CHAPTER X. Commencement of the Blockade.-Peculiar Character of the Southern Coast.-Effects of this on the Blockade.-Questions which arose.— Observations. We have seen that a blockade of the Southern ports was the first object which engaged the attention of the Federal Government, that the most strenuous exertions were made to collect as quickly as possible a blockading force, and that the task was an arduous one, the small navy of the United States being at that time chiefly dispersed in distant seas, whilst of the few ships at home a considerable proportion were unfit for service. The extent of coast covered by the two Proclamations of the 19th and 27th of April was immense; but its conformation and character, whilst they added at some points to the difficulty of blockading it effectually, rather diminished that difficulty on the whole. The Southern rivers, descending from the slopes of the lower Alleghany ranges, flow seawards across a level plain chiefly composed of fine sand, the breadth of which is from fifty to a hundred miles or more, sterile for the most part, but cultivable where it is mixed with mould, and containing, with large tracts of forest and swamp, patches of extremely fertile soil. The plain, as it approaches the sea, becomes intersected by smaller streams, which are fed by the inland swamps; it is indented by creeks and bays, and threaded by intricate channels opening into broad lagoons of still water. Narrow banks of hard sand, pierced at considerable Chap. X distances by shallow inlets, skirt the shore for hundreds of miles; whilst elsewhere it is fringed by numerous islands, scarcely rising above the tide, some of which produce a long-stapled cotton, the finest and most valuable in the world. Every river has a bar at its mouth. There are many shoals; and local names, such as Cape Lookout and Cape Fear, bear witness here and there to the dangerous character of the navigation. In short, the coast is for a great part of its length practically unapproachable: it has many small harbours, but very few capable of admitting large ships, and these more or less difficult of access, especially at low tide; on the other hand, it has long reaches of inland navigation, opening at intervals into the sea, and easily traversable by vessels of light draught. The two Proclamations, though they gave notice to all the world that a blockade was about to be instituted, did not convey, in the technical sense of the phrase, a "notification" of the existence of a blockade. At each particular port or place on the coast the blockade began at, and not before, the time when an adequate blockading force arrived on the spot; it then took effect as a blockade de facto, continued as long as an adequate force was maintained there, and ceased when it was withdrawn. It need hardly be said that any period allowed for the egress of neutral ships from a blockaded port could only be fairly counted from the time at which the existence of the blockade was, or might reasonably be deemed to be, known at the port. Where the blockading force is stationed at a considerable distance from the port itself -as may be the case when it lies off the mouth of a navigable river-this observation may become material. The announcement of the blockade naturally created much anxiety amongst British subjects resident in America and trading from or with the Southern ports; and, on the 29th April, Lord Lyons obtained an interview Chap. X. with Mr. Seward, an account of which is given in the following extracts from a despatch of the 2nd May: "I have made it my business, since the entrance of the present Administration into office nearly two months ago, to endeavour to ascertain precisely their intentions with regard to the commerce of foreign nations with the States which have withdrawn from the Union. Up to the day before the blockade was announced, the Government had not itself come to any decision on the subject, Nor did I think it expedient to press it to make any declaration so long as the commercial operations of British merchants and British vessels in the seceded States were carried on without hindrance and without inconvenience. But since the blockade has been proclaimed, I have thought myself entitled to ask with persistence for definite information respecting the mode in which it is to be carried into effect. I had in particular a long conversation on the subject with Mr. Seward, in presence of the Chief Clerk of the State Department, on the 29th ultimo. I had prepared Mr. Seward for the interview by suggesting to him, through the Under-Secretary of State, the advisableness of diminishing the disagreeable impression which the announcement of the blockade would make abroad, by giving, as soon as possible, definite assurances that it would be carried on with a liberal consideration for the interests of foreign nations. "So far as assurances in general terms go, nothing could be more satisfactory than Mr. Seward's language. I did not, however, succeed in obtaining at the time as definite a declaration of the rules which would be observed as I had hoped. "The principle point to which I drew Mr. Seward's attention was the extreme vagueness of the information which was given to us. I referred him to the notifications of blockades made by Great Britain during the late war with Russia, and pointed out to him the care and precision with which every