He In him that I hoped he would not burn my ship, as the war was over. replied that that made no difference; he should burn her. I was afterward taken and put down between decks in an empty coal-pen. passing over the deck I saw the Euphrates one sheet of flame. At night I was transferred to and confined in the same quarters occupied by Captain Nye, of the Abigail, who had been on board some time, and Captain Smith, of the William Thompson. During the afternoon a sail was raised, and the Shenandoah immediately steered for it. On nearing the vessel she proved to be an English bark, and the Shenandoah immediately steered back to the William Thompson. Early the next morning the William Thompson was set on fire and entirely consumed and destroyed. The eupon the Shenandoah steamed northeast for about four hours, in a dead calm, and then luffed to in a thick fog. The Shenandoah remained in that position till about noon of the 22d day of June, A. D. 1865, when the fog lifted and discovered eight ships in sight. The Shenandoah steamed directly to the nearest, which proved to be the Milo, of New Bedford, Captain Hawes. In obedience to a hail from the Shenandoah, Captain Hawes boarded the Shenandoah, and Captain Waddell bonded the Milo, and ordered Captain Hawes, with the Milo, to follow the Shenandoah, which steamed after the Sophia Thornton. The Sophia Thorntou had sailed east into the ice, and the Shenandoah coming up to the edge of the ice, and being about three-quarters of a mile from the Sophia Thornton, brought her to with her guns. The crews of the Abigail, William Thompson, and Euphrates were then transferred to the Milo, and a prize-crew placed on board the Sophia Thornton. The Shenandoah then steamed after the Jireh Swift, which was eight or nine miles off, with the Milo and Sophia Thornton following. About 6 o'clock the Jireh Swift was captured, and, her crew haying been transferred to the Milo, she was set on fire and burned. Thereupon the crew of the Sophia Thornton were transferred to the Milo and the Sophia Thornton was burned. The next morning the Shenandoah raised the brig Susan Abigail, of San Francisco, and, having overhauled her, destroyed her. While the Shenandoah was off after the Susan Abigail, the Milo, with the captured crews on board, to the number of about two hundred, set sail for San Francisco. We arrived at San Francisco on or about July 20, A. D. 1865. While the Shenandoah was in pursuit of the Susan Abigail, Captain Nye, of the Abigail, left the Milo in an open boat, with a boat's crew, to proceed north and notify the rest of the fleet. Shenandoah proceeded off to the northeast. The While I was on board of the Shenandoah, to wit, on the 21st and 228 days of June, A. D. 1865, I conversed with Mr. Hunt, master's mate of the Shenandoah, and Mr. Mason, passed midshipman of the Shenandoah, who both said that they considered that the war was over; that they were licked, and should have to give it up. The officers of the Shenandoah complained of being short-handed, and asked me to point out the best men of my crew; whereupon strenuous efforts were made to induce them to enlist in the service of the Shenandoah. is The Shenandoah was a fast sailer in a strong wind, but with a light breeze she could not have out-sailed the average of the whalers; and it my deliberate and honest judgment that, if it had not been for the steam-power of the Shenandoah, the Shenandoah could not have captured my vessel, the Euphrates, or the William Thompson. At the time of my putting about and attempt to escape, after I had become satisfied of the character of the steamer, the wind was very light, and I was far enough off from her to have kept out of her way until night or fog set in, after which there would have been no danger of capture. 7 A C-VII The same is true of the William Thompson, which had also the advan tage of being to windward of the Shenandoah, if there had been any wind. It would have been utterly impossible for the Shenandoah to have captured the Jireh Swift or the Sophia Thornton without her steam-power, for the Jireh Swift sailed off to the north, while the Sophia Thornton headed directly into the ice to the eastward, and in that wind the Shenandoah could not have out-sailed either vessel; while, if there had been more wind, both ships had the advantage of being far to windward of the Shenandoah. Moreover, after the capture of the Euphrates and the William Thompson, the Shenandoah steamed for forty miles north in a dead calm, so that without her steam-power she would not have caught these vessels, nor the Milo, or Susan Abigail, as she did. THOMAS B. HATHAWAY. