Papers Relating to Foreign Affairs, Accompanying the Annual Message of the President to the First Session Thirty-eighth Congress, Part I
Mr. Adams to Mr. Seward.
Sir: I transmit copies of the depositions referred to in my despatches, No. 453, of the 16th, and 459, of the 24th of this month, not sent with them at the time.
I omitted, last week, to call your attention to the remarks made by Mr. Cobden and Lord Palmerston in the House of Commons, on Thursday, the 23d instant, on the subject of the iron-clad vessel fitting out at Liverpool. Inasmuch as his lordship thought fit to give importance to the pretence that the French consul was in some way interested in the matter, I seized the opportunity, furnished me by the reception of a letter from the consul at Liverpool, to apprize Lord Russell of the facts as therein related. Copies of the papers are forwarded herewith.
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I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,
Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State.
Mr. Dudley to Mr. Adams.
Sir: I have the honor to enclose you a copy of an application, by me made yesterday, to the collector of customs at Liverpool, to stop the iron-clad ram building for the insurgents in the United States by the Messrs. Laird, at Birkenhead, and launched from their yard on Saturday last; also copies of William H. Russell’s, Joseph Ellis’s, Clarence R. Yonge’s, G. T. Chapman’s, and my own affidavits, upon which the application was based. The affidavits were made before, and the originals left with the said collector.
I am, sir, your obedient servant,
Hon. Charles Francis Adams, United States Minister, &c., &c.
Mr. Dudley to Mr. Edwards.
I, the undersigned, Thomas Haines Dudley, consul of the United States of America for the port of Liverpool and its dependencies, do hereby apply to you, on behalf of the government of the United States of America, to seize and detain an iron-clad steam vessel-of-war, launched from the yard of Messrs. Laird & Co., at Birkenhead, on the 4th day of July instant, and now lying at Birkenhead aforesaid, with her tackle, apparel, and furniture, with all the materials, arms, ammunition, and stores which may belong to or be on board of the said vessel, pursuant to the power given you in that behalf by the 7th section of the act of Parliament, (59 George III, c. 69,) on the ground that said vessel is being equipped, furnished, fitted out, and armed, in order that such vessel shall be employed in the service of the persons assuming to exercise the power of government, and called the Confederate States of America, and with the intent to cruise and commit hostilities against the government and citizens of the United States of America, with which government her Majesty the Queen is not now at war.
Samuel Price Edwards, Collector of Customs, Liverpool.
Depositions of Russell and Ellis.
We, William Hayden Russell, of Brooklyn, in the State of New York, in the United States of America, master mariner, now at Liverpool, in the county of Lancaster, in England, and Joseph Ellis, of No. 161 Athol street, in Liverpool aforesaid, master shipwright, make oath and say as follows :
1. I, the said William Hayden Russell, for myself say, I have been in command of American merchant vessels for the last thirty years, and for the last eighteen years I have commanded packet ships trading between New York and Liverpool; I have frequently been on board British and American vessels-of-war of all classes, and I am well acquainted with their mode of construction.
2. I, the said Joseph Ellis, for myself say, I have been regularly brought up to the business of a shipwright, and I have assisted in the construction of ironclad vessels-of-war.
3. And we, the said William Hayden Russell, and Joseph Ellis, for ourselves, say as follows:
On Saturday last, the fourth day of July instant, we were present in the ship-building yard of Messrs. Laird & Company, at Birkenhead, when an iron-clad steam-vessel built by them was launched.
4. The vessel in question was one of the iron-clad steam-vessels built along side of each other, at the southern end of the yard, and which appeared to be in all material respects similar to each other.
5. Before the said vessel was launched, we carefully examined her externally. We walked along the whole length of the vessel within seven or eight yards of her, and saw the whole structure of the vessel from the keel upwards.
6. The said vessel is, to the best of my judgment, about 230 feet long, with from. 38 to 40 feet beam. She is covered with iron plates from the point of a ram, or piercer, projecting from her stem, to within about 20 feet from her stem. We saw an iron plate, which one of the foremen in the yard informed us was prepared for the other of the said iron-clad vessels, and similar to the plates [Page 379] upon the vessel which we saw launched. The thickness of such plate was about 4½ inches. The said vessel had a space at the stern covered over with an iron-plated house, of great strength, and there was a large space forward, apparently intended for a forecastle, which was also covered with a similar iron house.
