Papers Relating to Foreign Affairs, Accompanying the Annual Message of the President to the Second Session Thirty-eighth Congress, Part I
Mr. Adams to Mr. Seward.
Sir: Since writing my despatch No. 548, of the 4th instant, I have received a letter from Mr. Eastman, exonerating himself from the charges brought against him on the strength of the depositions referred to by Lord Russell. On the 7th I addressed a note to his lordship, a copy of which is annexed.
Captain Winslow has touched at Queenstown, and set ashore sixteen men, who are presumed to be the persons referred to in the depositions. He and Mr. Eastman have sent me papers explaining the circumstances under which they were carried away, copies of which are transmitted. I have not yet sent copies to Lord Russell, nor have I replied to Captain Winslow.
* * * * * * * *
I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,
Hon. Wjlliam H. Seward, Secretary of State, &c., &c., &c.
[Enclosures.]
1. Mr. Adams to Lord Russell, December 7, 1863.
2. Mr. Eastman to Mr. Adams, (extract,) December 4, 1863.
3. Captain Winslow to Mr. Adams, December 7, 1863.
4. Captain Winslow to Mr. Dayton, December 4, 1863.
5. Captain Winslow to Mr. Eastman, December 7, 1863.
6. Mr. Eastman to Mr. Adams, December 7, 1863.
7.Lieutenant Thornton to Captain Winslow, December 7, 1863.
8. Statement of Captain Winslow, December 7, 1860.
Mr. Adams to Earl Russell.
My Lord: With reference to your note of the 30th November, respecting certain insinuations contained in the depositions of parties at Queenstown against the conduct of Mr. Eastman, the consul of the United States, in connexion with a supposed enlistment of men for service in the steamer Kearsarge, I take pleasure in transmitting to you a copy of what Mr. Eastman writes in answer to my inquiry.
I pray your lordship to accept the assurances of the highest consideration with which I have the honor to be, my lord, your most obedient servant,
The Right Hon. Earl Russell, &c., &c., &c.
Mr. Eastman to Mr. Adams.
Sir: * * * * * * * * *
With regard to any connivance upon my part in this matter, I can truly assert and declare that I do not know of a single shipment of seamen on board of the vessel, nor of the hiring or engagement of any, and have no doubt if such shipments took place I should have had some information; and from the positive assurances of the captain and his officers, I cannot believe that the captain or his officers did, during the stay of the vessel in this port, commit the acts represented to Earl Russell, as stated in his communication of the 30th of November. I feel assured, from the position of the captain in the service, that you will be justified in assuring Earl Russell that no such acts as have been represented to him were committed, and again would fearlessly state that, so far as I am concerned, I am perfectly ignorant of such alleged acts, and should not be so remiss in my duty to my government as not to convey it to them, if such had occurred to my knowledge.
I have the honor to be, sir, your obedien servant,
His Excellency C. F. Adams, United States Minister, London.
Captain Winslow to Mr. Adams.
Sir: I have the honor to enclose herewith a copy of two letters, which, together with the movements of this ship, will afford other information which may interest you.
After a reconnoisance in the British channel off Plymouth, and in the absence of anything of importance, I shall proceed again to Brest.
I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
Hon. Charles Francis Adams, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States, London.
Captain Winslow to Mr. Dayton.
Sir: I despatched a telegram to you, in answer to your letter of the 3d ultimo. You will perceive from position that Brest is the best point for intercepting confederate vessels in the channel, but it is necessary that I should be immediately informed of their departure by consular agents. Again, if the information conveyed by letter from Mr. Bigelow be correct, that the Rappahannock and her consorts will rendezvous at the Azores, the chances of our falling in with her there are very favorable, but it is necessary that the information [Page 15] shall be reliable, as on our departure from the channel the Georgia and Florida will immediately leave port and depredate on our commerce. The best plan for us is to remain quiet, as our movements are telegraphed to the Georgia and Rappahannock, and when either of these vessels sail, or anything of importance occurs, that I shall be immediately informed of it.
I will be obliged to you to forward a copy of this letter to Mr. Adams, that instructions may issue to consuls in England. To Mr. Dudley there is no need of it; no advice is necessary to him.
I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
Hon. W. L. Dayton, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States.
Captain Winslow to Mr. Eastman.
