Papers Relating to Foreign Affairs, Accompanying the Annual Message of the President to the Second Session Thirty-eighth Congress, Part II

Lord Lyons to Mr. Seward.

Washington, August 22, 1864.

Sir: As I had the honor to inform you in my note of the 8th instant, I received with much satisfaction the assurance conveyed to me in your note of the 5th instant, that hereafter, when application shall be made for the discharge of an alleged subject of a foreign power, the man whose discharge is applied for will be retained at the draft rendezvous, or, if in active service, sent to said rendezvous until an investigation can be made in his case. You have since been so good as to send me, from time to time, copies of orders to the above effect, issued by the War Department in numerous cases, in which I have brought to your notice the claims of British subjects to be discharged from the United States service. The arrangement appears, therefore, to be punctually carried out by that department, and it will certainly tend to diminish the painful impressions which the constant complaints of the improper enlistment of British subjects in the United States have made upon her Majesty’s government.

It appears, however, to be still necessary that some security should be given that obstacles will not be thrown in the way of British subjects who desire to bring their claims to the notice of her Majesty’s consuls or of this legation, that the investigation will in every case be perfectly fair and impartial, and that proper facilities for establishing their claims will be given to the claimants who are, in the majority of instances, ignorant, illiterate men. With a view to attaining these objects, I venture to direct your particular attention to the enclosed extract from a report made to me by her Majesty’s acting consul at New York, and especially to recommend to consideration the suggestion made by him, that in case of British subjects stated to have been improperly enlisted in the United States service some person deputed by the nearest British consul should be present at the investigation.

The adoption of such an arrangement would, I think, have the effect, in the first place, of increasing the probability that substantive justice would be done in the several cases; and in the second place, of removing misapprehension, and allaying the wide-spread dissatisfaction on the subject of these enlistments, which is exercising so unhappy an influence on the feeling in her Majesty’s dominions towards this country.

I have the honor to be, with the highest consideration, sir, your most obedient, humble servant,

LYONS.

Hon. William H. Seward, &c, &c., &c.

[Extract.]

Mr. Edwards to Lord Lyons.

British Consulate, New York, August 11, 1864.

I have the honor to report that I yesterday visited Hart’s island with a view, as far as possible, to ascertain the ground for the numerous complaints lately made to her Majesty’s legation and to this consulate, by British subjects, of having been kidnapped and taken to that place preparatory to being sent to the army.

Hart’s island is situated in the Long Island sound, about twenty-five miles from this place, and is, from its position, and for the want of any regular communication therewith, very difficult of access.

General Dix, to whom I had applied for the necessary permission to visit Hart’s island, at once acceded to my request, and, at my suggestion, supplied me with a letter of introduction to the officer in command there.

On my arrival at the island I was courteously received by the officers there, who expressed great willingness to place at my disposal every means within their reach for the investigation of any case I might desire to look into.

It would have been unreasonable to expect that these officers would have volunteered information upon the subject of my visit; and I was therefore, as I foresaw I should be, obliged to restrict my investigations to such cases as I could refer to as having been before brought to my notice. These consisted of cases in which the parties were being detained in consequence of representations made by your lordship, or by this consulate, to the authorities.

These men were all questioned by me, with a view, if possible to ascertain the names of others who might be similarly situated. They expressed great unwillingness to give such information, and in one instance positively refused to do so, alleging that they would be subject to severe punishment if they did.

They all assured me that there had, at different times, been a large number of British subjects at Hart’s island who complained of having been illegally enlisted. That the number of these cases have, at any time, amounted to what the excited imaginations of these men represent I do not think; but, at the same time, I see good reason to fear that very many of these cases have never reached this consulate.

The general custom at Hart’s island would appear to be to send off to the army a number of troops two or three times a week. Sometimes they would appear to be detained during several days upon the island, and at other times to be immediately sent away.

Upon the morning of the day upon which I had first obtained permission from General Dix to visit Hart’s island, (this visit I was subsequently obliged to postpone until yesterday,) a much larger number than usual would appear to have been sent away, and on Sunday last another shipment took place.

In many of these cases, even were the parties aware that their proper course would be to lay their complaints before the consul, and were they themselves able to do so, or get others to write for them, the short time during which many of them remain upon the island would preclude the possibility of such applications. Several complaints were made to me that proper facilities were not given to British subjects to lay their cases before her Majesty’s representatives; and I was told that men had been imprisoned in the guard-house for having attempted to communicate their grievances to the consul.

Complaints of this nature have reached me from so many different quarters that there would appear to be reason for believing that they are not entirely without foundation in truth.

I was told that those who succeeded in making such complaints were tauntingly designated as “Lord Lyons’s men” and the “consul’s men,” and were generally set at the most laborious and disagreeable kind of work, such as digging trenches, building stone walls, &c. That it may not be conducive to the preservation of a rigid military discipline to encourage complaints on the part of recruits, I can very well understand; but that the officials meet these complaints in a proper spirit, I fear there is too much reason for doubting.

My representations in these cases of alleged kidnapping to the local officials are generally replied to with courtesy and promptitude, but I feel that it would be useless to expect that they should exceed the strict limit of what they consider their official duty in reference to them.

The evidence taken where a complaint of kidnapping is made must almost necessarily be of an ex parte nature, and the generally official character of such evidence cannot but outweigh any simple statement by the recruit.

Although the investigation of these cases may be conducted with a desire on the part of the United States officials to render justice, yet I cannot but think that the present system is open to grave objections.

In no case, so far as I have been able to ascertain, is the recruit confronted with the parties who are charged with having kidnapped him. He is generally subjected to an inquisitorial examination by men greatly his superiors in point of position and education, who, if so inclined, might easily extort statements calculated to injure his case.

There is, however, reason to fear that these investigations are not always conducted entirely without prejudice.

It appears to me that these objections might, in some measure, be obviated, if the United States government would consent, in all cases of alleged illegal enlistment, that some person be present at the official investigation on the part of her Majesty’s consul. In addition to the advantage of the recruit having a proper person present to protect him against imposition, the consul would then be much better able to judge whether the case was such as to justify an application to the legation.

Although there would appear to be good reason for believing that there are many such, I feel that it would be hopeless; and for some reasons it would appear to be undesirable to attempt to ferret out cases which have not been voluntarily brought to the notice of her Majesty’s legation or consulate.

I have &c, &c,

PIERPONT EDWARDS, Acting Consul.

Lord Lyons, G. C. B., &c., &c., &c.