Papers Relating to Foreign Affairs, Accompanying the Annual Message of the President to the Second Session Thirty-eighth Congress, Part I
Mr. Adams to Mr. Seward.
Sir: I continue to send to Lord Russell such papers as are furnished to me showing the character of the singular proceeding at Sheerness. I have now to transmit copies of my notes of the 12th and the 16th, with their enclosures. I have very little doubt of the complicity of the higher authorities in the dockyard, as well in the outfit as in the escape of the Victor.
I have likewise sent to Mr. Dayton copies of the papers enclosed in those notes. They serve to show the equivocal character of the steamer, which the French government seems rather precipitately to have recognized.
I likewise transmit a copy of a note received from Lord Russell last evening, in reply to mine of the 28th ultimo, and of the 5th instant. I have reason to believe that some rather stringent action is in contemplation against these rebel enterprises, but I have no idea what it is to be.
I learn that the whole of the cargo of one of the vessels reported to have been destroyed by the Alabama in the east is British property, and insured in London for fifteen thousand pounds.
I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,
on. William H. Seward Secretary of State, Washington. D. C.
Mr. Adams to Earl Russell.
My Lord: I have the honor to transmit the copy of another deposition, furnished to me by Mr. Morse, the consul of the United States at London, going to show the nature of the proceedings that have taken place at Sheerness, in connexion with the sale of her Majesty’s steamship Victor.
I pray your lordship to accept the assurances of the highest consideration with which I have the honor to be, my lord, your most obedient servant,
CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS.
Right Hon. Earl Russell, &c., &c., &c.
[Page 41]I, Richard Spendiff, of Brightman’s Court, Mile Town, Sheernes, do hereby truly, sincerely, and solemnly swear that I am a laborer, and on Tuesday, the 24th November last, in company with a man named Maloney, went to see Mr. Rumble, (having previously seen him about going to work on board the Scylla,) and got a note from him (Mr. Rumble) to an officer on board. I went on board the Scylla, late her Majesty’s steamship Victor, in Sheerness harbor, and saw the captain, a person who acted as agent, and Mr. Rumble in the cabin, They offered me and others £6 for the trial trip, which we refused. Mr. Rumble said he thought it was quite enough; but we wanted £8. This they agreed to give each of us, and £1 5s. 6d. cash to pay our fares home. We then signed an agreement to go, I as leading stoker. We did not expect to go for some days, but in consequence of something that occurred we went to sea that night, and arrived at Calais Wednesday night, and went into harbor the next day, Thursday, the 26th November. Soon after we left Sheerness the ship’s name was painted out of her stern.
Her Majesty’s steamship Victor, while in ordinary, used to lie at her moorings on the west shore, Sheerness harbor. After she was sold she went into the basin in the dockyard, and was calked all over except her lower deck. This took about ten days. She then went back to her old moorings, and remained several days; then she went alongside her Majesty’s ship Cumberland, and on Saturday, the 21st November, had her lower masts put in from off that ship, (the Cumberland.) She went to another part of the harbor off a place called Westminister. This was more convenient for the dockyard men to go to and fro. Some of her stores, rigging, provisions, &c., were put on board from sailing barks from London, as well as her coals, 150 tons, or thereabouts, which we stowed in her bunkers. The water (two casks) was put on board from the dockyard sailing tank about one or two o’clock in the afternoon, as we sailed at night. The Victor, or Scylla, had six boilers. Only five of them could be used when we left, and on the run two others broke down, so that we had three useless, viz., the high and low port, and the high starboard boiler. When we left her the only boilers in working order was the fighting ones. The magazine was in good condition, having been repaired since she was sold. The eyebolts to work her broadside guns were in. Her lower masts were not wedged after having been put in from the Cumberland; her standing rigging was on and set up but not rattled down. She had no sails bent when she left the port of Sheerness. She had about eight riggers from the dockyard at work on her rigging. These men continued to work on her rigging during her run to and after her arrival at Calais. Mr. Rees, the master rigger of Sheerness dockyard, was on board when we left Sheerness, but returned in the tug. When she left Sheerness she was prepared to sling hammocks for about 150 men, the hammock hooks being in their places and the hammocks on board. The bedding for the same number of hammocks, with blankets, and remaining part of her stores, was put on board from the tug-boat that towed her to sea, after leaving Sheerness, coming alongside for that purpose. There was no water on board for a voyage, only the two casks before named. When we left Sheerness I consider (with my experience of seventeen years in the navy) she was not in a fit state to go to sea. When we arrived at Calais a new captain came on board, who told us he had been chief mate of the Alabama. He ordered all hands up and asked us if we would enter the confederate service. He said he would give each a bounty of £10, besides £8 per month, if we would sign articles for twelve months. He said the ship was a confederate man-of-war. She was to have eight guns and was to go to the Downs, and then to the north of Ireland, but that we might have to fight the American cruisers, as there were three of them outside the harbor waiting to catch us, and we should have to fight or run. He said his ship, the Rappahannock, was to cruise the same as the Alabama and Florida, and that we were to cruise for prize money. On the first December [Page 42] eight boiler-makers went over to Calais from the dockyard to work on board the ship. There were some men working on board the Scylla as stokers before I joined her. They came from Woolwich. I do not know their names.