7. The ram or piercer which we have mentioned is a prolongation of the stem of the vessel, projecting about seven feet from a perpendicular line drawn from the upper part of the stem. It is of immense strength, and is so placed that when the vessel is in sea-going trim, with her engines and stores on board, the upper part of it would be, as far as we can judge, two or three feet below the surface of the water.
8. On the quay, near the said vessel, and also in Messrs. Laird & Company’s yard, we saw two circular iron turrets in the course of construction, such as would be used for carrying turret guns on board such a vessel. The diameter of each of these turrets, as well as we could judge, was about 20 feet. The frames of these turrets were of iron, of great strength, placed about 15 inches apart from each other, and they were evidently prepared to receive planking and iron plating.
9. The said vessel was built in all respects as an iron-clad vessel-of-war, and is armed, as above mentioned, with a projecting ram or piercer for the purpose of destroying and sinking other vessels. We have no hesitation in saying that the said vessel is an iron-clad ram of the most formidable description, and cannot be intended for any purpose but that of war.
W. H. RUSSELL.
JOSEPH ELLIS.
Deposition of Clarence R. Yonge.
Clarence Randolph Yonge, of the State of Georgia, in the United States of America, late paymaster on board the steamer Alabama, formerly called the 290, built by William and John Laird & Co., at Birkenhead, makes oath and says:
I know Captain James D. Bullock, of the State of Georgia, in the United States, now residing at Waterloo, near Liverpool, England. He is a commander in the navy of the so-called Confederate States of America; his business in England is superintending the building of iron-clads and other war vessels for the Confederate States. In the autumn of 1861 Captain Bullock came from England to Savannah, Georgia, in the English steamer Fingal. At that time I was in the naval paymaster’s office in Savannah, Georgia, under the confederate government. Previous to Captain Bullock leaving England, as I afterwards learned, he had contracted for two steamers for the confederate government—one called the Oreto, now called the Florida, built by William C. Miller & Sons, of Liverpool; the other the 290, afterwards called the Eureka, and now called the Alabama, built by the Messrs. Laird, at Birkenhead. Captain Bullock was about to return to England to look after the completion of these steamers and to assume command of the Alabama, and wanted some one to accompany him. I was recommended by the paymaster at Savannah to Captain Bullock. I was then released by the paymaster from my engagement, and was subsequently appointed by Captain Bullock, under the written authority of S. R. Mallory, [Page 380] the secretary of the navy of the Confederate States, a paymaster in the confederate navy, and assigned to the steamer Alabama. We sailed for England in the steamer Annie Childs, commanded by Captain William Hammer, from Wilmington, North Carolina, about the 5th day of February, 1862. Captain James D. Bullock, Lieutenant John Low, Midshipmen Eugene Maffitt and E. M. Anderson, and myself, came over in the Childs. Low, Maffitt, and Anderson are now on the Alabama. We arrived at Liverpool about the 11th of March, 1862. I continued as paymaster in the confederate navy from the time of my appointment in Savannah, Georgia, up to the time of my leaving the steamer Alabama, at Port Royal, in January, 1863. I went out in the Alabama when she sailed from England, on the 29th of July, as paymaster, and acted as such, on said vessel, up to the time of my leaving her as aforesaid. Previous to our leaving Wilmington, in February, I acted as a clerk to Captain Bullock, and attended to his correspondence with the confederate government and others, and from this correspondence, and other circumstances, I know that he is a commander in the confederate navy; that he had contracted for building the two vessels now called the Florida and Alabama for the confederate government aforesaid, and was and is their acknowledged agent for building and fitting out naval or war vessels for the so-called confederate government, to cruise against and to make war upon the government and people of the United States. I wrote letters for Captain Bullock (which he signed) to Mr. Mallory, the secretary of the confederate navy, and saw letters from the secretary to Captain Bullock. There was much correspondence about building the two above named and other war vessels in England for the confederate government, and about the money to pay for the same, and those thereafter to be built in England. From this correspondence, and my transactions afterwards with the firm of Fraser, Trenholm & Co., of Liverpool, I learned that Lieutenant James H. North had been sent over to England, by the confederate government, to make contracts in England for building and fitting out iron-clad vessels for said confederate government, for the purpose of committing acts of hostility against and making war upon the government and people of the United States.
