

NAVY, CONFEDERATE. 



661 



in British waters, actively cruising among the 

 "West Indies. In the middle of January the 

 Oreto, now called the Florida, slipped out of 

 Mobile, where she had taken refuge some 

 months previous, and joined the Alabama in 

 her work of destruction ; and in the beginning 

 of April the Japan, subsequently named the 

 Georgia, escaped from the Clyde, and pro- 

 ceeding to the neighborhood of Ushant island, 

 on the French coast, was there armed and 

 equipped as a privateer. " Sailing some- 

 times under the English and sometimes under 

 the rebel flag," says Secretary "Welles, " these 

 rovers, without a port of their own which they 

 can enter, or to which they can send a single 

 prize for adjudication, have roamed the seas, 

 capturing and destroying the commercial ships 

 of a nation at peace with Great Britain and 

 France ; but yet when these corsairs have need- 

 ed repairs or supplies, they have experienced 

 no difficulty in procuring them, because it had 

 been deemed expedient to recognize the rebels 

 as belligerents. Not one of the many vessels 

 captured by these rovers has ever been ju- 

 dicially condemned as a legal capture. "Wanton 

 destruction has been the object and purpose of 

 the captors, who have burnt and destroyed the 

 property of their merchant victims." 



During the first three months of 1863 the 

 Alabama* and Florida cruised with impunity 

 in the West India waters, finding no difficulty, 

 when hard pressed, in taking refuge in neutral 

 ports, or within a marine league of the shore 

 of a neutral Government, and meeting with 

 abundant sympathy from the local authorities 

 and the population. Fulfilling few of the ob- 

 ligations of armed cruisers, they yet demanded 

 and received all the favors accorded to nations 

 having open ports. The Federal war vessels, 

 on the other hand, were invariably subjected 

 to the rules of national law in their strictest 

 construction. The vigilance of the flying 

 squadron under acting Bear Admiral Wilkes, 

 which was organized to protect American 

 interests in that quarter, and especially to 

 guard the treasure ships in their transit to and 

 from Aspinwall, finally made the neighborhood 

 too hot for the Alabama and Florida, and in 

 April they steered southward, and recom- 

 menced their work of destruction off the coast 

 of South America, where many valuable prizes 

 fell into their possession, which were almost 

 invariably burned or bonded, the crews being 

 despatched to the nearest available port. In 

 May the two privateers parted company, the 

 Alabama proceeding to the Cape of Good 

 Hope, while the Florida sailed northward, and 

 on July 8th ventured within 60 miles of New 

 York. After remaining severali days in this 

 dangerous neighborhood, she repaired to Ber- 

 muda, and about the middle of August turned 

 on the track of the Liverpool and New York 



up 01 



* The capture of the U. 8. gunboat Hatteras, by the 

 Alabama, on January 17th, is narrated under the head of 



(VT, CONFEDERATE, in Vol. II. of this work. 



packets. Then, after capturing a few prizes 

 near the British Isles, she put into Brest to 

 refit. 



In the early part of August the Alabama, 

 accompanied by the Tuscaloosa, a captured 

 merchantman transformed into an armed ten- 

 der, arrived at Capetown, where an enthusiastic 

 ovation awaited them. One of the first acts 

 of the privateersmen was to capture the 

 American ship Sea Bride, within a marine 

 league of the land. The American consul pro- 

 tested against this proceeding, and also against 

 the admission of the Tuscaloosa, before legal 

 condemnation, into Simon's Bay, as a viola- 

 tion of the Queen's proclamation of neutrality, 

 but could obtain no redress. Soon afterward 

 the Georgia, which ever since her equipment 

 as a privateer had sailed southward along the 

 African coast, burning and plundering on her 

 way, also arrived at Capetown. 



Early in February the Vanderbilt, one of 

 the largest and fastest steamers in the Unit- 

 ed States Navy, was put into commission for 

 special service against privateers in the "West 

 India waters, and her commander was ordered, 

 should he be satisfied that the Alabama and 

 Florida had left that locality, to proceed down 

 the South American coast to Rio Janeiro, and 

 thence to the Cape of Good Hope. .In deroga- 

 tion of these orders, Admiral Wilkes, soon after 

 the arrival of the Vanderbilt in the West 

 Indies, transferred his flag to her and detained 

 her in his possession until the middle of June, 

 many weeks after the departure southward of 

 the privateers. The latter, in consequence, 

 were enabled to do immense damage to Amer- 

 ican commerce in the Southern Atlantic, and 

 the plans of the Navy Department for their 

 capture were frustrated. The Vanderbilt finally 

 reached Rio Janeiro in the middle of July, and 

 proceeding thence to Capetown via St. Helena, 

 arrived at the former place in September. The 

 rebels, however, were by this time on the alert, 

 and kept out of the way of the Vanderbilt, 

 which returned to the United States in the 

 latter 1 part of the year, having accomplished 

 nothing important during her cruise. Subse- 

 quent to September the Alabama proceeded to 

 the East Indies, and took many valuable prizes 

 in that quarter, while the Georgia returned to 

 France. 



Early in May the Florida, while cruising in 

 the West Indies, captured the brig Clarence, 

 which was fitted out as a privateer and sup- 

 plied with a crew, under command of Lieut. 

 Charles W. Read, formerly a midshipman in 

 the U. S. navy. The Clarence immediately 

 steered northward, keeping near the Florida 

 and Carolina coasts, and taking several val- 

 uable prizes on the way. On Jun6 12th, when 

 within 30 miles of the capes of Virginia, she 

 captured the bark Tacony, to which vessel Lt. 

 Read transferred his command. For the next 

 12 days he pursued a career of uninterrupted 

 success among the unsuspecting merchantmen 

 and fishing vessels which he encountered ; but 



