564 FRUITS OF THE QUEEN'S PROCLAMATION. tral nation to declare belligerent rights in favor of such rebels, any more than if no such proclamation of blockade had been proclaimed. III. A proclamation of belligerent rights in favor of rebels is a quasi recognition of those rebels, a declaration that those rebels have a legitimate right to separate from the parent State, and are therefore entitled to be treated by all neutral nations as being on a complete footing of equality. IV. The proclamation of belligerent rights in favor of the Confederates not only did what has been stated in our third proposition, but was in a manner tantamount to the issuing of letters of marque to any vessels which the Confederates might engage, to plunder, burn and destroy the merchant vessels of our ally the United States. In conclusion, I shall shortly point out the position in which Earl Russell has placed us by his American policy. He has announced by his dispatches that whenever a sovereign State is obliged to blockade a port which rebels have taken possession of, the act of blockade entitles the rebels to hoist a maritime flag and to be recognized as lawful belligerents. "Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones," says the proverb; and there is no nation in the world that will suffer more injury from the carrying out of such a doctrine than England, with her commerce in every clime and her merchant marine traversing every sea. Suppose another mutiny should take place in India, that the Hindoo rebels should obtain possession of some port, and that we should be obliged to blockade it. The doctrine laid down by Earl Russell would justify France and the United States to allow or wink at privateers being sent out from Bordeaux and New York, manned by Frenchmen or Americans, and having two or three Hindoo officers aboard for form's sake. These Hindoo Alabamas would attack our ships on the coast of Europe, in the same way as the Alabama and the Florida attacked the American shipping in Chinese and Australian waters. Suppose, again, that an Irish rebellion should take place, and that the Irish rebels, with the assistance of Louis Napoleon, should take possession of Cork, and that we should blockade it. In such a case, according to Earl Russell, the Irish rebels would be entitled to be reckoned lawful belligerents, to hoist the flag of Green Erin, and to hire and engage American steamers to take, plunder and burn English merchantmen in whatever quarter of the globe they might find them. ST. ANNE'S HILL, CORK, October 21, 1865. JAMES AYTOUN. Here Lord John Russell's whole argument is overthrown: and while we have such advocates in England, it is plain MINISTER ADAMS AND EARL RUSSELL. 565 enough that the boasted unanimity of public opinion which is claimed on this subject in that country, does not exist. XII. N the official letter of Charles Francis Adams to Earl Russell, dated London, November 20, 1862, will be found the clear official proof of what I have stated, that Earl Russell was duly informed of the preparations of the Alabama for piratical purposes: MY LORD,—It is with very great regret that I find myself once more under the necessity of calling your lordship's attention to the painful situation in which the government of the United States is placed, by the successive reports received of the depredations committed on the high seas upon merchant vessels, by the gunboat known in this country as "No. 290," touching the construction and outfit of which in the port of Liverpool, for the above purpose, I had the honor of heretofore presenting evidence of the most positive character. It is my duty now to submit to your consideration copies of a large number of papers received from Washington, as well as from the Consul at Liverpool, all of which concur in establishing the truth of the allegations made by me of the intentions of that vessel prior to her departure from the ports of this kingdom. I then averred that the purpose was to make war upon the people of the United States, a nation with which Great Britain has now been for half a century, and still is, on a footing of the most friendly alliance, by the force of treaties which have received the solemn sanction of all the authorities regarded among men as necessary to guarantee the mutual obligations of nations. That I made no mistake in that averment, is now fully proved by the hostile proceedings of that vessel since the day she sailed from the place in this kingdom where she was prepared for that end. It now appears from a survey of all the evidence-first, that this vessel was built in a dockyard belonging to a commercial house in Liverpool of which the chief member, down to October of last year, is a member of the House of Commons; secondly, that from the manner of her construction and her peculiar adaptation to war purposes, there could have been no doubt by those engaged in the work, and familiar with such details, that she was intended for other purposes than those of legitimate trade; and thirdly, that during the whole process and outfit in the port of Liv 566 CORSAIRS OF THE REBELLION. erpool, the direction of the details, and the engagement of persons to be employed in her, were, more or less, in hands known to be connected with the insurgents in the United States. CORSAIRS XIII. ORSAIRS OF THE REBELLION.