Mr. Adams to Mr. Seward, December 24, 1862

Mr. Adams to Mr. Seward.

Sir: I have the honor to transmit copies of a
series of communications received from Mr. H. J. Sprague, the consul at
Gibraltar, respecting the movements made at that port to sell the
steamer Sumter. As he desired my advice, I gave it to him in the letter,
a copy of which goes with the papers. The question of the right to sell
the property of a belligerent to a neutral in a neutral port is not
without its difficulties, and I find the authorities differ materially
about it. My own leaning is rather to a liberal construction, especially
as in this case it relieves us from a burdensome process of vigilance.
Besides which, I find that the government bought a war vessel of the
Greeks whilst engaged, in 1826, in their war with the Turks.

I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,

[Enclosures.]

1. Mr. Sprague to Mr. Adams, December 9, 1862.

2. Telegram from Mr. Sprague to Mr. Adams, December 8, 1862.

3. Mr. Sprague to Mr. Adams, December 10, 1862.

4. Telegram to Mr. Adams, December 9, 1862.

5. Advertisement of sale of the Sumter.

6. Mr. Sprague’s protest to governor of Gibraltar, December 9,
1862.

7. Commander Pickering to Mr. Sprague, December 6, 1862.

8. Mr. Sprague to Mr. Adams, December 12, 1862.

9. Colonial Secretary to Mr. Sprague, December 10, 1862.

10. Mr. Sprague to Colonial Secretary, December 10, 1862.

11. Colonial Secretary to Mr. Sprague, in reply, December 10,
1862.

12. Mr. Sprague to Colonial Secretary, December 11, 1862.

13. Official notice in Gibraltar Chronicle, December 10, 1862.

14. Official notice in Gibraltar Chronicle, December 11, 1862.

15. Change in advertisement of sale of Sumter.

16. Gibraltar Chronicle, December 5, 1862.

17. Mr. Adams to Mr. Sprague, December 17, 1862.

18. Telegram from Mr. Sprague to Mr. Adams, December 19, 1862. Sale
of Sumter.

19. Telegram, same to same, December 23, 1862. Sumter flying British
flag.

Mr. Sprague to Mr. Adams.

Sir: I informed you yesterday that the
steamer Sumter had just been sold by private contract. The sum
she fetched was four thousand pounds sterling.

Yesterday afternoon the purchasers were ready with the money and
with bill of sale in hand to be executed by a notary public in
this city, when it was found that all the papers required by
them could not be produced by the officer in charge of the
Sumter, who, it appears, holds a power of attorney from a
certain Bullock, who styles himself senior naval officer in the
confederate service in Europe, and, I am told, is at present in
England giving his attention to what relates to the marine
service of the rebel States. The purchasers require a written
authority from Commissioner Mason to Mr. Bullock for the sale of
the Sumter, and the seller has telegraphed for this document; in
the mean while the sale is in suspense, and I accordingly
telegraphed your excellency last evening as annexed.

The guns of the Sumter are included in the sale, and should the
sale be consummated I understand they will be landed here under
the supervision of the British authorities. The revolvers are
not sold. I hear it stated the officer in charge intends to send
them forward to England. The purchasers of the Sumter have
refused buying the chronometers, salt provisions, or anything
else that has been captured by her when in command of
Semmes.

Please communicate all this information to our government at
Washington.

I have the honor, &c., &c.,

[Telegram.]

Mr. Adams, American
Minister, London.

The private sale of Sumter is in suspense for want of written
authority from Commissioner Mason. The party has telegraphed for
it.

Mr. Sprague to Mr. Adams.

Sir: After mailing my communication to
you of yesterday I received a telegram from Mr. Koerner, our
minister at Madrid, requesting me to protest against the selling
of the steamer Sumter at this port. I had also received, a few
hours before, an official note from Captain Pickering, of the
United States steamer Kearsage, now at Cadiz, to the same
effect. In consequence, and in the absence of any reply from
your excellency to my telegrams from the 6th instant, I decided
to delay no further in addressing the governor of this fortress
on the subject, and based my communication upon the telegram
received from our minister at Madrid. I now have the honor of
transmitting a copy thereof.

The private sale of the Sumter still remains in suspense, and she
is still advertised in the Gibraltar Chronicle of yesterday for
sale by public auction for to-morrow.

Anything further transpiring about the Sumter I shall telegraph
your excellency without delay.

I enclose copy of Captain Pickering’s despatch to me. I also
annex copy of my telegram to you of last evening.

I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,

[Telegram.]

Mr. Adams, American
Minister, London.

By instructions of our minister at Madrid, have protested to
British governor against Sumter being sold here.

[From Gibraltar Chronicle of the 9th December, 1862.]

AUCTION SALE OF THE VERY SWIFT SCREW STEAMER
SUMTER.

