LIVERPOOL, September 16, 1864.
Hon. S. R. MALLORY,
Secretary of the Navy.
SIR: On the first instant I had
the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your dispatches of July 18, No.
1 and No. 2, and July 30 last, containing important suggestions and instructions,
and I shall now report somewhat more in detail the steps taken to carry
out your views. The loss of the Alabama occurred just at a time when the
financial condition of the Navy Department began to improve, and as you
have been already informed I took immediate steps to look up a successor.
I have now the satisfaction to inform you
of the purchase of a fine composite ship, built for the Bombay trade, and
just returned from her first voyage. She is 1,160 tons builder's measurement,
classed A-l, for 14 years at Lloyd's; frames, beams, etc., of iron, but
planked from keel to gunwale with East Indian teak. She is full rigged
as a ship, with rolling topsails, has plenty of accommodation for officers
of all grades, and 'tween decks 7 feet 6 inches high, with large air ports,
having been fitted under Government inspection for the transport of troops.
Her engines are direct acting, with two cylinders 47 inches in diameter
and 2 feet 9 inches stroke, with ample grate and heating surface in the
boilers, nominal horsepower 220, but indicating 85 horsepower, and has
a lifting, screw. My broker has had her
carefully examined by one of Lloyd's inspectors, who pronounced her a capital
ship in every respect and from whose report I extract the above items.
Yesterday she went into a graving dock to have her bottom examined and
the screw shaft carefully inspected, and the report on both these points
is favorable. The log of the ship shows her
to be a fast sailer under canvas, for with screw up she has made 330 miles
in 24 hours by observation. You will
be gratified to learn this good fortune in finding a ship so admirably
suited to our purpose, and I will only now assure you that no effort will
be spared and no precaution neglected which may tend to get her speedily
under our flag. You may rely upon it that the purchase of men-of-war from
any of the European navies is not practicable under existing circumstances.
The transaction would necessarily be managed through intermediaries who
from the very nature of the negotiations would be forced to sacrifice principle,
and then all sorts of bribery must be indulged in, which costs much money,
and after all we should only get cast-off vessels. I make these remarks
as the result of experience, for I have treated with many persons on the
subject and know wherein they are all wanting. At present, however, there
is an insuperable difficulty in the fact that Great Britain and France
have both forbidden vessels constructed as ships of war to be cleared as
the property of private individuals. Of necessity, then, we must be content
with such merchant ships as can be most readily adapted to purely naval
purposes, and if the officers appointed to command such vessels are forced,
by reason of inferior power, to shun engagements with the enemy's regular
cruisers, there is ample field for the display of judgment and dash in
cutting up his commerce, destroying his transports, and laying toll upon
the exposed villages along the coast of New England, among the number of
which may be mentioned New Bedford, Holmes' Hole, and Edgartown, in the
Vineyard Sound, and Provincetown at the back of Cape Cod, each of which
is very accessible, and up to the latest information I have been able to
obtain they are helpless against attack. You will, of course, understand,
that every ship when purchased must change owners in a manner prescribed
by law, and she can not sail without a prescribed form of clearance at
the custom-house. There must be an ostensible owner to make the necessary
declarations for taking out the register, and he must be a British subject.
Herein lies one of the most serious difficulties to be encountered in any
and every effort to get a ship for subsequent transfer to the Confederate
States. Such is the fear of offending against the foreign enlistment act
inspired by the Government, that it is very difficult to get any one, fit
for the trust, to come forward as the owner of a vessel under such circumstances,
and it is only within a day or two I have been able to find a gentleman
to act this part for me, and now only upon the assurance that the ship
shall not fire a gun until the register has been sent back to England to
be canceled. The difficulty of enlisting men you will appreciate without
especial intimation. Every possible effort will be made to overcome all
obstacles, and if the ship gets safely out she will
be called the Shenandoah, and will
have an armament of four 55-hundred-weight 8-inch shell guns, and two 32-pounder
Whitworth rifled guns. I propose to put as much coal on board as can
be carried, leaving only space for provisions, thus enabling her to keep
the sea for a long time. The result of this undertaking shall be promptly
reported, and it shall be repeated whenever practicable.
