X.-THE SUMTER, THE NASHVILLE, THE RETRIBUTION, THE TALLAHASSEE, AND THE CHICKAMAUGA. The attention of the Arbitrators has thus far been directed, in the progress of this investigation of facts, to vessels which left Great Britain to receive their armament, and which were afterward, without having been engaged in any other service, actually armed for war. The United States claim, however, that Great Britain failed to fulfill its duties toward them in respect to certain other vessels, to wit, the Sumter, Nashville, Retribution, Chickamauga, and Tallahassee. The facts upon which a claim is predicated for compensation on account of the acts committed by these vessels have already been stated in the Case which the United States have had the honor to present for the consideration of the Tribunal. Her Majesty's Government has, however, in its Case and Counter Case, submitted some new evidence which makes it proper for the United States to present in this argument, as briefly as is possible, a summary of the material facts in respect to these vessels as they now appear from the evidence and allegations submitted by both the parties. THE SUMTER. The Sumter. This vessel was originally in the merchant service of the United States, and, at the outbreak of the rebellion, was employed as a packet between New Orleans and Havana. Soon after the blockade of the port of New Orleans, she was fitted and armed for a vessel of war, and, having escaped on the 30th of June, 1861, through the blockade at the mouth of the Mississippi River, appeared, on the 6th of July, at the port of Cienfuegos, in the island of Cuba, with six prizes which she had captured on her voyage thither. The prizes were detained in port upon the order of the Captain-General of the island, and subsequently, on the 28th of the same month, "unconditionally" released "in consequence of investigations made by the authorities of Cienfuegos concerning their capture." The Sumter, during her stay, was permitted by the local authorities at the port to take coal and water. No application was made to the Governor-General for that purpose. She went to sea in the evening of the 7th of July,5 having remained in port about twenty-four hours. 4 At Curacoa. On the 17th of July she arrived at Curaçao, in Dutch Guiana, where she was permitted to supply herself with coal and provisions. She next appeared at Puerto Cabello, in the republic of Venezuela, on the 26th of July, with a prize, but being ordered to "take her departure within four and twenty hours," left, without coaling, at daylight on the 27th, and arrived at a British port in the 1 Brit. App., Counter Case, vol. vi, p. 101. 2 Ibid., p. 108. 3 Ibid., p. 104. 4 Ibid., p. 105. 5 Ibid., p. 104. 6 Ibid., p. 69. 7 Cruise of Alabama and Sumter, p. 27. At Trinidad. At Martinique. island of Trinidad, on the 30th. Here she was "supplied with a new main yard, eighty tons of coal and provisions," and sailed in 1 the evening of the 5th of August. She next appeared at Paramaribo, in Dutch Guiana, on the 19th of August, and purchased and received coals without objection on the part of the authorities. Remaining at this port until the 31st,2 she appeared at the Brazilian port of Maranham, on the 6th of September, "to coal and procure supplies." 3 From this port she went to Martinique, where she also received coal and supplies, and from there to Cadiz, at which place she arrived on the 4th of January, 1862. Here she was permitted to go into dock and make some slight repairs.5 "The captain of that vessel [the Sumter] asked for reparations in her upper works and in her decks, but after a scientific survey scrupulously executed, it was found that such reparations were not necessary, and only those which were justified by an imperious necessity have been authorized." 6 She was ordered away from Cadiz on the 17th. The Minister of the United States at Madrid, in reporting to Mr. Seward, said: "I ought to say, perhaps, that if it had not been for the example of what had taken place with the Nashville in an English port, I am confident that the Sumter would have been forced to go to sea from Cadiz as she came." 8 From Cadiz she went direct to Gibraltar, at which place she arrived on the 18th of Janu At Cadiz, At Gibraltar. ary, 1862. 9 On the 28th of August, 1861, the United States complained to the Government of the Netherlands of the treatment of the Sumter at Curaçao, and on the 8th of October made similar complaint as to the conduct of the colonial authorities on the occasion of her subsequent visit at Paramaribo.10 On the 15th of October the Minister of Foreign Affairs advised the Minister of the United States at the Hague, "that the Government of the Netherlands, wishing to give a fresh proof of its desire [to avoid] all that could give the slightest subject for complaint to the United States, has just sent instructions to the colonial authorities, enjoining them not to admit, except in case of shelter from stress (relâche forcée,) the vessels of war and privateers of the two belligerent parties, unless for twice twenty-four hours, and not to permit them, when they are steamers, to provide themselves with a quantity of coal more than sufficient for a run of twenty-four hours." 