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 have the honor to transmit copies of a series of communications received from Mr. H. J. Sprague, the consul at Gibraltar, respecting the movements made at that port to sell the steamer Sumter. As he desired my advice, I gave it to him in the letter, a copy of which goes with the papers. The question of the right to sell the property of a belligerent to a neutral in a neutral port is not without its difficulties, and I find the authorities differ materially about it. My own leaning is rather to a liberal construction, especially as in this case it relieves us from a burdensome process of vigilance. Besides which, I find that the government bought a war vessel of the Greeks whilst engaged, in 1826, in their war with the Turks.
I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,
Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, Washington, D. G.
[Enclosures.]
1. Mr. Sprague to Mr. Adams, December 9, 1862.
2. Telegram from Mr. Sprague to Mr. Adams, December 8, 1862.
3. Mr. Sprague to Mr. Adams, December 10, 1862.
4. Telegram to Mr. Adams, December 9, 1862.
5. Advertisement of sale of the Sumter.
6. Mr. Sprague’s protest to governor of Gibraltar, December 9, 1862.
[Page 31]7. Commander Pickering to Mr. Sprague, December 6, 1862.
8. Mr. Sprague to Mr. Adams, December 12, 1862.
9. Colonial Secretary to Mr. Sprague, December 10, 1862.
10. Mr. Sprague to Colonial Secretary, December 10, 1862.
11. Colonial Secretary to Mr. Sprague, in reply, December 10, 1862.
12. Mr. Sprague to Colonial Secretary, December 11, 1862.
13. Official notice in Gibraltar Chronicle, December 10, 1862.
14. Official notice in Gibraltar Chronicle, December 11, 1862.
15. Change in advertisement of sale of Sumter.
16. Gibraltar Chronicle, December 5, 1862.
17. Mr. Adams to Mr. Sprague, December 17, 1862.
18. Telegram from Mr. Sprague to Mr. Adams, December 19, 1862. Sale of Sumter.
19. Telegram, same to same, December 23, 1862. Sumter flying British flag.
Mr. Sprague to Mr. Adams.
Sir: I informed you yesterday that the steamer Sumter had just been sold by private contract. The sum she fetched was four thousand pounds sterling.
Yesterday afternoon the purchasers were ready with the money and with bill of sale in hand to be executed by a notary public in this city, when it was found that all the papers required by them could not be produced by the officer in charge of the Sumter, 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. The purchasers require a written authority from Commissioner Mason to Mr. Bullock for the sale of the Sumter, and the seller has telegraphed for this document; in the mean while the sale is in suspense, and I accordingly telegraphed your excellency last evening as annexed.
The guns of the Sumter are included in the sale, and should the sale be consummated I understand they will be landed here under the supervision of the British authorities. The revolvers are not sold. I hear it stated the officer in charge intends to send them forward to England. The purchasers of the Sumter have refused buying the chronometers, salt provisions, or anything else that has been captured by her when in command of Semmes.
Please communicate all this information to our government at Washington.
I have the honor, &c., &c.,
His Excellency Charles Francis Adams, United States Minister, &c., &c., &c., London.
[Telegram.]
Mr. Adams, American Minister, London.
The private sale of Sumter is in suspense for want of written authority from Commissioner Mason. The party has telegraphed for it.
Mr. Sprague to Mr. Adams.
Sir: After mailing my communication to you of yesterday I received a telegram from Mr. Koerner, our minister at Madrid, requesting me to protest against the selling of the steamer Sumter at this port. I had also received, a few hours before, an official note from Captain Pickering, of the United States steamer Kearsage, now at Cadiz, to the same effect. In consequence, and in the absence of any reply from your excellency to my telegrams from the 6th instant, I decided to delay no further in addressing the governor of this fortress on the subject, and based my communication upon the telegram received from our minister at Madrid. I now have the honor of transmitting a copy thereof.
The private sale of the Sumter still remains in suspense, and she is still advertised in the Gibraltar Chronicle of yesterday for sale by public auction for to-morrow.
Anything further transpiring about the Sumter I shall telegraph your excellency without delay.
I enclose copy of Captain Pickering’s despatch to me. I also annex copy of my telegram to you of last evening.
I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,
His Excellency C. F. Adams, United States Minister, &c., &c., &c., London.
[Telegram.]
Mr. Adams, American Minister, London.
By instructions of our minister at Madrid, have protested to British governor against Sumter being sold here.
[From Gibraltar Chronicle of the 9th December, 1862.]
AUCTION SALE OF THE VERY SWIFT SCREW STEAMER SUMTER.
On Thursday next, 11th instant, at 12 o’clock, will be sold by public auction, in the north room of the Exchange, the screw steamer Sumter, now lying in this bay, of about 499 tons burden, built at Philadelphia in 1859, of superior oak timber, and sheathed with yellow metal in 1860, together with sails, rigging, stores, moorings, &c., &c., as may be found on board, and a powerful engine, cylinder fifty inches; an inventory of which and conditions of sale may be seen on board any time previous to the sale, or at—
Mr. Sprague to Sir W. Codrington.
