever got of the Alabama! We fought her until
she would no longer swim, and then we gave her to the waves.
This shell, thus imbedded in the hull of the ship, was carefully
cut out, along with some of the timber, and sent to the Navy
Department in Washington, to be exhibited to admiring Yan
kees. It should call up the blush of shame to the cheek of
every Northern man who looks upon it. It should remind
him of his ship going into action with concealed armor; it
should remind him that his ship fired into a beaten antagonist
five times, after her colors had been struck and when she was
sinking ; and it should remind him of the drowning of help
less men, struggling in the water for their lives !
Perhaps this latter spectacle was something for a Yankee to
gloat upon. The Alabama had been a scourge and a terror to
them for two years. She had destroyed their property ! Yan
kee property ! Curse upon the " pirates," let them drown ! At
least this was the sentiment uttered by that humane and Chris
tian gentleman, to whom I have before had occasion to allude
in these pages — Mr. William H. Seward — one of the chief
Yandals, who found themselves in the possession and control of
the once glorious "Government ofthe States," during the war.
This gentleman, in one of his despatches to Mr. Adams,
prompting him as to what he should say to the English Gov
ernment, on the subject of the rescue of my men by the Deer-
hound, remarks: "I have to observe, upon these remarks of
Earl Russell, that it was the right of the Kearsarge that the
pirates should drown, unless saved by humane exertions of the
officers and crew of that vessel, or by their own efforts, without
the aid of the Deerhound. The men were either already actually
prisoners, or they were desperately pursued by the Kearsarge.
If they had perished [by being permitted to be drowned, in
cold blood after the action], the Kearsarge would have had the

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 763
advantage of a lawful destruction of so many enemies ; if they had
been recovered by the Kearsarge, with or without the aid of the
Deerhound, then the voluntary surrender of those persons would
have been perfected, and they would have been prisoners. In
neither case would they have remained hostile Confederates."
No one who is not a seaman can realize the blow which falls
upon the heart of a commander, upon the sinking of his ship.
It is not merely the loss of a battle — it is the overwhelming
of his household, as it were, in a great catastrophe. The Ala
bama had not only been my battle-field, but my home, in which
I had lived two long years, and in which I had experienced
many vicissitudes of pain and pleasure, sickness and health.
My officers and crew formed a great military family, every
face of which was familiar to me ; and when I looked upon my
gory deck, toward the close of the action, and saw so many
manly forms stretched upon it, with the glazed eye of death,
or agonizing with terrible wounds, I felt as a father feels who
has lost his children — his children who had followed him to
the uttermost ends of the earth, in sunshine and storm, and
been always true to him.
A remarkable spectacle presented itself on the deck of the
sinking ship, after the firing had ceased, and the boats contain
ing the, wounded had been shoved off. Under the order, which
had been given, " Every man save himself who can ! " all
occupations had been suspended, and all discipline relaxed.
One man was then as good as another. The Kearsarge stood
sullenly at a distance, making no motion, that we could see, to
send us a boat. The Deerhound and the French pilot-boats
were also at a considerable distance. Meantime, the water was
rushing and roaring into the ship's side, through her ghastly
death-wound, and she was visibly settling — lower and lower.
There was no panic, no confusion, among the men. Each
stood, waiting his doom, with the most perfect calmness. The
respect and affection manifested for their officers was touching
in the extreme. Several gathered around me, and seemed
anxious for my safety. One tendered me this little office of
kindness, and another, that. Kell was near me, and my faith
ful steward, Bartelli, also, was at my side. Poor Bartelli ! he
could not swim a stroke — which I did not know at the time,

ft)4 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
or I should have saved him in the boats — and yet he was
calm and cheerful ; seeming to think that no harm could befall
him, so long as he was at my side. He asked me if there were
not some papers I wanted, in the cabin. I told him there were,
and sent him to bring them. He had to wade to my state
room to get them. He brought me the two small packages I
had indicated ; and, with tears in his eyes, told me how the
cabin had been shattered by the enemy's shot — our fine paint
ing of the Alabama, in particular, being destroyed. Poor fel
low ! he was drowned in ten minutes afterward.
Two of the members of my boat's crew being around me,
when the papers were brought, insisted that I should give
them to them to take care of. They were good swimmers,
they said, and would be sure to preserve them for me. I gave
each a package — put up tightly between small slats — and
they thrust them in the bosoms of their shirts. One of them
then helped me off with my coat, which was too well laden
with buttons, to think of retaining, and I sat down whilst the
other pulled off my boots. Kell stripped himself in like man
ner. The men with the papers were both saved. One swam
to a French pilot-boat, and the other to the' Deerhound. I got
both packages of papers. The seaman who landed on the
French coast sought out Captain Sinclair, who was still at
Cherbourg, and delivered them to him. A writer in the
London " Times " thus describes how I got the other pack
age : " When the men came on board the Deerhound, they had
nothing on but their drawers and shirts, having been stripped
to fight ; and one of them, with a sailor's devotedness, insisted
on seeing his Captain, who was then lying in Mr. Lancaster's
cabin, in a very exhausted state, as he had been intrusted by
Captain Semmes with the ship's papers, and to no one else
would he give them up. The men were all very anxious
about their Captain, and were rejoiced to find that he had been
saved. They appeared to be a set of first-rate fellows, and to
act well together, in perfect union, under the most trying cir
cumstances." The ship settled by the stern, and as the taffarel was about
to be submerged, Kell and myself threw ourselves into the
sea, and swam out far enough from the sinking ship to avoid

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 765
being drawn down into the vortex of waters. We then turned
to get a last look at her, and see her go down. Just before
she disappeared, her main -topmast, which had been wounded,
went by the board; and, like a living thing in agony, she
threw her bow high out of the water, and then descended
rapidly, stern foremost, to her last resting-place. A noble
Roman once stabbed his daughter, rather than she should be
polluted by the foul embrace of a tyrant. It was with a similar
feeling that Kell and I saw the Alabama go down. We had
buried her as we had christened her, and she was safe from
the polluting touch of the hated Yankee !
Great rejoicing was had in Yankeedom, when it was known
that the Alabama had been beaten. Shouts of triumph rent
the air, and bonfires lighted every hill. But along with the
rejoicing there went up a howl of disappointed rage, that I had
escaped being made a prisoner. The splendid victory of their
iron-clad over a wooden ship was shorn of half its brilliancy.
Mr. Seward was in a furor of excitement ; and as for poor Mr.
Adams, he lost his head entirely. He even conceived the
brilliant idea of demanding that I should be delivered up to
him by the British Government. Two days after the action,
he wrote to his chief from London as follows : —
" The popular excitement attending the action between the Ala
bama and the Kearsarge has been considerable. I transmit a copy
of the " Times," of this morning, containing a report made to Mr.
Mason, by Captain Semmes. It is evidently intended for this me
ridian. The more I reflect upon the conduct of the Deerhound, the
more grave do the questions to be raised with this Government ap
pear to be. I do not feel it my duty to assume the responsibility
of demanding, without instructions, the surrender of the prisoners.
Neither have I yet obtained directly from' Captain Winslow, any
authentic evidence of the facts attending the conflict. I have some
reason to suspect, that the subject has already been under the con
sideration of the authorities here."
Mr. Seward and Mr. Adams were both eminently civilians.
The heads of both of them were muddled, the moment they
stepped from the Forum to the Campus Martius. Mr. Adams
was now busy preparing another humiliation for the great
American statesman. Some men learn wisdom by experience,
and others do not. Mr. Adams seems to have been of the

766 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
latter class. He had made a great many demands about the
Alabama, which had been refused, and was now about to make
another which was more absurd even than those that had gone
before. The "instructions" coming from Mr. Seward in due
time, the demand was made, and here is the reply of Lord
Russell: —
" Secondly," — [his lordship had been considering another point,
which Mr. Adams had introduced into his despatch, not material to
the present question,] — "I have to state, that it appears to her Ma
jesty's Government, that the commander of the private British
yacht, the Deerhound, in saving from drowning some of the offi
cers and crew of the Alabama, after that vessel had sunk, performed
a praiseworthy act of humanity, to which, moreover, he had been
exhorted by the officer commanding the Kearsarge, to which vessel
the Deerhound had, in the first instance, gone, in order to offer to
the Kearsarge any assistance which, after her action with the Ala
bama, she might stand in need of ; and it appears further, to her
Majesty's Government, that, under all the circumstances of the case,
Mr. Lancaster was not under any obligation to deliver to the captain
of the Kearsarge the officers and men whom he had rescued from the
waves. But however that may be, with regard to the demand made
by you, by instructions from your Government, that those officers and
men should now be delivered up to the Government of the United
States, as being escaped prisoners of war, her Majesty's Govern
ment would beg to observe, that there is no obligation by interna
tional law, which can bind the government of a neutral State, to
deliver up to a belligerent prisoners of war, who may have escaped
from the power of such belligerent, and may have taken refuge
within the territory of such neutral. Therefore, even if her Ma
jesty's Government had any power, by law, to comply with the
above-mentioned demand, her Majesty's Government could not do
so, without being guilty of a violation of the duties of hospitality.
In point of fact, however, her Majesty's Government have no law
ful power to arrest, and deliver up the persons in question. They
have been guilty of no offence against the laws of Englard, and
they have committed no act, which would bring them within the
provisions of a treaty between Great Britain and the United States,
for the mutual surrender of offenders, and her Majesty's Govern
ment are, therefore, entirely without any legal means by which,
even if they wished to do so, they could comply with your above-
mentioned demand."
This reasoning is unanswerable, and adds to the many
humiliations the Federal Government received from England
during the war in connection with the Alabama, through the
bungling of its diplomatists. The Deerhound, a neutral vessel,

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 767
was not only under no obligation, in fact, to deliver up the
prisoners she had rescued from the water, but she could not,
lawfully, have put herself under such obligation. The pris
oners had rights in the premises as well as the Deerhound.
The moment they reached the deck of the neutral ship, by
whatever means, they were entitled to the protection of the
neutral flag, and any attempt on the part of the neutral mastei
whether by agreement with the opposite belligerent or not, to
hand them over to the latter, would have been an exercise of
force by him, and tantamount to an act of hostility against the
prisoners. It would have been our right and our duty to re
sist any such attempt ; and we would assuredly have done so
if it had been made. It will be observed that Lord Russell
does not discuss the question whether we were prisoners. It
was not necessary to his argument ; for even admitting that
we were prisoners, hospitality forbade him to deliver us up.
But we were not prisoners. A person, to become a prisoner
must be brought within the power of his captor. There must
be a manucaption, a possession, if even for a moment. I never
was at any time, during the engagement, or after, in the power
of the enemy. I had struck my flag, it is true, but that did
not make me a prisoner. It was merely an offer of surrender.
It was equivalent to saying to my enemy, " I am beaten, if you
will take possession of me, I will not resist." Suppose my
ship had not been fatally injured, and a sudden gale had
sprung up, and prevented the enemy from completing his cap
ture, by taking possession of her, and I had escaped with her,
will it be pretended that she was his prize ? There have been
numerous instances of this kind in naval history, and no one
has ever supposed that a ship under such circumstances would
be a prize, or that any person on board of her would be a
prisoner. Nor can the cause which prevents the captor from
taking possession of his prize, make any difference. If from
any cause, he is unable to 'take possession, he loses her. If she
takes fire, and burns up, or sinks, she is equally lost to him,
and if any one escapes from the burning or sinking ship to
the shore, can it be pretended that he is a prisoner ? And is
there any difference between escaping to the shore, and to a
neutral flag ? Ths folly of the thing is too apparent for argu-
49

768 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
ment, and yet the question was pressed seriously upon the
British Government ; and the head of Mr. Gideon Welles, the
Secretary of the Federal Navy, was, for a long time, addled on
the subject. I question, indeed, whether the head of the old
gentleman has recovered from the shock it received, to this
day. He afterward had me arrested, as the reader will see
in due time, and conveyed to Washington a prisoner, and did
all in his power to have me tried by a military commission,
in tim,e of peace, because I did not insist upon Mr. Lancaster's
delivering me up to Captain Winslow ! Will any one believe
that this is the same Mr. Welles who approved of Captain
Stellwagen's running off with the Mercedita, after he had been
paroled f
But here is another little incident in point, which, perhaps,
Mr. Welles had forgotten when he ordered my arrest. It
arose out of Buchanan's gallant fight with the enemy's fleet in
Hampton Roads, before alluded to in these pages. I will let
the Admiral relate it, in his own words. He is writing to
Mr. MaUor}', the Secretary of the Navy, and after having
described the ramming and sinking of the Cumberland, pro
ceeds: —
" Having sunk the Cumberland, I turned our attention to the
Congress. We were some time in getting our proper position, in
consequence of the shoalness of the- water, and the great difficulty
of manoeuvring the ship, when in or near the mud. To succeed
in my object, I was obliged to run the ship a short distance above
the batteries on James River, in order to wind her. During all
this time her keel was in the mud ; of course she moved but
slowly. Thus we were subjected twice to the heavy guns of all
the batteries, in passing up and down the river, but it could not be
avoided. We silenced several of the batteries, and did much injury
on the shore. A large transport steamer, alongside of the wharf,
was blown up, one schooner sunk, and another captured and sent
to Norfolk. The loss of life on shore we have no means of ascer
taining While the Virginia was thus engaged in getting her posi
tion for attacking the Congress, the prisoners state it was believed
on board that ship, we had hauled off ; the men left their guns,
and gave three cheers. They were sadly undeceived, for, a few
niinutes after, we opened upon her again, she having run on shore,
in shoal water. The carnage, havoc, and dismay, caused by our
fire, compelled them to haul down their colors, and hoist a white
flag at their gaff, and half-mast another at the main. The crew
instantly took to their boats and landed. Our fire immediately

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 769
ceased, and a signal was made for the Beaufort to come within
hail. I then ordered Lieutenant-Commanding Parker to take pos
session of the Congress,' secure the officers as prisoners, allow the
men to land, and burn the ship. He ran alongside, received Ler
flag and surrender from Commander William Smith, and Lieutenant
Pendergrast, with the side-arms of these officers. They delivered
themselves as prisoners of war, on board the Beaufort, and after
ward were permitted, at their own request, to return to the Con
gress, to assist in removing the wounded to the Beaufort. They
never returned, and I submit to the decision of the Department,
whether they are not our prisoners ?"

Aye, these paroled gentlemen escaped, and Mr. Welles forgot
to send them back. There was some excuse for Mr. Seward
and Mr. Adams making the blunder they did, of supposing
that the rescued officers and men of the Alabama were prisoners
to the Kearsarge, but there was none whatever for Mr. Welles.
He was the head of the enemy's Navy Department, and it was
his business to know better ; and if he did not know better,
himself, he should have called to his assistance some of the
clever naval men around him. Nay, if he had taken down
from its shelf almost any naval history in the library of his
department, he could have set himself right in half an hour.
James' " English Naval History " is full of precedents, where
ships which have struck their flags, have afterward escaped
— the enemy failing to take possession of them — and no ques
tion has been raised as to the propriety of their conduct. So
many contingencies occur in naval battles, that it has become
a sort of common law of the sea, that a ship is never a prize,
or the persons on board of her prisoners, until she has actually
been taken possession of by the enemy. A few of these cases will
doubtless interest the reader, especially as they have an inter
est of their own, independently of their application.
THE REVOLUTIONNAIRE AND THE AUDACIOUS.
Lord Hood fought his famous action with the French fleet
in 1794. In that action, the French ship Revolutionnaire struck
her colors to the English ship Audacious, but the latter failing
to take possession of her, she escaped. The following is the
historian's relation of the facts : —

770 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
" The Audacious, having placed herself on the Revolutionnaire' 's
lee quarter, poured in a heavy fire, and, until recalled by signal,
the Russell, who was at some distance to leeward, also fired on her.
The Audacious and Revolutionnaire now became so closely engaged,
and the latter so disabled in her masts and rigging, that it was
with difficulty the former could prevent her huge opponent from
falling on board of her. Toward ten p. m., the Revolutionnaire,
having, besides the loss of her mizzen-mast, had her fore and main
yards, and main-topsail yard shot away, dropped across the hawse
of the Audacious ; but the latter quickly extricating herself, and
the French ship, with her fore-topsail full, but owing to the sheets
being shot away, still flying, directed her course to leeward. The
men forward, in the Audacious, declared that the Revolutionnaire
struck her colors, just as she got clear of them, and the ship's com
pany cheered in consequence. The people of the Russell declared,
also, that the Revolutionnaire, as she passed under their stern, had
no colors hoisted. That the latter was a beaten ship, may be in
ferred from her having returned but three shots to the last broad
side of the Audacious ; moreover, her loss in killed and wounded,
if the French accounts are to be believed, amounted to nearly 400
men. Still the Revolutionnaire became no prize to the British ;
owing partly to the disabled state of the Audacious, but chiefly
because the Thunderer, on approaching the latter, and being hailed
to take possession of the French ship, made sail after her own
fleet." 1 James, 132, 133.
It is observable in the above extract, that the historian does
not complain that the French ship escaped ; does not deny her
right to do so, but remarks, as a matter of course, that she did
not become a prize, because she was not taken possession of.
THE ACHILLE AND THE BRUNSWICK.
In the same action, the French ship Achille, struck to the
British ship Brunswick, and not being taken possession of, en
deavored to escape. The relation of this engagement is as fol
lows : —
" At eleven A. M., a ship was discovered through the smoke, bear
ing down on the Brunswick's larboard quarter, having her gang
ways and rigging crowded with men, as if with the intention of
releasing the Vengeur, [a prize made by the Brunswick,] by board
ing the Brunswick. Instantly the men stationed at the five after
most lower-deck guns, on the starboard side, were turned over on
the larboard side ; and to each of the latter guns, already loaded with
a single 32-pounder, was added a double-headed shot. Presently,
the Achille, for that was the ship, advanced to within musket-shot ;
when five or six round? from the Brunswick's after-guns, on each

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 771
deck, brought down by the board the former's only remaining mast,
the foremast. The wreck of this mast, falling where the wreck of
the main and mizzen-masts already lay, on the starboard side, pre
vented the Achille from making the slightest resistance ; and, after
a few unreturned broadsides from the Brunswick, the French ship
struck her colors. It was, however, wholly out of the Brunswick's
power to take possession, and the Achille very soon rehoisted her
colors, and setting her sprit-sail endeavored to escape."
The escape, however, was prevented by the appearance of a
new ship upon the scene, the Ramilles. This ship, after dis
patching an antagonist with which she had been engaged.
perceiving the attempt of the Achille, made sail in pursuit,
and coming up with her, took possession of her, and thus, for
the first time, made her a prize. 1 James, 162-4.
THE BELLONA AND THE MILLBROOK.
In the year 1800, the French ship Bellona struck to the
British ship Millbrook, and afterward escaped. The following
is the account of the engagement. The battle having continued
some little time, the historian proceeds : —
" The carronades of the Millbrook were seemingly fired with as
much precision, as quickness ; for the Bellona, from broadsides, fell
to single guns, and showed by her sails and rigging, how much she
had been cut up by the schooner's shot. At about ten a. m., the
ship's colors came down, and Lieutenant Smith used immediate
endeavors to take possession of her. Not having a rope wherewith
to hoist out a boat, he launched one over the gunwale, but having
been pierced with shot in various directions, the boat soon filled
with water. About this time, the Millbrook, having had two of her
guns disabled, her masts, yards, sails, and rigging shot through,
and all her sweeps shot to pieces, lay quite unmanageable, with her
broadside to the Bellona's stern. In a little while, a light breeze
sprung up, and the Bellona hoisted all the canvas she could, and
sought safety in flight." 3 James, o7.
THE SAN JOSE AND THE GRASSHOPPER.
In 1807, off the coast of Spain, the Spanish brig San JosS
struck to the British brig Grasshopper — having first run on
shore — when the greater part of her crew escaped before she
could be taken possession of. The affair is thus related : —
" At about half an hour after noon, having got within range, the
Orasshopper opened a heavy fire of round and grape upon the brig.