In reference to a steamer to supply
the place of the Coquette, I think the large number of such vessels building
for the Government renders a special purchase at this time unnecessary.
In my dispatch of the 15th instant, you will find full particulars on this
subject, yet it may be well for me to add that when I undertook the construction
of blockade runners under General McRae's financial arrangements with Messrs.
Fraser, Trenholm & Co., it was understood that two of the lot might
be taken by you for the special service of the Navy Department, if required.
The six torpedo boats, ordered
in your dispatch of July 18, No. 2, have been put in the hands of the builder.
These will be built on the lines furnished by Mr. Graves, and there will
be no alterations except to strengthen the stem and to change slightly
the rake of the stern to suit the material (iron) of which they must be
built. I have had a model made upon Mr. Graves' designs, and have had the
displacement calculated for the three water lines shown on the sketch,
which will be as follows: First water line on 1 foot=1.5 tons; 2-feet line=5.37
tons; 3-feet line=10.6 tons. The weight of the boat, if of steel, including
boiler, water in boiler, engine's, screws, and shafts complete, crew, say,
5 men, and coal for 24 hours, will be 9.18 tons, so that they will just
carry the necessary weights on the given draft of water; but, owing to
the exceeding sharpness of the lines and shortness of floor, the boiler,
will of necessity be rather small for the engines recommended by Chief
Engineer Williamson in his letter of July 19. The remaining three boats
will be kept nearly to Mr. Graves' design, only having increased length
of floors so as to accommodate larger boilers; draft and other qualities
remaining the same. The two twin-screw steamers, for the-port of Wilmington,
alluded to in your dispatch of July 30, are also in the builders' hands.
I found some difficulty in getting the order taken, the principal builders
being much pressed with work, but have contracted on the 14th instant with
a leading Scotch firm for both the boats, each to be of the following general
description:
Length, 170 feet; breadth, 25 feet;
depth, 12 feet 6 inches; tonnage, 515 tons; engines, two pair of 120-horsepower
collective. They will be very strongly built, with heavy decks and beams,
so as to carry a gun at each end, of from 5 to 6 tons weight, and the internal
and deck arrangements will be such as to suit them for gun vessels, and
yet not to excite suspicion. They will be designed for a speed of 12 knots
on a draft of 7 feet 6 inches aft, but can be loaded to 8 feet 6 inches
with safety as seagoing boats. The price of each boat, complete for sea,
with the exception of coal and stores, will be £17,500. One to be
delivered on January 1, 1865, and the other six weeks later. I will send
further particulars and drawings when plans in detail are finally adopted.
I am, very respectfully, your obedient
servant,
JAMES D. BULLOCH.
(interesting secret service instructions)
LIVERPOOL, October 6, 1864.
First Lieutenant WILLIAM C. WHITTLE,
C. S. Navy.
SIR: You will proceed to London
by the 5 o'clock p.m. train this afternoon and go to Wood's Hotel, Furnival's
Inn, High Holborn. Take a room there and give
your name as Mr. W. C. Brown if asked.
It has been arranged for you to be in the coffee room of the hotel at 11
o'clock a.m. precisely to-morrow, and that you will sit in a prominent
position, with a white pocket handkerchief rove through a buttonhole of
your coat, and a newspaper in your hand. In this attitude you will
be recognized by Mr. Richard Wright, who will call at the appointed hour
and ask you if your name is Brown. You may say yes, and ask his name; he
will give it, and you will then retire with him to your room, hand him
the enclosed letter of introduction, and then, throwing off all further
disguise, discuss freely the business in hand. Mr. Wright will introduce
you to Captain Corbett, with whom you are to take passage to Madeira, and
you will arrange with him how to get on board without attracting notice.
