of any such expedition or enterprise from the territories or jurisdiction of the United States." I am, therefore, directed by the President to call your atttention to the subject, and to urge you to use all due diligence, and to avail yourself of all legitimate means at your command, to enforce these and all other provisions of the said act of 20th April, 1818. against those who may be found to be engaged in setting on foot or preparing military expeditions against the territories of Mexico, Costa Rica, and of Nicaragua, so manifestly prejudicial to the national character, and so injurious to the national inter ests. And you are also hereby instructed promptly to communicate to this Department the earliest information you may receive relative to such expeditions. In October, 1857, Lord Napier, Her Majesty's minister at Washington, warned General Cass that he had been informed that more than 2,000 men had been enrolled for the invasion of Central America, funds had been subscribed to the amount of $250,000, arms had been purchased, and overtures were being made to proprietors of shipping for the transport of the force to the scene of action.1 1837. On the 10th of November, Walker was arrested at New Orleans on a charge of violating the neutrality laws of the United States. He was held to bail in $2,000 (about £400) to appear on the 11th for examination, and he went to sea on the following morning. He embarked, with 300 unarmed followers, in the passage-boat from New Orleans to Mobile, and in Mobile Bay the party were met by a small steamer named the Hicks, and were by it transferred to the Fashion, a river vessel of greater capacity, with about fifty recruits, who joined them from the city of Mobile. The United States Government telegraphed to the Federal authorities at New Orleans to hire a steamer for the pursuit of the expedition, and empowered them also to use the steam revenue cutter (if there was one on the station) for the purpose. Lord Napier asked General Cass whether any armed steam-vessel of the national navy had been ordered to proceed on this duty, and was told, in reply, that there was no such vessel at the disposal 1858. of the administration. Walker succeeded in effecting a landing for his band, who occupied Fort Castillo, but was himself intercepted by the commodore in command of a United States squadron, and taken to Aspinwall in a ship of war, whence he returned to the United States. It does not, however, appear that any legal proceedings were taken against him for his open defiance of the law. If so, they could not have been very efficacious, as he set to work to prepare for another expedition on a larger scale, and, in May, 1858, the Presidents of Nicaragua and Costa Rica appealed to the protection of international law and of France, England, and Sardinia in an official decree: RIVAS, le 1er mai 1858. Filibustering expe Nous, Présidents des deux Républiques de Nicaragua et de Costa Rica: Considérant qu'une nouvelle invasion de filibustiers américains menace de nouveau l'Amérique Centrale au préjuis de toutes les lois divines et dition against Cenhumaines; tral America. Considérant que l'Amérique Centrale, épuisée par trois ans de guerre, est dans l'impuissance de se défendre sans le concours de l'Europe; Considérant qu'une délibération commencée des deux gouvernements de Nicaragua et Costa Rica, a mis solennellement les deux républiques sous la protection de la France, de l'Angleterre, et de la Sardaigne; Considérant, enfin, que le péril est imminent, et qu'il est urgent de la conjurer sans attendre l'effet des mesures que ces trois puissances protectrices jugeront à propos de prendre ; Donnous pleins pouvoirs à M. Félix Belly de réclamer en notre nom le concours immédiat de tous les bâtiments de guerre européens qu'il pourra rencontrer. Correspondence respecting Central America, presented to Parliament 1860. Lord Napier to General Cass, October 9, 1857. [39] *Le chargeons spécialement de solliciter l'envoi à San Juan del Norte d'un ou de deux bâtiments de la station française des Antilles. Et mettons les deux républiques de Costa Rica et de Nicaragua et l'Amérique Centrale toute entière sous la garantie du droit des gens européens, et de la législation spéciale édictée contre les pirates, et les boucaniers. Lord Napier, in the note to General Cass, previously referred to, had commented on the ruinous consequences to those nations of the filibustering attacks to which they were exposed from the United States. "It is obvious," he said, "that the most comprehensive reconciliation of Costa Rica and Nicaragua, accompanied by the re-establishment of the transit service by a respectable company, under the auspices of the United States or England, or both, would still be inoperative for the welfare of those countries if they should continue to labor under apprehensions of invasion. It is superfluous to enlarge upon the calamities which the states in question have experienced from civil war and foreign adventurers. Of the native population not less than 40,000 are computed to have perished in