772 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
A running fight was maintained — about fifteen minutes of its close —
until two p. M., when the latter, which was the Spanish brig-of-war
San Jose, of ten 24-pounder carronades, and two long sixes, com
manded by Lieutenant Don Antonio de Torres, ran on shore under
Cape Negrete, and struck her colors. The greater part of her crew,
which, upon leaving Carthagena, on the preceding evening, num
bered 99 men, then swam on shore, and effectei their escape."
4 James, 374. THE VAR AND THE BELLE POULE.
In 1809, in the Gulf of Yelona, the French ship-of-war Var,
struck to the British frigate Belle Poule, but before she could be
taken possession of, the officers, and a greater part of the crew
escaped. The action is described as follows : —
" On the 15th, at daybreak, the Var was discovered moored with
cables to the fortress of Velona, mounting fourteen long 18 and 24-
pounders, and upon an eminence above the ship, and apparently
commanding the whole anchorage, was another strong fort. A
breeze at length favoring, the Belle Poule, at one p. m., anchored in
a position to take, or destroy the Var, and, at the same time, to
keep in check the formidable force, prepared, apparently, to defend
the French ship. The Belle Poule immediately opened upon the
latter an animated and well-directed fire, and, as the forts made no
efforts to protect her, the Var discharged a few random shots, that
hurt no one, and then hauled down her colors. Before she could
be taken possession of, her officers, and a greater part of her crew
escaped to the shore." 5 James, 154.
THE VIRGINIA AND THE CONGRESS.
In the year 1862, one Gideon Welles being Secretary of the
Federal Navy, Admiral Buchanan, of the Confederate States
Navy, in the engagement in Hampton Roads, already referred
to, for another purpose, sunk the frigate Congress, and, before
she could be taken possession of, the crew took to their boats and
escaped. Buchanan did not claim that the crew of the Congress,
that had thus escaped, were his prisoners ; he only claimed
that Commander Smith, and Lieutenant Pendergrast were his
prisoners, he having taken possession of them, and they having
escaped, in violation of the special parole, under which he had
permitted them to return to their ship.
It thus appears, that, so far from its being the exception, it is
the rule, in naval combats, for both ship and officers, and crew,
to escape, after surrender, if possible. The enemy may prevent

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 773
it by force, if he can, but if the escape be successful, it is a
valid escape. I have thus far been considering the case, as
though it were an escape with, or from a ship, which had not
been fatally injured, and on board which the officers and crew
might have remained, if they had thought proper. If the
escape be,proper in such a case as this, how much more must
it be proper when, as was the case with the Alabama, the offi
cers and crew ofthe ship are compelled to throw themselves into
the sea, and struggle for their lives ? Take my own individ
ual case. The Federal Government complained of me because I
threw my sword into the sea, which, as the Federal Secretary of
the Navy said, no longer belonged to me. But what was I to do
with it ? Where was Mr. Welles' officer, that he did not come
to demand it ? It had been tendered to him, and would have
belonged to him, if he had had the ability, or the inclination to'
come and take it. But he did not come. I did not betake
myself to a boat, and seek refuge in flight. I waited for him,
or his boat, on the deck of my sinking ship, until the sea was
ready to engulf me. I was ready and willing to complete the
surrender which had been tendered, but as far as was then ap
parent, the enemy intended to permit me to drown. Was L.
under these circumstances, to plunge into the water with my
sword in my hand and endeavor to swim to the Kearsarge t
Was it not more natural, that I should hurl it into the depth*
of the ocean in defiance, and in hatred of the Yankee and his
accursed flag ? When my ship went down, I was a waif upon
the waters. Battles and swords, and all other things, except
the attempt to save life, were at an end. I ceased from that
moment to be the enemy of any brave man. A true sailor,
and above all, one who had been bred to arms, when he found
that he could not himself save me, as his prisoner, should have
been glad to have me escape from him, with life, whether by
my own exertions, or those of a neutral. I believe this was the
feeling, which, at that moment, was in the heart of Captain
Winslow. It was reserved for William H. Seward to utter
the atrocious sentiment which has been recorded against him,
in these pages. Mr. Seward is now an old man, and he has
the satisfaction of reflecting that he is responsible for more of
the woes which have fallen upon the American people, than

774 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
any other citizen of the once proud republic. He has worked,
from first to last, for self, and he has met with the usual reward
of the selfish — the contempt and neglect of all parties. He has
need to utter the prayer of Cardinal Wolsey, and to add
thereto, " Forgive, 0 Lord ! him who never did forgive."
With the permission of the reader, I will make another
brief reference to Naval History, to show how gallant men re
gard the saving of life, from such disasters during battle, as befell
the Alabama; how, in other words, they cease to be the enemies
of disarmed men, struggling against the elements for their lives.
DESTRUCTION OF L'ORIENT AT THE BATTLE OF THE NILE.
At the battle of the Nile, fought by Lord Nelson, in 1798,
with Admiral Brueyes, the flag-ship of the French fleet, L' Ori
ent, took fire and blew up, after having surrendered. Admiral
Ganteaume, the third in command of the fleet, was on board
the ill-fated ship, and being blown into the water by the ex
plosion of the magazine, was picked up by one of his boats
and conveyed to a French brig of war, in which he escaped to
Alexandria. This escape, after surrender, was regarded as
valid by Lord Nelson. The disaster is thus described by the
historian. After giving the position of the French fleet, at
anchor in the Bay of Aboukir, and describing the mode of at
tack by the English fleet, the narrator proceeds : —
" It was at nine p. m., or a few minutes after, that the Swiftsure's
people discovered a fire on board of the Orient, and which, as it
increased, presently bore the appearance of being in the ship's
mizzen chains. It was, in fact, on the poop-deck, and in the admi
ral's cabin, and its cause we shall hereafter endeavor to explain.
As many of the Swiftsure's guns as could be brought to bear were
quickly directed to the inflamed spot, with, as was soon evident,
dreadful precision. After spreading along the decks, and ascending
the rigging with terrific and uncontrollable rapidity, the flames
reached the fatal spot, and at about ten p. M., the Orient blew up
with a most tremendous explosion."
The historian then describes the terrible night-scene that
followed ; how it put an end, for the time, to the action, and
the efforts which were made by the English boats to save life.
We have only to do, however, with Admiral Garteaume.
This gentleman describes his escape as follows : —

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 775
" It was by an accident, [he is writing to the Minister of Marine,]
which I cannot yet comprehend, that I escaped from the midst of
the flames of the Orient, and was taken into a yawl, lying under
the ship's counter. Not being able to reach the vessel of General
Villeneuve, [the second in command,] I made for Alexandria. At
the beginning of the action, Admiral Brueyes, all the superior offi
cers, the first commissary, and about twenty pilots, and masters of
transports, were on the poop of the Orient, employed in serving
musketry. After the action had lasted about an hour, the admiral
was wounded in the body, and in the hand ; he then came down
from the poop, and a short time after was killed on the quarter
deck. The English having utterly destroyed our van, suffered their
ships to drift forward, still ranging along our line, and taking their
different stations around us. One, however, which attacked, and
nearly touched us, on the starboard side, being totally dismasted,
ceased her fire, and cut her cable to get out of reach of our guns ;
but obliged to defend ourselves against two others, who were furi
ously thundering upon us on the larboard quarter, and on the star
board bow, we were again compelled to heave in our cable. The
36 and 24-pounders were still firing briskly, when some .flames, ac
companied with an explosion, appeared on the after-part of the
quarter-deck," &c.
Admiral Ganteaume does not mention the striking of the
colors of this ship, and the fact has been disputed. But Lord
Nelson believed that she had struck, and that is all we need
for our purpose, which is to show that, with the belief of this
fact, he did not pretend to regard Admiral Ganteaume as a
prisoner. In 2 Clarke's " Life of Lord Nelson," p. 135, occurs
the following passage : —
" In a letter to his Excellency, Hon. W. Wyndham, at Florence,
dated the 21st of August, 1798, Sir Horatio had said, that on ac
count of his indifferent health and his wound, he thought of going
down the Mediterranean as soon as he arrived at Naples, unless he
should find anything very extraordinary to detain him ; and this
determination had been strongly impressed on his mind by some of
his friends, who doubted the effect of his going into winter-quarters
at Naples [where the modern Anthony would find his Cleopatra,
in the person of the then charming Lady Hamilton] might have on
a mind by no means adapted to cope with the flattery of the Sici
lian Court. He also informed Mr. Wyndham, that L'Orient cer
tainly struck her colors, and had not fired a shot for a quarter of
an hour before she took fire."
Admiral Ganteaume resumed his duties as a naval officer
immediately after his escape, repairing to Cairo, where Napo
leon then was, to put himself under the orders of the Great
Captain. He returned with his distinguished chief to France,

776 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT.
in the frigate Le Muiron. The British Government did not
demand him of the French Government as a prisoner of war.
This case was almost precisely similar with my own. Both
ships struck their colors ; both ships were destroyed before
the enemy could take possession of them, and both com
manders escaped ; the only difference teing that Admiral
Ganteaume escaped in one of his own boats, to one of his own
brigs of war, and thence to Alexandria, and I escaped by
swimming to a neutral ship, and to the cover of a neutral flag ;
which, as before remarked, was the same thing as if I had
swum to neutral territory. Mr. Lancaster could no more have
thrust me back into the sea, or handed me over to the Kear
sarge, than could the keeper of the Needles light, if I had landed
on the Isle of Wight.
I have presented several contrasts in these pages ; I desire to
present another. The reader has seen how Mr. Seward, a civil
ian, insisted that beaten enemies, who were struggling for their
lives in the water, should be permitted to drown, rather than
be rescued from the grasp of his naval commander by a neu
tral. I desire to show how a Christian admiral forbade his
enemies to be fired upon, when they were engaged in rescuing
their people from drowning ; even though the consequence of
such rescue should be the escape of the prisoners. I allude to
Lord Collingwood, a name almost as well known to American
as to English readers ; the same Lord Collingwood, who was
second in command to Nelson at the famous battle of Trafal
gar. This Admiral, from his flag-ship, the Ocean, issued the
following general order to the commanders of his ships : —
" Ocean, September 19, 1807.
" In the event of an action with the enemy, in which it shall hap
pen that any of their ships shall be in distress, by taking fire, or
otherwise, and the brigs and tenders, or boats which are attached
to their fleet, shall be employed in saving the lives of the crews of
such distressed ships, they shall not be fired on, or interrupted in
such duty. But as long as the battle shall continue, his Majesty's
ships are not to give up the pursuit of such, as have not surren
dered, to attend to any other occasion, except it be to give their aid to
his Majesty's ships which may wantit." — Collingwood's Letters, 235
But the American war developed " grand moral ideas," and
Mr. Seward's, about the drowning of prisoners, was one of them.

CHAPTER LV.
the federal government and the british steam-
yacht deerhound  mr. seward's despatch, and
mr. Lancaster's letter to the " daily news " —
lord russell's reply to mr. adams on the subject
of his complaint against mr. lancaster — presen
TATION OF A SWORD TO THE AUTHOR, BY THE CLUBS IN
ENGLAND  PRESENTATION OF A FLAG BY A LADY.
THE howl that went up against Mr. Lancaster, the owner
of the Deerhound, for his humane exertions in saving my
crew and myself from drowning, was almost as rabid as that
which had been raised against myself. Statesmen, or those
who should have been such, descended into the arena of coarse
and vulgar abuse of a private English citizen, who had no
connection with them or their war, and no sympathies that I
know of, on the one side or the other. Mr. Welles, in one of
those patriotic effusions, by which he sought to recommend
himself to the extreme party of the North, declared among
other things, that he was " not a gentleman ! " Poor Mr. Lan
caster, to have thy gentility questioned by so competent a
judge, as Mr. Gideon Welles ! Lf these gentlemen had con
fined themselves to mere abuse, the thing would not have been
so bad, but they gave currency to malicious falsehoods con
cerning Mr. Lancaster, as truths. Paid spies in England re
ported these falsehoods at Washington, and the too eager Sec
retary of State embodied them in his despatches. Mr. Adams
and Mr. Seward have, both, since ascertained that they were
imposed upon, and yet no honorable retraxit has ever been
made. The following is a portion of one of Mr. Seward's
characteristic despatches on this subject. It is addressed to
Mr. Adams: — 777

778 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
" I nave the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch
of the 21st of June, No. 724, which relates to the destruction of
the pirate-ship Alabama, by the Kearsarge, off Cherbourg. This
event has given great satisfaction to the Government, and it ap
preciates and commends the bravery and skill displayed by Cap
tain Winslow, and the officers and crew under his command. Sev
eral incidents of the transaction seem to demand immediate atten
tion The first is, that this Government disapproves the proceed
ings of Captain Winslow, in paroling and discharging the pirates
who fell into his hands, in that brilliant naval engagement, and in
order to guard against injurious inferences which might result from
that error, if it were overlooked, you are instructed to make the
fact of this disapprobation and censure known to her Majesty's
Government, and to state, at the same time, that this Government,
adhering to declarations heretofore made, does not recognize the
Alabama as a ship of war of a lawful belligerent power."
Mr. Seward, when this despatch was penned, had hopes that
the " pirates " would be given up to him, and the caveat, which
he enters, may give some indication of the course the Yankee
Government intended to pursue toward the said "pirates,"
when they should come into its possession. It did not occur
to the wily Secretary, that, if we were "pirates," it was as
competent for Great Britain to deal with us as the United
States; and that, on this very ground, his claim for extradi
tion might be denied, — a pirate being hostis humani generis,
and punishable by the first nation into whose power he falls.
But these mistakes were common with Mr. Seward.
Laying aside, therefore, all his trash and nonsense about
piracy, let us proceed with that part of his despatch which
relates to Mr. Lancaster: —
" Secondly, the presence and the proceedings of a British yacht,
the Deerhound, at the battle, require explanation. On reading the
statements which have reached this Government, it seems impos
sible to doubt that the Deerhound went out to the place of conflict,
by concert and arrangement with the commander of the Alabama,
and with, at least, a conditional purpose of rendering her aid and
assistance. She did effectually render such aid, by rescuing the
commander and part of the crew of the Alabama from the pursuit
of the Kearsarge, and by furtively and clandestinely conveying
them to Southampton, within British jurisdiction. We learn from
Paris that the intervention of the Deerhound occurred after the
Alabama had actually surrendered. The proceeding of the Deer-
hound, therefore, seems to have been directly hostile to the United
States. Statements of the owner of the Deerhound are reported

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 779
here, v.o the effect that he was requested by Captain Winslow to
rescue the drowning survivors of the battle, but no official confirma
tion of this statement is found in the reports of Captain Winslow.
Even if he had made such a request, the owner of the Deerhound
subsequently abused the right of interference, by secreting the rescued
pirates, and carrying them away beyond the pursuit of the Kearsarge.
Moreover, we are informed from Paris, that the Deerhound, before
going out, received from Semmes, and that she subsequently con
veyed away to England, a deposit of money, and other valuables,
of which Semmes, in his long piratical career, had despoiled numer
ous American merchantmen."
There was not one word of truth in this cock-and-a-bull
story, of concert between Mr. Lancaster and myself, as to his
going out to witness the combat, as to his receiving money or
anything else from the Alabama, or as to any other subject
whatever. We had never seen each other, or held the least
communication together, until I was drawn out of the water by
his boat's crew, and taken on board his yacht, after the battle.
It was quite natural that Mr. Seward's Yankee correspond
ents in London and Paris, and Mr. Seward himself, should sup
pose that money and stealings had had something to do with
Mr. Lancaster's generous conduct. The whole American war,
on the Yankee side, had been conducted on this principle of
giving and receiving a "consideration" and on "stealings."
Armies of hired vagabonds had roamed through the Southern
States, plundering and stealing — aye, as the reader has seen,
stealing not only gold and silver, but libraries, pianos, pic
tures, and even the jewelry and clothing of women and chil
dren ! The reader has seen into what a mortal fright the lady-
passengers, on board the captured steamship Ariel, were thrown,
lest the officers and crew of the Alabama should prove to be
the peers of Yankee rogues, epauletted and unepauletted.
These men even laid their profane hands on the sacred word
of God, if it would pay. Here is a morceau, taken from the
"Journal of Commerce" of New York, a Yankee paper,
quite moderate in its tone, and a little given, withal, to reli
gious sniffling. It shows how a family Bible was stolen from
a Southern household, and sold for a "consideration" in the
North, without exciting a 5 much as a word of condemnation
from press or people : —

