592 



PRIVATEERING. 



that vessels with the Confederate flag would be 

 admitted for the purpose of trade to the ports 

 of the island, and be under the neutrality laws. 



While these proceedings were transpiring, ap- 

 plication was made to the United States Gov- 

 ernment for letters of marque. The following 

 official reply indicates the action taken. 



NAVY DEPARTMENT, "WASHINGTON, Oct. 1, 1861. 



SIR: In relation to the communication of R. B. 

 Forbes, Esq., a copy of which was sent by you to this 

 Department on the 16th ultimo, inquiring whether let- 

 ters of marque cannot be furnished for the propeller 

 Pembroke, which is about to be despatched to China, 

 I have the honor to state that it appears to me there 

 are objections to, and no authority for granting let- 

 ters of marque in the present contest. I am not aware 

 that Congress, which has the exclusive power of grant- 

 ing letters of marque and reprisal, has authorized such 

 letters to be issued against the insurgents ; and were 

 there such authorization, I am not prepared to advise 

 its exercise, because it would, in my view, be a recog- 

 nition of the assumption of the insurgents that they 

 are a distinct and independent nationality. 



Under the act of August 5, 1861, "supplementary 

 to an act entitled ' An act to protect the commerce of 

 the United States and to punish the crime of piracy,' " 

 the President is authorized to instruct the commanders 

 of " armed vessels sailing under the authority of any 

 letters of marque and reprisal granted by the Congress 

 of the United States, or the commanders of any other 

 suitable vessels, to subdue, seize, take, and, if on the 

 high seas, to send into any port of the United States 

 any vessel or boat built, purchased, fitted out, or held," 

 Ac. This allusion to letters of marque does not au- 

 thorize such letters to be issued, nor do I find any 

 other act containing such authorization. But the same 

 act, in the second edition, as above quoted, gives the 

 President power to authorize the " commanders of any 

 suitable vessels to subdue, seize," &c. Under this 

 clause, letters permissive, under proper restrictions and 

 guards against abuse, might be granted to the pro- 

 peller Pembroke, so as to meet the views expressed 

 by Mr. Forbes. This would seem to be lawful, and 

 perhaps not liable to the objections of granting letters 

 of marque against our own citizens, and that too with- 

 out law or authority from the only constituted power 

 that can grant it. 



I have the honor to transmit herewith a copy of a 

 letter from Messrs. J. M. Forbes & Co. and others, 

 addressed to this Department, on the same subject. 



I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 



GIDEON WELLES. 



WM. H. SEWARD, Secretary of State. 



Under all these operations of the privateers, 

 the Northern merchants became very anxious. 

 It was estimated that nearly 100 vessels, of a 

 value, with their cargoes, of several millions, 

 had been captured and destroyed, some of them 

 in distant seas by the Sumter and the Nash- 

 ville, which seemed to elude all pursuit, and to 

 be so active in doing injury, that the protec- 

 tion of foreign flags was sought after the 

 more so, as United States vessels and cargoes 

 were required to pay four or five per cent, more 

 insurance than foreign vessels. In making 

 application for a change of nationality of an 

 American to a British vessel, most of those sold 

 having been placed under that flag, it is re- 

 quired by the British law that the applicant 

 shall make and subscribe a declaration that he 

 is a native born subject, and has never taken 

 the oath of allegiance to any foreign State, (or 

 that he has been naturalized by act of parlia- 



ment or by an ordinance of the proper legisla- 

 tive authority, and has since taken the oath of 

 allegiance to Her Majesty,) and that no person 

 or persons other than such as are by the Mer- 

 chants Shipping Act in 1854 qualified to be 

 owners of British ships, is entitled as owner, to 

 any interest whatever, either legal or beneficial,, 

 in said ship. Upon this declaration a register 

 or sea letter is issued, and the vessel at once 

 placed beyond the reach of a return to the Fed- 

 eral flag, except by special act of Congress. 

 The owner, if so disposed, can then carry out 

 any tacit agreement or private understanding 

 he may have had with his friends or former 

 owners, and execute a mortgage or an agree- 

 ment with them, by which they are made se- 

 cure in the future possession of the vessel. or 

 her anticipated earnings. About sixty-five ves- 

 sels with an aggregate tonnage of twenty 

 thousand tons, have, it is estimated, been put 

 under foreign flags since the commencement 

 of trouble with the South. 



Two of the Confederate sea-going ships were 

 the Sumter and the Nashville. The latter 

 steamer had an extra importance imparted to 

 her on account of the report that gained cur- 

 rency that she had run the blockade at Charles- 

 ton, having on board*Messrs. Slidell and Mason, 

 Ministers to France and England. She was a 

 side-wheel steamer, of 1,220 tons burthen, and 

 was built in New York in 1853. She was en- 

 gaged on the Charleston line of steamers, and 

 had the character of being a fast boat ; and was 

 retained by the Confederates and armed for a 

 war vessel and privateer. She carried a crew . 

 of eighty men, had two long 12-pounder rifled 

 cannon, and was commanded by Capt. Pegram. 

 She left Charleston on the night of the 26th of 

 October, at eleven o'clock, passing over the bar 

 at twelve. When she started the weather was 

 thick and cloudy, but as she was crossing the 

 bar the weather cleared up, and the moon rose 

 brightly, lighting up to full view to the east- 

 ward, distant about four miles, two steamers 

 of the blockading squadron one the United 

 States frigate Susquehanna, of twelve guns, 

 the other a powerful propeller gunboat. The 

 Nashville, being in the shadow of the land, 

 was not seen by them. She then encountered 

 strong northeasterly winds and very heavy seas, 

 but made the passage to Bermuda in three and 

 a half days. On arriving there she received a 

 pilot on board who took the vessel to the dock- 

 yard, stating that, in consequence of her length, 

 she could not go into St. George's. The next 

 day, Capt. Pegram, not being satisfied, obtained 

 a second pilot from the dockyard, who took 

 the Nashville safely round into St. George's, at 

 which place the vessel coaled from private 

 sources, the government refusing supplies. 

 During their stay at Bermuda, the commander 

 and officers were treated with the greatest 

 hospitality and kindness, both by the citizens 

 and the officers of the English army and navy 

 stationed there, and every facility for getting 

 stores, coal, &c., was afibrded them by the in- 