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, County of Bristol, ss: On this 7th day of September, A. D. 1871, at New Bedford, in said county, personally appeared the above-named Thomas B. Hathaway, well known to me to be the person described in the foregoing affidavit, and who signed the same in my presence, and made solemn oath that the statements therein contained are true, so far as they are stated upon his personal knowledge; and so far as they are stated upon information and belief, that they are true to the best of his knowledge and belief. Before me, as witness my hand and notarial seal. [SEAL.] CHARLES W. CLIFFORD, Affidavit of Hudson Winslow. I, Hudson Winslow, of New Bedford, county of Bristol, commonwealth of Massachusetts, in the United States of America, being duly sworn, do declare and say: That I was master of the American whaling-bark Isabella on her last voyage, in the prosecution of which said bark was engaged in the month of June, A. D. 1865, in the North Pacific Ocean; that on the 25th day of said June I was cruising for whales on my passage through Behring Straits into the Arctic Ocean; that the General Pike and Gipsey were in company with me; that there was no wind, and, for a while, it was foggy and then clear again; that about 6 o'clock on the morning of the 26th of said June we discovered a strange steamer about ten miles off; that at that time the General Pike was lying about half a mile under my lee, and the Gipsey was about a quarter of a mile ahead of me, all of us lying becalmed; that about half-past seven o'clock the steamer steamed alongside the General Pike, and sent an armed crew aboard of her, and then sent armed crews aboard of the Isabella and Gipsey; that this steamer was the Shenandoah, Captain Waddell; that the Gipsey was on fire in ten minutes, and the Isabella in an hour; that all the ships' crews were put on board the General Pike, and we started in her for San Francisco, where we arrived in about twenty-seven days; that there was no wind on the 26th day of June after we were put on board the General Pike, and we anchored so that the tide would not set her into the Arctic Ocean; that it was clear the remainder of the day till 10 o'clock at night; that the Shenandoah certainly could not have caught either of the vessels that day if she had not used her steam, for there was no wind, and if there had been wind and she had chased, some, if not all of us, would have escaped, for we saw burning vessels, which would have warned us of the danger. BRISTOL, 88: HUDSON WINSLOW. On this 18th day of September, A. D. 1871, personally appeared before me, Charles W. Clifford, a notary public within and for said county, the above-named Hudson Winslow, well known to me to be the person described in, and who executed the foregoing affidavit in my presence, and made solemn oath that the statements therein contained, so far as they are stated on his information and belief, he believes them to be true, and, so far as they are stated on his personal knowledge, he knows them to be true. Witness my hand and official seal this 18th day of September, A. D. 1871, at New Bedford aforesaid. CHARLES W. CLIFFORD, Affidavit of Daniel D. Wood. I, Daniel D. Wood, of New Bedford, county of Bristol, commonwealth of Massachusetts, in the United States of America, being duly sworn, do declare and say: That I was master of the American whaling bark Congress on her last voyage, in the prosecution of which said bark was engaged in the month of June, A. D. 1865, in the North Pacific Ocean; that about 12 o'clock on the night of the 27th day of said June I was cruising for whales, and working through Behring Straits on my way to the Arctic Ocean; that several other vessels were then and there in company with me; that about 12 o'clock of said night the Brunswick, one of the said vessels in company with me, was stove by the ice; that at that time it was perfectly calm-not a breath of air; that thereupon the Congress, the Isaac Howland, the Hillman, the Martha, the Nassau, the Coving ton, the Favorite, the James Maury, and the Nile, anchored and lay in company near the Brunswick, to render her such help as we could; that We were compelled to anchor, in order that we might not be swept through the straits by the current, there being no wind; that we lay at anchor, as aforesaid, all day on the 28th; that about 2 o'clock in the afternoon of that day the fog lifted, and we saw a strange steamer coming right for us; that thinking that she was a friendly vessel, we sent a boat to her for help and news; that this steamer proved to be the rebel steamer Shenandoah, Captain Waddell, and by 3 o'clock Captain Waddell and his men had set fire to all the above-named vessels, mine included, except the James Maury and the Nile; that these two latter vessels were bonded, and the crews of the other ships were placed on board of them; that there was no wind on the 28th or 29th, and these two last-named ships lay at anchor becalmed, seeing the other ships burned; meanwhile the Shenandoah steamed up into the straits out of sight, coming back the next morning; that on the 30th the wind rose, and we started for San Francisco, where we arrived about the 1st of August; that there were about one hundred and seventy men on board each vessel-the Maury and the Nile; that I am confident that the Shenandoah could not have caught us if it had not been for her steam-power;. for there was no wind, and if there had been wind, some if not all of us would have got away, for we could have sailed as fast as she could; that Manning, master's mate on the Shenandoah, whom I had known as the second mate of the Abigail, told me that they saw us all through the 27th of June from the mast-head, and that the Shenandoah waited, hidden by the fog, till it became calm, in order that at the night time, when we were becalmed, she might run up under steam, and destroy us as she did; that, after we were placed on board of the James Maury, some of the officers of the Shenandoah came on board and tried to ship men, and they did ship six men that I know of at that time. DANIEL D. WOOD. BRISTOL, 88: On this 18th day of September, A. D. 1871, personally appeared