the conflicts of the last two years, while more than 6,000 strangers have sacrificed their lives in the prosecution of criminal or visionary aims. The destruction of property, the suspension of industry, the sacrifice of civilization, virtue, and happiness, the diffusion of wrong and suffering incidental to such a struggle, are more easily imagined than described." General Cass, in a note to Mr. Lamar, the representative of the United States in Central America, dated the 25th of July, 1858, defended the action of the Government and its officers: That unlawful warlike enterprises have been carried on from the United States, composed of persons from different countries, against the territory of Nicaragua, is not to be denied. But during the whole progress of these illegal efforts, the Government of this country has faithfully performed the duty imposed upon it by the laws, as well through public proclamations against such enterprises as by giving the necessary directions to the proper officers to prevent their organization and departure, as by invoking the action of the judicial tribunals, and also by the employment of its naval force, It is unnecessary to support these assertions by detailed proofs. They are as well known in Costa Rica and Nicaragua as here. Sometimes, indeed, owing to the defect of proof, it has not been in the power of the Government to arrest these expeditions; but even when its exertions have not succeeded in preventing their departure, they have been fairly and generally successfully directed to prevent re-enforcements of men and material from reaching the adventurers who had eluded the vigilance of the officers of the law. * But the presidents of these republics deal in specific facts as well as in more general allegations. They charge "that the Government of the United States has, according to official reports made to that of Costa Rica by its minister plenipotentiary at Washington, declared it was utterly powerless to prevent past attempts by the filibusters, or to protect the neutrality of Central America, owing to the insufficiency of the laws of the United States on this head." This accusation is wholly without foundation. No such declaration was ever made by the Government of the United States. It would have been an act at once of fatuity and of falsity. As to the difficulties in the enforcement of these laws, they are not denied, and have given much trouble to the Government in the efforts it has made to carry them into effect; but that they are powerless, or have proved so, no one, in or out of the United States, has a right to assert. The representatives of the Central American States may be called on as witnesses that, in all cases where they have given information to the Government that military expeditions against that region were about to be undertaken, measures have been immediately adopted to prevent their success, and to arrest and punish the offenders. Sometimes these efforts have failed, owing to causes not within the control of the Goverument, and sometimes they have been successful. 1 General Cass at the same time denied that a fresh invasion was preparing.1 1 Correspondence respecting Central America, presented to Parliament 1860, pp. 219, 220. Notwithstanding this assurance, Walker's preparations continued undisturbed until he was again on the eve of setting out with recruited forces, when, on the 30th October, President Buchanan issued a proclamation very similar to that published in the time of Lopez: Whereas information has reached me, from sources which I cannot disregard, that certain persons, in violation of the neutrality laws of the United States, are making a third attempt to set on foot a military expedition within their territory against Nicaragua, a foreign state with which they are at peace. In order to raise money for equipping and maintaining this expedition, persons connected therewith, as I have reason to believe, have issued and sold bonds and other contracts pledging the public lands of Nicaragua and the transit route through its territory as a security for their redemption and fulfillment. The hostile design of this expedition is rendered manifest by the fact that these bonds and contracts can be of no possible value to their holders unless the pres[40] ent government of Nicaragua shall be "overthrown by force. Besides, the envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of that government in the United. States has issued a notice, in pursuance of his instructions, dated on the 27th instant, forbidding the citizens or subjects of any nation, except passengers intending to proceed through Nicaragua over the transit route from ocean to ocean, to enter its territory without a regular passport, signed by the proper minister or consul-general of the republic resident in the country from whence they shall have departed. Such persons, with this exception," will be stopped and compelled to return by the same conveyance that took them to the country." From these circumstances the inference is irresistible that persons engaged in this expedition