780 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
"An Old Bible Captured from a Rebel. — H. Jallonaok, of
Syracuse, New York, has exhibited to the editor of the ' Journal
of that city a valuable relic — a Protestant Bible, printed in Ger
man text, 225 years ago, the imprint bearing date 1637. The book
is in an excellent state of preservation, the printing perfectly legi
ble, the binding sound and substantial, and the fastening a brass
clasp. The following receipt shows how the volume came in Mr.
J alio nack's possession : —
" 'New York, Aug. 21, 1862.
" ' Received of Mr. H. Jallonack $150 for a copy of one of the first
Protestant Bibles published in the Netherlands, 1637, with the proc
lamation of the King of the Netherlands. This was taken from a
descendant Hollander at the battle before Richmond, in the rebel
service, by a private of the Irish Brigade.
" 'Joseph Heime, M. D., 4 Houston Street.' "
"Semmes, in his long piratical career," scarcely equalled
these doings of Mr. Seward's countrymen. He certainly did
not send any stolen Bibles, published in the Netherlands or
elsewhere, to the Deerhound, to be sold to pious Jallonacks
for $150 apiece.
But to return to Mr. Lancaster, and the gross assault that
was made upon him, by the Secretary of State. Mr. Lancaster,
being a gentleman of ease and fortune, spent a portion of his
summers in yachting, as is the case with a large number of
the better classes in England. Being in France with his fam
ily, he ordered his yacht, the Deerhound, to meet him, at the
port of Cherbourg, where it was his intention to embark for a
cruise of a few weeks in the German Ocean. A day or two
before the engagement between the Alabama and the Kearsarge,
a steam yacht, under British colors, was reported to me, as
having anchored in the harbor. Beyond admiring the beauti
ful proportions of the little craft, we paid no further attention
to her; and when she steamed out of Cherbourg, on the morning
of the engagement, we had not the least conception of what her
object was. With this preface, I will let Mr. Lancaster tell his
own story. He had been assaulted by a couple of Yankee cor
respondents, in the London "Daily News," a paper in the inter
ests, and reported to be in the pay of the Federal Government.
He is replying to those assaults, which, as the reader will see,
were the same that were afterward rehashed by Mr. Seward, in
the despatch already quoted.

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 781

"THE DEEBHOUND, THE ALABAMA, AND THE KEARSARGE.
"To the Editor op the 'Daily News.' Sir: — As two cor
respondents of your journal, in giving their versions of the fight
between the Alabama and the Kearsarge, have designated my
share in the escape of Captain Semmes, and a portion of the crew
of the sunken ship as ' dishonorable,' and have moreover affirmed
that my yacht, the Deerhound, was in the harbor of Cherbourg
before the engagement, and proceeded thence, on the morning of
the engagement in order to assist the Alabama, I presume I may
trespass upon your kindness so far as to ask an opportunity to repu
diate the imputation, and deny the assertion. They admit that when
the Alabama went down, the yacht, being near the Kearsarge, was
hailed by Captain Winslow, and requested to aid in picking up the
men who were in the water ; but they intimate that my services
were expected to be merely ministerial ; or, in other words, that I
was to put myself under the command of Captain Winslow, and
place my yacht at his disposal for the capture of the poor fellows
who were struggling in the water for their lives.
" The fact is, that when we passed the Kearsarge, the captain
cried out, ' For God's sake, do what you can to save them,' and
that was my warrant for interfering, in any way, for the aid and
succor of his enemies. It may be a question with some, whether,
without that warrant, I should have been justified in endeavoring
to rescue any of the crew of the Alabama; but my own opinion is,
that a man drowning in the open sea cannot be regarded as an
enemy, at the time, to anybody, and is, therefore, entitled to the
assistance of any passer-by. Be this as it may, I had the earnest
request of Captain Winslow, to rescue as many of the men who
were in the water, as I could lay hold of, but that request was not
coupled with any stipulation to the effect that I should deliver up
the rescued men to him, as his prisoners. If it had been, I should
have declined the task, because I should have deemed it dishonor
able — that is, inconsistent with my notions of honor — to lend my
yacht and crew, for the purpose of rescuing those brave men from
drowning, only to hand them over to their enemies, for imprison
ment, ill-treatment, and perhaps execution.
" One of your correspondents opens his letter, by expressing a
desire, to bring to the notice of the yacht clubs of Englaud, the
conduct of the commander of the Deerhound, which followed the
engagement of the Alabama and Kearsarge. Now that my con
duct has been impugned, I am equally wishful that it should come
under the notice of the yacht clubs of England, and I am quite
willing to leave the point of honor to be decided by my brother
yachtsmen, and, indeed, by any tribunal of gentlemen. As to my
legal right to take away Captain Semmes and his friends, I have
been educated in the belief that an English ship is English terri
tory, and I am, therefore, unable, even now, to discover why I was
more bound to surrender the people of the Alabama whom I had

782 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
on board my yacht, than the owner of a garden on the south coast
of England would have been, if they had swum to such a place,
and landed there, or than the Mayor of Southampton was, when
they were lodged in that city ; or than the British Government is,
now that it is known that they are somewhere in England.
" Your other correspondent says that Captain Winslow declares
that ' the reason he did not pursue the Deerhound, or fire into her
was, that he could not believe, at the time, that any one carrying
the flag of the royal yacht squadron, could act so dishonorable a
part, as to carry off the prisoners whom he had requested him to
save, from feelings of humanity.' I was not aware then, and I am
not aware now, that the men whom I saved were, or ever had been
his prisoners. Whether any of the circumstances which had pre
ceded the sinking of the Alabama constituted them prisoners was
a question that never came under my consideration, and one which
I am not disposed to discuss even now. I can only say, that it is
a new doctrine to me, that when one ship sinks another, in warfare,
the crew of the sunken ship are debarred from swimming for their
lives, and seeking refuge wherever they can find it; and it is a
doctrine which I shall not accept, unless backed by better authority
than that of the master of the Kearsarge. What Captain Wins
low's notion of humanity may be is a point beyond my knowledge,
but I have good reason for believing that not many members of the
royal yacht squadron would, from 'motives of humanity' have
taken Captain Semmes from the water in order to give him up to
the tender mercies of Captain Winslow, and his compatriots. An
other reason assigned by your correspondent for that hero's for
bearance may be imagined in the reflection that such a performance
as that of Captain Wilkes, who dragged two 'enemies' or 'rebels'
from an English ship, would not bear repetition. [We have here
the secret of the vindictiveness with which Mr. Seward pursued
Mr. Lancaster. It was cruel of Lancaster to remind him of the
' seven days ' of tribulation, through which Lord John Russell had
put him.]
" Your anonymous correspondent further says, that ' Captain
Winslow would now have all the officers and men of the Alabama,
as prisoners, had he not placed too much confidence in the honor
of an Englishman, who carried the flag of the royal yacht squadron.'
This is a very questionable assertion ; for why did Captain Wins
low confide in that Englishman ? Why did he implore his inter
ference, calling out, ' For God's sake, do what you can to save
them ?' I presume it was because he would not, or could not sav«s
them, himself. The fact is, that if the Captain and crew of the
Alabama had depended for safety altogether upon Captain Wins
low, not one half of them would have been saved. He got quite as
many of them as he could lay hold of, time enough to deliver them
from drowning.
" I come now to the more definite charges advanced by your cor
respondents, and these I will soon dispose of. They maintain that

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 783
my yacht was in the harbor of Cherbourg, for the purpose of as
sisting the Alabama, and that her movements before the action
prove that she attended her for the same object. My impression
is, that the yacht was in Cherbourg, to suit my convenience, and
pleasure, and I am quite sure, that when there, I neither did, nor
intended to do anything to serve the Alabama. We steamed out
on Sunday morning to see the engagement, and the resolution to
do so was the result of a family council, whereat the question ' to
go out,' or 'not to go out,' was duly discussed, and the decision in
the affirmative was carried by the juveniles, rather against the wish
of both myself, and my wife. Had I contemplated taking any part
in the movements of the Alabama, I do not think I should have
been accompanied with my wife, and several young children.
" One of your correspondents, however, says that he knows that
the Deerhound did assist the Alabama, and if he does know this,
he knows more than I do. As to the movements of the Deerhound,
before the action, all the movements with which I was acquainted,
were for the objects of enjoying the summer morning, and getting a
good and safe place from which to watch the engagement. An
other of your correspondents declares, that since the affair, it has
been discovered, that the Deerhound was a consort of the Alabama,
and on the night before had received many valuable articles, for
safe-keeping, from that vessel. This is simply untrue. Before the
engagement, neither I nor any member of my family had any knowl
edge of, or communication with Captain Semmes, or any of his offi
cers or any of his crew. Since the fight I have inquired from my Cap
tain whether he, or any of my crew, had had any communication with
the Captain or crew of the Alabama, prior to meeting them on the
Deerhound after the engagement, and his answer, given in the most
emphatic manner, has been, 'None whatever.' As to the deposit
of chronometers, and other valuable articles, the whole story is a
myth. Nothing was brought from the Alabama to the Deerhound,
and I never heard of the tale, until I saw it, in an extract from
your own columns.
"After the fight was over, the drowning men picked up, and the
Deerhound steaming away to Southampton, some of the officers
who had been saved began to express their acknowledgments for
my services, and my reply to them, which was addressed, also, to
all who stood around, was ' Gentlemen, you have no need to give
me any special thanks. I should have done exactly the same for
the other people, if they had needed it' This speech would have
been a needless, and, indeed, an absurd piece of hypocrisy, if there
had been any league or alliance between the Alabama and the
Deerhound. Both your correspondents agree in maintaining that
Captain Semmes, and such of his crew as were taken away by the
Deerhound, are bound in honor to consider themselves still as
prisoners, and to render themselves to their lawful captors as soon
as practicable. This is a point which I have nothing to do with,
and therefore I shall not discuss it. My object, in this letter, is
50

784 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
merely to vindicate my conduct from misrepresentation; and I
trust that in aiming at this, I have not transgressed any of your
rules of correspondence, and shall therefore be entitled to a" place in
your columns. John Lancaster."
" Mark how a plain tale shall put him down." There could
not be a better illustration of this remark, than the above re
ply, proceeding from the pen of a gentleman, to Mr. Seward's
charges against both Mr. Lancaster and myself. Mr. Adams
having complained to Lord Russell, of the conduct of Mr.
Lancaster, the latter gentleman addressed a letter to his lord
ship, containing substantially the defence of himself which he
had prepared 'for the "Daily News." In a day or two after
ward, Lord Russell replied to Mr. Adams as follows : —
Foreign Office, July 26, 1864.
Sir: — With reference to my letter of the 8th inst, I have the
honor to transmit to you, a copy of a letter which I have received
from Mr. Lancaster, containing his answer to the representations
contained in your letter of the 25th ult, with regard to the course
pursued by him, in rescuing Captain Semmes and others, on the
occasion of the sinking of the Alabama ; and I have the honor to
Inform you, that I do not think it necessary to take any further
steps in the matter. I have the honor to be, with the highest con
sideration, your most obedient, humble servant. Russell.
The royal yacht squadron, as well as the Government, sus
tained their comrade in what he had done, and a number of
officers of the Royal Navy and Army, approving of my
course, throughout the trying circumstances in which I had
been placed — not even excepting the hurling of my sword
into the sea, under the circumstances related — set on foot a
subscription for another sword, to replace the one which I had
lost, publishing the following announcement of their intention
in the London "Daily Telegraph": —
Junior United Service Club, S. W.>
June 23, 1864. j
Sir: — It will doubtless gratify the admirers of the gallantry
displayed by the officers and crew of the renowned Alabama, in
the late action off Cherbourg, if you will allow me to inform them,
through your influential journal, that it has been determined to pre
sent Captain Semmes with a handsome sword, to replace that
which he buried with his sinking ship. Gentlemen wishing to

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 785
participate in this testimony to unflinching patriotism and naval
daring, will be good enough to communicate with the chairman,
Admiral Anson, United Service Club, Pail-Mall, or, sir, yours, &c.
Bedford Pim,
Commander R. N, Hon. Secretary.
This design on the part of the officers of the British Navy
and Army was afterward carried out, by the presentation to
me of a magnificent sword, which was manufactured to their
order in the city of London, with suitable naval and Southern
devices. I could not but appreciate very highly this delicate
mode, on the part of my professional brethren, of rebutting
the slanders of the Northern press and people. I might safely
rely upon the judgment of two of the principal naval clubs in
England, — the United Service, and the Junior United Service, on
whose rolls were some of the most renowned naval and mili
tary names of Great Britain. The shouts of the multitude are
frequently deceptive ; the idol of an hour may be pulled down
in the succeeding hour ; but the approbation of my brethren
in arms, who coolly surveyed my career, and measured it by
the rules which had guided the conduct of so many of their
own soldiers by sea and by land, in whose presence my own
poor name was unworthy to be mentioned, was indeed beyond
all price to me.
To keep company with this sword, a noble English lady
presented me with a mammoth Confederate flag, wrought with
her own hands from the richest silk. There is not a spot on
its pure white field, and the battle-cross and the stars, when
unfolded, flash as brightly as ever. These two gifts shall be
precious heirlooms in my family, to remind my descendants,
that, in the words of Patrick Henry, " I have done my utmost
to preserve their liberty."
"Purl that Banner, for 'tis weary;
Round its staff 'tis drooping dreary;
Furl it, fold it, it is best :
For there's not a man to wave it,
And there's not a sword to save it,
And there's not one left to lave it
In the blood which heroes gave it;
And its foes now scorn and brave it;
Fuwl it, hide it — let it rest.

W6 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE1 AFLOAT
"Furl it I for the hands that grasped it,
And the hearts that fondly clasped it,
Cold and dead are lying low;
And that Banner — it is trailing!
While around it sounds the wailing
Of its people in their woe.

"Furl that Banner! true 'tis gory.
Yet 't is wreathed around with glory,
And 'twill live in song and story,
Though its folds are in the dust •
For its fame on brightest pages,
Penned by poets and by sages,
Shall go sounding down the ages —
Furl its folds though now we must."
Mr. Mason, our Commissioner at the Court of London,
thanked Mr. Lancaster for his humane and generous conduct
in the following terms : —
24 Upper Seymour Street, Portman Square, \
London, June 21, 1864. )
Dear Sir: — I received from Captain Semmes, at Southampton,
where I had the pleasure to see you, yesterday, a full report of the
efficient service rendered, under your orders, by the officers and crew
of your yacht, the Deerhound, in rescuing him, with thirteen of his
officers and twenty-seven of his crew, from their impending fate,
after the loss of his ship. Captain Semmes reports that, finding
the Alabama actually sinking, he had barely time to dispatch his
wounded in his own boats, to the enemy's ship, when the Alabama
went down, and nothing was left to those who remained on board, but
to throw themselves into the sea. Their own boats absent, there
seemed no prospect of relief, when your yacht arrived in their midst,
and your boats were launched ; and he impressively told me, that to
this timely and generous succor, he, with most of his officers and
a portion of his crew, were indebted for their safety. He further
told me, that on their arrival on board of the yacht, every care and
kindness were extended to them which their exhausted condition
required, even to supplying all with dry clothing. I am fully
aware of the noble and disinterested spirit which prompted you to
go to the rescue of the gallant crew of the Alabama, and that I can
add nothing to the recompense already received by you and those
acting under you, in the consciousness of having done as you would
be done by ; yet you will permit me to thank you, and through you,
the captain, officers, and crew of the Deerhound, for this signal ser
vice, and to say that in doing so, I but anticipate the grateful sen
timent of my country, and of the Government of the Confederate
States. I have the honor to be, dear sir, most respectfully and
truly, your obedient servant, J. M. Mason.
John Lancaster, Esq., Hindley Hall, Wigan.