Say to Captain Corbett that I regret
not seeing him, but it has been thought best for me not to go to London,
as I am so well known there; and tell him that I have full confidence in
his desire to serve us, and will be happy to make the warmest acknowledgments
when he returns. Say that I desire him to convey you to Madeira in accordance
with the programme laid down in my letter to Lieutenant Commanding Waddell,
dated October 5, 1864, a copy of which you have; and request him, when
he appears off Funchal, to hoist instead of his own number that of the
Laurel, the tender or supply ship he is to meet there. The Laurel will
reply by hoisting her own official number also, and then both ships
will proceed as in my letter of the 5th instant to Lieutenant Commanding
Waddell. It is important that the Sea King
should not be reported, and you will request
Captain Corbett not to exchange signals with passing ships, or at any rate
not to show his real number. The object of your going out in the Sea King
is to acquaint yourself with her sailing and other qualities and to observe
the dispositions of the crew. You can also inspect the internal arrangements,
and discuss with Captain Corbett the necessary alterations, and you can
learn the stowage of the provisions and other stores, and even pick out
the best position for the magazine and shell rooms. Perhaps the construction
of these might be actually begun under the superintendence of Captain Corbett.
You will bear in mind that until regularly transferred Captain Corbett
is the legal commander of the Sea King, and for obvious reasons of
policy, as well as from courtesy, you will express all your wishes in the
form of requests. When you reach Madeira
and the Laurel joins company, you will report to Lieutenant Commanding
Waddell, and thereafter act under his instructions. Relying upon your discretion
and judgment, and earnestly wishing you a successful voyage,
I am, respectfully, your obedient
servant,
JAMES D. BULLOCH.
LIVERPOOL, October 8, 1864.
Lieutenant Commanding J. F. RAMSAY,
C. S. Navy.
SIR: You will proceed to sea this
afternoon in command of the S. S. Laurel and convey Lieutenant
Commanding James I. Waddell and his staff of officers, and the other
passengers of whom you have been advised, to
Funchal, in the island of Madeira, with speedy
dispatch. At Funchal you will hasten to take on board as large a supply
of coal as you may consider safe, bearing in mind that you may nave to
steam for 20 days. The Sea King, Captain Corbett, has sailed from
London this morning, and her commander has been instructed to time his
passage so as not to arrive off Funchal until the 17th instant,
by which time it is hoped you will have coaled up and will be ready to
weigh at a moment's notice. The Sea King will not anchor at Funchal, but
will simply appear off the roadstead, and by way of designation will hoist
the official number of the Laurel, which you will answer with the same
number, and then weigh and join her as promptly and quickly as possible.
In communicating with the Sea King you will be governed by the directions
of Lieutenant Commanding Waddell, and you will render him all the assistance
in your power in transferring the supplies from the Laurel to the Sea King
and if the transfer can not be accomplished at Madeira, by reason of
stress of weather or from any other cause, you will, under his directions,
proceed to another rendezvous at the Caicas
Islands. Your experience as a seaman and your
acquaintance with business will enable you to assist very materially in
making the transfer of stores and in treating with the men for entry into
the service of the Confederate States, and your zeal and interest in the
success of the expedition are confidently relied upon. When the transfer
is completed and Lieutenant Commanding Waddell can dispense with your further
services, you will proceed to Nassau, New Providence, observing great
precaution in approaching Eleuthera from the northeast. You might sight
the island from your masthead during the day, but it would be safer to
lie off to the eastward and time your movements so as to make the land
after dark, and run down close to the bank, arriving off Nassau by daylight.
If you make the transfer at Caicas, your plan would be to run up through
Exuma Sound and enter Nassau by the ship channel leading from southward
and eastward. Approaching from either direction, you will take a pilot.
As soon as you arrive at Nassau
you will communicate with Mr. L. Heyliger and show him this letter, which
will serve as an introduction. Mr. Heyliger will be able to give you the
latest news from the Confederate States, and you will consult freely with
him as to the propriety of taking your ship in. If you are satisfied with
the speed of the ship, take her in by all means, as a voyage through the
blockade would establish a new character for her and would obliterate all
trace of her past history, inasmuch as her name could be changed, and her
nationality also, while in a Confederate States port. This matter, however,
I must of necessity leave to your discretion.
Should you reach a Confederate
States port report yourself at once by letter to the Secretary of the Navy,
and as my report of your voyage may not have reached the department, send
him a copy of this letter. Say to the honorable Secretary of the Navy that
I respectfully request him to send you out as soon as possible to take
command of one of the Government blockade runners now approaching completion.