Captain Bullock was directed by Mr. Mallory, the secretary of the confederate navy, in the correspondence to which I have referred, to aid Lieutenant North and assist him in getting up and making contracts for building and fitting out these iron-clad vessels in England.
When we came over to England, it was understood by myself, and the other officers who accompanied us, that Captain Bullock was to have the command of the Alabama, which was then building by the Lairds at Birkenhead, and I was to go in her as paymaster. I came over for this express purpose. From the time of my coming to England, in March, 1862, until I sailed in the Alabama, on the 29th of July, 1862, my principal business was to pay the officers of the confederate navy who were over here in England, and attached to the Alabama, sent here to join and sail in her when finished. I used to pay them monthly, about the first of the month, at the office of Fraser, Trenholm & Co., in Liverpool. I drew the money for that purpose from this firm. Captain Bullock kept all his papers at Fraser, Trenholm & Co.’s, and transacted his business in one of the private offices of this firm. I was in the habit, during my stay in Liverpool, of visiting this office very frequently, almost every day, and saw, heard, and knew what was being done and going on. I also made visits to Laird’s yard, in Birkenhead, where the Alabama was building. I saw Captain Bullock there at times in the yard with the Lairds. I also saw the Lairds at Fraser, Trenholm & Co.’s office with Captain Bullock. On one of the occasions of my visit to Captain Bullock, at Frazer, Trenholm & Co.’s office, in Liverpool, I made for him a copy of the original contract between himself and the firm of William and John Laird & Co., at Birkenhead, for building the Alabama. This copy I had with me while I was serving as paymaster on that [Page 381] ship, and it was left on that vessel by me. I also frequently made copies of other papers, letters, &c., for Captain Bullock. Before we sailed in the Alabama I saw the plans, drawings, and specifications, made and furnished by the firm of William and John Laird & Co., for building the iron-clad rams for the so-called confederate government; I think it was in the month of June, 1862; it was in the office of Fraser, Trenholm & Co., in Liverpool. Captain Bullock had them. Mr. Freeman, the chief engineer of the Alabama, and several other officers, were there with myself and Captain Bullock examining them. A set of plans and specifications for building these iron-clad rams had been previously sent over to Richmond for the approval of the confederate government. The Messrs. Laird had some doubts whether the British government would permit them to build and fit out the vessels with towers or turrets on them, and were going to ascertain, through the Mr. Laird who was a member of parliament, whether they would be permitted to do so.
After we left Liverpool Mr. Lowe told me the keel of one of these ironclad rams had been laid by the Lairds at their yard before we sailed, which was afterwards corroborated by Mr. Freeman, the chief engineer of the Alabama, who stated to me that he had been over to the yard and seen it.
Capt. Bullock had made himself so useful and efficient in building war vessels in England, that the confederate government was not willing for him to take command of the Alabama, but required him to remain and superintend the building and fitting out of the iron-clads to be built by the Lairds and others in England. I learned this from himself. He told me that he had been ordered by the navy department to remain to look after and superintend the building of these, very iron-clads. He is very anxious to have command of a vessel, and expected in the first place to have the Oreto, then to have the Alabama. He told me just before I left, he would not let all of the iron-clads slip through his hands, as the Oreto and Alabama had.
On the 5th of April, 1863, I went to the shipyard of Wm. & John Laird & Co., at Birkenhead. In the southerly part of their yard, under the sheds, side by side, saw two iron-clad ram steamers which they are building there. I believe them to be the same that I saw on the plans and drawings made by the Messrs. Laird and in possession of Capt. Bullock at the office of Fraser, Trenholm & Co., hereinbefore mentioned. I have not the least doubt about the matter.
CLARENCE R. YONGE.
Deposition of George T. Chapman.
I, George Temple Chapman, of New York, in the United States of America, but now at Liverpool, in the county of Lancaster, gentleman, make oath and say as follows:
1. In the early part of the month of April last I had an occasion to call at Messrs. Fraser, Trenholm & Co.’s office, in Liverpool, to see Capt. Bullock, whom I had known formerly in the United States. Capt. Bullock was not in when I first called at the office, but I saw Mr. Pridleau, one of the partners in the firm of Fraser, Trenholm & Co., and had some conversation with him. In the course of such conversation Mr. Pridleau told me that his firm were the financial agents for the Confederate States of America, and that I might speak with him in perfect safety on anything connected with the south, as the whole of his establishment were in the confederate interest. I noticed that there was a confederate flag displayed in the office. On this occasion I handed to Mr. Pridleau some letters which had been given to me by the wife of Clarence [Page 382] Randolph Yonge, who, Mr. Pridleau told me, had been Capt. Bullock’s secretary, and afterwards purser of the Alabama.