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES, 787
Subsequently, upon my arrival in Richmond, in the winter
of the same year, the Confederate Congress passed a joint reso
lution of thanks to Mr. Lancaster, a copy of which it requested
the Secretary of the Navy to transmit to him. In the confu
sion incident to the downfall of the Confederacy, which speedily
followed, Mr. Lancaster probably never received a copy of this
resolution. Thus, with the indorsement of his own govern
ment, and with that of the yacht-clubs of England, and of the
Congress of the Confederate States, he may safely despise the
malicious diatribes that were launched against him by a fanati
cal and infuriated people, who Were thirsting for an opportunity
to wreak their vengeance upon the persons of the men whom
he had saved.
Upon my landing in Southampton, I was received with
great kindness by the English people, ever ready to sympa
thize with the unfortunate, and administer to the wants of the
distressed. Though my officers and myself were not to be
classed in this latter category, as my drafts on the house of
Frazer, Trenholm & Co., of Liverpool, would have been ac-
. cepted to any extent, and were as good as cash in the market,
there were many generous offers of pecuniary assistance made
me. I cannot forbear to speak of one of these, as it came from
a lady, and if, in doing so, I trespass upon the bounds of pro
priety, I trust the noble lady will forgive me. This is the only
means left me of making her any suitable acknowledgment.
This lady was Miss Gladstone, a sister of the Chancellor of the
Exchequer, who wrote me a long letter, full of sympathy, and
of those noble impulses which swell the heart of the true
woman on such occasions. She generously offered me any aid
of which my sailors or myself might be in need. Letters of
condolence for my loss, and congratulation upon my escape from
the power of a ruthless enemy, came in upon me in great profu
sion; and, as for volunteers, half the adventurous young spirits
of England claimed the privilege of serving under me, in my
new ship. The career of the Alabama seemed to have fired
the imagination of all the schools and colleges in England, if
I might judge by the number of ardent missives I received
from the young gentlemen who attended them. Mr. Mason,
Captain Bullock, and the Rev. F. "W. Tremlett came post-haste

788 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT.
to Southampton, to offer us sympathy and services. The reader
will recollect the circumstances under which I became ac
quainted with the latter gentleman, when I laid up the Sumter
at Gibraltar, and retired to London. He now came to insist
that I should go again to my " English home," at his house, to
recruit and have my wound cared for. As I had already en
gaged quarters at Millbrook, where I should be in excellent
hands, and as duties connected with the welfare of my crew
would require my detention in the neighborhood of Southamp
ton for a week or two, I was forced to forego the pleasure for
the present.
In connection with the gratitude due other friends, I desire
to mention the obligations I am under to Dr. J. Wiblin, a dis
tinguished surgeon and physician of Southampton, who at
tended my crew and officers whilst we remained there, without
fee or reward. The reader may recollect, that previous to my
engagement with the Kearsarge, I had sent on shore, through
my paymaster, the ship's funds, and the books and papers
necessary to a final settlement with my crew. The paymaster
now recovered back these funds, from the bankers with whom
they had been deposited, paid off such of the officers and men as
were with us at Southampton, and proceeded to Liverpool,
where he was to pay off the rest of the survivors as fast as
they should present themselves. Some of the crew were
wounded, and in French hospitals, where they were treated
with marked kindness and consideration ; some had been made
prisoners, and paroled by Captain Winslow, with the approba
tion of Mr. Adams, under the mistaken idea, as Mr. Seward after
ward insisted, that they were prisoners of war, ahd some weeks
elapsed, consequently, before they could all present themselves
at the paymaster's table. This was finally accomplished, how
ever, and every officer and seaman, received, in full, all the pay
that was due him. The amounts due to those killed and
drowned, were paid, in due time, to their legal representatives ;
and thus were the affairs of the Alabama wound up.

CHAPTER LVI.
AUTHOR MAKES A SHORT VISIT TO THE CONTINENT —
RETURNS TO LONDON, AND EMBARKS ON HIS RETURN
TO THE CONFEDERATE STATES — LANDS AT BAGDAD,
NEAR THE MOUTH OF THE RIO GRANDE — JOURNEY
THROUGH TEXAS — REACHES LOUISIANA, AND CROSSES
THE MISSISSIPPI; AND IN A FEW DAYS MORE IS AT
HOME, AFTER AN ABSENCE OF FOUR YEARS.
I CONSIDERED my career upon the high seas closed by the
loss of my ship, and had so informed Commodore Barron,
who was our Chief of Bureau in Paris. We had a number of gal
lant Confederate naval officers, both in England and France,
eager and anxious to go afloat — more than could be provided
with ships — and it would have been ungenerous in me to
accept another command. Besides, my health was broken
down to that degree, that I required absolute quiet, for some
months, before I should again be fit for duty. I, therefore,
threw off all care and responsibility, as soon as I had wound
up the affairs of the Alabama, and went up to enjoy the hos
pitality of my friend Tremlett, at Belsize Park, in London.
Here we arranged for a visit, of a few weeks, to the continent,
and especially to the Swiss mountains, which was carried out
in due time. One other gentleman, an amiable and accom
plished sister of my friend Tremlett, and two other ladies,
connections or friends of the family, accompanied us.
We were absent six weeks ; landing at Ostend, passing hur
riedly through Belgium — not forgetting, however, to visit the
battle-field of Waterloo — stopping a few days at Spa, for the
benefit of the waters, and then passing on to the Rhine ; up
that beautiful and historic river to Mayence, and thence to the
Swiss lakes — drawing the first long breath at Geneva, where
789

790 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
we rested a few days. There, reader ! I have given you my
European tour in a single paragraph ; and as I am writing of
the sea, and of war, and not of the land, or of peace, this ia
all the space I can appropriate to it. I must be permitted,
however, to say of my friend Tremlett, that I found him a
veteran traveller, who knew how to smooth all the difficulties
of a journey ; and of the ladies of our party, that their cheer
fulness, good-humor, and kind attention to me, did quite as
much as the Swiss mountain air toward the restoration of
my health. I must be permitted to make another remark in
connection with this journey. I found a number of exceed
ingly patriotic, young, able-bodied male Confederates, of a
suitable age for bearing arms, travelling, with or without their
papas and mammas, and boasting of the Confederacy ! Most of
these carpet-knights had been in Europe during the whole war.
Returning to London, in the latter days of September, a few
days in advance of my travelling party, I made my prepara
tions for returning to the Confederate States ; and on the 3d
of October, 1864, embarked on board the steamer Tasmanian,
for Havana via St. Thomas. My intention was to pass into
Texas, through the Mexican port of Matamoras. My journey,
by this route, would occupy a little longer time, and be
attended, perhaps, with some discomfort, but I should avoid
the risk of the blockade, which was considerable. The enemy
having resorted, literally, to the starving process, as being the
only one which was likely to put an end to the war, had begun
to burn our towns, lay waste our corn-fields, run off our negroes
and cattle, and was now endeavoring to seal, hermetically, our
ports. He had purchased all kinds of steamers — captured
blockade-runners and others — which he had fitted out as
ships of war, and he now had a fleet little short of five hun
dred sail. Acting, as before stated, on the principle of abandon
ing his commerce, he had concentrated all these before the
blockaded ports, in such swarms, that it was next to impossible
for a ship to run in or out, without his permission. I pre
ferred not to fall into the enemy's hands, without the benefit
of a capitulation. The very mention of my name had, as yet,
some such effect upon the Yankee Government as the shaking
;>f a red flag has before the blood-shot eyes of an infuriated

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 791
bull. Mr. Seward gored, and pawed, and threw up the dust,*
and, above all, bellowed, whenever the vision of the Alabama
flitted across his brain ; and the " sainted Abe " was, in foreign
affairs, but his man "Friday."
At St. Thomas we changed steamers, going on board the
Solent — the transfer of passengers occupying only a few hours.
The Solent ran down for the coast of Porto Rico, where she
landed some passengers ; passed thence to the north side of St.
Domingo, thence into the Old Bahama Channel, and landed us at
Havana, in the last days of October. Here we were compelled
to wait, a few days, for a chance vessel to Matamoras, there
being no regular packets. This enforced delay was tedious
enough, though much alleviated by the companionship of a
couple of agreeable fellow-passengers, who had embarked with
me at Southampton, and who, like myself, were bound to Mata
moras. One of these was Father Fischer, and the other, Mr. H.
N. Caldwell, a Southern merchant. Father Fischer was a German
by birth, but had emigrated in early youth to Mexico, where
he had become a priest. He was a remarkable man, of com
manding personal appearance, and a well- cultivated and vigor
ous intellect. He spoke half a dozen modern languages, —
the English among the rest, with great precision and purity, —
and both Caldwell and myself became much attached to him.
He afterward played a very important role in the affairs of
Mexico, becoming Maximilian's confessor, and one of his most
trusted counsellors. He was imprisoned for a time, after the
fall of the Empire, but was finally released, and has since
made his way to Europe, with important papers belonging to
the late unfortunate monarch, and will no doubt give us a his
tory of the important episode in Mexican affairs in which he
took part.
No other vessel offering, we were compelled to embark in a
small Yankee schooner, still redolent of codfish, though wear
ing the English flag, to which she had recently been trans
ferred. This little craft carried us safely across the Gulf of
Mexico, after a passage of a week, and landed us at a sea-shore
village, at the mouth of the Rio Grande, rejoicing in the
dreamy eastern name of Bagdad. So unique was this little
village, that I might have fancied it, as its name imported,

792 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
really under the rule of Caliphs, but for certain signs of tho
Yankee which met my eye. The ubiquity of this people is
marvellous. They scent their prey with the unerring instinct
ofthe carrion-bird. I had encountered them all over the world,
chasing the omnipotent dollar, notwithstanding the gigantic
war they were carrying on at home; and here was this little
village of Bagdad, on the Texan border, as full of them as an
ant-hill is of ants; and the human ants were quite as busy as
their insect prototypes. Numerous shanties had been con
structed on the sands, out of unplaned boards. Some of these
shanties were hotels, some billiard-saloons, and others grog
shops. The beach was piled with cotton bales going out, and
goods coming in. The stores were numerous, and crowded
with wares. Teamsters cracked their whips in the streets, and
horsemen, booted and spurred, galloped hither and thither.
The whole panorama looked like some magic scene, which
might have been improvised in a night. The population was
as heterogeneous as the dwellings. "Whites, blacks, mulat
tos, and Indians were all mixed. But prominent above all
stood the Yankee. The shanties were his, and the goods
were his. He kept the hotels, marked the billiards, and sold
the grog.
• Pretty soon a coach drove up to the door of the hotel at
"which we were stopping, to take us to Matamoras, a distance
of thirty miles. Here was' the Yankee again. The coach had
been built in Troy, New York. The horses were all northern
horses — tall, strong, and gaunt, none of your Mexican mus
tangs. The Jehu was Yankee, a tall fellow, with fisherman's
boots, and fancy top-hamper. The dried-up little Mexicans
who attended to the horses, harnessing and unharnessing them,
on the road, at the different relay stations, evidently stood in
great awe of him. He took us into Matamoras "on time," and
at the end of his journey, cracked his whip, and drew up his
team at the hotel-door, with a flourish that would have done
honor to Mr. Samuel Weller, senior, himself.
As great a revolution had taken place in Matamoras as at
Bagdad. The heretofore quaint old Spanish town presented
the very picture of a busy commercial mart. House-rent was
at an enormous figure; the streets, as well as the stores, were

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 793
piled with bales and boxes of merchandise, and every one you
met seemed to be running somewhere, intent on business. Ox
and mule teams from the Texan side of the river, were busy
hauling the precious staple of the Southern States, which put
all this commerce in motion, to Bagdad, for shipment; and
anchored off that mushroom village, I had counted, as I
landed, no less than sixty sail of ships — nearly all of them
foreign. Fortunately for all this busy throng, Maximilian
reigned supreme in Mexico, and his Lieutenant in Matamoras,
General Mejia, gave security and protection to person and
property, at the same time that he raised considerable rev
enue by the imposition of moderate taxes.
Colonel Ford, the commandant at Brownsville, on the oppo
site side of the river, came over to see me, and toward night
fall I returned with him to that place. "We crossed the river
in a skiff managed by a Mexican, and as my foot touched, for
the first time in four years, the soil of my native South, I ex
perienced, in their full force, the lines of the poet : — •
"Where shall thatiowrf, that spot of earthbe found?
Art thou a man? — a patriot? — look around;
OhJ thou shalt find, howe'er thy footsteps roam,
That land thy country, and that spot thy home ! "
There were no hotels at Brownsville, but I was comfortably
lodged for the night, with Colonel Beldon, the Collector of the
port. The next morning I breakfasted with a large party at
a neighboring restaurant, who had assembled thither to wel
come me back to my native land ; and when the breakfast was
over, a coach and four, which was to take me on my way to
Shreveport, in Louisiana, drew up at the door. An escort of
cavalry had been provided, to accompany me as far as King's
Ranch, a point at which the road approaches the coast, and
where it was supposed that some of the enemy's gunboats
might attempt to ambuscade me. I found, upon entering the
coach, in which I was to be the only traveller, that my friends
had provided for my journey in true Texan style ; my outfit
being a stout pair of gray blankets, which were to form my
bed on the prairies for the next hundred miles, as we should
have to travel that distance before we reached the shelter of a

794 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
roof; a box containing a dozen bottles of excellent brandy,
and cigars at discretion ! As the driver cracked his whip, to
put his mustangs in motion, and my escort clattered on ahead of
me, the crowd who had gathered in the street to see me depart,
launched me upon the prairie, with three hearty cheers, such as
only Texan throats can give.
It so happened, that my major-domo for the journey, Ser
geant  , was the same who had conducted my friend, Colonel
Freemantle, over this route, some two years before. I found
him the same invaluable travelling companion. His lunch-
baskets were always well filled, he knew everybody along the
road, was unsurpassed at roasting a venison steak before a
camp-fire on a forked stick, and made a capital cup of coffee.
I missed the Judge, whom Freemantle so humorously describes,
but I found a good many judges on the road, who might sit
for his portrait. And now, for want of space, I must treat
this journey as I did my European tour, give it to the reader
in a paragraph. "We were fourteen days on the road ; passing
through San Patricio on the Nueces, Gonzales on the Guada
lupe, Houston, Hempstead, Navasota, Huntsville, Rusk, Hen
derson, and Marshall, arriving on the 27th of November at
Shreveport. I was received, everywhere, with enthusiasm by
the warm-hearted, brave Texans, the hotels being all thrown
open to me, free of expense, and salutes of artillery greeting
my entrance into the towns. I was frequently compelled to
make short speeches to the people, merely that they might
hear, as they said, "how the pirate talked;" and, I fear, I
drank a good many more mint-juleps than were good for me.
At table I was always seated on the right hand of the " land
lady," and I was frequently importuned by a bevy of bloom
ing lasses, to tell them " how I did the Yankees." Glorious
Texas ! what if thou art a little too much given to the Bowie-knife
and revolver, and what if grass- widows are somewhat frequent
in some of thy localities, thou art all right at heart ! Liberty
burns with a pure flame on thy prairies, and the day will yet
come when thou wilt be free. Thy fate, thus far, has been a
hard one. In a single generation thou hast changed thy politi
cal condition four times. When I first knew thee, thou wast
a Mexican province. You then became an independent State.

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 79t
In an evil hour you were beguiled into accepting the fatal em
brace of the Yankee. Learning your mistake, ere long, you
united your fortunes with those of the Confederate States, in
the hope again to be free. You did what it was in the power
of mortals to do, but the Fates were adverse, and you have
again been dragged down into worse than Mexican bondage.
Bide thy time ! Thou art rapidly filling up with population.
Thou wilt soon become an empire in thyself, and the day is
not far distant, when thou mayest again strike for freedom [
At Shreveport, I was hospitably entertained at the mansion
of Colonel "Williamson, serving on the staff of the command
ing general of the Trans-Mississippi Department, Kirby Smith.
The Mayor and a deputation of the Councils waited on me,
and tendered me a public dinner, but I declined. I remained
with Colonel "Williamson a couple of days, and the reader may
imagine how agreeable this relaxation, in comfortable quar
ters, was to me, after a journey of fourteen consecutive days
and nights, in a stage-coach, through a rough, and compara
tively wild country. Governor Allen was making Shreve
port the temporary seat of government of Louisiana, and I
had the pleasure of making his acquaintance, and dining with
him, in company with General Smith and his staff. The Gov
ernor was not only a genial, delightful companion, but a gal
lant soldier, who had rendered good service to the Confederacy
at the head of his regiment. He had been terribly wounded,
and was still hobbling about on crutches. He seemed to be
the idol of the people of his State. He was as charitable and
kind-hearted as brave, and the needy soldier, or soldier's wife,
neverleft his presence without the aid they came to seek.
My object in taking Shreveport in my route, instead of ,
striking for the Red River, some distance below, was to meet
my son, Major 0. J. Semmes, who, I had been informed at
Brownsville, was serving in this part of Louisiana. In the
beginning of the war he withdrew from West Point, where he
was within a year of graduating, and offered his sword to his
State — Alabama. I had not seen him since. He was now a
major of artillery, commanding a battalion in General Buck-
ner's army, stationed at Alexandria. Thither I now directed
my course. The river being too low for boating, I wat forced

796 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
to make another land journey. The General kindly put an
ambulance at my disposal, and my host, with the forethought
of a soldier, packed me a basket of provisions. My friend
and travelling companion, viz., the Jehu, who was tc drive
me, was an original. He was from Ohio, and had served
throughout the war as a private soldier in the Confederate
army. He had been in a good many fights and skirmishes,
and was full of anecdote. If he had an antipathy in the
world, it was against the Yankee, and nothing gave him half
so much pleasure, as to " fight his battles o'er again." As I
had a journey of four or five days before me — the distance
being 140 miles over execrable roads — the fellow was invalu
able to me. We passed through several of the localities where
General Banks had been so shamefully beaten by General
Dick Taylor, — at Mansfield, Pleasant Hill, and Monett's Ferry.
The fields were still strewn with the carcasses of animals ; a
few, unmarked hillocks, here and there, showed where soldiers
had been buried ; and the rent and torn timber marked the
course of the cannon-balls that had carried death to either side.
The Vandals, in their retreat, had revenged themselves on the
peaceful inhabitants, and every few miles the charred remains
of a dwelling told where some family had been unhoused, and
turned into the fields by the torch.
At Alexandria, I was kindly invited by General Buckner tc
become his guest during my stay, and he sent a courier at
once to inform my son, who was encamped a few miles below
the town, of my arrival. The latter came to see me the same
afternoon. I remained in the hospitable quarters of the Gen
eral a week before the necessary arrangements could be made
for my crossing the Mississippi. The enemy being in full pos
session of this river by means of his gunboats, it was a mat
ter of some little management to cross in safety. The trans-
Mississippi mails to Richmond had been sent over, however,
quite regularly, under the personal superintendence of a young
officer, detailed for the purpose, and the General was kind
enough to arrange for my crossing with this gentleman. The
news of my passing through Texas had reached the enemy at
New Orleans, as we learned by his newspapers, and great vigi
lance had beer enjoined on his gunboats to intercept me, if

