THE SHENANDOAH. NOTE. This is additional to the correspondence printed in Vol. VI, pp. 554-722. Affidavit of Ebenezer F. Nye. CITY OF NEW BEDFORD, County of Bristol, State of Massachusetts, ss : I, Ebenezer F. Nye, of the city of New Bedford, county of Bristol, commonwealth of Massachusetts, in the United States of America, being duly sworn, declare and say: I have been engaged in whaling for thirty years, having cruised in the Ochotsk Sea and Arctic Ocean for more than seventeen years. I was master of the American whaling-ship Abigail, of New Bedford, Massachusetts, on her last voyage, sailing from New Bedford on the 10th day of July, A. D. 1862, for a five years' voyage. Having been cruising in her for about three years, on the 13th day of April, A. D. 1865, I sailed in her from Yokohama for a cruise in the Ochotsk Sea and Arctic Ocean. On the afternoon of the 27th day of the following May, when off Tarvish Bay, in the Ochotsk Sea, I sighted what I supposed was a whaling-ship, under sail, about five miles off. It had been foggy all day, and, needing assistance, I stood for the supposed whaler, but when about one hundred yards from her, she hoisted a confederate flag, and fired a gun across my bows. She proved to be the insurgent steamer Shenandoah, Captain Waddell, and I soon learned that my vessel was to be burned. Myself, my officers, and crew were transferred to her, and my ship, the Abigail, was set on fire, after some provisions had been transferred from her. After my capture, the Shenandoah cruised backward and forward, off Tarvish Bay, for about ten days, waiting for the ice to leave, so that she could get to the whalers around Jonas Island, or up Northeast Gulf. At the end of ten days, as the ice did not clear, she sailed to the southward about five hundred miles, passing out through Paramouchir Straits into Behring Sea. Then she sailed northerly for Cape Thaddeus, about twelve hundred miles distant. She made Cape Thaddeus on the 20th of June. From the time of my capture till the Shenandoah sighted Cape Thaddeus, (twenty-six days in all,) she fell in with no ships, and not being in the track of whalers or other vessels, she did not even keep a man at the mast-head to look out for them. The Shenandoah was a full-rigged ship of superior build, and with good winds she was a fast sailer, but with light breezes she was only ordinary. She also had steam power auxiliary, with a propeller that could be used at pleasure, and which, when not in use, could be hoisted up, so as not to interfere with her sailing. During the days before named, she sailed more than two thousand miles, and only used her steam-power twice, once in going through the straits, and again in clearing Behring Island. At the time I was captured by the Shenandoah, she had on board about five hundred tons of coal, and some of her officers told me that she left Melbourne with about six hundred tons, having coaled there from a ship which had been sent from Liverpool to meet her. They also told me that she had burned about one hundred tons in steaming two days while capturing four whalers, which the schooner Phiel had reported to be at Ascension Island. The Shenandoah, at the time I was taken on board, had a full complement of officers, but was very much in want of seamen, having only forty-five or fifty, not half the number she needed. The officers told me that her full complement of officers and crew was one hundred and eighty-five, but at that time she only had one hundred and five, all told. At two different times during the first ten days that I was on board, all hands, and my own crew beside, were obliged to be up all night working the ship in the ice. The officers and crew complained of being short handed, and my own men were urged to join her, but none of them did so for some days, though finally, being much urged, seventeen out of thirty-six of my crew shipped, upon the promise of the large pay of six pounds per month, (which was double their usual pay,) and of prize-money in addition, they to be discharged and paid off at Liverpool. While on board the Shenandoah, I had frequent conversations with her officers and crew, particularly with Mr. Hunt, master's mate. He told me that the insurgents had intended to have destroyed the whaling fleet of the United States by the Rappahannock, which vessel had been bought in England and fitted out for them for that purpose, but that this vessel had been detained by the French at Calais, so that they were obliged to find another vessel; that then the Sea-King was purchased at London, and commissioned as the Shenandoah, and sent out with orders to destroy the whaling fleet in the Arctic. He said that she was most hospitably received and welcomed at Melbourne; that she there had her propeller repaired, and was there calked and painted. He also told me that forty-two men joined the Shenandoah at Melbourne; that some of them came on board when she first arrived; that the United States consul protested against their joining, and the governor finally attempted to stop them, and to search the ship, but that Captain Waddell refused to allow the ship to be searched, though a number of recruits were then on board; that the governor then was about to seize the ship, but that Captain Waddell, by his firmness and threats to leave the ship upon the governor's hands, and to return and report the matter to his government, obtained her release. Before the Shenandoah arrived at Cape Thaddeus, I was told by the officers, particularly by Mr. Hunt and by Mr. Manning, that Captain Waddell would not attempt to make any captures or to get among the whalers until he got a calm day, when he could use his steam to catch them before they could get away, for if there was a wind too many would escape. Cape Thaddeus is a much-frequented