11 On the 30th of September, 1861, Mr. Adams made complaint to Earl Russell of the manner in which the Sumter had been received at Trinidad, but as early as the 29th of August the Duke of Newcastle had transmitted to the Foreign Office a report from the Governor of the island to the Colonial Office, and which was, of course, in the possession of Earl Russell when he received the communication from Mr. Adams. In that report of the Governor this passage occurs: A great deal of trade goes on between Trinidad and the northern ports of North America, and Captain Semmes, I imagine, has not failed to take this opportunity of obtaining information with regard to the vessels employed under the flag of the United States in this traffic. Fears are entertained with regard to one or two now expected. It is to be hoped that the presence of the Sumter in these waters will soon be made generally known, and that, while the civil war continues, the lumber and provision trade, any interruption of which would cause serious embarrassment to this community, will be carried on in British bottoms.12 1 Brit. App., vol. ii, p. 5. 2 Ibid., p. 81. 3 Ibid., p. 1. * Ibid., p. 114. 5 Ibid., p. 116. 6 Brit. App., vol. vi, p. 119. 7 Adams to Seward, Am. App., vol. ii, p. 579. 8 Brit. App., vol. vi, p. 119. 9 Ibid., p. 69. 10 Ibid., p. 81. 11 Ibid., p. 84. 12 Brit. App., vol. ii, p. 1. On the 4th of October Earl Russell informed Mr. Adams, "the Law Officers of the Crown have reported that the conduct of the Governorwas in conformity to Her Majesty's proclamation."1 On the 1st of November the Minister of the United States at Rio Janeiro complained to the Government of His Majesty the Emperor of Brazil of the conduct of the provincial authorities during the stay of the Sumter at Maranham.2 A long correspondence ensued, connected with the visit of this vessel and those of other insurgent cruisers subsequently, which resulted in the promulgation of the instructions to the presidents of the provinces of the Empire, under date of the 23d of June, 1863, to which reference has already been made.3 It is sufficient for the purposes of this Argument for the United States to say, that during the contest between them and the insurgents, abuse of neutrality was never tolerated in the ports of the Netherlands or Brazil, and these ports were never suffered to be used, by either of the belligerents, "as the base of their operations against the commerce of the adverse party." It is true that, on the 31st of January, 1862, certain "orders to be observed in all the ports of the United Kingdom, and those of Her Majesty's transmarine territories and possessions," were issued by Her Britannic Majesty's Government, and that, by the "first and second of the * * * orders, belligerent vessels were absolutely excluded from the ports, roadsteads, and waters of the Bahama Islands, except in case of stress of weather, or of special leave granted by the lieutenant-governor." It is also true that, "to vessels of the Confederate States it [access to these islands] was of great importance, the harbors of these States being generally, though not always, effectively blockaded." But the United States have not yet been able to discover that the "special leave" required by the orders was ever, during the entire contest, withheld by the Lieutenant-Governor from any insurgent vessel of war, and that, too, notwithstanding the long-continued and flagrant abuses of the hospitalities of British ports, to which the attention of the Arbitrators has already been directed. The Sumter went to Gibraltar for coal. The Consul of the United States was enabled to prevent her obtaining a supply from the merchants at that port, until the arrival of certain vessels of war of the United States in the adjoining waters of Spain, and, after that time, her movements were so closely watched by these vessels, that she was never able to escape in the character of a ship of war. * Her crew was discharged and paid off in April, and previous to the 8th of December, while she was yet in port fully armed, a private contract was made by the insurgents for her sale for £4,000. The purchasers were ready with the money to pay for her, and receive the bill of sale, but "all the papers required by them could not be produced by the officer in charge, * who, it appears, holds a power of attorney from a certain Bullock, who styles himself senior naval officer in the Confederate service in Europe, and, I am told, is at present in England, giving his attention to what relates to the marine service of the rebel States." In consequence of this informality, the sale was not consummated, and on the same day, the 8th, she was advertised to be sold at public auction.R The Consul of the United States protested 1 Brit. Case, p. 14. 2 Brit. App., vol. vi, p. 5. 3 Ante., p. 287. 4 Brit. Case, p. 15. 5 Ibid., p. 17. 6 Brit. Case, p. 18. 7 Sprague to Adams, Am. App., vol. ii, p. 507. 8 Ibid., p. 509. against such sale being allowed in the port, stating, among other things, that it was being "made for the purpose of avoiding a capture by the cruisers of the United States." It seemed to the commander of the United States war-vessel Kearsarge that "the sale of so-called Confederate war-vessels in British ports is an act as unfriendly and hostile to our [his] Government, as the purchase of war-vessels in their ports by the same party." He therefore advised the consul to enter his protest against the sale. On the 19th, the form of a sale was gone through with, but the nominal purchaser was M. G. Klingender, intimately connected with the firm of Frazer, Trenholm & Co. She afterward received a At Liverpool. British registry, and went to Liverpool under British colors, and from that time was used as an insurgent transport. On the 14th of October, 1863, the following significant letter was written by Prioleau, of the firm of Frazer, Trenholm & Co., at Liverpool, to Major Huse, which explains itself:" Touching the Gibraltar, formerly Sumter, did you not advise the government that you had taken her for the war department? They do not understand it out there, and you must come here and settle it somehow as early as you conveniently can. I will adopt either of three courses which you may prefer: To ignore our ownership altogether, and consider her always the property of the government. 