-This record must be preserved. It will go into the archives of the nation; it will become as familiar as household words in every dwelling which hereafter sends forth a sailor-boy to carry the American flag through the battles of the future, if the attempt shall ever again be made to sweep that flag from the sea. LIST OF VESSELS BURNED ANd Bonded by tHE PIRATES, and a brief account of each corsair fitted out in behalf of the Confederacy. The first was THE SAVANNAH, formerly pilot-boat No. 7, a schooner of 55 tons. She sailed from Charleston about June 1, 1861, under command of J. Harrison Baker, and captured the brig Joseph, bound from Honduras for Philadelphia, with a cargo of sugar, etc. She accompanied the Joseph to Georgetown bar, and on June 3d was captured by the United States brig Perry, and sent with prize crew to New York, where she was subsequently sold. She carried one eighteen-pound gun, and her capture created much excitement, as her crew were at first held as pirates, though subsequently released. THE SUMTER was built by C. H. and W. M. Crump, in 1857, and called the Habano, afterwards the Alfonso, She was 180 feet long, 80 feet beam, 10 feet depth of hold, drawing 9 feet 6 inches, and 500 tons burden, 9 guns, crew about 200 men. She left the Mississippi river on the 30th June, 1861, under command of Raphael Semmes, and captured several prizes, which were sent into Cienfuegos, but subsequently released or recaptured. July 24, 1861, at Curaçoa, and left; July 26, 1861, at Porto Cabello, with prize brig Abbe Bradford (released); August 20 she arrived at Surinama, and left August 31; September 16 was at Maranham, and October 10 among the Windward Islands; November 9 arrived at Martinique, and on November 20 was in latitude 20 85 north, longitude 57 12 west, making captures; January 4, 1862, she was at Cadiz, and arrived at Gibraltar January 19, 1862, where she remained some four months, watched by United States cruisers, until escape becoming hopeless she was sold to English parties. PRIVATEER JEFF. DAVIS, CAPTAIN COXETTER, was fitted out at Charleston, and in June, 1861, captured the bark Rowena; on July 9 she was off Nantucket, and next heard of about eight hundred miles east of Cape Florida, where she captured the ship John Crawford, and finally was wrecked on St. Augustine bar August 17, 1861, having captured seven vessels. PRIVATEER J. O. NIXON was fitted out at New Orleans, about Aug. 1, 1861, but the blockade prevented her from doing much damage. THE CALHOUN, CAPTAIN WILSON, was a steamer formerly on the line between Charlestown and Savannah, and with the Joy and Music was fitted out at New Orleans HISTORY OF THE PRIVATEERS. PRIVATEER PETREL, 567 formerly the revenue cutter Aiken, was sunk by the United States ship St. Lawrence off Charleston, about August 1, 1861. PRIVATEER JUDAH was destroyed at Pensacola, Sept. 18, 1861, by an armed expedition in a boat sent from the United States blockade forces. THE WINSLOW was fitted out at Wilmington in 1861, and made five captures. SCHOONER SALLIE, formerly the Virginian, under command of Captain Libby, left Charleston Oct. 10, 1861, making two captures. THE NASHVILLE, CAPTAIN R. P. PEGRAM, was formerly in Spofford & Tileston's line of steamers between New York and Charleston, and was in Charleston at the beginning of the rebellion, under the command of L. M. Murray, who joined the rebels. She sailed from Charleston Oct. 26, 1861, evading the blockade, and arrived at Southampton Nov. 20, having captured and burned the ship Harvey Birch. She left Southampton Feb. 3, 1862, the United States steamer Tuscarora being prevented from pursuing her by the British frigate Shannon. February 20, arrived at Bermuda; left 24th, and arrived at Beaufort, N. C., February 28, having run the blockade March 18; she left Beaufort, and on the 27th was at Nassau. Her career was mainly as a blockade-runner, and she was finally blockaded and burned by United States iron-clads near Savannah. THE ALABAMA was built at Birkenhead; 1,040 tons, 220 feet long, 32 feet beam, 17 feet depth of hold, engines 300 horse power. She left the Mersey July 29, 1861; arrived at Porto Praya Aug. 19. On Sunday, Aug. 24, Captain Raphael Semmes assumed command; hoisting the Confederate flag, she cruised and captured several vessels in the vicinity of Flores. Cruising to the westward and making several captures, she approached within two hundred miles of New York; thence going southward, arrived on the 18th of November at Port Royal, Martinique. On the night of the 19th she escaped from the harbor and the United States steamer San Jacinto, and on the 26th November was at Blanquilla coaling. On December 7 captured the United States steamer Ariel in the passage between Cuba and St. Domingo. On Sunday, Jan. 11, 1863, sunk the United States gunboat Hatteras off Galveston, and on the 30th arrived at Jamaica. Cruising to the eastward and making many captures, she arrived on the 10th April at Fernando de Noronha, and on the 11th May at Bahia, where, on the 13th, she was joined by the rebel steamer Georgia. Cruising near the line, thence southward toward the Cape of Good