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 797
possible. Our arrangements being completed, I left Alexan
dria on the 10th of December, accompanied by my son, who
had obtained a short leave of absence for the purpose of visit
ing his home, and reached the little village of Evergreen the
next day. Arrived at this point, we were joined by our com
panions of the mail service, and on the 13th we crossed both
the Red and Mississippi Rivers in safety.
The journey through the swamps, leading to these rivers,
was unique. We performed it on horseback, pursuing mere
bridle-paths and cattle-tracks, in single file, like so many In
dians. Our way sometimes led us through a forest of gigantic
trees, almost entirely devoid of under-growth, and resembling
very much, though after a wild fashion, the park scenery of
England. At other times we would plunge into a dense,
tangled brake, where the interlaced grape and other -vines
threatened every moment, to drag us from our saddles. The
whole was a drowned country, and impassable during the sea
son of rains. It was now, low water, and as we rode along, the
high-water marks on the trees were visible, many feet above
our heads. From this description of the country, the reader
will see how impossible it was for artillery or cavalry, or
even infantry, to operate on the banks of these rivers, during a
greater part of the year. Except at a few points, the enemy's
gunboats were almost as secure from attack as they would
have been, on the high seas. Occasionally, we had to swim a
deep bayou, whose waters looked as black as those of the
Stygian Lake ; but if the bayou was wide, as well as deep, we
more frequently dismounted, stripped our horses, and sur
rounding them, and shouting at them, made them take the
water in a drove, and swim over by themselves. We then
crossed in skiffs, which the mail-men had provided for the
purpose, and caught and resaddled our horses for a fresh
mount. We reached the bank of the Mississippi just before dark.
There were two of the enemy's gunboats anchored in the
river, at a distance of about three miles apart. As remarked
in another place, the enemy had converted every sort of a
water craft, into a ship of war, and now had them in such
number, that he was enabled to police the river in its entire

798 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT.
length, without the necessity of his boats being out of sight
of each other's smoke. The officers of these river craft were
mostly volunteers from the merchant service, whose commis
sions would expire with the war, and a greater set of predatory
rascals was, perhaps, never before collected in the history of
any government. They robbed the plantations, and demoral
ized them by trade, at the same time. Our people were hard
pressed for the necessaries of life, and a constant traffic was
being carried on with them, by these armed river steamers,
miscalled ships of war.
It would not do, of course, for us to attempt the passage of
the river, until after dark; and so we held ourselves under
cover of the forest, until the proper moment, and then em
barked in a small skiff, sending back the greater part of our
escort. Our boat was scarcely able to float the numbers that
were packed into her. Her gunwales were no more than six
inches above the water's edge. Fortunately for us, however,
the night was still, and the river smooth, and we pulled over
without accident. As we shot within the shadows of the op
posite bank, our conductor, before landing, gave a shrill whis
tle to ascertain whether all was right. The proper response
came directly, from those who were to meet us, and in a mo
ment more, we leaped on shore among friends. We found
spare horses awaiting us, and my son and myself slept that
night under the hospitable roof of Colonel Rose. The next
morning the colonel sent us to Woodville, in his carriage, and
in four or five days more, we were in Mobile, and I was at
home again, after an absence of four years I

CHAPTER LV1I.
AUTHOR SETS OUT FOR RICHMOND — IS TWO WEEKS IN
MAKING THE JOURNEY  INTERVIEW WITH PRESIDENT
DAVIS; WITH GENERAL LEE  AUTHOR IS APPOINTED
A REAR-ADMIRAL, AND ORDERED TO COMMAND THE
JAMES RIVER SQUADRON  ASSUMES COMMAND ; CON
DITION OF THE FLEET  GREAT DEMORALIZATION —
THE ENEMY'S ARMIES GRADUALLY INCREASING —
LEE'S LINES BROKEN.
I TELEGRAPHED my arrival, immediately, to the Secre
tary of the Navy at Richmond, informing him of my in
tention to proceed to that capital after resting for a few days.
The following reply came over the wires, in the course of a
few hours. " Congratulate you, on your safe arrival. When
ready to come on, regard this as an order to report to the
Department." - 1 did not, of course, dally long at home. The
enemy was pressing us too hard for me to think of sitting
down in inglorious ease, so long as it was possible that I
might be of service. At all events, it was my duty to pre
sent myself to the Government, and see if it had any com
mands for me. Accordingly, on the 2d of January, 1865, I
put myself en route for Richmond. I was two weeks making
my way to the capital of the Confederacy, owing the many
breaks which had been made in the roads by raiding parties
of the enemy, and by Sherman's march through Georgia.
Poor Georgia! she had suffered terribly during this Vandal
march of conflagration and pillage, and I found her people
terribly demoralized. I stopped a day in Columbia, the
beautiful capital of South Carolina, afterward so barbarously
burned by a drunken and disorderly soldierly, with no offi
cer to raise his hand to stay the conflagration. Passing on,
51 799

800 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
as soon as some temporary repairs could be made on a break
in the road, ahead of me, I reached Richmond, without further
stoppages, and was welcomed at his house, by my friend and
relative, the Hon. Thomas J. Semmes, a senator in the Con
federate Congress from the State of Louisiana.
I had thus travelled all the way from the eastern boundary
of Mexico, to Richmond, by land, a journey, which, perhaps
has seldom been performed. In this long and tedious jour
ney, through the entire length of the Confederacy, I had been
painfully struck with the changed aspect of things, since I had
left the country in the spring of 1861. Plantations were
ravaged, slaves were scattered, and the country was suffering
terribly for the want of the most common necessaries of life.
Whole districts of country had been literally laid waste by
the barbarians who had invaded us. The magnificent valley
of the Red River, down which, as the reader has seen, I had
recently travelled, had been burned and pillaged for the dis
tance of a hundred and fifty miles. Neither Alaric, nor Attila
ever left such a scene of havoc and desolation in his rear.
Demoniac Yankee hate had been added to the thirst for plun
der. Sugar-mills, saw-mills, salt-works, and even the grist
mills which ground the daily bread for families, had been laid
in ashes — their naked chimneys adding ghastliness to the
picture. Reeling, drunken soldiers passed in and out of
dwellings, plundering and insulting their inmates ; and if dis
appointed in the amount of their plunder, or resisted, applied
the torch in revenge. Many of these miscreants were foreign
ers, incapable of speaking the English language. The few
dwellings that were left standing, looked like so many houses
of mourning. Once the seats of hospitality and refinement,
and the centres of thrifty plantations, with a contented and
happy laboring population around them, they were now shut
up and abandoned. There was neither human voice in the
hall, nor neigh of steed in the pasture. The tenantless negro
cabins told the story of the war. The Yankee had liberated
the slave, and armed him to make war upon his former mas
ter. The slaves who had not been enlisted in the Federal
armies, were wandering, purposeless, about the country, in
squads, thieving, famishing, and dying. This was the charac-

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 801
ter of the war our brethren of the North— God save the mark
— were making upon us.
To add to the heart-sickening features of the picture, our
own people had become demoralized ! Men, generally, seemed
to have given up the cause as lost, and to have set themselves
at work, like wreckers, to save as much as possible from the
sinking ship. The civilians had betaken themselves to specu
lation and money-getting, and the soldiers to drinking and de
bauchery. Such, in brief, was the picture which presented it
self to my eyes as I passed through the Confederacy. The
Alabama had gone to her grave none too soon. If she had not
been buried with the honors of war, with the howling winds
of the British Channel to sing her requiem, she might sooii
have been handed over to the exultant Yankee, to be exhibited
at Boston, as a trophy of the war.
My first official visit in Richmond was, of course, to the
President. I found him but. little changed, in personal appear
ance, since I had parted with him in Montgomery, the then
seat of government, in April, 1861. But he was evidently
deeply impressed with the critical state of the country, though
maintaining an outward air of cheerfulness and serenity. I ex
plained to him briefly, what, indeed, he already knew too well, the
loss of my ship. He was kind enough to say that, though he
deeply regretted her loss, he knew that I had acted for the
best, and that he had nothing with which to reproach me. I
dined with him on a subsequent day. There was only one
other guest present. Mrs. Davis was more impressed with
events than the President. With her womanly instinct, she
already saw the handwriting on the wall. But though the
coming calamity would involve her household in ruin, she
maintained her self-possession and cheerfulness. The Con
gress, which was in session, received me with a distinction
which I had little merited. Both houses honored me by a
vote of thanks for my services, and invited me to a privileged
seat on the floor. The legislature of Virginia, also in session,
extended to me the same honors.
As soon as I could command a leisure moment, I paid Gen
eral Lee a visit, at his headquarters near Petersburg, and spent
a night with him. I had served with him in the Mexican

802 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
war. We discussed together the critical state of the country,
and of his army, — we were now near the end of January, 1865,
— and I thought the grand old chieftain and Christian gentle
man seemed to foreshadow, in his conversation — more by
manner than by words — the approaching downfall of the cause
for which we were both struggling. I had come to him, I told
him, to speak of what I had seen of the people, and of the
army, in my transit across the country, and to say to him, that
unless prompt measures could be devised to put an end to the
desertions that were going on among our troops, our cause
must inevitably be lost. He did not seem to be at all sur
prised at the revelations I made. He knew all about the con
dition of the country, civil and military, but seemed to feel
himself powerless to prevent the downward tendency of things.
And he was right. It was no longer in the power of any one
man to save the country. The body-politic was already dead.
The people themselves had given up the contest, and this being
the case, no army could do more than retard the catastrophe
for a few months. Besides, his army was, itself, melting away.
That very night — as I learned the next morning, at the break
fast table — 160 men deserted in a body! It was useless to
attempt to shoot deserters, when demoralization had gone to
this extent.
After I had been in Richmond a few weeks, the President
was pleased to nominate me to the Senate as a rear-admiral.
My nomination was unanimously confirmed, and, in a few days
afterward, I was appointed to the command of the James River
fleet. My commission ran as follows : —
Confederate States of America, )
Navy Department, Richmond, February 10, 1865. j
Rear-Admiral Raphael Semmes.
Sir : — You are hereby informed that the President has appointed
you, by and with the advice of the Senate, a Rear- Admiral, in the
Provisional Navy of the Confederate States, "for gallant and
meritorious conduct, in command of the steam-sloop Alabama."
You are requested to signify your acceptance, or non-acceptance of
this appointment.
S. R. Mallory,
Secretary of the Navy.

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 803
An old and valued friend, Commodore J. K. Mitchell, had
been in command of the James River fleet and I displaced
him very reluctantly. He had organized and disciplined the
fleet, and had accomplished with it all that was possible
viz., the protection of Richmond by water. I assumed my
command on the 18th of February, 1865. My fleet consisted
of three iron-clads and five wooden gunboats. I found my
old first lieutenant, Kell, who had preceded me to Richmond,
and been made a commander, in command of one of the iron
clads, but he was soon obliged to relinquish his command, on
account of failing health. As reorganized, the fleet stood as
follows : —
Virginia, iron-clad, flag-ship, four guns, Captain Dunnington.
Richmond, iron-clad, four guns, Captain Johnson.
Fredericksburg, iron-clad, four guns, Captain Glassel.
Hampton, wooden, two guns, Captain Wilson, late of the
Alabama. Nansemond, wooden, two guns, Captain Butt.
Roanoke, wooden, two guns, Captain Pollock.
Beaufort, wooden, two guns, Captain Wyatt.
Torpedo, wooden, one gun, Captain Roberts.
The fleet was assisted, in the defence of the river, by several
shore batteries, in command of naval officers ; as Drury's Bluff;
Battery Brooke; Battery Wood, and Battery Semmes — the
whole under the command of my old friend, Commodore John
R. Tucker.
I soon had the mortification to find that the fleet was as
much demoralized as the army. Indeed, with the exception
of its principal officers, and about half a dozen sailors in each
ship, its personnel was drawn almost entirely from the army.
The movements of the ships being confined to the head-waters
of a narrow river, they were but little better than prison-ships.
Both men and officers were crowded into close and uncomfort
able quarters, without the requisite space for exercise. I reme
died this, as much as possible, by sending squads on shore, to
drill and march on the river-bank. They were on half rations,
and with but a scanty supply of clothing. Great discontent
and restlessness prevailed. Constant applications were coming
to me for leaves of absenee — almost every one having some

804 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
story to tell of a sick or destitute family. I was obliged, of
course, to resist all these appeals. " The enemy was thunder
ing at the gates," and not a man could be spared. Desertion
was the consequence. Sometimes an entire boat's crew would
run off, leaving the officer to find his way on board the best
he might. The strain upon them had been too great. It was
scarcely to be expected of men, of the class of those who
usually form the rank and file of ships' companies, that they
would rise above their natures, and sacrifice themselves by
slow but sure degrees, in any cause, however holy. The vis
ions of home and fireside, and freedom from restraint were too
tempting to be resisted. The general understanding, that the
collapse ofthe Confederacy was at hand, had its influence with
some of the more honorable of them. They reasoned that
their desertion would be but an anticipation of the event by a
few weeks.
To add to the disorder, the "Union element," as it was
called, began to grow bolder. This element was composed
mainly of Northern-born men, who had settled among us be
fore the war. In the height of the war, when the Southern
States were still strong, and when independence was not only
possible, but probable, these men pretended to be good South
erners. The Puritan leaven, which was in their natures, was
kept carefully concealed. Hypocrisy was now no longer ne
cessary. Many of these men were preachers of the various
denominations, and schoolmasters. These white-cravatted gen
tlemen now sprang into unusual activity. Every mail brought
long and artfully written letters from some of these scoundrels,
tempting my men to desert. Some of these letters came under
my notice, and if I could have gotten hold of the writers, I
should have been glad to give them the benefit of a short
shrift, and one of my yard-arms. If I had had my fleet upon
the sea, it would have been an easy matter to restore its dis
cipline, but my ships were, in fact, only so many tents, into
which entered freely all the bad influences of which I speak.
I was obliged to perform guard-boat duty on the river, and
picket duty on shore, and these duties gave my men all the
opportunities of escape that they desired.
With regard to the defence of Richmond by water, I felt

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 805
quite secure. No fleet of the enemy could have passed my
three iron-clads, moored across the stream, in the only avail
able channel, with obstructions below me, which would hold
it under my fire, and that of the naval batteries on shore by
which I was flanked. Indeed, the enemy, seeing the hopeless
ness of approach by water, had long since given up the idea.
The remainder of the winter passed slowly and tediously
enough. A few months earlier, and I might have had some
thing to occupy me. For a long time, there was no more than
a single iron-clad in the lower James, the enemy being busy
with Charleston and Wilmington. An attack on City Point,
Grant's base of operations, and whence he drew all his supplies,
would have been quite practicable. If the store-houses at that
place could have been burned, there is no telling what might
have been the consequences. But now, Charleston and Wil
mington having fallen, and the enemy having no further use
for his iron-clad fleet, on the coasts of North and South Caro
lina, he had concentrated the whole of it on the lower James,
under the command of Admiral Porter, who, as the reader has
seen, had chased me, so quixotically, in the old frigate Powhat-
tan, in the commencement of the war. At first, this concentra
tion looked like a preparation for an attempted ascent of the
river, but if any attempt bf the kind was ever entertained by
Porter, he had the good sense, when he came to view the
"situation," to abandon it.
I usually visited the Navy Department, during this anxious
period, once a week, to confer with the Secretary on the state
of my fleet, and the attitude of the enemy, and to receive any
orders or suggestions that the Government might have to
make. Mr. Mallory was kind enough, on these occasions, to
give me carte blanche, and leave me pretty much to myself.
At length the winter passed, and spring set in. The winds
and the sun of March began to dry the roads, and put them in
good order for military operations, and every one anticipated
stirring events. As I sat in my twilight cabin, on board the
Virginia, and pored over the map of North Carolina, and
plotted upon it, from day to day, the approaches of Sherman,
the prospect seemed gloomy enough. As before remarked,
Charleston and Wilmington had fallen. With the latter, we

806 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
had lost our last blockade-running port. Our ports were now
all hermetically sealed. The anaconda had, at last, wound his
fatal folds around us. With fields desolated at home, and all
supplies from abroad cut off, starvation began to stare us in
the face. Charleston was evacuated on the 17th of February
— General Hardee having no more than time to get his troops
out of the city, and push on ahead of Sherman, and join Gen
eral Joseph E. Johnson, who had again been restored to com
mand. Fort Anderson, the last defence of Wilmington, fell
on the 19th of the same month. Sherman was, about this
time, at Columbia, South Carolina, where he forever disgraced
himself by burning, or permitting to be burned, it matters not
which, that beautiful city, which had already surrendered to
his arms. The opportunity was too good to be lost. The
Puritan was at last in the city of the cavalier. The man of
ruder habits and coarser civilization, was in the presence of
the more refined gentleman whom he had envied and hated
for generations. The ignoble passions of race-hatred and re
venge were gratified, and Massachusetts, through the agency
of a brutal and debauched soldiery, had put her foot upon the
neck of prostrate South Carolina ! This was humiliation in
deed ! The coarse man of mills and manufactures had at last
found entrance as a master into the halls of the South Carolina
planter 1
It was generally expected that Sherman would move upon
Charlotte, North Carolina, one of the most extensive depots of
the South, and thence to Danville, and so on to Richmond, to
unite his forces with those of Grant. There was nothing to
oppose him. In ten days at the farthest, after burning Colum
bia, he could have effected a junction with Grant before Peters
burg. But the " great commander " seemed suddenly to have
lost his courage, and to the astonishment of every one, soon
after passing Winsboro', North Carolina, which lies on the road
to Charlotte, he swung his army off to the right, and marched
in the direction of Fayetteville 1 His old antagonist, Johnston,
was endeavoring to gather together the broken remains of the
Army of the Tennessee, and he was afraid of him. His object
now was to put himself in communication with Schofield, who
had landed at Wilmington and at Newbern with a large force

