Papers Relating to Foreign Affairs, Accompanying the Annual Message of the President to the First Session Thirty-eighth Congress, Part II
Mr. Seward to Mr. Mercier.
Sir: I do myself the honor to enclose the original of a report, bearing date the 8th instant, from General G. F. Shepley, military governor of Louisiana, upon the case of François Bougeré, a Frenchman, which case has heretofore been a subject of correspondence between this department and the legation of France. After you shall have examined the report adverted to, I will thank you to return it, with any observations in regard to it which may have occurred to you.
I avail myself of the occasion, sir, to offer to you a renewed assurance of my very high consideration.
Mr. Henry Mercier, &c., &c., &c.
General Shepley to Mr. Seward.
Sir: I have the honor herewith to transmit a report of Hon. Bion Bradbury, the commissioner appointed by me to take testimony in relation to the claim presented by his excellency Henri Mercier, minister plenipotentiary of his Majesty the Emperor of the French, in behalf of François Bougére, of the State of Louisiana.
The testimony, taken in writing by the commissioner, accompanies his report.
I beg leave to add, as the result of careful inquiry that I have personally made into the circumstances of this claim, that the claim of Mr. Bougére, if not wholly groundless, is most grossly exaggerated, and that his losses, if any, have been trivial, and persons living in the vicinity of his plantation speak of him as having taken an active part in the rebellion, as having aided in raising and equipping an artillery company for the rebel service, and as having heretofore acted and voted as a citizen of Louisiana.
The delay in making this report has been unavoidable in consequence of the absence of witnesses engaged in active operations in the field.
With great respect, I have the honor to be your obedient servant,
Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, &c.
Special Order No. 35.}
Hon. Bion Bradbury is hereby appointed a commissioner to take testimony in relation to the complaint of François Bougére, a French subject, of alleged spoliations of his property by the military and naval forces of the United States.
He will summon before him all officers in command of the expedition, and take their testimony, and that of any other persons who can afford any evidence which will substantiate the facts in the case. He will also notify the consul of his Majesty the Emperor of France that he will receive and record, for [Page 832] transmission to the State Department at Washington, any testimony he may desire to produce to substantiate the statements of Monsieur François Bougére.
The object of this commission is to furnish for the information of the honorable the Secretary of the State Department an accurate report of the exact facts in this case, and he will take such testimony under oath as may be necessary to do this, and report the testimony itself, with his conclusions thereon, to this department.
James F. Miller, Assistant Adjutant General.
Affidavit of Colonel Stephen Thomas.
I, Stephen Thomas, colonel of the eighth regiment of Vermont volunteers, on oath depose and say, that I left my camp at Algiers on the morning of the 28th of August, A. D. 1862, having under my command two companies of my regiment, a section of artillery and one company of Massachusetts cavalry, commanded by Lieutenant Perkins, for the purpose of proceeding into the interior to drive off guerillas, and for forage. I encamped the first night of my departure at St. Charles court-house, about four miles below the residence of François Bougére. I passed over his plantation between 8 and 9 o’clock of the morning of the 29th of August, and having completed the object of the expedition, we passed, on our return, over the same ground, at about 3 o’clock in the afternoon of the same day, and arrived at the St. Charles court-house just before sunset. I halted there for refreshment, and threw out my pickets both above and below my command, with orders that no soldier should be permitted to go beyond the lines. As soon as refreshed, my command resumed its march, and continued to march all night, arriving at Algiers about 10 o’clock the next day (August 30.) I did not see François Bougére at all. We met many negroes on foot and in carts, as we went up, apparently starting for the American lines. As we returned the negroes began to follow after us, and at daylight on the 30th of August we found a large number of them in our rear. Neither myself, my officers, nor my men, so far as I know, or have reason to believe, seized or carried away any of the property of said Bougére, except two ordinary horses, nor did any of my command endeavor, in any way, to induce the negroes of said Bougére to desert their master and go with us. I have no reason to suppose that any of my soldiers or officers entered the house of the said Bougére at all, either in going up or returning.
Subsequently, my attention was called to the fact that the said Bougére had preferred a claim upon the government of the United States for damages sustained by him, in consequence of spoliations committed by my command upon his plantation, and had a conversation with him upon the subject, through an interpreter. This was in the early part of December, A. D. 1862. In that conversation he informed me that about half of his negroes had left him prior to the date of my expedition; that the remainder of his negroes and his property, with the exception of three horses, were on his plantation as late as the evening of the day that my command passed over it, but that during the night the negroes broke out, and that in the morning he found negroes, mules, carts and carriages gone; that when I went over his plantation, on my way up, he was on the rear of it, with nearly all his negroes; that on my return none of my soldiers entered his house. I am satisfied that none of my command could have returned to the said Bougére’s plantation after they had passed over it in the afternoon, on their return to Algiers.
[Page 833]I feel certain that no wines, jewelry, clothing or provisions could have been taken by my men.
There was no gunboat attached to my command; nor was there any gunboat, to my knowledge, lying at or near his plantation on the day that I passed over it. And I may say that I am confident there was no gunboat which loaded there during that day.
STEPHEN THOMAS.
Subscribed and sworn to before
Affidavit of Major Grout.
I, Luman M. Grout, major of the eighth regiment of Vermont volunteers, on oath depose and say, that I had the command of one of the companies of the eighth Vermont regiment on the expedition under Colonel Stephen Thomas, on the days of the 28th, 29th and 30th of August, A. D. 1862; that I have carefully read the deposition of Colonel Thomas, and can state that the history of said expedition, and of the conduct of the men in reference to François Bougére, as therein given, is correct and true.
