the transfer occurred in French waters, that the vessel was coaled clandestinely from a French steamer, and that intelligence of these facts reached me indirectly through a French government officer. He repeated that the waters in which these vessels are reported to have lain are not under surveillance; and besides, these vessels had been sold to the Danish government, which became thereby responsible for the use which should be made of them. I replied that according to the report the Danish government had refused to accept them, as not answering to the contract. His excellency replied, that he had received no official notice of their refusal to accept the vessels; that, as they were vessels-of-war, they could not have received his authorization to leave without first showing a contract for their purchase from some neutral government; that they did produce one from the Danish government, and if they did not intend to keep them it was its duty to notify this government and to place the ship once more under French jurisdiction; till then, Denmark, and not France, was responsible for the vessels. As it was in the ministry of foreign affairs, and not in the department of marine, that questions of international responsibility are to be discussed, I hastened away in the hope of finding the Danish minister before his legation was closed. I was unfortunately too late; but I saw Mr. Haxlhaussen, the first secretary of the legation, who acknowledged the receipt of a despatch from their consul at Nantes, confirming the report that a vessel built by Arman and sold to his government, on arriving at Copenhagen had failed to answer the terms of the contract; that Arman preferred to take her back, rather than modify his terms; that she had put into Quiberon and discharged her crew; beyond this he professed to have no information. He insisted, however, that his government had never accepted the Stoerkodder; he gave her the name borne by the iron-clad to which our consul at Bordeaux referred in his letter, and therefore his government could not be responsible, &c. After making an appointment to see the Danish minister at three o'clock tomorrow, I took my leave. I hope to learn from him something more definitive in regard to the terms of purchase and surrender of this vessel, or of these vessels if there were more than one, in time for to-morrow evening's mail. I will conclude this despatch with a report current among the confederates in Paris this evening, that they have purchased a powerful ram, which is now on its way to Charleston, where it is expected to make havoc among our blockading vessels. She is reputed to carry one Armstrong gun of 300 pounds, two of 120 pounds, steel shot and shell, and bears the name of Stonewall. I am, sir, with great respect, your obedient servant, Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State, &c., &c., &c. Mr. Bigelow to Mr. Drouyn de Lhuys. JOHN BIGELOW. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: I am advised that a vessel sailing under the Danish flag, but recently sold to the socalled Confederate States of America, had put into Palais, Belle Isle. I have reason to be lieve that this vessel was built in France, and sailed for a Danish port as a vessel built for the Danish government. One of the names she bears is Olinide; as she is a new vessel, she can have no claim to the shelter of a French port for repairs. If, as I have rea son to believe, she is armed and ready for service, it would be a fraud upon the imperial government for her to leave before she had been stripped of her warlike munitions. I am also advised of an iron-clad vessel recently built at Bordeaux, arriving under the Danish flag, with a Danish captain and crew on board, at the Isle of Houat. She has discharged her Danish crew, who were taken to Quiberon in a vessel sent to supply her with coals by Messrs. Dubigeons Fils, of Nantes. While taking in her coals an English steamer came alongside and supplied her with guns, munitions of war and a crew. Your excellency I trust will not think I am too hasty in concluding that this vessel also is designed to prey upon American commerce under the flag of the so-called confederate gov. ernment. I hasten to bring these facts to your excellency's attention in the hopes that measures may be immediately taken to prevent a violation of that neutrality which the imperial government has shown itself so justly solicitous to maintain. I take this occasion to renew to your excellency the assurance of the high consideration with which I have the honor to be, your excellency's very obedient servant, His Excellency Mr. DROUYN DE Lhuys, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Paris. JOHN BIGELOW. Mr. Davisson to Mr. Bigelow. CONSULATE OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: I learn from the United States consul at Elsineur that the Arman iron-clad Sphinx, (now Stoerkodder,) which went to Copenhagen, was refused by the Danish government, and she is now en route for Bordeaux, in charge of a Danish captain and crew, and by