If, after consultation with Mr. Heyliger, it is thought best not to attempt
the voyage in, load with Government cotton and return to Liverpool or Havre,
as you may hereafter be advised. For coal and other expenses at Madeira
you will draw on Mr. Henry Lafone, but at Nassau do all your business through
Mr. Heyliger and request him to draw on me for your disbursements. Do not
let yourself be known as a Confederate States officer, except to Mr. Heyliger,
and at Madeira allow no communication with
the shore, except through yourself, and do
not show your number to any passing ships. I wish all the men who join
the Confederate States service to sign "quit claims" for both the Sea King
and Laurel, for an expressed consideration, and you will advise Lieutenant
Commanding Waddell how this is to be done. Write
me fully from Nassau under cover to M.P. Robertson,
Esq.
I am, respectfully, your obedient
servant,
JAMES D. BULLOCH.
LIVERPOOL, October 20, 1864.
Hon. S. R. MALLORY,
Secretary of the Navy.
SIR: I
have the great satisfaction of reporting
the safe departure on the 8th instant of the ship described in my dispatch
of September 16, and now that the entire expedition is far away at sea,
beyond the reach of interference on the part of any United States authority
in Europe, I may venture to furnish detailed information.
The cruising ship was formerly
the Sea King, the very vessel it appears that Lieutenant Carter suggested
to you in Richmond, and it is an interesting coincidence that while you
were discussing her merits and fitness for conversion into a cruiser I
was negotiating for her purchase at this distance from you. The tender
or supply vessel is the screw steamer Laurel, which I was compelled to
purchase for the special purpose. She is a fine, fast vessel, and if Lieutenant
Ramsay gets her into Wilmington you will find her most useful.
I enclose herewith my letters of
instructions to Lieutenant Commanding Waddell, Lieutenant Ramsay, and Lieutenant
Whittle,(*) and also a list of the officers. The letters above referred
to will inform you with sufficient minuteness how the two vessels were
dispatched, and I need only say that the arrangements combined most favorably
and that the two vessels sailed--the Sea King from London and the Laurel
from Liverpool--within a few hours of each other. I heard from the
Sea King off Deal; everything was in fine condition and she was making
12½ knots under steam and fore and aft sails. Lieutenant Ramsay
sent me a line or two from the pilot station
off Holyhead, to say that not a single package
had been left, and that the Laurel, though deep with coal, had averaged
over 11 knots since leaving the Mersey.
The battery for the Sea King
consists of four 55-hundredweight, 8-inch, smooth-bore guns, and two Whitworth
32-pounders, besides which she has two light 12-pounders. Ample supplies
of ammunition, small arms, and clothing have been provided, all of which
are on board the Laurel, and the Sea King has sailed with 800 tons of coal,
and is well provisioned and found in every respect. I have given Lieutenant
Commanding Waddell £2,000 in gold; £2,000 in marginal credits
drawn by the Bank of Liverpool, subject to his order, in sum of £100
and £200; and letter of credit from Messrs. Fraser, Trenholm &
Co. for £1,000, good for one year, which he can use at Sydney
or Melbourne. In spite of every precaution
the Federal spies discovered that something was in progress and Mr. Adams
had the U.S. ships Niagara and Sacramento cruising off the mouth of the
Thames, but they failed to identify our ship. However, a few days after
the departure of the Sea King they captured a peaceful and unsuspecting
Spanish steamer that had just left the Thames, and after keeping her in
custody for a day or two one of the men-of-war ran into Newhaven, or one
of the southern ports; telegrams were exchanged with Mr. Adams, and it
is said that by his order the Spaniard was released. The
British Government will scarcely give our public ships common shelter,
and we can not send an unarmed vessel in the direction of North America
without embarrassing and annoying enquiries from the customs and board
of trade officials. Yet United States ships
of war are permitted to lie in English ports
and watch British ships, as in the case of the Georgia, previously reported,
and are allowed to cruise and make captures of neutral ships off the largest
port of the kingdom and in waters which were once considered exclusively
British.
I am, very respectfully, your obedient
servant,
JAMES D. BULLOCH.