before me, Charles W. Clifford, a notary public within and for said county, the above-named Daniel D. Wood, well known to me to be the person described in and who executed the foregoing affidavit in my presence, and made solemn oath that the statements therein contained, so far as they are stated on his own knowledge, are true, and, so far as they are stated on his information and belief, he believes them to be trne. Witness my hand and official seal this 18th day of September, A. D. 1871, at New Bedford aforesaid. [SEAL.] CHARLES W. CLIFFORD, Affidavit of Ebenezer F. Nye. I, Ebenezer F. Nye, of New Bedford, county of Bristol, commonwealth of Massachusetts, in the United States of America, on oath declare and say: I am the same person who heretofore signed an affidavit which was sworn to before Charles W. Clifford, notary public, on the 22d day of September, A. D. 1871, and in relation to the matters and things. therein stated I desire further to say: Of the seventeen men of my vessel, the Abigail, who joined the service of the Shenandoah, the nationalities were as follows: Two (2) Americans, citizens of the United States; twelve (12) Kanakas, subjects of the Hawaiian government; one (1) Prussian, subject of the King of Prussia; one (1) Portuguese, subject of the King of Portugal; one (1) Englishman, subject of Queen Victoria. When we were first taken, and while cruising in the Ochotsk Sea for other whalers, although they were often asked by the officers of the Shenandoah to join her service, I know that these men refused; but when leaving the Ochotsk Sea to go to the Arctic Ocean, I heard rumors that some of the men were about joining her service. Thereupon I got permission to go into the men's quarters, and having taken several of them aside, I asked them if it was true that they proposed joining the Shenandoah. They said they had been asked to join, and thought some of doing so, but had not then made up their minds. I urged them, as strongly as I knew how, not to join, saying to them, among other things, that we might fall in with an American man-of-war, and if we did their case would be a hard one, for without doubt they would string them up to the yard-arm at once. I had two or three interviews at different times with the men on this subject. They told me that their principal reason for joining was that they were kept to work on the Shenandoah most of the time, and they might as well join and receive pay for it, as to work without pay as prisoners. The work required of the Abigail's men in sailing the Shenandoah, the promise of more grog and better fare, together with the high wages which were promised them, influenced them to join. After the last of these conversations I was called aft before the first lieutenant, Mr. Whittle. He said to me: "I understand that you have been talking about a Yankee man-of-war. Now, if I hear that you, or any of your officers, are talking about a Yankee man-of-war again, I will put you in irons, double irons." He thereupon touched his hat, turned upon his heel, and walked away. I said no more to the men, and the seventeen of whom I have spoken joined the Shenandoah. EBENEZER F. NYE. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, county of Bristol, On this 27th day of September, A. D. 1871, personally appeared before me, Charles W. Clifford, a notary public, duly commissioned and qualified, the above-named Ebenezer F. Nye, well known to me to be the person described in and who signed the foregoing affidavit in my presence, and made solemn oath that the statements therein contained, so far as they are made upon his own personal knowledge, are true, and so far as they are made upon information and belief, they are true to the best of his knowledge and belief. Witness my hand and seal notarial the day and year above written. Affidavit of William Green Nichols. STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS, County of Suffolk, ss: I, William Green Nichols, being duly sworn, depose and say: I am a resident of Searsport, Maine, United States; I was formerly captain of the bark Delphine, of Bangor, Maine, which vessel was captured by the Shenandoah on the 29th day of December, 1864; I was captain of the Delphine on that day; I was then sailing in latitude south 390 20', longitude east 69°. When I first saw the Shenandoah, she was flying English colors, and supposing her to be an English merchantman, I rather set my sails so as to meet her. On approaching nearer, she proved to be a steamer with a telescope funnel, under sail. She fired a blank shot, upon which I immediately hove to, she hoisting the confederate flag after firing the gun. My family, the crew, and myself, were taken on board the Shenandoah, and my ship was burned. I was on board the Shenandoah until the 26th day of January, 1865, when I was paroled at Melbourne, the steamer having arrived there the day before. On board the Shenandoali it was made no secret that she had formerly been the Sea King. The guns fired in capturing me, and those used in attempts to capture other vessels while I was on board, were two twelve-pounders. Captain Waddell, of the Shenandoah, seemed very anxious to increase his crew. After my crew had got on board, they were allowed half an hour to decide whether they would join the Shenandoah, or go in irons, be triced up, and otherwise punished. They were requested to talk with other sailors, who had joined |