On Thursday next, 11th instant, at 12 o’clock, will be sold by
public auction, in the north room of the Exchange, the screw
steamer Sumter, now lying in this bay, of about 499 tons burden,
built at Philadelphia in 1859, of superior oak timber, and
sheathed with yellow metal in 1860, together with sails,
rigging, stores, moorings, &c., &c., as may be found on
board, and a powerful engine, cylinder fifty inches; an
inventory of which and conditions of sale
may be seen on board any time previous to the sale, or at—

Mr. Sprague to Sir W. Codrington.

Sir: I have this moment received a
telegram from the minister of the United States of America for
the court of Madrid under to-day’s date in the following
terms:

[Translation.]

“Announce officially that the steamer Sumter, being prize of war
made by the insurgents in the United States, and really the
property of citizens of that republic, being also included in
the terms provided in the orders of her Britannic Majesty in
council against the sale of prize of this war in her Majesty’s
dominions, cannot be lawfully sold in Gibraltar, and that the
sale announced will not be respected by the vessels-of-war of
the United States, but that the Sumter will be made prize
wherever she may be found on the high seas, or within American
jurisdiction, and taken before the proper court for
adjudication.

The minister plenipotentiary,

“GUSTAVUS KOERNER.”

In face of which I have to protest in the name of the government
of the United States of America, as its representative at this
port, against the sale of the steamer Sumter taking place in
this city, with the concurrence of the British authorities.

I have the honor to be your excellency’s obedient servant,

Captain Pickering to
Mr. Sprague.

Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge
the receipt of your telegram, without date, informing me that
the Sumter is advertised for sale at Gibraltar on Thursday
next.

The vessel is of little value, and probably offered for sale
merely to establish a precedent.

The sale of so-called confederate war vessels in British ports is
an act as unfriendly and hostile to our government as the purchase of war vessels in their ports by
the same party. I would therefore suggest that it is your duty to enter a protest against the
sale.

I am, respectfully, &c., your obedient servant,

Mr. Sprague to Mr. Adams.

Sir: I beg to transmit herewith copies
of notes that have so far been interchanged between this
consulate and the governor of Gibraltar regarding the proposed
sale of the steamer Sumter in this port since I had the honor of
addressing your excellency on the 10th instant.

In the absence of instructions from your excellency, I have
limited myself to protesting against the sale of the Sumter at
this port, based upon the contents of the telegram received from
Mr. Koerner, our minister at Madrid.

I call your particular attention to the official notices
published in the Gibraltar Chronicle of the 10th and 11th
instant, which I herewith annex.

I have never been able to obtain an accurate history of the
steamer Sumter, but, as much can be said as to what constitutes
a “war prize,” I take the liberty to observe that as all public
property in the States that have rebelled against the government
of the United States was the property of the United States,
whether it consisted of ships or stores in the public arsenals, or of money in the public
chests, its illegal capture by the so-called
confederates might make all such property prize of war. Although
the British government has conceded belligerent rights to the
States in rebellion, it has not yet recognized those States, nor
would improbably be disposed to contend that the property of the
United States seized by force is lawfully owned by the so-called
confederates.

The private sale of the Sumter having been cancelled by mutual
consent, she is again advertised for sale by public auction for
the 19th instant, and I hear a party is expected from England,
by the Southampton steamer, due here on the 17th instant, to be
present at the sale, but for what purpose I know not.

Please do me the favor to inform our government of the contents
of the present communication with its enclosures, and accept,
sir, the assurances of my high consideration and respect.

Captain Freeling to Mr. Sprague.

Sir: I am directed by the governor to
acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated 9th instant, on the
subject of the sale of the Sumter.

His excellency desires me to inform you that you have not
furnished any such proof of the Sumter being a prize as to
justify his interference with a mercantile transaction.

I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,

Mr. Sprague to Captain Freeling.

Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge
the receipt of your despatch of today’s date, and, in reply, I
beg to state that I am not instructed by the government of the
United States to enter into the question proposed in your said
despatch, as to which I may, however, observe that there can be
no doubt that the sale of the steamer Sumter is in fact a sale
for the purpose of avoiding a capture by the cruisers of the
United States. Such sale for such purpose within the
jurisdiction of a neutral state is, I apprehend, illegal and
opposed to the strict law of neutrality, if sanctioned by the
government of such neutral state.

In conformity with the tenor of my instructions contained in the
official telegram of yesterday, of which I have had the honor to
remit a copy to his excellency the governor, I have only to
protest in the name of my government against any such sale in
this port of the said steamer Sumter, as is proposed, and to
point out the consequences following upon such sale. It only
remains for me to reiterate that protest, and respectfully to
request the attention of his excellency the governor
thereto.

I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,

Captain Freeling to Mr. Sprague.

Sir: I am directed by the governor to
acknowledge the receipt of your letter of this day’s date, and,
in reply, to remark that your protest of yesterday was made on
the ground that the Sumter was a prize made from the federals by
the confederates, and therefore truly the property of the
former.