2d. To sell her to the government at a fair valuation on her leaving here. 3d. To keep her as our own from the time of purchase in Gibraltar, and charge you the regular rate of freight for the voyage to Wilmington, say £60 per ton. The first is the best plan, I think. Certainly for the government it is. Of course you know that it was not she that was sunk in this harbor. She was at Wilmington lately, and before she is lost or returns here, the matter ought to be arranged.1 As has been seen, the sale of the Georgia was afterward permitted in the port of Liverpool. After that, but not until the 9th of September, 1864, an order was promulgated by Her Majesty's Government, that "for the future no ship of war belonging to either of the belligerent powers of North America shall be allowed to enter, or to remain, or be in any of Her Majesty's ports, for the purpose of being dismantled or sold."95 When this order was made the insurgents had no armed ship of war to be dismantled or sold. THE NASHVILLE. This vessel, like her predecessor, the Sumter, had, previous to the outbreak of the rebellion, been employed in the merchant The Nashville. service of the United States as a packet running between New York and Charleston. She passed the blockade at the latter port, on the night of the 26th of August, having been lightened for that purpose, and arrived at the port of St. George, in the island of Bermuda, on the 30th, a little more than three days after leaving her home port.7 6 At Bermuda. She presented herself at Bermuda as a vessel of war. Governor Ord, in his report to the Duke of Newcastle, says: "I have 1 Brit. Case, p. 18. 2 Am. App., vol. ii, p. 510. 3 Ibid., p. 515. 4 Am. App., vol. vii, p. 71. 5 Brit. App., vol. iii, p. 20. 7 Brit. Case, p. 20. the honor to acquaint your excellency that these islands were visited, on the 30th ultimo, by the Confederate States paddle-wheel steamer Nashville, commanded by Lieutenant Peagram." The Duke of Newcastle, in sending this report to the Foreign Office, describes her as the "Confederate States steam-vessel Nashville."2 In point of fact her character as a ship of war is conceded in the British Case, as on page 20 it is stated "that she was commissioned as a ship of war," and that "her commander applied for leave to draw a supply of coals," &c. And in the letter of Earl Russell to Mr. Adams, replying to the claim by Mr. Adams, that she was not a vessel of war, found on page 21, it is said, "The undersigned has to state that the Nashville appears to be a Confederate vessel of war; her commander and officers have commissions in the so-styled Confederate Navy." She was allowed to coal at Bermuda, and it was known to Governor Ord, when he saw her taking on coal, as he did, that, when she left Charleston, "it was intended to coal at Bermuda." He also knew that she was a vessel of war, and that she was on her way to England, for he says, "She has every chance of reaching England unmolested by the United States vessels of war." 4 She could not run the blockade with a full supply of coal, as she had been compelled to diminish her draught for that purpose; therefore, she was short of effective power as a vessel of war when she left her home port. An increase of her supply of coal, beyond what she had originally on leaving Charleston, would augment her naval force, and if she left her home port with the intention of thus augmenting her power when she arrived at Bermuda, and the Governor, with a knowledge of that intention, allowed it to be done, he did suffer the insurgents to make use of that port of Her Majesty's dominions' as a base of naval operations against the United States. 5 The run from Charleston to Bermuda, as has been seen, occupied but little more than three days. On arrival, her supply of coal was exhausted. Her voyage from Bermuda to Southampton lasted from the 4th to the 21st of November, or between seventeen and eighteen days. To enable her to make that voyage, she had permission to take on board six hundred tons of coal. It now appears she only took four hundred and forty-two and a half, or four hundred and seventy-two and a half tons; but it matters little whether this was the true amount, or that which was originally supposed and reported by the Governor. Either was sufficient to enable her to reach and destroy the Harvey Birch on the 19th, within two days' run of Southampton. Without this supply that capture could not have been made. 6 In the British Counter Case it is said, "No act appears to have been done by the Governor, and no permission asked or granted." Therefore, it is claimed there was no permission given to coal. At the same time it is admitted the Governor suffered the taking on of an unlimited supply. At Southampton. After leaving Nassau, and after the destruction of the Harvey Birch, she arrived at Southampton, and was permitted to repair and coal. On her way from Southampton to a port of the insurgents, she stopped again at Bermuda from the 20th to the 24th of February, and took on coal from the British ship Mohawk.8 5 Gov. Ord to Duke of Newcastle, Brit. App., vol. ii, p. 87. Brit. App., Counter Case, vol. v, p. 13. 7 Page 70. 8 Brit. App., vol. ii, p. 128. |