Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, Transmitted to Congress with the Annual Message of the President, December 2, 1872, Part II, Volume I

Mr. Hoar, Attorney-General, to Mr. Bisbee, district attorney.

Attorney-General’s Office , March 23, 1869.

Sir: This Department has received information that a steamer is being fitted out at the port of Jacksonville or Fernandina, in your district, for the purpose of committing depredations in the character of a privateer, under the flag of the Cuban insurgents, upon the maritime commerce of Spain. It is supposed to be the intention of the steamer to leave the port under the flag of the United States, to be afterward replaced by that of the insurgents referred to.

[29] *You are instructed to communicate this information to the United States marshal, and, with him, take such measures as may prevent such a violation of the laws of the United States, and to report your action to this office.

Very respectfully, yours,

E. R. HOAR,
Attorney-General.

Horatio Bisbee, Jr., Esq.,
United States Attorney, Saint Augustine, Florida.