AUSTIN, Secretary to Ciudad Bolivar , November 12,1865, November 10, 1865

Proceedings of a meeting of consuls and foreign residents held at Ciudad Bolivar Venezuela, November 12, 1865.

Sir: You are respectfully invited to attend a meeting of the consuls and foreign residents in this city, to be held at the rooms of the Club del Comercio, on Sunday, 12th instant, at 12 o’clock, noon, for the purpose of taking such action as may then be deemed necessary in regard to: he recent unhappy occurrence at Apurito.

Very respectfully, your most obedient servant,

JOHN DALTON, United States Consul.

In accordance with the above circular a general assemblage of the gentlemen invited took place at the appointed time, when, upon the motion of the British consul, seconded by the consul of the Hanseatic cities, John Dalton, esq., United States consul, was called to the chair; Doctor Louis Plassard, consul of France, appointed vice-president, and Mr. Joseph B. Austin, of New York, United States, appointed secretary.

The meeting being thus duly organized, after a few appropriate remarks by the president, the following preamble and resolutions were read by the secretary:

Whereas recent most calamitous events have impressed upon this community a profound sense of gloom and insecurity, while we have to lament the sacrifice of valuable lives, the exposure to damage or destruction of large amounts of property, and the obstruction of the only reliable channel of communication with the interior of the republic, it seems necessary that public attention should be directed to a plain statement of the facts attendant on the late outrage perpetrated at Apurito, and measures adopted to prevent a recurrence of similar indignities.

The steamer Apure, a boat regularly engaged in the navigation and transportation of passengers and freight upon the rivers Orinoco and Apure, between the ports of Ciudad Bolivar, in the State of Guayana, and the Nutrias, in the State of Zamora, each State being a constituent portion of the republic of Venezuela, the steamer operating under a special charter from the republic of Venezuela to the corporation known as the Orinoco Steam Navigation Company, said corporation being located and established in the city of New York, in the United States of America; her captain, John W. Hammer, being the general agent of the said corporation, and himself, Julius de Brissot, first officer, Philip D. Caufield, first engineer, and Jacob Stackpole, third enginer, being citizens of the United States of America, and Daniel Rink, second engineer, a subject of her Britannic Majesty. The said steamer, being engaged in making one of her regular commercial voyages, conveying passengers and freight between the above-named and intermediate ports, did, on the 16th day of October, 1865, in the usual course of such voyage, make her regular call at the, port of San Fernando de Apure, the capital of the State of Apure, in the republic of Venezuela.

At this place General Juan B. Garcia, the president of the State of Apure, demanded transportation for himself, seven officers, and fifty-one soldiers, with their military material, to be taken at the usual rates of passage and freight stipulated for in the charter of the said corporation, and to be landed at any point which he might direct within the limits of the said State of Apure, assurance being given that it was merely intended as a corps of observation, no insurgent enemies having established themselves at any point upon the route of the steamer. Under these representations and circumstances the officers, men, and military material were embarked, and on the 17th of October the steamer proceeded upon her voyage up the Apure river.

