Will you please return them when you shall have no further use for
them.
Hon. William H. Seward,
Secretary of State.
[Untitled]
Flag-Ship Wabash,
Port Royal Harbor,
S.C.,
January 28,
1862.
Sir: On the return to this port of the
Susquehanna from blockading duty I called the attention of
Captain Lardner to the subject of the treatment of the master
and crew of the English schooner Louisa Agnes.
I have the honor to enclose communications from Captain Lardner,
Lieutenant Commanding Bankhead, and Lieutenant Weaver.
Respectfully, your obedient servant,
S. F. DUPONT, Flag-Officer Com’g South
Atlantic Block Squadron.
Hon. Gideon Welles,
Secretary of the Navy,
Washington.
[Untitled]
United States Ship
Susquehanna,
Port Royal,
January 24,
1862.
Sir: I have the honor to
acknowledge the receipt of a copy of a despatch from the
Navy Department, of December 11, referring to the treatment
of the master and crew of the English schooner Louisa Agnes,
together with extract from Lord Lyons’s letter to the
Secretary of State, and extract from the affidavit of the
master, to which my attention is called.
[Page 255]
Captain Chauncey, who commanded this ship at the time, was
detached soon afterwards. From the senior lieutenant
(Bankhead) now in command of the Pembina, I enclose a
statement of the treatment and condition of the men; also
one from Lieutenant Weaver, of this ship.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
Flag-Officer S. F. DuPont,
Com’g South Atlantic Blockading
Squadron, Tort Royal, S. C.
[Untitled]
United States Gunboat
Pembina,
Port Royal,
January 25,
1862.
Sir: In answer to your request to
furnish you with the particulars as to the treatment of the
captain and two of the crew of the Louisa Agnes while on
board the Susquehanna, of which ship I was first lieutenant,
I have to state that the said captain and men, after having
been transferred from the Cambridge, were both messed and
berthed. He, the said captain, was recognized by several of
the crew as having served on board a United States
vessel-of-war, in the capacity of seaman, at some previous
time. His personal appearance and want of cleanliness was
such that I did not feel satisfied in berthing him in the
steerage, where I had been in the habit of putting men of
his class while on board of the Susquehanna. A ration was
issued for himself and the two men, and a place assigned
them forward orlop deck (under a strict charge) for their
effects. He was treated as well as the crew of the ship, and
quite as well, as I judged from his manners and appearance,
as he had any reason to expect. While the said captain and
two men were on board of the Susquehanna none of them were
put in irons, or in any manner deprived of their personal
liberty, but were treated with all the consideration which
men in their situation were entitled to.
Respectfully, your obedient servant,
J. P. BANKHEAD, Lieutenant
Commanding.
Captain James L. Lardner,
Commanding United States Steamer
Susquehanna.
[Untitled]
United States Steamer
Susquehanna.
Sir: In reply to your request of
this day I have to state that the master of the schooner
Louisa Agnes was received on board this ship on the 10th day
of September, 1861. He, Robert Nicholson, master of schooner
Louisa Agnes, was furnished with bedding and a hammock, and
took his meals in one of the messes of the crew of this
ship, where he was treated a member of said mess. The said
Nicholson would not have been received in any officer’s
mess, as his personal condition was filthy and ragged in the
extreme.
I am, respectfully, your obedient servant,
A. W. WEAVER, Lieutenant
United States Navy.
Captain James L. Lardner, Commanding United States Steamer
Susquehanna, Port Royal, S. C.
Forwarded respectfully.