will leave the United States with hostile purposes against Nicaragua. They cannot, under the guise which they have assumed that they are peaceful emigrants, conceal their real intentions, and especially when they know in advance that their landing will be resisted, and can only be accomplished by an overpowering force. This expedient was successfully resorted to previous to the last expedition, and the vessel in which those composing it were conveyed to Nicaragua obtained a clearance from the collector of the port of Mobile. Although, after a careful examination, no arms or munitions of war were discovered, yet, when they arrived in Nicaragua, they were found to be armed and equipped, and immediately commenced hostilities. The leaders of former illegal expeditions of the same character have openly expressed their intention to renew hostilities against Nicaragua. One of them, who has already been twice expelled from Nicaragua, has invited, through the public newpapers, American citizens to emigrate to that republic, and has designated Mobile as the place of rendezvous and departure, and San Juan del Norte as the port to which they are bound. This person, who has renounced his allegiance to the United States, and claims to be president of Nicaragua, has given notice to the collector of the port of Mobile that 200 or 300 of these emigrants will be prepared to embark from that port about the middle of November. For these and other good reasons, and for the purpose of saving American citizens who may have been honestly deluded into the belief that they are about to proceed to Nicaragua as peaceful emigrants, if any such there be, from the disastrous consequences to which they will be exposed, I, James Buchanan, President of the United States, have thought it fit to issue this my proclamation, enjoining upon all officers of the Government, civil and military, in their respective spheres, to be vigilant, active, and faithful in suppressing these illegal enterprises, and in carrying out their standing instructions to that effect; exhorting all good citizens, by their respect for the laws, and their regard for the peace and welfare of the country, to aid the efforts of the public authorities in the discharge of their duties. The "standing instructions" which the officers of the Government were enjoined to carry out were the instructions to use "due diligence" in the circular of 1857; but notwithstanding the efforts which it is to be presumed they made to exercise it, a party of Walker's filibusters embarked at Mobile in the sailing-schooner Susan, in December, 1858, without a clearance, on the pretense of being bound on a coasting voyage. An unsuccessful attempt was made by the revenue-cutter to intercept. them, but there seems on this, as on the former occasion, to have been no ship of war with steam-power available to pursue her, and the party got off to sea accordingly, and the Susan was joined unmolested by the Fashion and the Washington, with military stores. The expedition afterward broke down from the Susan being wrecked.. In 1859-60. Walker and his band then proceeded, in March, 1859, to California, whence they were said to have intended to make a descent on Punta Arenas; but this attempt was not carried into execution, and Walker returned to his usual employment of organizing expeditions in the United States. In November, 1859, he, for the third time, eluded the "due diligence" of the Mobile authorities, and an expedition set sail once more from that port in his old vessel the, Fashion. The Fashion put back from want of stores, and some of the persons concerned in the expedition were arrested; but there is no report of their having been punished. He started again in June, 1860, in the John A. Taylor, was met off Ruatan by another vessel with arms, and effected a landing on the Central American coast. His career was brought to a close by his being shot at Truxillo in September, 1860. Fenian raide against Canada. FENIAN RAIDS AGAINST CANADA. The first society formed in the United States for purposes hostile to Great Britain appears to have been the "Irish Republican Union." "Irish Republican Union, 1848." Massachusetts Emi The course of affairs in Ireland prevented the "Irish Republican Union" from carrying out any projects which it may have entertained, and it was succeeded in 1855 by the "Massachusetts Irish grant Aid Society, 1855 Emigrant Aid Society," which held its first convention at Boston, on the 14th of August of that year, and under whose auspices secret societies were established in different parts of the United States. These secret societies continued under various names, Phonix Society, 1859. until, in 1859, they were reconstituted as the Phoenix Society. The civil war interrupted their progress, but in 1863 they again prominently appeared as the "Fenian Brotherhood" at a Fenian Brotherhood. public meeting, held at Chicago, in November of that year. [41] *This meeting was reported to have been attended by 300 deleMeeting at Chicago gates, representing "circles," including twelve from military and naval circles. in 1863. 