Sir: I have this moment received a telegram from the minister of the United States of America for the court of Madrid under to-day’s date in the following terms:
[Translation.]
“Announce officially that the steamer Sumter, being prize of war made by the insurgents in the United States, and really the property of citizens of that republic, being also included in the terms provided in the orders of her Britannic Majesty in council against the sale of prize of this war in her Majesty’s dominions, cannot be lawfully sold in Gibraltar, and that the sale announced will not be respected by the vessels-of-war of the United States, but that the Sumter will be made prize wherever she may be found on the high seas, or within American jurisdiction, and taken before the proper court for adjudication.
The minister plenipotentiary,
“GUSTAVUS KOERNER.”
In face of which I have to protest in the name of the government of the United States of America, as its representative at this port, against the sale of the steamer Sumter taking place in this city, with the concurrence of the British authorities.
I have the honor to be your excellency’s obedient servant,
His Excellency Sir Wm. Codrington, K. C. B., Governor of Gibraltar, &c., &c., &c.
Captain Pickering to Mr. Sprague.
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your telegram, without date, informing me that the Sumter is advertised for sale at Gibraltar on Thursday next.
The vessel is of little value, and probably offered for sale merely to establish a precedent.
The sale of so-called confederate war vessels in British ports is an act as unfriendly and hostile to our government as the purchase of war vessels in their ports by the same party. I would therefore suggest that it is your duty to enter a protest against the sale.
I am, respectfully, &c., your obedient servant,
Horatio J. Sprague, Esq., United States Consul, Gibraltar.
Mr. Sprague to Mr. Adams.
Sir: I beg to transmit herewith copies of notes that have so far been interchanged between this consulate and the governor of Gibraltar regarding the proposed sale of the steamer Sumter in this port since I had the honor of addressing your excellency on the 10th instant.
In the absence of instructions from your excellency, I have limited myself to protesting against the sale of the Sumter at this port, based upon the contents of the telegram received from Mr. Koerner, our minister at Madrid.
I call your particular attention to the official notices published in the Gibraltar Chronicle of the 10th and 11th instant, which I herewith annex.
I have never been able to obtain an accurate history of the steamer Sumter, but, as much can be said as to what constitutes a “war prize,” I take the liberty to observe that as all public property in the States that have rebelled against the government of the United States was the property of the United States, whether it consisted of ships or stores in the public arsenals, or of money in the public chests, its illegal capture by the so-called confederates might make all such property prize of war. Although the British government has conceded belligerent rights to the States in rebellion, it has not yet recognized those States, nor would improbably be disposed to contend that the property of the United States seized by force is lawfully owned by the so-called confederates.
The private sale of the Sumter having been cancelled by mutual consent, she is again advertised for sale by public auction for the 19th instant, and I hear a party is expected from England, by the Southampton steamer, due here on the 17th instant, to be present at the sale, but for what purpose I know not.
Please do me the favor to inform our government of the contents of the present communication with its enclosures, and accept, sir, the assurances of my high consideration and respect.
His Excellency C. F. Adams, United States Minister, &c., &c., &c., London.
Captain Freeling to Mr. Sprague.
Sir: I am directed by the governor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated 9th instant, on the subject of the sale of the Sumter.
His excellency desires me to inform you that you have not furnished any such proof of the Sumter being a prize as to justify his interference with a mercantile transaction.
I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,
H. J. Sprague, Esq., United States Consul, &c., &c., &c.
Mr. Sprague to Captain Freeling.
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch of today’s date, and, in reply, I beg to state that I am not instructed by the government of the United States to enter into the question proposed in your said despatch, as to which I may, however, observe that there can be no doubt that the sale of the steamer Sumter is in fact a sale for the purpose of avoiding a capture by the cruisers of the United States. Such sale for such purpose within the jurisdiction of a neutral state is, I apprehend, illegal and opposed to the strict law of neutrality, if sanctioned by the government of such neutral state.
In conformity with the tenor of my instructions contained in the official telegram of yesterday, of which I have had the honor to remit a copy to his excellency the governor, I have only to protest in the name of my government against any such sale in this port of the said steamer Sumter, as is proposed, and to point out the consequences following upon such sale. It only remains for me to reiterate that protest, and respectfully to request the attention of his excellency the governor thereto.
I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,
Captain S. Freeling, R. A., Colonial Secretary, &c., &c., &c., Gibraltar.
Captain Freeling to Mr. Sprague.
Sir: I am directed by the governor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of this day’s date, and, in reply, to remark that your protest of yesterday was made on the ground that the Sumter was a prize made from the federals by the confederates, and therefore truly the property of the former.
Now, however, you state a different ground, viz: that the sale is for the purpose of avoiding a capture by the cruisers of the United States, and therefore illegal.