Sir: A party of men, either by connivance of the crew or otherwise, were concealed on board this vessel on the night of her departure from Queenstown, the 5th ultimo. These men, I learn, were in expectation of being enlisted in the service of the United States, after the Kearsarge had proceeded to sea, but found their mistake. To have turned them ashore at Brest would have been to open to them the temptation to enlist on board the Florida. I therefore determined to leave them at Queenstown as soon as it was practicable.
You will please notify Admiral Jones that I informed him that no enlistments would be made at Queenstown. I have, therefore, sent on shore this party, that no charge of subterfuge may be alleged in the premises.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant.
E. G. Eastman, Esq., United States Consul, Queenstown.
Mr. Eastman to Mr. Adams.
Sir: I have the honor to inform you that this morning the Kearsarge arrived off this port, and sent sixteen men ashore in a pilot-boat; also a letter to me stating the fact. I was so very much surprised at such a strange proceeding, that I immediately took a boat and went on board, and demanded of the captain his reasons for so doing in writing, copies of which I herewith enclose to you. I endeavored to prevail upon the captain to come in and anchor and explain, but it was of no use.
I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,
His Excellency C. F. Adams, United States Minister, London.
Lieutenant Thornton to Captain Winslow.
Sir: I beg leave to state, in accordance with your request, that on or about the 3d of November, 1863, several men from Queenstown came on board of this ship as applicants for enlistment in the naval service of the United States. In the absence of yourself, and of any definite instructions in regard to such applications, I told the men that if they were physically qualified for enlistment they might remain on board until your return, when you would decide. Upon your return, your instructions were not to enlist them; they were accordingly sent out of the ship.
Many applications of a similar nature were made, but their enlistment was in every case refused, in accordance with your instructions. During the time we were at anchor the ship was surrounded by boats filled with men desiring to enlist. Orders were given, and executed, not to allow them alongside. On the evening of the 5th this was the case until after dark, and until the ship was under way. The ship went to sea on the evening of the 5th November. It was storming and blowing hard.
In accordance with the usual custom of the ship, and with the necessities of the case, (as I thought,) before tripping the anchor all strangers were ordered out of the ship. The master-at-arms, with the ship’s corporal and others of the police force, executed the order, finding men stowed away in the hold, in the carpenter’s locker, and elsewhere. These men were put out of the ship, in some cases by force. As soon as the ship was reported cleared, the anchor was tripped, and the ship went to sea.
On the next day several men were discovered who were strangers in the ship. These men, probably with the connivance of the crew, had been so securely concealed as to elude the vigilance of the police force. Upon receiving this information you decided to land these men at Brest, whither you were bound. The men were sent out of the ship at Brest, in accordance with this determination, but pleading destitution they returned, and were permitted to remain on board until this morning, when they were landed in Queenstown by the pilot-boat Petrel.
I would add that the names of these men, upon their return to the ship while in Brest harbor, were placed upon the ship’s books, for the purpose of their support and comfort, they being otherwise utterly destitute.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
Captain John A. Winslow, &c., &c., &c.
Statement of Captain Winslow.
I certify that the United States steam-sloop Kearsarge arrived in Queenstown on the night of the 2d of November, 1863, and that on the following day I left the ship for Cork. On my return to Queenstown, accompanied by the American consul, I called upon the admiral in command, and in course of conversation reference was made to a paragraph in the papers, that the Kearsarge had come in for the purpose of enlisting men, when I informed the admiral that I had received notice from the executive officer of the Kearsarge that many [Page 17] persons had applied to be shipped, and in response I had directed him to notify all persons that no enlistments would be made, and instructions were given in accordance.
On the night of the 5th of November, 1863, while blowing heavy, with thick rainy weather, the Kearsarge went to sea. On the following day report was made to me that several men had been discovered on board, and investigation showed that they had concealed themselves in the ship during the thick and rainy weather of the day or night previous, and disguised in this way proceeded in the ship, hoping to be enlisted in the service of the United States after she got to sea. The Kearsarge was on important duty, watching the Florida at Brest, and it was, therefore, impracticable to return the men to Queenstown immediately. I directed the men to be held at Brest, in apprehension, if they were turned ashore, they would join the Florida, resolving as soon as the Kearsarge left Brest again to put them ashore at Cork.
The Kearsarge left Brest again on the 5th of December, 1863, and, in accordance with my resolution, I have this day sent sixteen men ashore in the pilot-boat Petrel, with a list of their names as given to the American consul.