particular was stated in them. I asked whether it was intended to issue similar notices for each Southern port as soon as the actual blockade of it should commence. "The reply which I received was, that the practice of the United States was not to issue such notices, but to notify the blockade individually to each vessel approaching the blockaded port, and to inscribe a memorandum of the notice having been given on the ship's papers. No vessel was liable to seizure which had not been individually warned. This plan had, I was assured, been found to be in practice the most convenient and the fairest to all parties. The fact of there being blockading ships present to give the warning was the best notice and best proof that the port was actually and effectually blockaded. "The principal objection to the plan appeared to me to be that it might in some cases expose foreign vessels to the loss and inconvenience of making a useless voyage, which a more general and public announcement of the blockade would have prevented. "I observed to Mr. Seward that the limits of the blockade which it was intended to establish were not clearly stated. It was not easy to understand exactly to what extent of coast the expression 'the ports within' the States mentioned was applicable. Mr. Seward said that it was intended to blockade the whole coast from Chesapeake Bay to the mouth of the Rio Grande. I observed to him that the extent of the coast between these two points was, I supposed, about 3,000 miles. Surely the United States had not a naval force sufficient to establish an effective blockade of such a length of coast. Mr. Seward, however, maintained that the whole would be blockaded, and blockaded effectively. "I may perhaps be allowed to refer your Lordship to a clear declaration of the principles of the United States on such matters, which is contained in a note from Mr. Buchanan dated 29th December, 1846, and transmitted to the Foreign Office in Sir Richard Pakenham's despatch of the same date. "Mr. Seward assured me that all foreign vessels already in port when the blockade should be set on foot would be allowed to come out with their cargoes. I asked whether they would be allowed to come out with cargoes shipped after the blockade was actually established. Mr. Seward did not speak positively on this point; what he said seemed to imply that the time at which the cargo was shipped would not be inquired into. I said that I supposed it was clearly understood that foreign ships coming out of blockaded ports in which there were no United States' Customs authorities would not be interfered with by a blockading squadron on the plea of their being without clearances or other papers required by the Revenue laws. "Mr. Seward said that it was the bona fide intention of the Government to allow foreign vessels already in port when the blockade was established to depart without molestation. "He did not say that any particular term would be fixed after the expiration of which foreign vessels would no longer be allowed to quit blockaded ports. "He did not repeat to me the assurance he gave some time ago to one of my colleagues that vessels arriving without a knowledge of the blockade would be allowed to go into a blockaded port and come out again. "Nor did he say anything of the intention, which he expressed to another of my colleagues, of proposing to the Legislature that the United States should adhere to the Declaration of the Congress of Paris on maritime law. "On my pressing Mr. Seward to give me, either in writing or at all events by a formal verbal announcement, some definite information for the guidance of British merchant-vessels, he promised to send me a copy of the instructions issued to the officers of the blockading Chap. X. Chap. X: squadron, and said he was confident I should find them perfectly satisfactory. He was good enough to add, that if in any individual cases the rules of the blockade should bear hardly on British vessels, he should be ready to consider the equity of the matter, and to receive favourably any representations which I might make on behalf of the interests of British subjects." The Secretary of the Navy, on being applied to, declined to furnish a copy of the Instructions, but Lord Lyons received an assurance1 that "the blockade will be conducted as strictly according to the recognized rules of public law, and with as much liberality towards neutrals, as any blockade ever was by a belligerent." The following note was also sent to the Spanish Minister, Señor Tassara : Mr. Seward to Señor Tassara. “Sir, "1. That the blockade will be strictly enforced upon the principles recognized by the law of nations. "2. That armed vessels of neutral States will have the right to enter and depart from the interdicted ports. "3. That merchant vessels in port at the time the blockade took effect, will be allowed a reasonable time for departure. "I avail, &c. (Signed) "W. H. SEWARD." The earliest attempt to institute an effective blockade was notified as follows by the officer in command of the home squadron: "PROCLAMATION. "To all whom it may concern: "I hereby call attention to the Proclamation of his Excellency Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, under date of the 27th April, 1861, for an efficient blockade of the ports of Virginia and North Carolina, and warn all persons interested that I have a 1 4th May, 1861. |