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 807
and establish a new base of operations at these points. He
would be safe here, as his troops could be fed, and in case of
disaster, he could fall back upon the sea, and upon Porter's
gunboats. He effected the contemplated junction with Scho
field, at Goldsboro', North Carolina, on the 21st of March.
He had not touched any of Lee's communications with his
depots since leaving Winsboro'; the destruction of which
communications Grant had so much at heart, and which had
been the chief object of his — Sherman's — " great march." At
Goldsboro' he was still 150 miles from Grant's lines, and he
took no further part in the campaign.
His junction with Schofield had not been effected without
disaster. At Kinston, Bragg gained a victory over Schofield,
utterly routing him, and taking 1500 prisoners ; and at Ben-
tonsville, Johnston checked, and gained some advantage over
Sherman. As the reader is supposed to be looking over the
map with me, we will now stick a pin in the point representing
Goldsboro', and throw Sherman and Schofield out of view.
In the latter part of March, Sheridan, having overrun
Early's small force, in the valley of the Shenandoah, found
himself at liberty to join General Grant. He brought with
him from 10,000 to 12,000 excellent cavalry. Grant's army
was thus swollen to 160,000 men. Adding Sherman's and
Schofield's forces of 100,000, we have 260,000. In the
meantime, Lee's half-starved, ragged army, had dwindled to
33, 000. With this small number of men he was compelled to
guard an intrenched line of forty miles in length, extending
from the north side of the James River, below Richmond, to
Hatcher's Run, south of Petersburg. As a mere general, he
would have abandoned the hopeless task long ago, extricating
his army, and throwing it into the field, but cui bono ? With
Virginia in the enemy's possession, with a beaten people, and
an army fast melting away by desertion, could the war be con
tinued with any hope of success? If we could not defend
ourselves before Richmond, could we defend ourselves any
where ? That was the question.
Grant's object was to force Lee's right in the vicinity of
Hatcher s Run ; but he masked this intention, as much as pos
sible, by occasionally threatening the whole line. I had fre-

808 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT.
quent opportunity, from the deck of my flag-ship, to witness
terrible artillery conflicts where nobody was killed. Suddenly,
on a still night, all the enemy's batteries would be ablaze, and
the heavens aroar with his firing. The expenditure of powder
was enormous, and must have gladdened the hearts of the Yan
kee contractors. I would sometimes be aroused from slumber,
and informed that a great battle was going on. On one or two
occasions, I made some slight preparations for defence, myself,
not knowing but Porter might be fool enough to come up the
river, under the inspiration of this powder-burning, and boom
ing of cannon. But it all amounted to nothing more than
Chinese grimaces, and " stink-pots," resorted to to throw Lee
off his guard, and prevent him from withdrawing men from his
left, to reinforce his right.
The final and successful assault of Grant was not long de
layed. The lines in the vicinity of Petersburg having been
weakened, by the necessity of withdrawing troops to defend
Lee's extreme right, resting now on a point called the Five
Forks, Grant, on the morning of Sunday, the 2d of April
made a vigorous assault upon them, and broke them. Lee's
army was uncovered, and Richmond was no longer tenable 1

CHAPTER LVIII.
THE EVACUATION OF RICHMOND BY THE ARMY — THE
DESTRUCTION OF THE JAMES RIVER FLEET  THE
SAILORS OF THE FLEET CONVERTED INTO SOLDIERS 
THEIR HELPLESS CONDITION WITHOUT ANY MEANS OF
TRANSPORTATION  THE CONFLAGRATION OF RICHMOND
AND THE ENTRY OF THE ENEMY INTO THE CONFED
ERATE CAPITAL  THE AUTHOR IMPROVISES A RAIL
ROAD TRAIN, AND ESCAPES IN IT WITH HIS COMMAND,
TO DANVILLE, VA.
AS I was sitting down to dinner, about four o'clock, on the
afternoon of the disastrous day mentioned in the last
chapter, on board my flag-ship, the Virginia, one of the small
steamers of my fleet came down from Richmond, having on
board a special messenger from the Navy Department. Upon
being introduced into my cabin, the messenger presented me
with a sealed package. Up to this time, I was ignorant, of
course, of what had occurred at Petersburg. I broke the seal
and read as follows : —
Confederate States of America, \
Executive Office, Richmond, Va., April 2, 1865. j
Rear-Admiral Raphael Semmes,
Commanding James River Squadron.
Sir : — General Lee advises the Government to withdraw from
this city, and the officers will leave this evening, accordingly. I pre
sume that General Lee has advised you of this, and of his move
ments, and made suggestions as to the disposition to be made of
your squadron. He withdraws upon his lines toward Danville, this
night ; and unless otherwise directed by General Lee, upon you is
devolved the duty of destroying your" ships, this night, and with
all the forces under your command, joining General Lee. Confer
with him, if practicable, before destroying them. Let your people
be rationed, as far as possible, for the march, and armed and
809

810 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
equipped for duty in the field. Very 1 espectfully, your obedient
servant, S. R. Mallory, Secretary of the Navy.
This was rather short notice. Richmond was to be evacu
ated during the night, during which I was to burn my ships,
accoutre and provision my men, and join General Lee ! But
i had become used to emergencies, and was not dismayed. 1
signalled all my captains to come on board, and communicated
to them the intelligence I had received, and concerted with
them the programme of the night's work. It was not possible
to attempt anything before dark, without exciting the suspi
cions of the enemy, as we were no more than four or five mile3
from his lines ; and I enjoined upon my commanders the ne
cessity of keeping their secret, until the proper moment for
action should arrive. The sun was shining brightly, the after
noon was calm, and nature was just beginning to put on her
spring attire. The fields were green with early grass, the
birds were beginning to twitter, and the ploughman had
already broken up his fields for planting his corn. I looked
abroad upon the landscape, and contrasted the peace and quiet
of nature, so heedless of man's woes, with the disruption of a
great Government, and the ruin of an entire people which
were at hand !
So unsuspioious were the Government subordinates, of what
was going on, that the flag-of-truce boats were still plying be
tween Richmond, and the enemy's head-quarters, a few miles
below us, on the river, carrying backward and forward ex
changed prisoners. As those boats would pass us, coming up
the river, filled to overflowing with our poor fellows just re
leased from Yankee prisons, looking wan and hollow-eyed, the
prisoners would break into the most enthusiastic cheering as
they passed my flag. It seemed to welcome them home. They
little dreamed, that it would be struck that night, forever, and
the fleet blown into the air ; that their own fetters had been
knocked off in vain, and that they were to pass, henceforth,
under the rule of the hated Yankee. I was sick at heart as I
listened to those cheers, and reflected upon the morrow.
General Lee had failed to give me any notice of his disaster,
or of what his intentions were. As mine was an entirely in-

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 811
dependent command, he, perhaps, rightly considered, that it
was the duty of the Executive Government to do this. Still,
in accordance with the expressed wishes of Mr. Mallory, I
endeavored to communicate with him ; sending an officer on
shore to the signal station, at Drury's Bluff, for the purpose.
No response came, however, to our telegrams, and night having
set in, I paid no further attention to the movements of the
army. I plainly saw that it was a case of sauve qui pent, and
that I must take care of myself. I was to make another Ala
iama-plunge into the sea, and try my luck. Accordingly,
when night drew her friendly curtain between the enemy and
myself, I got all my ships under way, and ran up to Drury's
Bluff. It was here I designed to blow up the iron-clads, throw
their crews on board the wooden gunboats, and proceed in the
latter to Manchester, opposite Richmond, on my way to join
General Lee. Deeming secrecy of great importance to the
army, in its attempted escape from its lines, my first intention
was to sink my fleet quietly, instead of blowing it up, as the
explosions would give the enemy notice of what was going on.
The reader may judge of my surprise, when, in the course of
an hour ,or two after dark, I saw the whole horizon, on the
north side of the James, glowing with fires of burning quar
ters, materiel, &c, lighted by our own troops, as they succes
sively left their intrenchments ! Concealment on my part was
no longer necessary or indeed practicable.
I now changed my determination and decided upon burning
my fleet. My officers and men worked like beavers. There
were a thousand things to be done. The sailor was leaving
the homestead which he had inhabited for several months.
Arms had to be served out, provisions gotten up out of the
hold, and broken into such packages, as the sailors could
carry. Hammocks had to be unlashed, and the blankets taken
out, and rolled up as compactly as possible. Haversacks and
canteens had to be improvised. These various operations oc
cupied us until a late hour. It was between two and three
o'clock in the morning, before the crews of the iron-clads were
all safely embarked on board the wooden gunboats, and the
iron-clads were well on fire. My little squadron of wooden
boats now moved off up the river, by the glare of the burning

812 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
iron-clads. They had not proceeded far, before an explosion,
like the shock of an earthquake, took place, and the air was
filled with missiles. It was the blowing up of the Virginia,
my late flag-ship. The spectacle was grand beyond descrip
tion. Her shell-rooms had been full of loaded shells. The
explosion of the magazine threw all these shells, with their
fuses lighted, into the air. The fuses were of different lengths,
and as the shells exploded by twos and threes, and by the
dozen, the pyrotechnic effect was very fine. The explosion
shook the houses in Richmond, and must have waked the
echoes of the night for forty miles around.
There are several bridges spanning the James between
Drury's Bluff and the city, and at one of these we were de
tained an hour, the draw being down to permit the passage of
some of the troops from the north side of the river, who had
lighted the bonfires of which I have spoken. Owing to this
delay, the sun — a glorious, unclouded sun, as if to mock our
misfortunes — was now rising over Richmond. Some windows,
which fronted to the east, were all aglow with his rays, mim
icking the real fires that were already breaking out in vari
ous parts of the city. In the lower part of the city, the School-
ship Patrick Henry was burning, and some of the houses near
the Navy Yard were on fire. But higher up was the principal
scene of the conflagration. Entire blocks were on fire here,
and a dense canopy of smoke, rising high in the still morning
air, was covering the city as with a pall. The rear-guard of
our army had just crossed, as I landed my fleet at Manchester,
and the bridges were burning in their rear. The Tredegar
Iron Works were on fire, and continual explosions of loaded
Bhell stored there were taking place. In short, the scene can
not be described by mere words, but the reader may conceive
a tolerable idea of it, if he will imagine himself to be looking on
Pandemonium broken loose.
The population was in a great state of alarm. Hundreds
of men and women had sought refuge on the Manchester side,
in the hope of getting away, by some means or other, they
knew not how. I was, myself, about the most helpless man in
the whole crowd. I had just tumbled on shore, with their
bags and baggage, 500 sailors, incapable of marching % dozen
miles with« at becoming foot-sore, and without any means,

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 813
whatever, of transportation being provided for them. I had
not so much as a pack-mule to carry a load of provisions. I
was on foot, myself, in the midst of my men. A current of
horsemen, belonging to our retreating column, was sweeping
past me, but there was no horse for me to mount. It was
every man for himself, and d — 1 take the hindmost. Some
of the young cavalry rascals — lads of eighteen or twenty —
as they passed, jibed and joked with my old salts, asking them
how they liked navigating the land, and whether they did not
expect to anchor in Fort Warren pretty soon ? The spectacle
presented by my men was, indeed, r(ather a ludicrous one;
loaded down, as they were, with pots, and pans, and mess-
kettles, bags of bread, and chunks of salted pork, sugar, tea,
tobacco, and pipes. It was as much as they could do to stag
ger under their loads — marching any distance seemed out of
the question. As I reviewed my "troops," after they had been
drawn up by my captains, who were now all become colonels,
I could not but repeat to myself Mr. Mallory's last words —
"You will join General Lee, in the field, with all your forces."
Yes; here were my "forces," but where, the d — 1, was
General Lee, and how was I to join him? If I had had the
Secretary of the Navy, on foot, by the side of me, I rather
think this latter question would have puzzled him.
But there was no time to be lost, — I must do something.
The first thing, of course, after landing my men, was to burn
my wooden gunboats. This was done. They were fired, and
shoved off from the landing, and permitted to float down the
stream. I then "put my column in motion," and we "marched"
a distance of several squares, blinded by the dust kicked up
by those vagabonds on horseback, before mentioned. When
we came in sight of the railroad depot, I halted, and inquired
of some of the fugitives who were rushing by, about the
trains. " The trains ! " said they, in astonishment at my
question ; " the last train left at daylight this morning — it
was filled with the dvil officers of the Government." Not
withstanding this answer, I moved my command up to the
station and workshops, to satisfy myself by a personal inspec
tion. It was well that I did so, as it saved my command from
the capture that impended over it. I found it quite true, that
the "last train " had departed ; and, also, that all the railroad-

814 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
men had either run off in the train, or hidden themselves out
of view. There was no one in charge of anything, and no
one who knew anything. But there was some material lying
around me ; and, with this, I resolved to set up railroading on
my own account. Having a dozen and more steam-engineers
along with me, from my late fleet, I was perfectly independent
of the assistance of the alarmed railroad-men, who had taken
to flight.
A pitiable scene presented itself, upon our arrival at the sta
tion. Great numbers had flocked thither, in the hope of
escape ; frightened men, despairing women, and crying chil
dren. Military patients had hobbled thither from the hos
pitals; civil employees of the Government, who had missed
the "last train," by being a little too late, had come to remedy
their negligence ; and a great number of other citizens, who
were anxious to get out of the presence of the hated Yankee,
had rushed to the station, they scarcely knew why. These
people had crowded into, and on the top of, a few straggling
passenger-cars, that lay uncoupled along the track, in seeming
expectation that some one was to come, in due time, and take
them off. There was a small engine lying also on the track,
but there was no fire in its furnace, no fuel with which to
make a fire, and no one to manage it. Such was the condition
of affairs when I "deployed" my "forces" upon the open
square, and " grounded arms," — the butts of my rifles not
ringing on the ground quite as harmoniously as I could have
desired. Soldiering was new to Jack ; however, he would do
better by-and-by.
My first move was to turn all these wretched people I have
described out of the cars. Many plaintive appeals were made
to me by the displaced individuals, but my reply to them all
was, that it was better for an unarmed citizen to fall into the
hands of the enemy, than a soldier with arms in his hands.
The cars were then drawn together and coupled, and my own
people placed in them. We next took the engine in hand. A
body of my marine " sappers and miners " were set at work to
pull down a picket fence, in front of one of the dwellings, and
chop it into firewood. An engineer and firemen were detailed
for the locomotive, and in a very few minutes, we had the steam
hissing from 'ts boiler. I now permitted as many of the fright-

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 815
ened citizens as could find places to clamber upon the cars.
All being in readiness, with the triumphant air of a man who
had overcome a great difficulty, and who felt as if he might
snap his fingers at the Yankees once more, I gave the order to
" go ahead." But this was easier said than done. The little
locomotive started at a snail's pace, and drew us creepingly
along, until we reached a slightly ascending grade, which oc
curs almost immediately after leaving the station. Here it
came to a dead halt. The firemen stirred their fires, the en
gineer turned on all his steam, the engine panted and strug
gled and screamed, but all to no purpose. We were effectually
stalled. Our little iron horse was incompetent to do the work
which had been required of it. Here was a predicament !
We were still directly opposite the city of Richmond, and
in full view of it, for the track of the road runs some distance
up the river-bank, before it bends away westward. Amid
flames and smoke and tumult and disorder, the enemy's hosts
were pouring into the streets of the proud old capital. Long
lines of cavalry and artillery and infantry could be seen, mov
ing like a huge serpent through the streets, and winding their
way to State-House Square. As a crowning insult, a regiment
of negro cavalry, wild with savage delight at the thought of
triumphing over their late masters, formed a prominent fea
ture in the grand procession. Alongside of the black savage
marched the white savage — worthy compeers! nay, scarcely;
the black savage, under the circumstances, was the more
worthy of respect of the two. The prophecy of Patrick
Henry was fulfilled ; the very halls, in which he had thun
dered forth the prophecy, were in possession ofthe "stranger,"
against whom he had warned his countrymen ! My temporary
safety lay in two circumstances : first, the enemy was so drunk
with his suocess, that he had no eyes for any one but himself
and the population of the proud city of Richmond which he
was seeking to abase ; and secondly, the bridges leading across
the river were all on fire. Whilst I was pondering what was
best to be done, whether I should uncouple a portion of the
train, and permit the rest to escape, an engineer came running
to me to say that he had discovered another engine, which the
absconding railroad people had hidden away in the recesses
of their work-shops. The new engine was rolled out immedi-
62

816 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
ately, steam raised on it in a few minutes, and by the aid of
the two engines, we gave our train, with the indifferent fuel
we had, a speed of five or six miles per hour, until we reached
the first wood-pile. Here getting hold of some better fuel, we
fired up with better effect, and went thundering, with the usual
speed, on our course.
It was thus, after I had, in fact, been abandoned by the
Government and the army, that I saved my command from
capture. I make no charges — utter no complaints. Perhaps
neither the Government, nor the army was to blame. The
great disaster fell upon them both so suddenly, that, perhaps,
neither could do any better ; but the naked fact is, that the
fleet was abandoned to shift for itself, there .being, as before
remarked, not only no transportation provided for carrying a
pound of provisions, or a cooking-utensil, but not even a horse
for its Admiral to mount. As a matter of course, great disorder
prevailed, in all the villages, and at all the way-stations, by
which we passed. We had a continual accession of passen
gers, until not another man could be packed upon the train.
So great was the demoralization, that we picked up "unat
tached" generals and colonels on the road, in considerable
numbers. The most amusing part of our journey, however,
was an attempt made by some of the railroad officials to take
charge of our train, after we had gotten some distance from
Richmond. Conductors and engineers now came forward, and
insisted upon regulating our affairs for us. We declined the
good offices of these gentlemen, and navigated to suit our
selves. The president, or superintendent of the road, I forget
which, even had the assurance to complain, afterward, to Pres
ident Davis, at Danville, of my usurping his authority ! Sim
ple civilian ! discreet railroad officer ! to scamper off in the
manner related, and then to complain of my usurping his
authority 1 My railroad cruise ended the next day — April
4th — about midnight, when we reached the city of Danville,
and blew off our steam, encamping in the cars for the re
mainder of the night. Our escape had been narrow, in more
respects than one. After turning Lee's flank, at the Five Forks,
the enemy made a dash at the Southside Railroad ; Sheridan
with his cava'ry tearing up the rails at the Burksville Junction
just one hour and a half after we had passed it.