Now, however, you state a different ground, viz: that the sale is
for the purpose of avoiding a capture by the cruisers of the
United States, and therefore illegal.

The governor wishes to know upon which of these two grounds you
now make your protest, as your last seems somewhat incompatible
with the first which he received from you yesterday.

I have the honor to be, &c.,

Mr. Sprague to Captain Freeling.

Sir: I beg to acknowledge the receipt
of your letter of the 10th instant, in reply to my communication
of the same date, on the subject of the proposed sale of the
steamer Sumter.

The telegram from his excellency the minister plenipotentiary of
the United States at the court of Madrid, of which I had the
honor to forward a copy to his excellency the governor on the
9th instant, contains the instructions upon which I have acted
in protesting against the above sale, as I necessarily had to
consider it my duty to do so.

I am, however, quite unable to see the incompatibility of what
was stated by me in my letter of yesterday, with the ground set
forth for the protest in question, as it was simply put forward
as an observation, which appeared to me to bear upon the
question, and not to be inconsistent with the views set forth in
the telegram.

I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,

[Official notice in the Gibraltar Chronicle of December 10,
1862.]

His excellency the governor has
received a protest from the United States consul in this city
against the sale of the confederate steamer Sumter, on the ground, as stated by him, of her being
a prize. No proof of this being the case has been furnished, but
the governor deems it right to notify
this protest to the public.

By command:

[Official notice from the Gibraltar Chronicle of December 11,
1862.]

With reference to the notice in yesterday’s Chronicle, his excellency the governor has received the following statement from the
officer commanding the Sumter.

“The Sumter was bought and paid for at New Orleans by the
confederate government; that the owners of the then steamer Habana (the Sumter) agreed to the price and terms of sale; and
that she was purchased before any vessels had been seized in New
Orleans by the confederate government.”

By command:

[Untitled]

The Gibraltar Chronicle of the 11th December has a supplement
containing the advertisement of the sale of the Sumter, as
heretofore copied, with the addition that “The above sale is
postponed until Friday, the 19th instant.”

Mr. Adams to Mr. Sprague.

Sir: I have to acknowledge the
reception of several telegrams, together with letters, and
especially that of the 6th of December, all relating to the
project of sale of the steamer Sumter in the port of
Gibraltar.

I have not written in reply to these communications, for the
reason that I could not perceive any action yet taken in the
premises that can be made the basis of agitation here. The
advertisement put into the columns of the Gibraltar as well as
the Liverpool newspapers is wholly devoid of a responsible
character. It is clear that no owner has yet appeared vested
with sufficient power to act at all in the premises. Under such
circumstances I cannot see the force of a remonstrance to the
British government which is based upon no act to be complained
of beyond a newspaper advertisement, and which suggests no
practical remedy. In this sense your letter to commander Bryson
appears to me to have been written with great judgment. It is
scarcely to be presumed that her Majesty’s government is not
fully conscious of the conditions under which the Sumter enjoys
its protection. It is as a vessel of a recognized belligerent
that she obtained the privilege of remaining where she is until
now. Any change in her character cannot be effected without the
knowledge and consent of the authorities at Gibraltar. You will
therefore, first of all, confine yourself to the simple duty of
watching all the proceedings. In case of any attempt at a merely
fraudulent transfer for the sake of escaping harmless from our
cruisers and resuming her former career, you will call their
attention to the fact, deny the validity of any such proceeding,
and invoke their interference. Should it appear to you, on the
other hand, that the purchasing parties are foreigners acting in
good faith for the conversion of the vessel to some legitimate
and peaceful trade, I see no better way of getting rid of a
burdensome labor of vigilance upon a property of little value
than to acquiesce in it. On the other hand, should you have
reason to suspect a spurious transaction for the sole purpose of
extricating the vessel from its present position in order to
replace it in a more effective attitude of hostility to the
United States, you will do well to remonstrate with the local
authorities, and to send a copy of your remonstrance, together
with the evidence on which you rest it, to this legation.

Under the present aspect of the case I do not feel as if I had
proof of ill-intention in my hands sufficient to enable me to
give to the commanders of our vessels-of-war any specific instructions. So much
must depend on the shape which the matter may take, that I can
only say to you this: that only in the contingency of positive
fraud above spoken of, clearly shown, as well as of refusal of
the British authorities to interfere, so far as to detain the
vessel for time enough to make a representation here, should I
think it advisable for our own vessels to interpose. And even
then should she sail under a British flag, it can only be done
on the high seas, and under a preliminary search to investigate
her true character. Should the papers be of such a kind as to
subject her to the suspicion of being yet rebel property, with
only a fraudulent cover, she might then be taken and sent home
for adjudication in the United States court.

I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,

[Untitled]

Sumter sold this day by public auction for nineteen thousand five
hundred dollars. Purchaser, an English engineer, arrived
yesterday from Southampton.

[Untitled]

Sumter flying British flag. Is loading. Probably be conveyed
(convoyed?) to sea if necessary.