1865. Issue of Fenian bonds. The second annual congress of the "Fenian Brotherhood" was held At Cincinnati in at Cincinnati in January, 1865, when their president declared that they were "virtually at war" with England, and spoke of "this American institution called the Fenian Brotherhood." A congress of the Fenian Brotherhood met at Philadelphia on the 17th of October, 1865, and resolved upon the issue of "Fenian bonds," and the establishment of the Irish republic at New York. The head center, as he was previously called, of the Brotherhood was now styled president of the Irish republic; the execu tive council entitled themselves "senators," with a presithe Irish republic at dent; a house was hired at a rental of $1,200; secretaries of the treasury, of war, &c., were appointed, and the Irish republic was declared to be founded at New York. The bonds had been prepared for the Fenians by the "Continental Bank Note Company, New York," and were stamped "office of the secretary of treasury." They were decorated with some emblems and inscribed: Establishment of New York. It is hereby certified that the Irish republic is indebted unto or bearer, in the sum of (ten) dollars, redeemable six months after the acknowledgment of the independence of the Irish nation, with interest from the date hereof inclusive at six per cent. per annum, payable on presentation of this bond at the treasury of the Irish republic. 1 Irish American, February 11, 1865. As a measure of precaution against the possible hostile incursions of Fenians which were being constantly threatened, the Canadian government was compelled to call out for active service nine companies of the provincial militia in November, 1865, and to station them along the most exposed parts of the frontier.'. On the 2d of January, 1866, a Fenian convention was held at New York, which lasted for nine days, and at which a detachment of the 99th State militia, numbering twenty-two men, are stated to have acted as sentinels. At a meeting at Buffalo, on the 26th of January, "General Sweeney pledged himself, if supported, that before next May he would conquer a certain territory upon which the Irish flag should be planted, and which shall be made the base of operations against England for the liberation of Ireland." "Colonel Roberts promised, within ninety days, to have the green flag supported by the greatest army of Irishmen upon which the sun ever shone." מיו. At another meeting at Pittsburgh, Sweeney said: Fenian raids. We have made large purchases of arms and war material. If you are prepared to stand by us we promise that, before the summer sun kisses the hill-tops of Ireland, a ray of hope will gladden every true Irish heart, for by that time we shall have conquered, and got hostages for our brave patriots at home. The green flag will be flying independently to freedom's breeze, and we will have a base of operations from which we can not only emancipate Ireland, but also annihilate England. If you support us, I pledge my name, fame, property, and life to this holy cause.3 Raid of 1866. The American newspapers were full of accounts of the ferment among the Irish. The New York World of March 5, said, "The Fenian funds are disproportioned to any pacific object. They mean war or they mean nothing. The honest contributors suppose they are furnishing the sinews of war. If the receivers of the money do not intend to apply it to this object, they are a set of sharpers, practicing on the credulity of their followers to levy a revenue for their own use. If they really mean war, if, as is given out, they contemplate the invasion of Canada, this is a serious business, which challenges the thoughtful attention of all Irishmen and all American citizens." That the Fenians did mean war was as plain as speech could make it. The "Irish American" reported that, at a meeting at Saint Louis, General Sweeney had announced that "considerable purchases of arms and war materials had already been made, and that large contracts for the same had been entered into." Roberts spoke without an attempt at disguise. "Now," he said, "there is but one outlet to Ireland by an armed force, and that is on a section of this continent, where, too, the English power to-day rules supreme, and that section, if it does not come immediately beneath the influence of American power, must be made to come into the hands of the Irish people; for the only way we can strike at English commerce is to have a place where we can have a government of our own, even before it should be recognized virtu[42] ally on Irish soil. *Who will say that Andrew Johnson will not recognize the Irish republic, even if it should be only in name, as long as we have soil that we can claim as our own? It is necessary to have some base from which we can send aid to our brothers who are struggling for liberty. We want a place from which we can send out Correspondence relating to the Fenian invasion, laid before the Canadiau parliament, June, 1869, p. 139. New York World, January 27, 1866. * World, February 20. |