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

Mr. Seward to Mr. Adams.

No. 1769.]

Department of State, Washington, May 29, 1866.

Sir: I would thank you to bring to the attention of the government of Great Britain the case of J. H. Gleeson, which forms the subject of the enclosed copy of a letter of the 8th instant from Mrs. Mary Francis Gleeson, his wife, and to endeavor to procure his release from imprisonment, provided that upon investigation the facts are as stated.

I am, sir, your obedient servant,

WILLIAM H. SEWARD.

Charles Francis Adams, Esq., &c., &c., &c.

Dublin, Ireland, May 8, 1866.

Kind Sir: I wish to address you in behalf of my husband, J. H. Gleeson, late colonel of the sixty-third New York volunteers, who fought all through the late war; and at its close he came to this country, bringing me with him, to see his father and mother, intending to return to America in the spring. He has been seized by the British government under the suspension of the habeas corpus act, and thrown into prison, without any charge in the world against him, only that he was an American officer travelling in Ireland. I hope your honor will see to his case, and demand his release, immediate by, for there is no justice or mercy on this side of the Atlantic.

Most respectfully, your obedient servant,

MARY FRANCES GLEESON. 27 Synge Street, Dublin.

Hon. Secretary Seward.