permission of the Danish foreign office she is sailing under the Danish flag until her arrival in a French port. As she cleared from France as a vessel sold, her papers were taken from her on her arrival at Copenhagen, and her French captain left her. Hence this safe course pursued by Denmark of returning her to Bordeaux to get her natural documents and flag returned. The twin brother of this iron-clad, the Cheops, is still at the quay in this city, and although workmen have been as busy as Frenchmen can be, it will probably require a month more for the completion. SIR: Mr. Molkte, the Danish minister, whom I have just left, confirms substantially everything stated in my despatch No. 13 in regard to the Stoerkodder, except that from what he says I am inclined to believe that our consul's despatches from Nantes all relate to one and the same vessel-of-war. Mr. Molkte says that the Stoerkodder was sent to Copenhagen with a French crew, in charge of Mr. Amons de la Riviere, one of Arman's agents, whose name is already familiar to you in connexion with past negotiations between Arman and the confederates; that on her arrival at Copenhagen the crew were sent home; that after lying there some three months, she was finally rejected, as the Danish inspector at Bordeaux had previously told Arman she would be, he having refused to report in her favor before his departure; that upon receiving his final answer, Amons hired a Danish captain and crew to bring her to Bordeaux; that Amons, who called to see him yesterday, with the Danish pilot and captain, represented as his reason for stopping at Honat, that his engineers were unskilful, his sailors mutinous, and that, like the improvident virgins, their oil had given out. This last struck Mr. Molkte as quite a novelty in the category of maritime disasters, and contributed to inspire suspicion in regard to the whole transaction. Mr. Molkte said there could be no mistake about the main fact, so important in determining where the responsibility must rest for the escape of the Stoerkodder, that she never for one moment passed out of the control of Arman or his agents, and of course was never for one moment in the possession of the Danish government. If this be so, the question of responsibility will not be difficult to solve. I have written to our minister at Copenhagen to procure, with as little delay as possible, all the information within his reach pertinent to the issue, and to communicate directly both to the State Department and to this legation. In speaking of the defective construction of the Stoerkodder, about which there seems little difference of opinion, Mr. Molkte remarked that Amons insisted that she was a terrible vessel, and she was going to make terrible havoc among the blockading squadrons of the federals. I am, sir, with great respect, your very obedient servant, Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, No. 16.] Secretary of State, &c., &c., &c. Mr. Bigelow to Mr. Seward. JOHN BIGELOW. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: In order to have no controversy about the facts connected with the recent escape of the steam ram Olinde from the waters of France, after the lapse of time should render their verification more difficult, I prepared a statement of such as seemed at once most authentic and most material, and handed it yesterday in person to his excellency the minister of foreign affairs. A copy.is annexed. His excellency asked if he should read it then. I briefly explained its tenor and purpose, and begged him to read it at his liesure, unless he had some communication to make to me then upon the subject to which it referred. He then went on to say that he was not sufficiently informed about the case to discuss it; that the subject was under investigation by the minister of marine, and as soon as his report came to hand he would communicate with me. I said that I thought there were obvious advantages in having the investigation made, and a policy, which I had no doubt would be the just one, adopted by the government before any echo of the news reached here from the other side of the Atlantic. He referred to the precautions he had previously taken to prevent the escape of these vessels into improper hands, and assured me that the subject was then receiving the earnest attention of the government. * I am, with great respect, your very obedient servant, Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State. Mr Bigelow to Mr. Drouyn de Lhuys. JOHN BIGELOW. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: Since the communication which I had the honor to make to your excellency on the 28th ultimo, I have ascertained, from authentic sources, the following facts in regard to the vessel-of-war clandestinely armed and equipped a few days since near the Isle of Houat and within the waters of France: The name which the vessel bore on her arrival there was the Stoerkodder. She was built by Mr. Arman, naval constructor at Bordeaux, originally for the so-called Confederate States of America, but afterwards sold to the Danish government upon certain conditions and limitations as to price, speed, draught of water, &c. Before leaving Bordeaux an agent of the Danish government, who was sent to examine her, reported that she did not answer to the specifications, and refused to accept her. Thinking the supreme authorities of Denmark might have reasons for judging his work more indulgently, Mr. Arman obtained from his excellency the minister of marine an authorization to send the ship to Copenhagen with a French equipage and under the French flag, in charge of a Mr. Amons de la Reviere, an agent for Mr. Arman, and already known to your excellency as a sort of contract broker for the insurgent organization in America. On the arrival of the steamer at Copenhagen the French crew were dismissed, and she remained there some two or three months. The government of Denmark, after a new inspection, sustained the judgment of their agent at Bordeaux, and refused to accept the steamer as a fulfilment of Mr. Arman's contract, and she was then cleared for Bordeaux, full of coals, with a Danish equipage shipped by Mr. de Reviere, who continued on board and in charge of the ship. Instead of going to Bordeaux, however, she put in at the isle of Honat, where, apparently through some concerted arrangement, a steamer from the yard of Dubigeon Fils & Co., of. St. Nazaire, under pretext of supplying her with coals, of which she stood in no need and only received thirty tons, took off her Danish officers and crew, and landed forty-two of the latter at Quiberon and four officers at St. Nazaire. While the transshipment of the coal and crew was going on, a British side-wheel steamer came alongside of the ram, which had already taken the name of Olinde, and supplied her with guns, munitions of war, and a crew, necessarily by virtue of some arrangement concerted before her departure from Copenhagen. She left on Saturday morning last, and though within a few hours' sail of Bordeaux has not since been heard from. Amons de la Reviere left the Olinde with the Danish officers and came to Paris, having surrendered the ship to a new commander. It is stated by one of the crew, shipped at isle Honat, but who refused to sail with her when he saw the military equipments of the officers and men, that by his shipping articles it appeared that the Olinde was to go to Lisbon, where, as has been reported to me from another source, she expected to complete her armament and sail thence on a five months' voyage. I take leave to bring these statements, which all come from authentic sources, thus promptly to the notice of your excellency in the hope that your excellency will be pleased to inform me if they differ in any important particulars, and if so in what, from the reports which have reached the imperial government, in order that my own government may be assisted by an undisputed record of facts in determining precisely where the responsibility should rest for the depredations which are to be apprehended from the irregular and presumptively piratical manner in which the Olinde quitted the waters of France. While I sincerely hope these apprehensions may prove to have been groundless, I do not feel sufficient doubt of the final destination of the Olinde to justify me in neglecting any precaution which it would be proper for me to take if my apprehensions were convictions. I have the honor to renew to your excellency the assurance of my highest consideration, and remain Your very humble and very obedient servant, His Excellency M. DROUYN DE LHUYS, JOHN BIGELOW. Minister of Foreign Affairs, &c., &c., &c. Mr. Bigelow to Mr. Seward. No. 17.]. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: I have received from our consul at Nantes the testimony of two sailors employed on board the steam-tug Expeditif when she was sent with coals to the ram Olinde and to bring off her Danish crew. A translation is enclosed. I also enclose a despatch received from our consul at Elsinore, in reply to one addressed by me to him a few days since, which confirms the information I had received that the Stoerkodder left full of coals; but it reveals another fact which may prove of grave importance. The Olinde seems to have taken in only thirty tons of coal in Denmark. If so, it is to be presumed that she left Bordeaux loaded with coal, and if so, the presumption is that her delivery to the confederates, as it has occurred, was planned before her departure from France. I shall pursue this inquiry diligently. I shall request our minister at Lisbon, by this evening's mail, to put himself in such relation with the French minister at that court as to secure the co-operation of the French government in any efforts he may find it advantageous to make for the seizure of the Olinde, should she appear in Portuguese waters. I am, sir, with great respect, your very obedient servant, Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State. JOHN BIGELOW. [Enclosure No. 1.] Translation of testimony of Paul Brechoir and John Bouyer, sailors on board the tug Expeditif, taken in the presence