Majesty's government was afterward more fully explained to him in the following letter:1 Mr. Hammond to Mr. Bates. FOREIGN OFFICE, September 19, 1864. SIR: I acquainted you shortly, by Lord Russell's direction, in my letter of the 9th instant, that the case of the Georgia must go before the prize-court in the United States, and that you must be prepared to defend your interest therein. I am now further to acquaint you, in reply to your letter of the 27th ultimo, that having consulted the law-officers of the Crown, Lord Russell desires me to state to you that the Niagara, in capturing the Georgia and sending her into a prize-court for adjudication, which it is. to be assumed will be the course she will pursue, has not exceeded the limits of her belligerent rights. If the Georgia had formerly belonged to the mercantile marine of the Confederate States, and been the property of a private subject of the Confederate States, the United States cruiser would have been justified in seizing her upon the high seas, and in taking her into a prize-court for the purpose of submitting to proper judicial investigation the question whether the transfer of an enemy's vessel to a neutral flagrante bello had been bona fide, and executed in the manner and in the circumstances which international law requires. But it is a fact beyond the reach of controversy or denial that the Georgia had formed, till a very recent period, part of the confederate navy. The belligerent, therefore, had, a fortiori, the right to seize her and endeavor to obtain her condemnation in a prize-court. That court will have to determine, not only the question whether the transfer of the Georgia to a neutral owner was real, and accompanied by an entire extinction of all the interests and rights of the former hostile owner, but the much graver preliminary question whether (as against the right of capture of the other belligerent) a ship of war can be lawfully transferred by a belligerent flagrante bello in a neutral port to a neutral, with whatever publicity and however completely the transfer may have been actually made, and whatever alterations the structure, equipment, or employment of the vessel so de facto transferred may have undergone while in the possession of the neutral. [134] *Lord Russell is further advised that the officers of the custom-house at Liverpool, in granting to this vessel, upon the production of proper documents, a British register, merely acted in conformity with the municipal laws of this country, which neither undertakes to assist and facilitate, nor pretends upon the high seas to overrule or supersede the right of maritime capture belonging to a belligerent under the law of nations as administered in prize-courts; and that it was certainly no part of the duty of Her Majesty's government to inform a private individual who might entertain the idea of purchasing this vessel of any risk which he might incur by so doing. Nor is Lord Russell aware of any obligation imposed by international law and comity upon the representatives or agents of the United States in this country, or upon the officers of the Niagara when at Liverpool, to give any notice or intimation whatever that the Niagara or any other cruiser of the United States might still consider the vessel a proper subject of capture, whether transferred or not to a neutral, and under whatever register or flag she might sail. I am to add that the application contained in your letter of the 10th instant for documents in the case is now under consideration, and that au answer will be returned to you as soon as possible. I am, &c., E. HAMMOND. SUMMARY. The Georgia was a vessel built at Dumbarton, in Scotland, and sent to sea from the port of Greenock. For whom she was built and by whom and under what circumstances she was sent to sea are matters as to which Her Majesty's government has no information beyond what has appeared in the foregoing statement. The Georgia neither appeared to be nor was, up to the time when she sailed from the port of Greenock, fitted out, armed, or equipped for war, nor especially adapted to warlike use. She appeared to be constructed and intended for a ship of commerce. She proved, in fact, to be not fitted for employment as a cruiser, and for this reason she was dismantled and sold after having been at sea for about nine months altogether, ex 1 Appendix, vol. i, p. 468. clusive of the time during which she remained in the harbors of Cherbourg and Bordeaux. She was registered under the name of the Japan, in the name of a Liverpool merchant, and was entered outward and cleared in the customary way for a port of destination in the East Indies. She was advertised at the Sailors' Home, in Liverpool, as about to sail for Singapore, and her crew were hired for a voyage to Singapore or some intermediate port, and for a period of two years. The men when they were hired believed this to be the true destination of the ship, and her voyage to be a commercial one, and they appear to have continued under this belief until after the vessel had arrived off the coast of France. She was armed and equipped for war in the waters of France; she there took on board her commander and officers, and her crew were enlisted there; the crew who had shipped at Greenock having been released from their agreement and provided with the means of returning if they chose to do so. Her officers and armament appear to have been conveyed to the French coast or its immediate vicinity, in a steamer which had cleared from Newhaven in ballast for Alderney and St. Malo, and which was stated to be a regular trader between Newhaven and the Channel Islands. The master of the steamer stated that the persons whom she conveyed were taken on board as passengers. Her Britannic Majesty's government had no reasonable grounds