The governor wishes to know upon which of these two grounds you now make your protest, as your last seems somewhat incompatible with the first which he received from you yesterday.
I have the honor to be, &c.,
Horatio J. Sprague, Esq., United States Consul, Gibraltar.
Mr. Sprague to Captain Freeling.
Sir: I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 10th instant, in reply to my communication of the same date, on the subject of the proposed sale of the steamer Sumter.
The telegram from his excellency the minister plenipotentiary of the United States at the court of Madrid, of which I had the honor to forward a copy to his excellency the governor on the 9th instant, contains the instructions upon which I have acted in protesting against the above sale, as I necessarily had to consider it my duty to do so.
I am, however, quite unable to see the incompatibility of what was stated by me in my letter of yesterday, with the ground set forth for the protest in question, as it was simply put forward as an observation, which appeared to me to bear upon the question, and not to be inconsistent with the views set forth in the telegram.
I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,
Captain S. Freeling, R. A., Colonial Secretary, Gibraltar.
[Official notice in the Gibraltar Chronicle of December 10, 1862.]
His excellency the governor has received a protest from the United States consul in this city against the sale of the confederate steamer Sumter, on the ground, as stated by him, of her being a prize. No proof of this being the case has been furnished, but the governor deems it right to notify this protest to the public.
By command:
[Official notice from the Gibraltar Chronicle of December 11, 1862.]
With reference to the notice in yesterday’s Chronicle, his excellency the governor has received the following statement from the officer commanding the Sumter.
[Page 37]“The Sumter was bought and paid for at New Orleans by the confederate government; that the owners of the then steamer Habana (the Sumter) agreed to the price and terms of sale; and that she was purchased before any vessels had been seized in New Orleans by the confederate government.”
By command:
[Untitled]
The Gibraltar Chronicle of the 11th December has a supplement containing the advertisement of the sale of the Sumter, as heretofore copied, with the addition that “The above sale is postponed until Friday, the 19th instant.”
Mr. Adams to Mr. Sprague.
Sir: I have to acknowledge the reception of several telegrams, together with letters, and especially that of the 6th of December, all relating to the project of sale of the steamer Sumter in the port of Gibraltar.
I have not written in reply to these communications, for the reason that I could not perceive any action yet taken in the premises that can be made the basis of agitation here. The advertisement put into the columns of the Gibraltar as well as the Liverpool newspapers is wholly devoid of a responsible character. It is clear that no owner has yet appeared vested with sufficient power to act at all in the premises. Under such circumstances I cannot see the force of a remonstrance to the British government which is based upon no act to be complained of beyond a newspaper advertisement, and which suggests no practical remedy. In this sense your letter to commander Bryson appears to me to have been written with great judgment. It is scarcely to be presumed that her Majesty’s government is not fully conscious of the conditions under which the Sumter enjoys its protection. It is as a vessel of a recognized belligerent that she obtained the privilege of remaining where she is until now. Any change in her character cannot be effected without the knowledge and consent of the authorities at Gibraltar. You will therefore, first of all, confine yourself to the simple duty of watching all the proceedings. In case of any attempt at a merely fraudulent transfer for the sake of escaping harmless from our cruisers and resuming her former career, you will call their attention to the fact, deny the validity of any such proceeding, and invoke their interference. Should it appear to you, on the other hand, that the purchasing parties are foreigners acting in good faith for the conversion of the vessel to some legitimate and peaceful trade, I see no better way of getting rid of a burdensome labor of vigilance upon a property of little value than to acquiesce in it. On the other hand, should you have reason to suspect a spurious transaction for the sole purpose of extricating the vessel from its present position in order to replace it in a more effective attitude of hostility to the United States, you will do well to remonstrate with the local authorities, and to send a copy of your remonstrance, together with the evidence on which you rest it, to this legation.
Under the present aspect of the case I do not feel as if I had proof of ill-intention in my hands sufficient to enable me to give to the commanders of our vessels-of-war [Page 38] any specific instructions. So much must depend on the shape which the matter may take, that I can only say to you this: that only in the contingency of positive fraud above spoken of, clearly shown, as well as of refusal of the British authorities to interfere, so far as to detain the vessel for time enough to make a representation here, should I think it advisable for our own vessels to interpose. And even then should she sail under a British flag, it can only be done on the high seas, and under a preliminary search to investigate her true character. Should the papers be of such a kind as to subject her to the suspicion of being yet rebel property, with only a fraudulent cover, she might then be taken and sent home for adjudication in the United States court.
I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,
Horatio J. Sprague, Esq., United States Consul, Gibraltar.
[Untitled]
Sumter sold this day by public auction for nineteen thousand five hundred dollars. Purchaser, an English engineer, arrived yesterday from Southampton.
Mr. Adams, American Minister, London.
[Untitled]
Sumter flying British flag. Is loading. Probably be conveyed (convoyed?) to sea if necessary.
Adams, American Minister, London.