Major Walker to Major Huse. ST. GEORGE'S, BERMUDA, July 27, 1863. MAJOR: I have the pleasure of handing you herewith three letters, which have just come to hand. Within the last twenty-four hours the steamers Cornubia, Eugenie, Banshee, and Lord Clyde have arrived from Wilmington, and the Emma and Merrimac are hourly expected. My worst apprehensions have been realized, and I have now six or seven steamers in port without coal. If you will refer to my letters, you will find that I commenced to solicit shipments of coal four months ago. I have not yet received bills of lading for a single cargo, although your last letters by Halifax advise the shipment of two cargoes. Fearful that in your pressing engagements you might overlook this important subject, I wrote to Messrs. Fraser, Trenholm & Co., soliciting shipments. Their letter of May 12 informs me that they had called your attention to the subject, and that in the mean time they would make shipments themselves. I hope most earnestly that the favorable wind which now prevails will soon bring a cargo into port. We should always have a reserve here of at least three or four thousand tons. There are now here about fifteen hundred bales of cotton, on account of the war department, all of which will be shipped by a vessel for which I am now in treaty. The Miriam has arrived, sixteen days from Plymouth, and will commence discharging her cargo to-morrow, to return immediately with cotton. Your letters, by Dr. Estorige and Mr. Dickeys, were read. They will go in by first vessel. The Florida has been in port for nine days.* After undergoing pretty thorough repairs, she went to sea last evening. The day after her arri val she saluted Her Majesty's ensign, which was handsomely returned with twenty-one guns. This is the first salute which the flag of the Confederate States has ever received in a foreign port, and consequently we dwellers in the little island of Bermuda think very proudly of it. But these matters are of but little importance compared with the important subject of coal, to which I must again direct your attention, and beg that you will use every effort to relieve me of the embarrassment in which, from no fault of my own, I find myself involved. The H. Pinckney, which was sent to Halifax for coal, arrived just in time to supply the Florida and Robert E. Lee. She was not able to get them more than three hundred tons, and much of that of an inferior quality. This letter goes via St. Thomas. I will write again via Halifax. The Halifax mail is due to-morrow, and by it I hope to receive from you some intelligence of large shipments of coal. I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, *See vol. VI, pp. 347-349. N. S. WALKER. Mr. Burton to Major Huse. QUEEN'S HOTEL, Leeds, July 29, 1863. MAJOR: I have the pleasure to inform you that, by appointment, Mr. Batley, of the firm of Greenwood & Batley, machinists, of Leeds, and myself, met Mr. Prioleau, of the firm of Fraser, Trenholm & Co., of Liverpool, on yesterday, at their office in Liverpool, and the contract for the supply of armory machinery for the Confederate States war department was duly signed by both the parties above mentioned, in accordance with the arrangement you made with Mr. Prioleau. Mr. Prioleau expressed some disappointment in consequence of his not hav ing received a letter from you bearing upon this transaction, which letter he regarded as necessary to the protection of his firm; and if you have not yet addressed such a letter to him, I beg respectfully to request that you will do so at the earliest moment possible. I understood Mr. Prioleau to say that he is to be paid by the government in cotton delivered at Bermuda, and that he expects cotton to be shipped to that place expressly for this purpose. Whatever may be the nature of your agreement with Mr. Frioleau, I earnestly trust, for his sake, that you will, without unnecessary delay, communicate the same to the government at Richmond, and make such arrangements as may be essential to the security of Fraser, Trenholm & Co., who have certainly behaved well in this transaction. I shall hope to meet you in London by the end of this week, at which time I will lay before you the lists and estimates of the additional machinery I would recommend to be ordered for arsenal purposes. Please inform me when you arrive in London. I am, major, your obedient servant, JAMES H. BURTON, Superintendent of Armories, C. S. A. Mr. C. H. Prioleau to Major Huse. 10 RUMFORD PLACE, LIVERPOOL, July 28, 1863. MY DEAR FRIEND: I have to-day signed the contract for Burton's business. Has McRae released the cotton, or enough of it to meet this outlay? I hope so, for several reasons, one being that I have by this mail received a letter from Mr. Memminger, inclosing official instruc tions as to the duties of the depositaries, which state, among other things, that all financial arrangements are to be made in consultation with us, which you will see makes my position as an ordinary merchant doing business with you a very delicate one. If McRae will permit you to instruct us to retain enough out of the proceeds of the cotton now here and at Bermuda, to meet this £60,000, we will only charge a simple com mission of 24 per cent. for making the contract in our own name, advancing one-third down, as stipulated, and doing the whole business of shipping, insuring, &c. But if we have to wait until separate and special cotton is shipped out to us for the purpose, (it will take two thousand bales,) we will charge our commission of 10 per cent. on the amount of our expenditure, and take our pay in the net pounds of the cotton when it is received and sold here in the usual way, without any deduction from the market price, which is 20 per cent. better than the terms you were willing to give me in Paris. Whichever way it is settled, please write me at once an official letter, assuming the debt on the part of the government by virtue of the authority given you by them, and say that you are prepared to sign a formal agreement with us in accordance, as soon as the same shall be prepared, which last I will at once have done, and send you to sign, unless you are coming here, which would be better. Please, also, write the government by this mail, and advise what has been done, and requesting that special cotton should be shipped at once, if not already done, to meet this debt. The loan is down here to 