to believe that the vessel was intended to cruise or carry on war against the United States until after she had departed from the waters of Great Britain and arrived in the waters of France. The government had indeed no knowledge or information whatever about her previous to the receipt by Earl Russell of Mr. Adams's note of 8th April, 1863. Information about the construction and outfit of the vessel had for a long time before her departure been in the possession of Mr. Adams; and Mr. Dudley, who was (as it was his duty to be) in constant commu nication with Mr. Adams, knew of the hiring of seamen for her and had her examined by a man sent on board by him for that purpose. The information possessed by Mr. Adams was not, however, in his opinion, such that proceedings could be founded upon it; and no communication was made by him to Her Majesty's government on the subject until six days after the ship had sailed. At that time Mr. Adams had received further information (which proved to be erroneous) that the vessel was to receive her armament at Alderney, within the Queen's dominions, and he then made up his mind to "send notice of it to the British government, and leave it to them to act in the case as they might think fit.” The vessel did not go to Alderney, and Mr. Adams's communication was (in his own words)" too late for effective interposition.” [135] * The Georgia, after having been armed for war in French waters, was commanded by an officer commissioned as such by the gov ernment of the Confederate States. Her officers were, as Her Majes ty's government believes, Americans belonging to those States. Of the composition of her crew, Her Majesty's government knows nothing, except that it appears to have consisted, in part at any rate, of British subjects, who were induced by the persuasion and promises of her commander to take service in her while she was in French waters. The Georgia was received as a ship of war of the Confederate States in the neutral ports visited by her, particularly in those of Brazil and France. On the same footing, and in the same manner, without favor or partiality, she was received in a port of the colony of the Cape of Good Hope, and in a port within the United Kingdom. After having been disarmed, dismantled, and sold in a British port, the Georgia was captured at sea by a United States cruiser, as having been a ship of the Confederate States, and incapable of being transferred, during the war, to a British subject. Her Britannic Majesty's government, while it saw no reason to doubt that the sale had been bona fide, did not dispute the right of the United States to capture the vessel for the purpose of submitting the validity of the transfer to the judgment of a prize-court. During the cruise of the Georgia, which lasted (as stated above) about nine months, exclusive of the period of her stay in the harbor of Cherbourg, no serious endeavor to intercept or capture her appears to have been made on the part of the Government of the United States. Her Britannic Majesty's government cannot admit that, in respect of the Georgia, it is justly chargeable with any failure of international duty, for which Great Britain owes reparation to the United States. [136] *PART VIII. STATEMENT OF FACTS RELATIVE TO THE SHENANDOAH. Shenandoah. On the 12th November, 1864, Earl Russell received from Her Britannic PART VILL-The Majesty's consul at Teneriffe a report dated the 30th October, 1864, from which it appeared that a vessel bearing the name of the Sea King, from London, had shortly before that date arrived in the vicinity of the Madeira Islands; that she had there received on board guns and a small number of men from a British steamer called the Laurel; had been taken possession of by a person claiming to be her commanding officer in the name of the Confederate States, and had hoisted the confederate flag. This report was as follows: Consul Grattan to Earl Russell. TENERIFFE, October 30, 1864. MY LORD: I have the honor to inform your lordship that the British steam-vessel Laurel, (47819,) of the port of Glasgow, bound from Liverpool to Nassau, arrived here on the 21st instant for the purpose of coaling. The master, J. F. Ramsay, on presenting himself at this office, stated that he wished to land forty-three passengers, who were to proceed to England by the next Liverpool steamer, and that these persons were the master and crew of the British steamer Sea King, (official No. 48547,) of London, which vessel had been wrecked off the Desertas. The Laurel continued her voyage on the 22d instant. The master, on getting up steam, and not before, landed the above-mentioned seamen. The master of the Sea King, P. S. Corbett, did not call at this office, as is usual in such cases, either for the purpose of making a protest or to claim assistance. Therefore, on the 25th instant, I sent to desire his attendance, and demanded the certificate of registry of his vessel, in pursuance of instructions contained in No. 13 Paragraph of the Board of Trade Instructions. On handing in his certificate be informed me that his vessel had not been wrecked, but that she had been sold in London, and delivered to her owners on the high seas; and that himself and his crew had landed here for the purpose of returning to England as passengers in the West Coast of Africa mail-steamer, due at this port on the 31st instant. The discrepancy between the statements of the two masters led me to seek for further information respecting this matter, and the substance of the declaration I have obtained from George Kelly, Edward Everall, John Ellison, (Royal Naval Volunteers, 18536,) and John Hircus, all seamen belonging to the crew of the steam-vessel Sea King, is as follows: "The Laurel sailed from Liverpool bound to Nassau with 24 supposed officers