GIDEON WELLES, Secretary of the Navy to William H. Seward, February 15, 1864

Mr. Welles to Mr. Seward.

Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 10th instant, enclosing a copy of a note addressed to you by Lord Lyons relative to the capture by the United States steamer Vanderbilt, at Angra Pequena, of the British bark Saxon, and requesting to be furnished with any information possessed by this department as to the facts and grounds of the capture.

From a report of Commander C; H. Baldwin, commanding the Vanderbilt, it appears that he seized the bark Saxon at Angra Pequena, on the 30th of October, 1863, for having on board about one hundred and sixty bales of wool and goat-skins, which were a part of the cargo of the American bark Conrad, which vessel had been captured by the piratical steamer Alabama a short time previous, and had landed her cargo at Angra Pequena, and had been converted into a piratical cruiser (the Tuscaloosa.)

The Saxon was sent in charge of a prize crew to New York, and is now in the hands of the district court there.

Very respectfully, &c,