Hope, numerous captures were made, and on the 21st June, 1863, the bark Talisman was commissioned as a cruiser in the rebel service. On the 29th July anchored in Saldanha Bay, South Africa, and near there, on the 5th August, was joined by the bark Tuscaloosa, Commander Low; same day anchored at Table Bay. September 16, 1868, was at St. Simon's Bay awaiting coals. October 6 was in the Straits of Sunda, and up to Jan. 20, 1864, cruised in the Bay of Bengal and vicinity, visiting Singapore Dec. 22, 1863, and making a number of very valuable captures, including the Highlander, Sonora, etc. From this point she cruised on her homeward track via Cape of Good Hope, capturing the bark Tycoon and ship Rockingham, and arrived at Cherbourg, France, June 11, 1864, where she repaired, and was watched by the United States steamer Kearsarge, the battle resulting in her destruction occurring on the 19th of June, 1864. THE FLORIDA was formerly the Oreto, and in August, 1862, was under seizure at Nassan, but being released, she ran into Mobile, Sept. 4, 1862. She was then refitted, and under command of Captain J. N. Maffit, formerly of the United States Navy, she ran out through the blockade fleet at Mobile on the night of Jan. 17, 1868. She carried eight guns, and on January 20 arrived at Havana, having captured the brig Estelle. Leaving on January 22, she captured the brig Windward, off the coast of Cuba. Jan. 26, 1863, arrived at Nassau. Feb. 12, 1863, in latitude 23 north, 568 HISTORY OF THE PRIVATEERS. longitude 45 west, she captured the ship Jacob Bell, and on March 6th the ship Star of Peace; March 15 the schooner Aldebaran; April 24 the ship Oneida, in latitude 1.40 south, longitude 84. May 15 she captured the ship Crown Point, in latitude 7 south, longitude 34. July 8, 1863, was not more than sixty miles from New York, and chased the United States steamer Ericsson. On July 10 she captured the steamer Electric Spark in latitude 37 85 north, and longitude 74 25 west. July 16, 1863, arrived at Bermuda. The capture of the Florida in the harbor of Bahia is well known, and her career ended in her sinking in Hampton Roads. THE BRIG CLARENCE was captured by the rebel steamer Florida, May 6, 1863, and manned with one twelve-pound howitzer, twenty men and two officers, under command of Lieutenant Reed, and subsequently captured the bark Tacony, June 12, in latitude 37 18 north, longitude 75 4 west. The guns, etc., were transferred to the Tacony, and the Clarence burned, as well as the schooner M. A. Shindler. THE TACONY, LIEUTENANT READ, captured the brig Umpire, latitude 37 87 north, longitude 39 57, June 14; fishing boat L. A. Macomber, of Norwalk, Conn., June 20, twenty-two miles southeast South Shoal light; ship Isaac Webb, latitude 40 35 north, longitude 68 45 west (bonded); ship Byzantium and bark Goodspeed, off coast of Massachusetts, June 21; schooners Marengo, Florence, fishing vessels Elizabeth Ann, Rufus Choate and Ripple, June 22, and was destroyed by her crew, who left in the schooner Archer, and were subsequently captured by an expedition from Portland. THE GEORGIA, formerly called the Japan, cruised in the North and South Atlantic in 1863, capturing nine vessels. She was a British vessel, fitted out, like the Alabama, from British ports. The Echo, the Boston, the Conrad, the Tuscarora, and the St. Nicholas, each made one or more captures in 1862 and 1868. THE RETRIBUTION captured three vessels early in 1863, and was afterwards sold in the Bahamas. THE TALLAHASSEE made two raids from the port of Wilmington, N. C., in 1864, capturing and destroying nearly thirty vessels, a number being fishing vessels; on August 18, 1864, being within six miles of Nantucket lightship, and ran back to Wilmington. THE CHICKAMAUGA, under command of Lieutenant Wilkinson, left Wilmington Oct. 24, 1864. THE SHENANDOAH was built in October, 1868, at Glasgow, and called the Sea King. She is 790 tons, 200 horse power, iron frame, wood planking, owned by William Wallace, of London, being, like the Alabama, entirely of British origin and equipment. In September, 1864, she was sold to Richard Wright, of Liverpool, and under command of Captain P. L. Corbett, who received written authority to sell her for not less than £45,000 within six months from October 7, 1864. She cleared at London for Bombay, and arrived at Madeira, off which port she afterwards received guns and crew from the British bark Laurel. She was christened the Shenandoah, and under command of Captain Waddell she sailed towards St. Helena, near which she destroyed a few vessels; thence going to Bay of Bengal and Straits of Sunda. She put into Melbourne for coal, and thence proceeded to the Arctic Sea, where, between the 1st of April and the end of June, 1865, she destroyed twenty-nine vessels. She arrived at Liverpool November 6, 1865, and surrendered to a British man-of-war, and has since been delivered up to the United States authorities. THE STONEWALL is double-turreted, 196 feet long over all, 163 feet from the front of the forward turret to the sternpost, with a steel-plated prow or ram extending 83 feet forward of the turret, 85 feet breadth of beam and 20 feet depth of hold, draws 16 feet of water, with 4 feet above the water |