LUMAN M. GROUT, Major 8th Vermont Volunteers.
Subscribed and sworn to before me.
Affidavit of Captain Foster.
I, Henry E. Foster, captain of a company in the 8th regiment, of Vermont volunteers, on oath depose and say, that I had the command of one of the companies of the 8th Vermont regiment on the expedition under Colonel Stephen Thomas, on the days of the 28th, 29th, and 30th of August, A. D. 1862; that I have carefully read the deposition of Colonel Thomas, and am able to state that the history of said expedition, and of the conduct of the officers and men in reference to François Bougére, as therein given, is correct and true.
H. E. FOSTER, Captain Company C, 8th Vermont Volunteers.
Subscribed and sworn to before me.
Affidavit of Napoleon Patwin.
I, Napoleon Patwin, a private in company C, of the 8th regiment of Vermont volunteers, on oath depose and say, that I write and speak both the English and French languages; that early in the month of December, A. D. 1862, I acted as an interpreter of a conversation between Colonel Stephen Thomas, of the 8th regiment of Vermont volunteers, and François Bougére, of the parish of St. Charles, in the State of Louisiana. In that conversation, said Bougére told Colonel Thomas that, on the evening of the day that his (Thomas’s) command passed over the said Bougére’s plantation, his property and most of his slaves were on the plantation; that during the night the slaves broke through [Page 834] the gate and went off, taking his mules, carts, and his carriage; that he thought his jewelry was carried away by the captain of a steamboat; that he had his wines after Colonel Thomas had left; that he had three horses taken, but one of the horses did not belong to him; that he was on the rear of his plantation, with the most of his negroes, when Colonel Thomas went up; and that he drove his cattle back towards the woods to save them. I belonged to one of the companies under Colonel Thomas’s command, and went with him on the expedition of the last of August, A. D. 1862, and can state that, according to my best knowledge and belief, neither officers nor soldiers entered the house of said Bougére, or took away any property except the two horses referred to, or endeavored to entice away his negroes.
NAPOLEON PATWIN.
Subscribed and sworn to before me.
Affidavit of Solon A. Perkins.
I, Solon A. Perkins, 1st lieutenant commanding the 3d unattached company of Massachusetts cavalry, on oath depose and say, that I had command of the cavalry attached to the command of Colonel Stephen Thomas on the expedition of Colonel Thomas on the days of the 28th, 29th and 30th of August, A. D. 1862; that I have carefully read the deposition of Colonel Thomas, and am able to state that the history of said expedition, and of the conduct of the officers and men in reference to François Bougére and his property, is correct and true.
SOLON A. PERKINS, 1st Lieut. Com’dg 3d unattached company Massachusetts Cavalry.
Subscribed and sworn to before me.
Mr. Bradbury to Brigadier General Shepley.
Sir: Having been appointed by your special order, issued on the 10th of February last, a commissioner to take testimony in relation to the complaint of François Bougére, a French subject, of alleged spoliations of his property by the military and naval forces of the United States, and to report the testimony and my conclusions thereon, I respectfully submit the following report:
On the 21st of February last I delivered to Monsieur Fauconnet, acting consul of France at New Orleans, a copy of the order, and informed him in writing that, in accordance with that order, I was ready to receive and record for transmission to the State Department at Washington any testimony he might desire to produce to substantiate the statements of Monsieur Bougére touching his complaint of alleged spoliations of his property by the military and naval forces of the United States; and on the 28th of the same month I received from Monsieur Fauconnet a note transmitting a duplicate of a communication made to him by yourself, as military governor of the State, both of which will accompany this report.
Having ascertained that the officers who had command of the expedition [Page 835] alleged to have committed the spoliations of the property of Monsieur Bougére were stationed at Brasher city, I proceeded to that post and took the depositions of Colonel Stephen Thomas, Major Luman M. Grout, Captain Henry E. Foster, Lieutenant Solon A. Perkins, and private Napoleon Patwin, which I herewith hand you. Colonel Thomas commanded the expedition, and was accompanied by all the others whose testimony has been taken.
On the 13th of March following I addressed a note to Monsieur Bougére, to the care of Monsieur Fauconnet, in which I informed him that in stating the grounds of his claim against the United States government, he had declared that a portion of his property had been taken or destroyed by the crew of a gunboat anchored in the Mississippi river, opposite to his house, and requested him to give me any information that he might have as to the name of this gunboat, in order that I might take the testimony of the officers and men; to which inquiry I have received no reply.
I have made every effort to discover the name of the gunboat above referred to, but without success. The testimony of Colonel Thomas is to the effect that there was no gunboat lying in the river, near the plantation of Monsieur Bougére, on the day he passed by it with his command. Neither the acting French consul nor Monsieur Bougére have presented any witnesses to me for examination, or offered any evidence for transmission to Washington. Having no power to compel the attendance of unwilling witnesses, I have gathered such further facts as I could by careful inquiry of reliable persons in this city and in the neighborhood of Monsieur Bougére.
From these inquiries I have arrived at the conclusion, that the statements of fact made by the military authorities upon the former investigation of this subject as contained in the communication made to you by the Department of State, under date of January 29, 1863, though not entirely accurate, are substantially correct.
With great respect, I am, sir, your obedient servant,
Brigadier General G. F. Shepley, Military Governor of Louisiana.