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

Mr. Yeaman to Mr. Seward.

No. 10 ]

Legation of the United States, Copenhagen, March 3, 1866.

Sir: Recalling to your mind the facts in the case of the ship Sphinx, alias Stoerkodder, afterwards Stonewall—brought from France here and offered for sale to the Danish government; was refused; sailed from here, under pretence, at least, of returning to Bordeaux; on the way was met, delivered to, and taken possession of, by officers and crew, acting under rebel confederate authority; afterwards surrendered to the officials of the Spanish government of Cuba, and by them delivered to the United States—I have now to advise you that before sailing from this harbor she unloaded and left in store here certain naval munitions, which L. Arman, the original French owner of the vessel, through his agent here, Mr. R. Puggaard, now offers to surrender to the government of the United States, if I will receive and receipt for them and pay expenses of storage.

These naval stores consist, I understand, of a lot of sail-cloth, and about 400 cases of artillery ammunition—solid shot, steel-pointed projectiles, and at least two sorts of shells, all adapted to Armstrong guns. They are now tendered upon the ground that they constituted a part of the original armament and outfit of the vessel, as inventoried and sold to the confederates, and that, therefore, title passed to the United States, when they, in the event of the war, acquired possession of the ships. I do not understand why, upon this supposition, the oiler to deliver or surrender these articles was first made to the Danish government, an offer which that government properly, and for very manifest reasons, promptly declined, as I was on yesterday advised by Count Frys, minister of foreign-affairs.

I have no access to any duplicate of the inventory of naval stores transferred to the rebels by the owners of the Stonewall, to verify whether the articles left in store here were comprised in it; and whether they were or not, and more especially if they were not, I have had too much doubt whether title and possession of the ships, acquired jure belli, would embrace such munitions, never in the possession of the rebels, and stored in neutral territory, to venture to receive these goods without authority and directions from my government. If they really passed by the sale of the ship, or if the illegal transaction operated by relation and tainted everything appertaining to the ship, yet these goods were where no capture could be made or take effect; and though I am not advised, it may be safely assumed that they were not specified in the voluntary surrender. A better title would seem to spring from the succession of the United States to the ownership of all such property of the belligerents they overthrew. I have been careful to state my doubts about the matter, because of the extreme repugnance I felt to placing the government in the false attitude of accepting anything from such a source but what was undoubtedly its own.

As to accrued expenses of storage, I am advised by the agent here they will be little or nothing, as he has sold some property of a perishable character, and that the proceeds of these sales will about cover all expenses. I will add that I am also informed by him that with the property left here were two iron propeller screws adapted to the Stonewall, and which would have passed to the Danish government if that government had bought the vessel, but that they were not in the inventory and sale made to the insurgents, and have therefore been otherwise disposed of. It is possible a more material reason may have been that the screws would sell readily, while the shot and shell were only fit for old iron except to those who could use them. I have not seen these munitions, and would know but little of their value if I had. The agent here thinks them very valuable in the use of the guns of the Stonewall, or guns of similar pattern and calibre. If I am instructed to receive them, please state what disposition I shall make of them. I herewith enclose an extract furnished me by Mr. Puggaard from a letter of Mr. L. Arman to him. Awaiting your directions,

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

GEORGE H. YEAMAN.

Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.

Extract from a letter of Mr. L. Arman to Mr. R. Puggaard, dated Paris, February 8, 1866.

[Translation.]

“Your letter of the 2d February asks me for an authorization on the subject of the deposit left in your hands by the owners of the Stoerkodder, (Sphinx ) I am completely of your opinion, that the taking possession by the United States of the north of the ship itself, imports of right the delivery to the ambassador of the United States of the balls, mortars, sails, and spars left in your storehouses, at the charge of the representative of that government, to defray the expenses of storage incumbent on those articles.

“I presume, therefore, you have, so far as needed, my assent to the delivery to the party entitled, be he the ambassador of the United States of America, all the articles remaining in your hands which belonged to the ship Starkodder; but it will be useful to cover your responsibility and my own to cause a regular receipt to be given to you on the part of the takers, and with their guarantee, in order to be able to justify ourselves by this paper toward the former proprietors of the ship.”