At about seven o’clock on the evening of the 18th of October the steamer reached the port of Apurito, in the said State of Apure, one of her regular stopping places, and at which passengers and freight were to be landed. The captain, not suspecting any danger, and as it was quite dark and considered imprudent to run at nights with the existing stage of water in the river, ordered the boat to be tied up until daylight, which was accordingly done, hawsers being made fast to trees on shore from the forward and after parts of the main deck, together with the chain cable from the bow; the forward and amid-ship gang-planks run ashore, and preparations commenced for landing cargo. At this moment General Garcia ordered thirty men to be disembarked, and while this was being done, most of them having landed, and a few remaining on the gang-planks, a heavy and sustained firing was suddenly opened upon the steamer from a force of insurgents ambushed upon the shore. Immediately upon the commencement of the firing, the military officers ran to cover, leaving their men, who, retreating, clustered about the gang-planks, whereupon the steamer’s first officer, Mr. de Brissot, while engaged in pushing them ashore that he might clear the decks and cast off the fastenings of the steamer, was struck in the head by a ball from the shore party and severely wounded. He passed up the saloon deck, and while urging General Garcia to go down to the main deck and take command of his men, as their officers had all disappeared, and he, Brissot, wished to cast the boat loose and save the lives and property on board, received a second shot in the breast from the shore party, and fell dead. At about the same time portions of the steam-pipes on the main deck having been cut by balls, and it being necessary to start the water into the boilers, as the boat was exposed to great danger of blowing up, the third engineer, Mr. Stackpole, while engaged in these duties, exposed to a heavy fire from the shore, received a ball through his right arm. The greatest confusion now reigned on the main deck; the military officers having generally secreted themselves, the soldiers took to such cover as they could find, keeping up a desultory fire on the enemy ashore, while the volleys from the shore were heavy and constant, being mainly directed to the saloon deck, where it must have been well known none but passengers and non-combatants would be placed. A party from the shore, also, held the forecastle of the steamer, rendering it impossible to east off the chain cable. The only persons on board remaining at their posts of duty seem to have been the captain and first and third engineers, who were upon their regular watch at the engines. Somewhere between the hours of 10 p. m. and midnight Captain Hammer, finding that it was hopeless to expect any action to be taken by the military officers on board, and deeply solicitous in regard to the lives and property intrusted to his charge, decided to go on shore and endeavor to prevail on the officers of the insurgents to suspend firing. This resolution he carried out with the most salf-sacrificing gallantry, landing in the midst of the firing from both parties, and having met one of the insurgent officers, was proceeding up the bank, having taken his arm, and engaged in earnest conversation, when he fell dead, pierced by a ball through the body.

During the night General Garcia was re-enforced by about 60 men, who reached the steamer in canoes, but they all retreated to the same cover with those on board, and no attempt was made to attack the party on shore. About half-past two o’clock on the morning of the 19th the fire from the shore having slackened somewhat, Mr. Caufield, first engineer, succeeded in inducing General Garcia to order the boat to be cast loose. He accordingly offered a reward of $100 to any one accomplishing the service, and one of his officers with one of the passengers finally effected it, both being severely wounded, one since dead. The steamer drifted out into the stream, and came to anchor about a quarter of a mile below the scene of action. About 6 o’clock in the morning Mr. Caufield went ashore in the steamer’s yawl, found the captain’s body, and made arrangements for having it properly interred, when he returned to the boat. At 7 o’clock General Garcia embarked his men in canoes, and abandoned the steamer, the excellent shelter they had found being established by the fact that though over one hundred men had been exposed to an almost uninterrupted fire at close quarters for more than seven hours, but one was killed and only six wounded. When the boat had reached a safe position they laid on their oars, gave three cheers and retreated down the river. Mr. Caufield again went on shore after the departure of General Garcia, had an interview with the insurgent leaders, General Sosa and Juan Santos Mendez, found that no objection would be made to the steamer’s landing, and upon returning on board the landing was made, passengers and freight discharged, the funeral of the captain and first officer properly attended by their surviving comrades, and upon the evening of the 19th the steamer proceeded on her voyage to Nutrias.

In view, therefore, of this recital of facts the undersigned, consuls of foreign powers, merchants engaged in business in Ciudad Bolivar and with the interior ports, and strangers temporarily resident in this portion of the republic, enter their solemn protest, in the name of humanity and international right, against such wanton sacrifice of valuable lives, such exposure to deadly peril of innocent passengers, women and children, such reckless disregard of the rights of neutral property, and such interruption to trade, commerce, and enterprises of internal improvement. Uniting, therefore, unanimously in the following resolutions:

Resolved, That in the death of Captain John W. Hammer, for sixteen years so intimately associated with this great enterprise of steam communication with the interior, a man so energetic in purpose, so gentle and generous in disposition, and so honorable and disinterested in all his transactions, this community has experienced an irreparable loss, and each of us, individually, a valued and tried friend. That while we mourn his loss, there is alleviation in the consideration of the noble courage and intense devotion to duty evidenced in that closing scene of his life, when, mindful only of the interests of the defenceless, he fell in the endeavor to secure their safety.