CHAPTER LIX.
interview with president davd3 and secretary
mallory  my command organized as a brigade
of artillery  brigade marches to greensboro',
north carolina  capitulation between general
joseph e. johnston and sherman  dispersion of
Johnston's troops — author returns home, and
is arrested — conclusion.
MY memoirs are drawing to a close, for the career of the
Confederacy, as well as my own, is nearly ended. I
found, at Danville, President Davis, and a portion of his cabi
net — the Secretary of the Navy among the rest. Here was
temporarily established the seat of Government. I called on
the President and Secretary, who were staying at the same
house, at an early hour on the morning after my arrival,
and reported for duty. They were both calm in the pres
ence of the great disaster which had befallen them and the
country. Mr. Mallory could scarcely be said now to have a
portfolio, though he still had the officers and clerks of his
Department around him. It was at once arranged between
him, and the President, that my command should be organized
as a brigade of artillery, and assigned to the defences around
Danville. The question of my rank being discussed, it was
settled by Mr. Davis, that I should act in the capacity of a
brigadier-general. My grade being that of a rear-admiral, I
was entitled to rank, relatively, with the officers of the army,
as a major-general, but it was folly, of course, to talk of rank, in
the circumstances in which we were placed, and so I contented
myself by saying pleasantly to the President, that I would
waive the matter of rank, to be discussed hereafter, if there
should ever be occasion to discuss it. " That is the right spirit,"
said he, with a smile playing over his usually grave features.
I did not see him afterward. He moved soon to Charlotte,
in North Carolina, and in a few weeks afterward, he fell into
817

818 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
the hands of the enemy. The reader knows the rest of his
history ; how the enemy gloated over his captivity ; how he
was reviled, and insulted, by the coarse and brutal men into
whose power he had fallen; how lies were invented as to the
circumstances of his capture, to please and amuse the Northern
multitudes, eager for his blood ; and finally, how he was de
graded by imprisonment, and the manacles of a felon! His
captors and he were of different races — of different blood.
They had nothing in common. He was the " Cavalier," en
dowed by nature with the instincts and refinement of the gen
tleman. They were of the race of the Roundheads, to whom all
such instincts and refinements were offensive. God has cre
ated men in different moulds, as he has created the animals. It
was as natural that the Yankee should hate Jefferson Davis, as
that the cat should arch its back, and roughen its fur, upon
the approach of the dog. I have said that the American war
had its origin in money, and that it was carried on through
out, "for a consideration." It ended in the same way. The
"long-haired barbarian" — see Gibbon's "Decline and Fall of
the Roman Empire " — who laid his huge paw upon Jefferson
Davis, to make him prisoner, was paid in \noney for the gal
lant deed. A President of the United States had degraded
his high office, by falsely charging Mr. Davis with being an
accomplice in the murder of President Lincoln, and offered a
reward for his apprehension ; thus gratifying his malignant
nature, by holding him up to the world as a common felon.
All men now know this charge to be false, the libeller among
the rest. Gentlemen retract false charges, when they know
them to be such. The charge made by Andrew Johnson
against Jefferson Davis has not been retracted.
Upon leaving the presence of the President, and Secretary
of the Navy, I sought out my old friend, Captain Sydney
Smith Lee, of the Navy, the Assistant Secretary, who had ac
companied Mr. Mallory, and arranged with him, and afterward
with General Cooper, the Adjutant-General of the Army, the
transformation of my sailors into soldiers. There were a great
many other naval officers, besides those under my command,
fugitives in Danville, and the President and Secretary had
been kind enough to authorize me to employ such of them in

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 819
my new organization, as I might desire. But the difficulty
was not in the want of officers; it was the want of men.
Already my command of five hundred had dwindled down to
about four hundred on my retreat from Richmond, and since
my arrival in Danville. I broke these into skeleton regiments,
so as to conform to the Brigade organization, and appointed
Dunnington, late Captain of my flag-ship, the Colonel of one of
them, and Johnston, late Captain of the Richmond, Colonel of
the other. My youngest son, who had been a midshipman on
board the School-ship at Richmond, and who had retreated
thence with the School, on the night before the surrender, was
ordered by Captain Lee to report to me, and I assigned him to
a position on my staff, with the rank of a second lieutenant.
Mr. Daniel, my secretary, became my other aide-de-camp, and
Captain Butt, late commander of the Nansemond, was appointed
Assistant Adjutant-General.
We remained in the trenches before Danville ten days ; and
anxious, and weary days they were. Raiding parties were
careering around us in various directions, robbing and mal
treating the inhabitants, but none of the thieves ventured
within reach of our, guns. Lee abandoned his lines, on the
3d of April, and surrendered his army, or the small remnant
that was left of it, to Grant, on the 9th, at Appomattox Court-
House. The first news we received of his surrender, came to
us from the stream of fugitives which now came pressing into
our lines at Danville. It was heart-rending to look upon these
men, some on foot, some on horseback, some nearly famished
for want of food, and others barely able to totter along from
disease. It was, indeed, a rabble rout. Hopes had been enter
tained that Lee might escape to Lynchburg, or to Danville
and save his army. The President had entertained this hope,
and had issued a proclamation of encouragement to the peo
ple, before he left Danville. But the fatal tidings came at last
and when they did come, we all felt that the fate of the Con
federacy was sealed.
A new impetus was given to desertions, and before I reached
Greensboro', North Carolina, to which point I was now re
moved by the orders of General Joseph E. Johnston, my com
mand had dwindled to about 250 men. Commissioned officer?

820 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
slunk away from me one by one, and became deserters I I was
ashamed of my countrymen. Johnston, by reason of his great,
personal popularity, and of the confidence which the troops
had in his ability, was enabled to gather around him the frag
ments of several armies, whilst Grant had been pressing Lee ;
and but for Lee's disaster would soon have been able to hold
Sherman in check very effectually. But the moment the news
of Lee's surrender reached him, there was a stampede from his
army. It melted away like a hillock of snow before the sun
shine. Whole companies deserted at a time. Still, many
true men remained with him, and with these he stood so defi
antly before Sherman, that the latter was glad to enter into
negotiations with him for the dispersion of his troops. The
reader will be pleased to pay attention to this expression.
Johnston dispersed his troops, under the capitulation which will
presently be spoken of. He never surrendered them as pris
oners to the enemy. The country is familiar with what oc
curred at Greensboro', between Johnston and Sherman, and
I do not propose to rehearse it here. Sherman, yielding to the
impulses of Johnston's master-mind, entered into an agreement
with the latter, which would have achieved more fame for him
in the future than all his victories, if he had had the courage
and ability to stand up to his work. This agreement was that
the Southern States should be regarded as ipso facto, on the
cessation of the war, restored to their rights in the Uniom-
The stroke was one of a statesman. It is in times of great
revolutions that genius shows itself. The Federal Government,
at the time that this convention was made, was prostrate be
neath the foot of the soldier, and a military man of genius
might have governed it with the crook of his finger. If such
a one had arisen, he might have applied the scourge to the
back of the Northern people, and they would have yelped
under it as submissively as any hound. They had yelped
under the scourging of Abraham Lincoln. But Sherman was
not the man to conceive the emergency, or to avail himself of
it. He, on the contrary, permitted himself to be scourged by
a creature like Stanton, the Federal Secretary of War, and if
he did not yelp under the scourging, he at least submitted
to it with most admirable docility. Stanton insolently re-

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 821
jected the convention which had been entered into between
the two generals, and, reminding Sherman that he was nothing
but a soldier, told him to attend to his own business. Stanton
knew his man, and Sherman did, afterward, attend to his own
business ; for he now entered into a purely military conven
tion with Johnston.
The main features of that convention were, that Johnston
should disperse his army, and Sherman should, in considera
tion thereof, guarantee it against molestation by the Federal
authorities. It was in the interval between these two conven
tions, that my camp was astounded one morning, by the report
that Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, was
dead. He had gone to a small theatre in the city of Washing
ton, on the evening of Good Friday, and had been shot by a
madman ! It seemed like a just retribution that he should be
cut off in the midst of the hosannas that were being shouted
in his ears, for all the destruction and ruin he had wrought
upon twelve millions of people. Without any warrant for his
conduct, he had made a war of rapine and lust against eleven
sovereign States, whose only provocation had been that they
had made an effort to preserve the liberties which had been
handed down to them by their fathers. These States had not
sought war, but peace, and they had found, at the hands of
Abraham Lincoln, destruction. As a Christian, it was my
duty to say, "Lord, have mercy upon his soul !" but the d  1
will surely take care of his memory.
The last days of April, and the first days of May, were em
ployed, by General Johnston, in dispersing his army according
to agreement. Commissioners, appointed by the two Generals
to arrange the dispersion, and provide the dispersed troops
with the guaranties that had been agreed upon, met in the
village of Greensboro', on the 1st of May, 1865. On the pre
vious evening, I had called at the headquarters of General
Johnston, where I had met Beauregard, Wade Hampton,
Wheeler, D. H. Hill, and a host of other gallant spirits, who
formed the galaxy by which he was surrounded. He was kind
enough to give me precedence, in the matter of arranging for
my departure with the Federal Commissioner. Accordingly, on
the morning of the 1st of May, accompanied by my staff, I

822 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
rode iato Greensboro', and alighted at the Britannia Hotel
where the Commissioners were already assembled. They were
Brevet Brigadier-General Hartsuff, on the part of the Federals,
and Colonel Mason, on the part of the Confederates. Each
guaranty of non-molestation had been prepared, beforehand,
in a printed form, and signed by Hartsuff, and only required
to be filled up with the name and rank of the party entitled to
receive it, and signed by myself to be complete. Upon being-
introduced to General Hartsuff, we proceeded at once to busi
ness. I produced the muster-roll of my command, duly signed
by my Assistant Adjutant-General ; and General Hartsuff and
myself ran our eyes over the names together, and when we had
ascertained the number, the General counted out an equal
number of blank guaranties, and, handing them to me, said :
" You have only to fill up one of these for each officer and
soldier of your command, with his name and rank, and sign
it and hand it to him. I have already signed them myself.
You can fill up the one intended for yourself in like manner."
" With regard to the latter," I replied, " I prefer, if you have
no objection, to have it filled up and completed here in your
presence." "Oh! that makes no difference," he replied.
" Very well," said I, " if it makes no difference, then you can
have no objection to complying with my request." He now
called an aide-de-camp, and desiring him to be seated at the
table where we were, told him to fill up my guaranty after my
dictation. >I gave him my titles separately, making him write
me down a " Rear- Admiral in the Confederate States Navy,
and a Brigadier-General in the Confederate States Army, com
manding a brigade." When he had done this, he handed me
the paper ; I signed it, and put it in my pocket, and, turning to
the General, said, " I am now satisfied." The following is a
copy of the paper : —
Greensboro', North Carolina, May 1, 1865.
In accordance with the terms of the Military Convention, entered
into on the 26th day of April, 1 865, between General Joseph E.
Johnston, commanding the Confederate Army, and Major-General
W. T. Sherman, commanding the United States Army, in North
Carolina, R. Semmes, Rear-Admiral, and Brigadier-General, G. S
Navy, and C. S. Army, commanding brigade, has given his solemn

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 823
obligation, not to take up arms against the Government of the
United States, until properly released from this obligation ; and is
permitted to return to his home, not to be disturbed by the United
States authorities, so long as he observes this obligation, and obeys
the laws in force where he may reside.
R. Semmes,
Rear-Admiral C. S. Navy, and
Brigadier-General C. S. Army.
Wm. Hartsuff,
Brevet Brigadier-General U. S. Army,
Special Commissioner.
It was well I took the precautions above described, in deal
ing with the enemy, for, when I was afterward arrested, as the
reader will presently see, the Yankee press, howling for my
blood, claimed that I had not been paroled at all! that I had
deceived the paroling officer, and obtained my parole under
false pretences ; the said paroling officer not dreaming, wheD
he was paroling one Brigadier-General Semmes, that he had
the veritable "pirate" before him. I dispersed my command,
on the same aftern,bon, and with my son, and half a dozen of
my officers, a baggage-wagon, and the necessary servants, made
my way to Montgomery, in Alabama, and, at that point, took
steamer for my home, in Mobile, which I reached in the latter
days of May.
Andrew Johnson, the Vice-President of the United States,
had succeeded Mr. Lincoln as President. He was a Southern
man, born in the State of North Carolina, and a citizen of
Tennessee. He had been elected to the Senate of the United
States, a short time before the breaking out of the war. He
had belonged to the Democratic party, and had arisen from
a very low origin — his father having belonged to the com
mon class of laborers, and he having learned the trade of a
tailor, which he practised after he had grown to man's
estate. Gifted by nature with a strong intellect, he studied
the law, and afterward embarked in politics. The word " em
bark" expresses my idea precisely, for, from this time onward,
he became a mere politician. As a rule, it requires an un
scrupulous and unprincipled man to succeed in politics in
America. Honorable men do, sometimes, of course, make their
way to high places ; but these form the exceptions, not the

824 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
rule. Andrew Johnson succeeded in politics. In the earlier
stages of our troubles, he spoke and wrote like a Southern
man, demanding, in behalf of the South, some security for the
future, in the way of additional guaranties. But when these
were all denied, and it became evident that his State would
secede, and that he would be stripped of his senatorial honors
so recently won, if he abided by his former record, and went
with his State, he abjured his record, and abandoned his State. >
Like all renegades, he became zealous in the new faith which
he had adopted, and proved himself so good a Radical, that
President Lincoln sent him back to Tennessee as a satrap, to gov
ern, with a rod of iron, under military rule, the Sovereign State
for which he had so recently demanded additional securities.
Still growing in favor with his new party, he was elected
Vice-President, upon the re-election of Mr. Lincoln, in the fall
•of 1864. The Presidential mantle having fallen upon him, by
;the tragical death of Mr. Lincoln, he retained the cabinet of
his predecessor, and made his zeal still more manifest to his
party, by insisting on the necessity of making "treason odious"
— the same sort of treason enjoined upon the States by Jeffer
son in his Kentucky Resolutions of '98 and '99, which formed
the basis of the creed of the Democratic party, to which Mr.
Johnson had belonged — and punishing "traitors." A grand
.jury in Norfolk, Va., found an indictment for treason against
General Lee, and but for the interposition of General Grant, he
would have been tried, under Mr. Johnson's administration ,
and probably tried by a packed jury that would have hung
him. Mr. Davis was already in close and ignominious confine
ment, as has been related. Captain Wurz, of the late Confederate
States Army, who had been, for a short time, in charge of the
prison at Ander son ville, was tried by a Military Commission,
in the city of Washington, under the shadow of the Presi
dent's chair, convicted, and executed, notwithstanding he was
a paroled prisoner of war. Another Military Commission, in
time of peace, had convicted and executed a woman — Mrs.
Surratt — on the false charge, as is now admitted by the whole
country, that she was an accomplice in Mr. Lincoln's assassi
nation. Mr. Johnson signed her death-warrant.
It was under these circumstances, that on the night of the

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 825
15th of December, 1865, or seven months' and a half after I
had received the guaranty of General Sherman, at Greensboro',
North Carolina, that I should not be molested by the United
States authorities, that a lieutenant of the Marine Corps, with
a guard of soldiers, surrounded my house and arrested me, on
an order signed by Mr. Gideon Welles, without the process of
any court. I was torn from my family, under guard — the
thieving soldiery committing some petty thefts about my prem
ises — and hurried off to Washington. Arrived here, I was
imprisoned, first, in the Navy Yard, and then in the Marine
Barracks. I was kept a close prisoner, with a sentinel at my
door, for nearly four months; the gentlemen about the bar
racks, however, doing everything in their power to render my
confinement more endurable. It was the intention of the Gov
ernment to throw me, as it had thrown Wurz, as a sop to the
extreme Radicals of the New England States, whose commerce
I had destroyed ; and I was only saved by the circumstances
which will be presently related. But before I relate these cir
cumstances, I deem it pertinent to give to the reader the fol
lowing letter addressed by me to President JohnsoD, from
my place of confinement, charging his Government with »
breach of faith in arresting me.
To His Excellency Andrew Johnson,
President of the United States.
Sir: — Being satisfied that you are anxious to arrive ac a correct
decision in my case, — one that shall accord, at the same time, with
the honor and dignity of the United States, and with justice to my
self, — I venture to address you the following brief exposition of
the law and the facts of the case.
On the 26th day of April, 1865, the following military convention
was entered into at Greensboro', N. C, between General Joseph E.
Johnston, commanding the Confederate States Armies in North
Carolina, and Major-General W. T. Sherman, commanding the
United States Army in the same State, viz : —
" 1. All acts of war.on the part of the troops under General John
ston's command to cease from this date.
" 2. All arms and public property to be deposited at Greensboro',
and delivered to an ordnance officer of the United States Army;
" 3. Rolls of all the officers and men to be made in duplicate, one
copy to be retained by the commander of the troops, and the other
to be given to an officer to be designated by General Sherman.
Each officer and man to give his individual obligation, in writing,