17 per cent. and up again to 13, a perfect panic, under the belief that Charleston is already gone, which it is not by a long shot. The news is, however, very gloomy, except from New York, where the lamp-post operations impart a cheerful tone to things. Hemp for ever! Yours, truly, Major HUSE. C. H. PRIOLEAU. Colonel Gorgas to Major Huse. ORDNANCE BUREAU, Richmond, August 9, 1863. MAJOR: In consequence of the great losses sustained recently by our troops, amounting in the aggregate to seventy thousand small-arms, it will be necessary to buy and forward to Bermuda fifty thousand good Enfield arms, as rapidly as this class of weapon can be obtained. An additional supply of bayonets should also be sent, if to be had-say thirty thousand, besides those already ordered. Spare parts, in proportions prescribed in the manual, ought also to be sent, if possible. It is hoped you are now in funds. Official reports from the various armies of the confederacy concur in giving preference to the common bayonet over the sword bayonet. You will, therefore, continue to purchase arms having the former appendage. I again repeat my directions, to purchase cavalry carbines, either approved breech-loading or muzzle-loading; ten thousand should be sent as soon as possible. Shipments of lead and saltpeter must also be large and frequent, especially the latter, of which last reports from Bermuda show none on hand. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, J. GORGAS. Colonel Gorgas to Major Huse. ORDNANCE BUREAU, MAJOR: I beg to call your attention to following extract from letter of Major Walker, 23d ultimo: "Letters from Major Huse, under date 12th June, inform me that two cargoes of coal were then on their way to this port. I think it important that Major Huse should be instructed by the department to keep this port supplied with coals to the extent of two or three thousand tons, or rather five or six hundred tons per month." It is not necessary to do more than call your attention to above extract. Our steamers must never be delayed in either port longer than absolutely necessary to discharge and load again. They should never be delayed waiting for coal. Abundant supply has been secured for them on this side, and I hope Major Walker and yourself will be equally successful in getting a generous supply for Bermuda. Every effort is making to increase the cotton exports, and much larger results are expected in the next five months than in the past seven. During these the exports for our account have not reached a higher figure than fortysix hundred bales of cotton and one hundred and fifty-seven half-tierces tobacco. We hope to more than double them, but coal must be ready always at the in and out port to secure this desirable result. I beg, then, give Major Walker's suggestion due consideration. Your obedient servant, Major CALEB HUSE, J. GORGAS. 71 Jermyn Street, London. Fraser, Trenholm & Co. to Major Huse. LIVERPOOL, August 6, 1863. DEAR SIR: In reply to your favor of yesterday's date, we beg to say that the cottons recently received for sale of the ordnance department are as follows: 928 bales per Odin, Bermuda. 567 bales per Resolution, Bermuda. 2,844 None of the account sales are closed, but taking the bales at an aver age of £30 nett, this would produce... .. £85,320 £43, 400 7,300 14, 300 65,000 20,000 Leaving an avaliable surplus of about... In addition to the above, there are four hundred bales expected from Bermuda per Eagle, the proceeds of which, less Mr. W. I. Watkins's drafts against same, will be held subject to your wishes. We are, dear sir, yours, respectfully, FRASER, TRENHOLM & CO., C. HUSE, Esq., Per J. R. ARMSTRONG. Major Walker to Major Huse. [Extract:] ST. GEORGE'S, BERMUDA, August 7, 1863. MAJOR: I had this pleasure last on the 27th ultimo, to which I refer you. Since then, I am in receipt of your favor of the 9th instant, advising shipment per Coral Isle. At my request, an ordnance officer has been sent to this place, to take charge of all stores in transitu for the Confederate States, and hereafter it will be necessary for all communications on the subject to be addressed to him. This gentleman is Major Smith Stansbury, an old officer of the United States Army, and he has already, I believe, furnished you with a copy of his credentials. All shipments to this place should be consigned to Mr. John T. Bourne. It is imperatively necessary that an English medium should be employed for the conduct of the government business at this point, and although Major Stansbury and myself have been ordered to this place, and have all of the important and difficult work to do, it is still necessary, for the protection of the valuable stores sent here, to employ a British merchant to stand godfather for them. As no clerical assistance can be had on the island, it is necessary to import it from home, and in my final settlement with Mr. Bourne, heavy deductions on his commissions will be made therefor. There are now thirteen steamers in port, some of them chartered by the government to carry in arms, and but for an opportune arrival of coal last night, sent here by Messrs. Fraser, Trenholm & Co., I should be in a most difficult position. I can only add emphasis to my former letters by begging that you will make continuous and heavy shipments of coals to this place. You must remember, major, that this point is the distributing center, not only of all the stores which you may purchase in England, but of many articles ordered by officers sent out by other departments, and that unless a good supply of coals are kept here it will be impossible to transfer any of these goods to confederate ports. The H. Pinckney went up to the dock-yard a few days since to get coals to proceed to Halifax a second time. The opportune arrival last night prevents this now useless voyage, and I hope, on her return to this port, to load her with four or five thousand barrels of bacon and pork and other miscellaneous freight, and send her into the coast, although I must confess that I have some apprehensions with regard to her success. I receive the most urgent letters for rope and bagging suitable for baling cotton; all of what is now coming out is in very bad order. Large quantities of saltpeter are urgently needed, but I refer you to Major Stansbury on all matters connected with the wants of the ser vice. I am, major, your obedient servant, N. S. WALKER. |