Resolved, That our sincere sympathies be tendered to Mrs. Hammer and Mrs. de Brissot, with their families, in view of this overwhelming affliction which has so suddenly fallen upon them.

Resolved, That the thanks of the merchants of this city, and the passengers on board the steamer Apure, are due and are hereby tendered to Mr. Caufield, first engineer, and Mr. Stackpole, third engineer, for their courageous attention to duty throughout that perilous night; as also to Mr. Salom, the secretary of the steamer, for his unwearied exertions and attention to the commercial interests so unexpectedly devolving upon him in the resumption and prosecution of the voyage of the steamer.

Resolved, That a copy of this preamble and these resolutions be presented to his excellency General José L. Arismendi, with the thanks of this meeting for his prompt and energetic measures towards a thorough examination into the details of this outrage, coupled with the assurance that confidence is placed in his determination and ability to establish security, maintain order and administer justice throughout the boundaries of his presidency of Guayana.

Resolved, That copies shall also be presented to the consuls of foreign states here represented, with the request that they be forwarded to their respective governments.

Resolved, That the same shall be published in the Spanish language in the daily papers of this city.

JOHN DALTON, U. S. Consul, President.

L. PLASSARD, Vice-Consul of France, Vice-President.

KENNETH MATHISON, H. B. N. Vice-Consul.

H. KROHN, Consul of the Hanseatic Cities.

H. COCRLAENDER, Vice-Consul of Denmark.

ANTO. BATALLA, Vice-Consul of Spain.

CHRISTIANO VICENTINI, Consular Delegate of Italy.

DESTEIN, Vice-Consul of Brazil.

C. VANSELOW, Consul of Prussia.

ANTO. DALLA COSTA, Consul of Sweden and Norway.

ADOLP VINNEN, Consul of Hanover.

T. FELDHUSEN, Consul of Oldenburg.

M. PLESSMANN, Acting Vice-Consul of the Netherlands.

THEO. MONCH, Hamburg.

R GROSS, Bremen.

L. BROCKMANN, Lubeck.

H. HOLST, Hamburg.

J. B. AUSTIN, New York, U. S.

A VOZELTTTS Denmark

WILLIAM DALTON, Brooklyn, U. S.

D. M. BATTISTINI, France.

H. SPRICK, Hanover.

FELIX CAZABAT, France.

OSCAR G. D. MONCH. Hamburg.

HERMAN R. MONCH, Hamburg.

A. KOENITZER, England.

H. LARRIEU, France.

JOHN WULFF. New York, V. S.

F. UMLAUFF, Hamburg.

F. PRAHL, Lubeck.

H. HUGUENIN, Cassel.

THEO. ALDAG, Hamburg.

CARLOS ARNESEN, Denmark.

HERM. BOLLAND, Bremen.

A. VAUDAIS, France.

ALEX. McCALLUM, Maine, V. S.

L. MORGAN DAVIS, Philadelphia, U. S.

J. M. PERFETTI, France.

A. BFRATTO, Italy.

C FRUSTUCK. France.

LOR. LOREXZEN, Hamburg.

C. A. SOULE, France.

On motion of the British consul, seconded by the consul of the Hanseatic Cities, the preamble and resolutions were unanimously adopted, and afterwards signed by the gentlemen present; whereupon Mr. Krohn moved the following:

Resolved, That the merchants and citizens of this place be requested to unite in a subscription for the erection of a monument upon the public esplanade of this city, to the memory of Captain John W. Hammer, and that a committee be appointed to collect subscriptions, procure from the authorities a suitable location, and attend to the purchase and erection of the memorial.

This resolution having been passed unanimously, the chairman named Mr. Krohn, Mr. Antonio Dalla Costa, and Doctor Passard as members of the committee, and the meeting thereupon adjourned.