2. On the day following, on which I had the conversation above mentioned with Mr. Pridleau, I called again at Messrs. Fraser, Trenholm & Co.’s: office, and saw there Capt. Bullock, who told me that he had seen the letters which I had left with Mr. Pridleau, but that they were of no importance, and that he never trusted Yonge with anything important. Capt. Bullock told me that he came to Liverpool to build and procure ships and vessels-of-war for the confederate service. He referred to the Alabama, and the Oreto or Florida, as two of the ships he had fitted out, and said that he was fitting out more, but that he managed so that he could defy any one to prove that he was fitting them out for the use of the confederate government.
3. Whilst I was with Capt. Bullock, Lieut. John Randolph Hamilton, son of Gov. Hamilton, of South Carolina, (formerly a lieutenant in the United States navy,) came in, and I recognized him. I first knew him at the Naval Academy at Annapolis, in the United States, where we were midshipmen together. I knew him afterwards as lieutenant in the United States service. He told me he had become, a lieutenant in the confederate service, and that he came over to Liverpool, by direction of the Confederate States government, to assist Capt. Bullock in the fitting out of vessels, and to advise Messrs. Fraser, Trenholm & Co., and to give his advice generally, in the interests of the confederate government. The said John Randolph Hamilton told me that he and Bullock had a private office in Fraser, Trenholm & Co.’s house of business, and that the Alabama was built according to a model prepared by Capt. Bullock, and that Lairds were not entitled to any credit for that ship. He spoke without hesitation about the Oreto, which they had sent out, and both he and Capt. Bullock spoke of themselves as the employe’s of the confederate government, and that they were paid as such.
4. In the early part of the month of April last a Capt. Morton, who is the overlooker of Messrs. Boult, English & Brandon, of Liverpool, merchants, took me with him to Messrs. Laird & Co.’s ship-building yard, at Birkenhead, in order that I might see two iron rams or vessels-of-war, which he said were, without doubt, for the southerners. I saw the two vessels in question, which were being built alongside each other at the south end of the yard. The hulls were complete, and the sides were covered with slabs of teak wood about 12 inches thick. In the early part of this present month one of the vessels, the more northwardly of the two, had a great number of her iron armor plates fixed. The armor plates appeared to me to be about four inches thick. Each vessel was about 250 feet long, as well as I could judge, and the deck of each vessel was prepared to receive two turrets. I saw the turrets being built in the yard near the rams above mentioned. Each ram had a stem made of wrought iron, about eight inches thick, projecting about five feet under the water-line, and obviously intended for the purpose of penetrating and destroying other vessels. The rams, in question were of immense strength, and could by no possibility be intended for anything but vessels-of-war. The only other vessels building in the yard at that time were an iron-plated vessel-of-war for the British government, to be called the “Agincourt,” and two merchant vessels, one a steamer and the other a sailing ship.
5. I saw the above mentioned John Randolph Hamilton some days after I had seen the rams above mentioned; I met him, at his request, at the Angel hotel in Liverpool. On that occasion, the said John Randolph Hamilton told me that the rams which were being built by Laird & Company were for the confederates.
GEORGE TEMPLE CHAPMAN.
Sworn before me at the custom-house, Liverpool, this 29th day of June, 1863.
G. St. GEORGE, pro Collector.
[Page 383]I, Thomas Haines Dudley, esq., of No 3 Wellesley Terrace, Prince’s park, Liverpool, in the county of Lancaster, do solemnly, sincerely, and truly affirm and declare that the taking of any oath is, according to my religious belief, unlawful; and I do also solemnly, sincerely, and truly affirm and declare as follows:
1. I am the consul of the United States of America for the port of Liverpool and its dependencies.
2. I say there is now, and for some time past has been, a war carried on between the government and people of the United States of America and certain persons who have rebelled against such government, and pretended to set up and assume to exercise the powers of government, styling themselves the Confederate States.