and 17 seamen, besides her own crew, 45 to 60 shells, about five tons of gunpowder, and various other munitions of war; she proceeded to Madeira, where she took about 300 tons of coal. The Sea King sailed from London on the 7th instant, and also proceeded to the offing of Funchal Roads. Both vessels then steamed to a place off the Desertas, where the sea was smooth, and the officers and men, arms, and munitions of war were trausshipped from the Laurel to the Sea King on the 20th instant. The cases of arms were at once opened and the seamen armed themselves with cutlasses and revolvers. One of the officers then took command of the vessel in the name of the government of the so-called Confederate States of America. Some of the crew of the Laurel joined the Sea King; the remainder of her intended crew are to be sent out from England." The 42 seamen now here, in charge of the former master of the Sea King, awaiting a passage to England, refused to join the confederate vessel, though as much as £17 per man was offered to them as bounty. In consequence of having become aware that a serious offense against British law has been committed on board a British ship, I have thought it my duty to take the depositions, upon oath, of four of the seamen of the Sea King, which I have the honor to forward to the Board of Trade, according to instructions. These depositions, in my opinion, contain evidence sufficient to substantiate a charge against the master, P. S. Corbett, of an infringement of the foreign-enlistment act; I therefore, pursuant to paragraph 127 of the Consular Instructions, deem it proper to send the offender in safe custody to England, in order that cognizance of the offense may be taken, I am satisfied that the 42 seamen now here are about to proceed to England by the HENRY C. GRATTAN. Inclosed in the above report were depositions on oath made by [137] several seamen, of whom two belonged to the Royal Naval Rèserve, and all had refused to take service on board of the Sea King when she was declared to be a confederate ship of war; and also a statement signed by the master of the Sea King. These depositions were as follows: Deposition of John Ellison, R. N. V., 18536. I signed as quartermaster in the Sea King on or about the 8th of October, 1834; proceeded to sea; after several days we came off Madeira; on the same night a steamer went into the port of Madeira; on the following morning the Sea King went into the bay, and signalized to the steamers that were lying there, and after two hours the Laurel came out to sea, and signalized to the Sea King, and was answered by hoisting No. 3 pendant, which I hoisted myself. I was ordered by one of the passengers to hoist this pendant; the captain was on the poop at the time, and, turning round, said to me these words, "Who ordered that pendant to be hoisted? Haul it down immediately;" which I did. After this flag was hauled down-abont three-quarters of an hour afterward-the Laurel anchored off what I believe to be the Desertas; the Sea King anchored within about 30 yards of her. The captain of the Laurel was on the forecastle; our captain said, "I will come alongside of you directly," and he did so. In the mean time the men were erecting tackles, rigging purchases to the port main yard-arm, and preventer lifts and rolling tackle ready. After this, commenced to take in large heavy cases from the Laurel, I think four or five, by means of other purchases. Small cases and casks of powder were taken in forward; all lights ordered to be put out. These orders were given by some of the passengers of the Laurel, who had embarked on board the Sea King, and not by our captain. One of these passengers told us that he was the captain, and had charge of the ship, and ordered our captain to hoist the confederate flag, which was done. Shortly after, our captain gave orders for all hands to lay aft; when the men were aft, our captain came out of the saloon with our articles in his hand, and said, "Well, men, I have sold the ship." Immediately, the captain that had charge came out alongside of him. Captain Corbett said to us, "This gentleman is offering £4 for able seamen." I was standing close to the captain at the time, and I said to him, “I agreed with you in London to go to Bombay, which I have my naval certificate to prove." I told him, "You have broken your agreement; why are we not proceeding to Bombay?" He said, "Well, men, I cannot help it ;" and, buttoning up his coat, he said, “Follow me, (and ran to the gangway;) I am off." I said, “Let him go; this is the ship we have earned our money in, and ought to have it out of." After he had gone, one of the passengers said to me, "Why cannot you go in this ship? It is good money." I said I had never earned a shilling in America in my life, and therefore I did not wish to fight for it; that England was my country, and I was not ashamed to own it." He said, "Why?" I said, "You do not know where I belong to; do you see this on my cap?" I had the naval reserve cap on at the time. "If I were to desert from this you could not place any confidence in me; you may try, but it is of no use, I have got the wrong heart in me for this, so you have no need to try me any more." I said to Captain Corbett, "I stop in the ship till I get my money down on the capstanhead." He said," Men, I have no money to pay you." I said, "You have sold the ship; what have you done with the money?" He said, "I have no money to pay you here;" he said I talked too much. I said, "I will see you when I get to England." The other royal naval volunteer on board the Sea King told me that Captain Corbett had offered him between £15 and £20 bounty, and about £10 per month, as near as I can recollect; he refused this, and in about half an hour all the men 1 Appendix, vol. i, p. 478. |