of Mr. de la Montagnie, consul of the United States at Nantes, and Messrs. Chauvet and his colleague notaries at Nantes, and certified by them on the 1st day of February, 1865. In presence of Mr. John Cordt, Hannens Dedichen, interpreter, residing at Nantes, fosse, No. 14, who, as also M. de Montagnie appearing, have testified to the undersigned notaries the individuality and identity of Messrs. Bouyer and Brechoir. And after having read these present papers, the appearers, with the exception of Mr. Brechoir, who, being questioned, declared that he did not know how to do so, have all signed with the notaries. The following is the tenor of the annex: Declaration made before me, consul of the United States at Nantes, in my bureau, the 1st day of February, 1865. This day, the 1st of February, 1865, appeared before me the said Brechoir (Paul) and Bouyer, seamen on board the tug Expeditif, who made the following declaration: We left St. Nazaire, on board the tug Expeditif, Saturday evening, the 21st of January, commanded by Mr. Hahn Hobkirh, pilot Bonin, residing at St. Nazaire. We had on board a load of coal-it was said for the San Francisco at Quiberon. Sunday, 22d of January, we saw an English paddle-wheel steamer, with two smoke-stacks, at the island of Honat. We arrived at Quiberon Sunday evening, 22d of January. We thought we were going to meet the San Francisco, according to what we were told at St. Nazaire. We remained at Quiberon the 22d and 23d of January, and we left on the 24th in the day time, directly for Honat, and there we found the ram (iron-clad vessel) Olinde, (the name written on her stern) carrying the Danish flag at the gaff; the English steamer which we had seen Sunday was anchored under the stern of the Ŏlinde. The Expeditif anchored near the ram, and we debarked nearly thirty tons of coal upon the ram, which could not take any more, her coal-bunkers being full. We left St. Nazaire with a load of coal. The 25th, in the morning, forty-two men of the crew of the ram, who said they were Danes, embarked on board of our vessel (the Expeditif) and we took them to Quiberon. The same day we returned to Honat. The English steamer was coming alongside the ram at the time we left with the forty-two men for Quiberon, and when we returned to Honat we found her lying off, embarking on board the ram provisions and munitions in her small boats. She embarked barrels and boxes, which were emptied on deck and thrown overboard. It was said that the English steamer had brought a crew for the ram. The said John Bouyer declares that he has seen the ram Olinde at Bordeaux, and that this vessel was constructed in the ship-yard of Mr. Arman, of Bordeaux, for Denmark. That he would have known the ram Olinde wherever he might have met her, and that he did not expect to see the ram in these waters, and that he had recognized her immediately. He (Bouyer) had been employed on board vessels of the Bourgoing company, (called the company of the west and south,) doing service between Bordeaux and Nantes, and that he has often seen this ram while building at Bordeaux. The workmen in the ship-yards had given to the ram the name of Cochon (pig) on account of her shape. That he is certain the Olinde is the same ram; the above-named declare also that a certain Edmund, an Englishman or an American, went out with us on board the Expeditif from St. Nazaire, and that his brother Henry was on board the ram. These two gentlemen returned with us to St. Nazaire, as also four Danish officers, and the servant of Mr. Henry left the ram with him. We arrived in the night of the 25th and 26th of January at St. Nazaire. The said Gerchais, brother of the pilot of the four tugs at Paineboeaf, seaman, residing at St. Nazaire, and working in the dock, left with us upon the Expeditif, and was engaged at the rate of 175 francs a month to go to Lisbon, but when he saw that the ram and crew were armed for war he refused to remain. A fireman engaged himself on board the ram, and offers were also made to us. The ram was rigged as a brig, with a single high smoke-stack. She was painted black; the painting upon the iron-coating was nearly worn off. The crew seen by the said Gergais on board the ram were armed to the teeth with pistols and knives. It was said that the Olinde was sold to the southern confederacy of America. The crew of the English vessel was rather numerous. It was said they were for the ram. The English vessel had on board cannon of a large calibre, which were put on board the ram. It was said on board that the ram had been sold to the confederates. We were not able to read the name upon the stern of the English vessel. The said Edmund is blonde, wearing all his beard, tall and slender, about thirty years of age. The said Henry is also blonde, red moustaches, no other beard. He is also tall, and about thirty-two years old. Both spoke French well. Mr. Henry had a red ribbon in his button-hole. After having heard the above declaration, I have given my signature this 1st day of February, 1865. JOHN DE LA MONTAGNIE. |