3. I further say that, to the best of my knowledge, information, and belief, no leave or license has been had or obtained from or of her Majesty the Queen, under her sign manual, or any order in council, or any proclamation of her said Majesty, or otherwise, or at all authorizing any person within any part of the United Kingdom, to equip, furnish, fit out, or arm ships or vessels, with intent or in order that such ship or vessel shall be employed in the service of the so-called Confederate States to cruise or commit hostilities against the government and people of the said United States of America, and that her Majesty is not now at war with the said United States.
4. I say there have been built in this port for the government of the so-called Confederate States two vessels-of-war. One of them named the Oreto, now called the Florida, was built by Messrs. W. C. Miller & Sons, of Liverpool, and another, the Alabama, by Messrs. Laird & Co.; and they have been employed by the said so-called Confederate States against the government and people of the United States of America in the war that is now going on; and armaments and war crews for both the said vessels went out in them, or were sent out from England to meet the ships abroad, and were then placed on board of them. On the 4th of the present month of July another vessel built by the said Messrs. Laird & Co., and intended for an iron-clad steam ram, and, as this deponent verily believes, built and intended for a vessel-of-war, was launched by them from their shipbuilding yard at Birkenhead, and such vessel is now at Birkenhead, in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
5. I say that I have read the affidavits of George Temple Chapman, sworn on the 29th day of June last, of Clarence Randolph Yonge, sworn on the 6th day of April last, and of William Hayden Russell and Joseph Ellis, sworn the 7th day of July instant, and I say that from the facts there spoken to, and from the facts and circumstances aforesaid, I verily believe and say that the said vessel above mentioned is being equipped, armed, and fitted out with intent and in order that the said vessel shall be employed in the service of the said persons setting up to exercise the power of government, and called the Confederate States of America, and with intent to cruise and commit hostilities against the government and citizens of the United States of America.
Mr. Adams to Lord Russell.
My Lord: Having received information of the existence of a report that the iron-clad vessel at Liverpool had been claimed by the French consul at that port, and having since perceived that some credit has been given to the story by the first minister of the crown, immediate measures were taken to ascertain whether there was any foundation for it in fact.
I now have the honor to transmit a copy of a letter received from Mr. Dudley, the consul of the United States at Liverpool, which appears to show clearly the precise nature of the pretence.
I pray your lordship, &c.,
Right Hon. Earl Russell.
Mr. Wilding to Mr. Adams.
Sir: On reading in the Times of this morning the statement reported to have been made by Lord Palmerston in reply to Mr. Cobden last night—that he was informed as regards one of the iron-clads referred to, that the French consul claimed it for the Emperor of the French—I addressed a note to the French consul, asking him whether the information referred to was true. In reply he sent his vice-consul to assure me that there is no truth whatever in the information; that he does not know of any iron-clads being built here for the Emperor of the French.
I addressed the inquiry to my colleague, not supposing there was any truth whatever in the information, but that I might have his authority for saying there was none.
The vice-consul, while with me, stated that about the 3d or morning of the 4th of July, the consul received an invitation from a Mr. Bravay (a Frenchman, but unknown to him) to a luncheon at Messrs. Laird’s yard, on the 4th, on the occasion of the launch of an iron-clad vessel. The invitation came so late that the consul said he could not go. The vice-consul was then asked to go; and Mr. Bravay, introduced by one of the Messrs. Laird, waited upon him, and pressed him to go.
He, Mr. Bravay, then, in the presence of Mr. Laird, said he wished to get French papers for the iron-clad, and asked what formalities were necessary. He was instructed on the point, and then said the matter would be attended to by his brother, who had more to do with it than he had, and that he himself had to be in Madrid on the 9th. The vice-consul referred to a French Paris directory, and asked Mr. Bravay if he was one of the firm of Bravay & Co. therein described as merchants, and he said he was.
The consul or vice-consul has neither of them seen Mr. Bravay or Mr. Laird since, and did not go to the luncheon.
This indicates the source of Lord Palmerston’s information; and also that some such trick as getting foreign papers for the ram, under cover of which she would sail out, has been and perhaps is intended.
Very respectfully, I am, sir, your obedient servant,
His Excellency Charles Francis Adams, &c., &c., &c.