826 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
not to take up arms against the Government of the United States
until properly released from this obligation.
" 4. The side-arms of officers, and their private horses and bag
gage, to be retained by them.
" 5. This being done, all the officers and men will be permitted to
return to their homes, not to be disturbed by the United States au
thorities so long as they observe their obligation and the laws in
force where they may reside.
[Signed] " W. T. Sherman, Major- General,
" Commanding U. S. Forces in North Carolina.
[Signed] " Joseph E. Johnston, General,
"Commanding G. S. Forces in North Carolina."
Here, Mr. President, was a solemn military convention, entered
into by two generals, who had opposing armies in the field, in
which convention the one and the other general stipulated for cer
tain terms, — General Johnston agreeing to lay down his arms and
disband his forces, and General Sherman agreeing, in consideration
thereof, that the forces thus disbanded shall proceed to their homes,
and there remain undisturbed by the United States authorities. I
beg you to observe the use of the word " undisturbed," one of the
most comprehensive words in our language. I pray you also to
remark the formalities with which this convention was drawn. We
were treated as officers commanding armies, representing, of course,
if not a de jure, at least a de facto government. Our proper mili
tary titles were acknowledged. I was myself styled and treated
in the muster-rolls, and other papers drawn up by both parties, a
brigadier-general and a rear-admiral. The honors of war usual
upon surrenders, upon terms, were accorded to us, in our being per
mitted to retain our side-arms, private horses, and baggage. In
short, the future historian, upon reading this convention, will be
unable to distinguish it in any particular from other similar papers,
agreed upon by armies of recognized governments. At the date of,
and some weeks prior to the ratification of this convention, I com
manded a brigade of artillery, forming a part of the army of Gene
ral Johnston. I was, of course, included in the terms of the con
vention. I complied with those terms, under orders received from
General Johnston, by turning over my arms to the proper officer,
and disbanding my forces. The convention was approved by the
Government of the United States. Your Excellency may recollect
that the first convention entered into between General Johnston
and General Sherman, which provided, among other things, for the
return of the Southern States to their functions under the Consti
tution of the United States, was disapproved by the Government,
on the ground that General Sherman, in undertaking to treat of
political matters, had transcended his authority. The armistice
which had been declared between the two armies was dissolved,
and hostilities were renewed. A few days afterward, however,
new negotiations were commenced, and the convention with which
we have to do was the second convention entered into by thost

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 827
Generals, and which was a substantial readoption of the military
portion of the first convention. It was this latter convention which
was formally approved, both by General Grant, the Commander-in-
Chief, under whose orders General Sherman acted, and by the
Executive at Washington.
Confiding in the good faith of the Government, pledged in a sol
emn treaty as above stated, I returned to my home in Alabama,
and remained there for the space of seven months, engaging in civii
pursuits as a means of livelihood for my dependent family, and
yielding a ready obedience to the laws. I had, in fact, become an
officer of the law, having established myself as an attorney. It
would have been easy for me, at any time within these seven
months, to pass out of the country, if I had had any doubt about
the binding obligation of the Greensboro' convention, or of the good
faith of the Government. But I had no doubt on either point, nor
have I any doubt yet, as I feel quite sure that when you shall have
informed yourself of all the facts of the case, you will come to the
conclusion that my arrest was entirely without warrant, and order
my discharge. While thus remaining quietly at my home, in the
belief that I was " not to be disturbed by the United States author
ities," I was, on the 15th of December, 1865, in the night-time,
arrested by a lieutenant and two sergeants of the Marine Corps,
under an order signed by the Secretary of the Navy, and placed
under guard ; a file of soldiers in the meantime surrounding my
house. I was informed by'the officer making the arrest that I was
to proceed to Washington in his custody, there to answer to a
charge, a copy of which he handed me. This charge, and the pro
test which I filed the next day with the Commanding General of
the Department of Alabama, against my arrest, your Excellency
has already seen. The question for you then to decide, Mr. Presi
dent, is the legality of this arrest. Can I, in violation of the terms
of the military convention already referred to, and under which 1
laid down my arms, be held to answer for any act of war committed
anterior to the date of that convention ? I respectfully submit that
I cannot be so held, either during the continuance of the war, (and
the political power has not yet proclaimed the war ended,) or after
the war shall have been brought to a close by proclamation, and
the restoration of the writ of habeas corpus, without a flagrant vio
lation of faith on the part of the United States. If it be admitted
that I might be tried for any act dehors the war, and having no
connection with it — as, for instance, for a forgery — it is quite clear
that I cannot be arrested or arraigned for any act manifestly of
war, and acknowledged as such, (as the act, for instance, for which
I was arrested,) whether such act be in consonance with the laws
of war or in violation thereof ; and this for the simple reason that
the military convention was a condonation and an oblivion of all
precedent acts of war, of what nature soever those acts might be.
I am " not to be disturbed," says the military convention. Dis
turbed for what ? Why, manifestly, for any act of war theretofore
committed against the United States. This is the only common-

828 MEMO.RS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
sense view of the case ; and if the convention did not mean this, it
could mean nothing ; and I laid down my arms, not upon terms, a?
I had supposed, but without terms. If I was still at the mercy of
the conqueror, and my arrest asserts as much, I was in the condi
tion of one who had surrendered unconditionally ; but it has been
seen that I did not surrender unconditionally, but upon terms —
terms engrafted upon a treaty ratified and approved by the con
queror's Government. Nor is it consistent with good faith to qual
ify or restrain those terms, so as to make them inapplicable to acts
of war that may be claimed to have been in violation of the laws
of war ; for this would be to refine away all the protection which
has been thrown around me by treaty, and put me in the power of
the opposite contracting party, who might put his own construction
upon the laws of war. This very attempt, Mr. President, has
been made in the case before you. I claim to have escaped, after
my ship had sunk from under me in the engagement off Cher
bourg, and I had been precipitated into the water, the enemy not
having taken possession of me, according to the laws and usages
of war, as your Excellency may read in almost every page of naval
history; the Secretary of the Navy claiming the contrary. The true,
and the only just and fair criterion, is, was the act for which the
arrest was made an act of war? If so, there is an end of the
question, and I must be discharged, for, as before remarked, the
convention, if it is anything, is an oblivion of all acts of war of
whatever nature.
But it may be said that, although I cannot be tried by a military
tribunal during the war, I may yet be tried by a civil tribunal after
the war. Let us look at this question also. I was, undoubtedly,
amenable to the civil tribunals of the country, as well after as before
the convention, for any offence of a purely civil nature, not founded
upon an act of war — to instance, as before, the crime of forgery.
If I had committed a forgery in North Carolina, I could not, upon
arraignment, plead the military convention in bar of trial. Why
not ? Because that convention had reference only to acts of war.
I was treated with, in my capacity of a soldier and a seaman. But,
does it follow that I may be tried for treason ? And if not, why
not ? The Attorney-General tells you that treason is a civil offence,
and in his opinion triable exclusively by the civil courts, and he
hopes you will give him plenty of occupation in trying "many
whom the sword has spared." (See his letter to you of the 4th of
January, 1866.) But does not that officer forget that treason is
made up of acts of w*' ; and is it not apparent that you cannot
try me for an act of war ? The Constitution of the United States,
which the Attorney-General says he loves even better than blood,
declares, in words, that treason against the United States shall con
sist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their ene
mies, giving them aid and comfort — all of which adherence, giving
of aid and comfort, &c, are equally acts of war. There is no con-
Btructiv3 treason in this country. Thus I can neither be tried by a
military tribunal during the war, nor a civil tribunal after the war

DURING THE «<AR BETWEEN THE STATES. 829
for any act of war, or for treason which consists only of acts of
war. But it may further be said that this convention, of which I am
claiming the protection, is not a continuing convention, and will ex
pire with the war, when, as Mr. Speed thinks, you may hand me
over to the civil tribunals. Whence can such a conclusion be drawn ?
Not from the terms of the convention, for these contradict the con
clusion ; not by implication merely, but in totidem verbis. The
terms are, " not to be disturbed, so long as they shall observe their
obligation and the laws in force where they may reside." A mis
use of terms, Mr. President, sometimes misleads very clever minds.
And I presume it is by a misuse of terms that the Attorney-Gene
ral has fallen into this error. (See his letter to your Excellency,
before referred to.) That officer, while he admits that parole pro
tects the party paroled from trial during the war, yet contends that
it does not protect him from trial by a civil tribunal, for treason,
after the war. As I have shown that treason can only consist of
acts of war, and that the military convention is an oblivion of all
acts of war, the Attorney-General, when he says that a paroled
party may be tried for treason at the end of the war, (the parole
being no longer a protection to him,) must mean that the parole
will have died with the war. This is entirely true of a mere parole,
for a parole is only a promise, on the part of a prisoner of war, that
if released from imprisonment, he will not take up arms again unless
he is exchanged. This parole is as frequently given by prisoners
of war, who have surrendered unconditionally, as by those who have
surrendered upon terms. There cannot be any parole, then, with
out a prisoner of war, and the status of prisoner of war ceasing, the
parole ceases — cessante ratione cessat et ipsa lex. Thus far the At
torney-General is quite logical, but by confounding in his mind the
certificates given to the officers and men of General Johnston's
army, stating the terms of the Greensboro' convention, and guaran
teeing those officers and men against molestation, in accordance
with those terms, with paroles, it is easy to see how the mistake I
am exposing can have been made. But the convention made be
tween General Johnston and General Sherman was not a mere re
lease of prisoners on parole ; nor, indeed, had it anything to do with
prisoners, for none of the officers and men of General Johnston's
army ever were prisoners, as may be seen at a glance by an in
spection of the terms of the convention. It was a treaty between
commanding generals in the field, in which the word parole is not
on^e used, or could be used with propriety ; a treaty in which mu
tual stipulations are made, one in consideration of another, and
there is no limit as to time set to this treaty.
On the contrary, it was expressly stated that the guaranties con
tained in it were to continue and be in force, so long as the parties
to whom the guaranties were given, should perform their part of
the treaty stipulations. It was made, not in contemplation of a
continuation of the war, but with a view to put an end to the war,
and the guaranties were demanded by us as peace guaranties. It

830 MEMOIRS OF SERVICE AFLOAT
did, in effect, put an end to the war and pacify the whole country;
General Tayior in Alabama and Mississippi, and General Buckner
and others in Texas, following the lead of General Johnston. Are
we to be told now by an Attorney-General of the United States,
that the moment the object of the convention, to wit, the restoration
of peace, was accomplished, the convention itself became a nullity,
its terms powerless to protect us, and that General Johnston's army
surrendered, in fact, without any terms whatever? You cannot
sustain such an opinion, Mr. President. It will shock the common
sense and love of fair play of the American people. But to show
still further that it was the intention of the parties that this should
be a continuing convention, the words used were, "not to be dis
turbed by the United States Authorities," these words being co-ex
tensive with the whole power of the Government. We were not
only " not to be disturbed " by General Sherman, or any other mili
tary commander or authority, but by any authority whatever, civil
or military. Nor will it do to say that General Sherman, being
merely a military man, had no authority to speak for the civil branch
of the Government, for his action, as we have seen, was approved
by the Administration at Washington.
One m Dre remark, Mr. President, and I will forbear to trespass
further on your time and patience. The act of war for which I
was arrested, was well known to the Department of the Government
making the arrest, ten months before the convention was entered
into at Greensboro'. It was also well known to the same Depart
ment, that about the middle of February, 1865, I was assigned to
the command of the James River Squadron, near Richmond, with
the rank of a rear-admiral; being thus promoted and employed by
my Government, after the alleged illegal escape off Cherbourg. If
the Federal Government then entertained the design, which it has
since developed, of arresting and trying me for this alleged breach of
the laws of war, was it not its duty, both to itself and to me, to have
made me an exception to any military terms it might have been
disposed to grant to our armies ? I put it to you, Mr. President,
as a man and a magistrate to say, and I will rest my case on your
answer, whether it was consistent with honor and fair dealing, for
this Government first to entrap me, by means of a military conven
tion, and then, having me in its power, to arrest me and declare
that convention null and void, for the course recommended to you
by Mr. Speed comes to this — nothing more, nothing less.
I have thus laid before you, tediously I fear, and yet as concisely
as was consistent with clearness, the grounds upon which I claim
at your hands, who are the guardian of the honor of a great nation,
my discharge from arrest and imprisonment. I have spoken freely
and frankly, as it became an American citizen to speak to the Chief
Magistrate of the American Republic. We live in times of high
party excitement, when men, unfortunately, are but too prone to
take counsel of their passions ; but passions die, and men die with
them, and after death comes history. In the future, Mr. President,
when America shall have a history, my record and that of the gal-

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 831
Jant Southern people will be engrafted upon, and become a part of
your history, the pages of which you are now acting ; and the
prayer of this petition is, that you will not permit the honor of the
American name to be tarnished by a perfidy on those pages. In
this paper I have stood strictly upon legal defences ; but should
those barriers be beaten down, conscious of the rectitude of my
conduct, throughout a checkered and eventful career, when the com
merce of half a world was at my mercy, and when the passions of
men, North and South, were tossed into a whirlwind, by the cur-
Tent events of the most bloody and terrific war that the human
race had ever seen, I shall hope to justify and defend myself against
any and all charges affecting the honor and reputation of a man
and a soldier. Whatever else may be said of me, I have, at least,
brought no discredit upon the American name and character.
I am, very respectfully, &c, Raphael Semmes.
Washington City, January 15, 1866.
At the time of my arrest, there was a newspaper called the
"Republican," published in the city of Washington, in the
interests of President Johnson. There had been some little
struggle between Congress and the President, as to who should
take the initiative in the wholesale hanging of "traitors"
which had been resolved upon. The " Republican," speaking
for President Johnson, declares, in the article which will be
found below, his readiness to act. He is only waiting, it says,
for Congress to move in the matter. Here is the article : —
"WHY DON'T CONGRESS ACT?
" As long ago as last October, the President of the United States
commenced an earnest effort to initiate the trials of prominent trai
tors, beginning with the arch-traitor Jefferson Davis. It is now a
historical record, and officially in the possession of the Congress of
the United States, that, upon application to the Chief Justice of
the Supreme Court to know at what time, if any, the United States
Court for the District of Virginia would be ready to try certain
high crimes against the National Government, the President re
ceived an answer from Chief-Justice Chase, that the Court would
not sit in that district, while that territory was under military con
trol, and suggested the propriety of delaying action in the matter,
until Congress acted. Congress assembled. The President referred
the whole subject, respectfully, to the consideration of Congress
in his annual message, and subsequently, in answer to a resolution
of inquiry, he sent, by special message, the correspondence alluded
to above, between himself and Chief-Justice Chase.
" All the facts were thus legitimately laid before the legislative
branch of the Government three and a half months ago ! The Presi-
53

832 MEMOIR- OF SERVICE AFLOAT
dent, some time in November last, stopped the work of pardoning,
except in a few cases where the applications were accompanied by
the most positive evidence of good intentions toward the Govern
ment. From among those who have applied for pardon, the Presi
dent has reserved for trial about five hundred of the military and
political leaders of the rebel Government — a sufficient number to
begin with at least. This number, as classified by the President,
we published, by permission, some time since.
" Now, in view of the above statement of facts, what has Congress
done ? Has Congress passed any law directing how the rebels
shall be tried ? No. Has Congress passed any resolution request
ing the President to order a military court for the trial of Davis
& Co. ? No. Has Congress agitated the subject at any time, in
any manner, looking to a trial of the cases referred to ? No.
"But what have Congressmen done in their individual capacity?
Many of them, from day to day, have spoken sneeringly of the
President, because he has not done what he began to do, but which
the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court prevented, by refusing to
hold the court, and which the Congress of the United States has
wholly neglected, or purposely ignored. The people, through the
press of the country, and in private communication, are beginning
to inquire why Congress don't act. Governors of States, ignorant
of the facts, are haranguing the people about the indisposition or
neglect of the President to try traitors. Why don't Congress act ?
The President is ready, and has been ready from the beginning, to
co-operate with Congress in any constitutional measure by which trai
tors can be tried, to the end, that treason may thereby be made odious.
We repeat the question with which we commenced, and which is
echoed by the people everywhere, 'Why don't Congress act?'"
There is an old adage which says, " When rogues fall out,
honest men get their rights." Fortunately for the " traitors "
of the South, Andrew Johnson, and the Congress quarrelled.
Johnson undertook to reconstruct the Southern States, in his
interests, and Congress claimed the right to reconstruct them
in its interests. The Constitution of the United States was
equally disregarded by them both. Johnson had no more re
spect for it than Congress. His mode of reconstruction equally
violated it, with that of Congress. It was a struggle between
usurpers, which should be master — that was all. Johnson,
with a single stroke of the pen, struck down all the State gov
ernments, called conventions of the people, and told the con
ventions what they should do. Congress might go a little
further, but its violation of the Constitution could not, well, be
more flagrant. The breach widened from day to day, and the
quarrel at last became bitter. Neither party, opposed by the

DURING THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 833
other, could afford to become the hangman of the Southern
people, and the very pretty little programme, which, according
to the " Republican " newspaper, had been arranged between
the rogues, naturally fell to the ground.
Johnson finding that his quarrel with Congress had ruined
him with his party, now set about constructing a new one —
a Johnson party. His scheme was to ignore both the Demo
cratic, and the Republican parties. If he could succeed in re
constructing the Southern States, to the exclusion of Congress,
he might hope to get the votes of those States in the next Presi
dential election. But to conciliate these States, it would not do
to hang "five hundred of the military and political leaders of
the rebel Government," as a mere "beginning." He must
pursue a different policy. He now issued first one amnesty
iroclamation, and then another — doling out amnesty, grudg
ingly, in broken doses — until he had issued three of them.
By the last of these proclamations, the writer of these pages,
who was true to his State, was " graciously pardoned " by An
drew Johnson, who had not only been a traitor to his State,
but had betrayed, besides, two political parties. A glorious
opportunity presented itself for him to show himself a states
man. He has proved a charlatan instead. He cowered in his
Struggle with Congress, and that body has shorn him of his
prerogatives, and reduced him to the mere position of a clerk.
This is the second act of the drama, the first act of which was
the secession of the Southern States. The form of govern
ment having been changed by the revolution, there are still
other acts of the drama to be performed.

THE END.