cruising-ground for whalers, there being often forty or fifty sails in sight at one time. The ships cruise along on the southern edge of the ice off the cape, generally, in the month of June, being from fifteen to twenty miles from the ice. When Cape Thaddeus was sighted from the Shenandoah on the 20th of June, it was quite foggy, with strong winds; sail was taken in, and the ship hove to, heading off shore, waiting for calm. On the morning of the 21st, it was quite calm, with fog. The ship was headed to the northeast for the cape, and all sail was made. About 9 o'clock the fog lifted, and two sails were discovered to the westward. At once all hands were called, all sails taken in and furled, the smoke-stack was raised, the propeller was lowered, steam was gotten up, the Shenandoah remaining quiet meanwhile. In about an hour she commenced steaming, heading directly for the nearest ship, which was about eight miles off, and which proved to be the William Thompson, of New Bedford. A prize crew was put on board of her, and the Shenandoah at once steamed These for the other ship, which, having taken alarm, was endeavoring to escape, and which was at this time six or eight miles distant, and about fifteen miles from the land. In about an hour, the Shenandoah overhauled this vessel, and found her to be the ship Euphrates, also of New Bedford. She was set on fire at once, her officers and crew being transferred to the Shenandoah, which then steamed back to the William Thompson, and commenced taking provisions and water from her. About 3 o'clock in the afternoon, another ship was sighted, and the Shenandoah steamed in pursuit, but, upon discovering that it was an English bark, she returned to the William Thompson, which, on the next morning, (June 22,) was set on fire and burned, her officers and crew being transferred to the Shenandoah. On the same day the Shenandoah, having steamed about forty-five miles to the northeast in a thick fog, laid to, with her fires banked. When the fog lifted about noon, eight vessels were in sight, and it was nearly calm. The Shenandoah immediately steamed for the nearest vessel, which proved to be the ship Milo, of New Bedford. Her captain was ordered on board the Shenandoah, and the Milo ordered to follow, while the Shenandoah steamed for two other vessels, lying near the ice. now attempted to escape, one by going into the ice, and the other by making all sail and steering to the north. The Shenandoah steamed up to the edge of the ice, fired three guns and brought the first ship to, which was the Sophia Thornton, of New Bedford, and which was then about a mile in the ice. Lieutenant Lee and prize crew were put on board, and the Shenandoah steamed for the other vessel, which was now eight miles off, the wind breezing. After a chase of twelve miles, this vessel, the Jireh Swift, of New Bedford, was captured and burned. The Shenandoah then steamed to the north after other vessels, but finally gave up the chase, and returned to the Milo and Sophia Thornton. The crews of the five captured vessels were then put on board the Milo, and the Sophia Thornton was burnt. The Milo was bonded and directed to proceed to San Francisco, with the several captured crews, not far from two hundred men. Early the next morning the Shenandoah steamed off, and burned the brig Susan Abigail, of San Francisco. Before she had returned, I left the Milo in an open boat, with a crew of volunteers, for the purpose of warning other ships of the fleet. Rowing directly to the north, I escaped, not being seen from the Shenandoah, although passing within four miles of her. After about one hundred and eight miles' sail, I reached Cape Behring, and, by boarding five ships, scattered the news among the fleet, which then went to various places for safety. I finally joined the ship Mercury, of New Bedford, and after spending that whaling season in the Arctic, arrived home in December, 1865. When H. Manning, who, having been second mate of my vessel, the Abigail, had after his capture enlisted in the service of the Shenandoah and had been promoted to be a master's mate on board the Shenandoah, was about boarding the William Thompson, on the 21st day of June, A. D. 1865, I requested him to get me some papers, and on his return to the Shenandoah he handed me three papers, which, as near as I can recollect, were as follows: One copy of the San Francisco Alta of the 8th of April, A. D. 1865, and two copies of the San Francisco Bulletin of April 15 and April 16, A. D. 1865, respectively. I immediately read them, and the news which they contained was immediately made known to the officers of the Shenandoah. These papers contained accounts of the surrender of General Lee and his army, the capture of Richmond, the official correspondence between Generals Grant and Lee relating to and perfecting the surrender, and an account of the armistice between Generals Grant and Johnston. Before I left the Shenandoah I saw San Francisco papers of as late date as the 23d of said April, containing an account of the assassination of Mr. Lincoln. I talked with Mr. Hunt, master's mate, about the news, and told him that the war was over, and that they ought to stop making captures, to which he replied, "We are long ways off from the United States now, and our captures are all legal for ninety days after peace is declared." I answered, "Not when you know peace is declared." It is my firm and honest opinion that Captain Waddell never would have ventured into the Ochotsk Sea or the Arctic Oceau, nor could the Shenandoah have been safely handled there, if she had not obtained the forty-two additional men which Mr. Hunt told me she did obtain at Melbourne. It is also my firm and honest opinion that if the Shenandoah had not used her steam-power on the 21st of June, as before mentioned, she would not have captured either the William Thompson or the Euphrates, and that unless she had used her steam-power on the next day she would not have captured either the Sophia Thornton, the Jireh Swift, or the Susan Abigail, and even the Milo might have escaped. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, EBENEZER F. NYE. Commonwealth of Massachusetts, County of Bristol, ss: On this 22d day of September, A. D. 1871, at New Bedford, in said County, personally appeared the above-named Ebenezer F. Nye, 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, so far as they are stated on his personal knowledge, are true, and, so far as they are stated on his 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 Thomas B. Hathaway. CITY OF NEW Bedford, County of Bristol, State of Massachusetts, ss: I, Thomas B. Hathaway, of New Bedford, county of Bristol, commonwealth of Massachusetts, in the United States of America, being duly sworn, declare and say: I have been engaged in the whaling service for twenty-seven years, twenty-two of which I have spent in the Ochotsk Sea and Arctic Ocean. I was master of the American whaling-ship Euphrates on her last voyage, whereon she sailed from said port of New Bedford on the 4th day of August, A. D. 1862, on a four years' whaling voyage to the North Pacific Ocean. After cruising for about two years and a half, on the 21st day of April, A. D. 1865, I sailed in and with said ship from the port of Honolulu, bound on a whaling cruise in the Arctic Ocean. I entered the ice on or about the 25th day of May, in said last-named year, in about latitude 69° north, longitude 170° east. I cruised round the ice, east and west, from that date till on or about the 12th day of June, in said year. On or about said last-named date I spoke the whaling ship Sophia Thornton, of the port of New Bedford, and received from her some late San Francisco papers, to wit, several copies of the San Francisco Bulletin and San Francisco Alta, of as late a date as the 16th day of April, A. D. 1865. These papers contained full accounts of the surrender of General Lee to General Grant, of the capture of Richmond, and of the armistice between Generals Sherman and Johnston, and also a telegraphic notice of the assassination of Mr. Lincoln. On the 15th and 16th days of June I took two large whales, which I boiled and stowed down. On the 19th of June I spoke the William Thompson, and gave him some of the papers which I had received from the Sophia Thornton, containing the news above named. On the 20th the William Thompson and I were both steering north under easy sail, it being foggy. The next morning it came out clear, and at 7 o'clock a m. the man that came down from the mast-head reported a sail one point on weather-bow, distant fifteen miles, the William Thompson bearing three points on my lee-bow, distant about seven miles. Weather very fine, with light wind; ship making two to three knots. My mate, Mr. Davis, went aloft on look-out for whales, and soon reported that we were fast nearing the stranger; that he had no sail set, and he, Mr. Davis, thought he was boiling. I went aloft, and, coming to the same conclusion, thought he must be among whales, and I told Mr. Davis to keep a sharp look-out for whales, and that I would go down and trim the yards to make all possible speed toward the stranger. Mr. Davis hailed me almost immediately, saying that it was a large steamship steering across our bows. I asked him if he thought it was the Shenandoah. He replied "that he guessed not." We had seen in the papers that the Shenandoah had left Melbourne for the California coast. I immediately went aloft with my glass, and saw that she was steering straight for the Thompson, being then distant from me about ten miles and about two from the Thompson. I saw the stranger haul down one set of colors and hoist another, and, although too far off to distinguish what they were, I was satisfied that it was best for me to try to escape, and Immediately wore ship, and, having called all hands, made all sail and steered south. I then went up in the mizzen cross-trees and watched the steamer. I saw him go to the Thompson, stop a few minutes, and then steer straight after me. There was no chance of escape, as the wind was very light, for while I was making three knots under all sail, he was making eight or nine knots, using only his steam. Having hauled up within speaking distance, I was hailed from the steamer, and was immediately boarded by a man calling himself Lieutenant Lee, who, after asking me who I was, informed me that I was a prisoner and my ship a prize to the confed erate steamship of war Shenandoah; that I and my officers would be allowed to take a change of clothes with us and our bedding. I took my ship's papers and some of the papers that I had got from the Sophia Thornton, and as I was going over the rail, one of the men from the Shenandoah told Lieutenant Lee that everything was ready to set fire. Thereupon I said to Lee, “You had better not set fire until you hear more from your captain." I was then taken on board of the Shenandoah, and on going over the side I was met by Lieutenant Whittle, who asked me if I was the master of the Euphrates. I replied that I was. Therenpon he took the papers from me, and asked me to come into the captain's cabin, which I did. Captain Waddell sat in a chair by a small desk, reading the papers which he had just taken from the William Thompson, and being the same which I had given the William Thompson on the 19th of June, two days before. He asked me to sit down, and then inquired what the news was. I replied that the war was over; that General Lee had surrendered; that Richmond was taken, and Mr. Liucoln was killed. He replied, "So I see by the papers." I then said to |