Witness to the mark of Richard Spendiff: Joshua Nunn.
Sworn by the deponent, Richard Spendiff, at my office, No. 11 Birchen lane, in the city of London, this 8th day of December, 1863, the witness to the mark of the deponent being first sworn that he had truly, distinctly, and audibly read over the contents of the above affidavit of the said deponent, and that he saw him make his mark thereto. Before me,
Mr. Adams to Earl Russell.
My Lord: I have the honor to submit to your consideration a copy of an extract from a letter addressed to me by Mr. Morse, the consul of the United States at London, together with an official copy of a paper which appears to prove that the vessel which escaped from Sheerness the other day, and now goes under the name of the Rappahannock at Calais, is actually owned and held by Robert Gordon Coleman, a British subject, doing business at No. 28 Clement’s lane.
I trust I need not point out to your lordship that this proceeding involves either a gross fraud or a case of hostile equipment attempted by one of her Majesty’s subjects. In either instance I cannot permit myself to doubt that her Majesty’s government will take suitable measures to sustain the neutrality of the country against violation.
I pray your lordship to accept the assurances of the highest consideration with which I have the honor to be, my lord, your most obedient servant,
Right Hon. Earl Russell, &c., &c., &.
[Untitled]
Sir: I herewith forward to you an official copy of the register of the priva teer Scylla, or Rappahannock. You will notice that she stands this day regis tered at the proper department of the English revenue service as a British ship. There has been no legal transfer, and the legal ownership at 3 o’clock this day was in Robert Gordon Coleman, No. 28 Clement’s lane, London. So far, then, as the true ownership is shown by the papers required to make a legal transfer, she is a British privateer under the rebel flag.
* * * * * * * * * *
English boiler-makers from Sheerness, and other mechanics, are still at work fitting her out, and seamen are almost daily sent to her from this country in small numbers at a time.
I remain, sir, your obedient servant,
Hon. Charles Francis Adams, United States Minister at London.
Form No. 219.
Copy register for transmission to chief registrar of shipping.
| Official No. of ship | 48554. | Name of ship, Scylla. |
| Port No | 448. | Port of registry, London. | British or foreign built—British. |
|
Where built—in the river Thames, for H. M. Government. | When built, 1857. |
No., date, and port of previous registry, (if any.)
| No. of decks | one. | Build | carvel. |
| No. of masts | three. | Gallery | none |
| Rigged | bark. | Head | woman figure. |
| Stern | square. | Framework | wood. |
Tonnage.
| No. of tons. | |
| Tonnage under tonnage deck | 529.11 |
| Closed-in spaces above the tonnage deck, if any, viz: space or spaces between decks. | |
| Poop. | |
| Round house. | |
| Other enclosed spaces, (if any,) naming them. | |
| 529.11 | |
| Deduct allowance for propelling power | 296.56 |
| Register tonnage | 232.55 |
Measurements.
Length from the fore part of the stem, under the bowsprit, to the aft side of the head of the stern-post, 192 feet 7-10ths.
Main breadth to outside of plank, 29 feet 6-10ths.
Depth in hold from tonnage deck to ceiling, at midships, 14 feet 1-10th.
Additional particulars for steamers.
| Tons. | |
| Deduction for space required for propelling power | 296.56 |
Length of engine-room, (if measured,) 73 feet 4-10ths.
No. of engines, 2.
Combined power, estimated horse-power, 350.
Names, residence, and description of the owners, and number of sixty-fourth shares held by each owner.
Robert Gordon Coleman, of 28 Clement’s lane, in the city of London, merchant, 64 shares.
Dated November 6, 1863.
EDWARD SHEPPARD, Registrar.
N. B.—To be addressed in an envelope to the chief registrar of shipping, custom-house, London.
1 Rm. 3 | 63—H. & S. 592.
No. 219.—Copy of register for transmission to chief registrar of shipping.
References to transactions. Changes of masters.
(Issued December 17, 1863.)
hereby certify the foregoing copy of certificate of registry to be a true copy.
Earl Russell to Mr. Adams.
Sir: The circumstances connected with the sale and subsequent removal from Sheerness of the vessel now called the Rappahannock, but formerly her Majesty’s gun-vessel Victor, to which you called my attention in, your letters of the 28th of November and 5th of December, have engaged the serious attention of her Majesty’s government, and I have the honor to inform you that her Majesty’s government are fully determined to take such steps as may legally be within their power to put in force the laws of this country against any persons who in this matter may appear to have transgressed them.
As regards the other vessels which, in your letter of the 28th of November, you state that you have reason to believe may be charged with the materials for the armament, and possibly with a portion of the crew of the Rappahannock, I have the honor to state to you that the collector of customs at Plymouth has reported that the Agrippina, which arrived at that port wind-bound on the 20th of November, sailed again on the following morning for Bermuda, having not shipped at Plymouth either, cargo, crew, or passengers, and with her hatches battened down and her boats stowed away in the usual manner for a long voyage.
The Harriet Pinckney, whose destination was also Bermuda, put into Plymouth under stress of weather on the 21st of November, and has been obliged to discharge her cargo there in order to obtain necessary repairs, the completion of which will probably require considerable time.
I have the honor to be, with the highest consideration, sir, your most obedient, humble servant,
Charles Francis Adams, Esq., &c., &c., &c.