PAYNTER, Captain to The Secretary of the Admiralty, February 3, 1866

Captain Paynter to the Secretary of the Admiralty.

Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated the 22d of January last, with its printed enclosures from Mr. Alams, United States minister, to the Earl of Clarendon, and in reply, beg to state that having received instructions from you dated the with of November, 1865, to prevent the late confederate ship-of-war Shenandoah from coaling for leaving the port of Liverpool, I placed a guard of officers and men on board, and took upon myself the responsibility of preventing Captain Waddell, the officers and men, from heaving the ship until I had your authority for so doing.

For three days the Shenandoah lay at anchor in the waters of the Sloyne, and had there been the slightest desire on the part of any person at Liverpool during her detention to give evidence that any of her crew were British subjects, every facility would have been afforded them by myself, the custom-house officers on board, and Lieutenant Cheek, the officer in charge of the Shenandoah, but neither from the American consulate, the police, customs authorities, nor by magistrate’s warrant, was any information forthcoming. If there had been, should, of course, have supported the civil power.

With reference to the discharge of the crew of the Shenandoah, in compliance with your order of the 8th of November, 1865, I beg to refer you to my letter of the 9th of November, and also to the letters which I herewith enclosed, from Lieutenant Cheek and the paymaster this ship, dated the 26th of January, 1866.

On the subject of Mr. Adams’s remark, that Temple’s list will “set at rest the pretence of the officer sent on board that there were no British subjects belonging to the vessel,” I most courteously beg to say that to my knowledge the United States authorities had plenty of gents at their command in this port, who could have arrested under proper warrant any person suspected of infringing the foreign enlistment act on board the Shenandoah whilst under my charge.

As to the truthfulness or the falsehood of Temple’s affidavit, I have obtained evidence that young Indian, calling himself William A. Temple, did, one month after the crew of the Maenandoah had dispereed, sign before Mr. Thornley, (public notary,) an affidavit giving a it of the supposed crew, and that it appears by W. A. Temple’s own statement—

First, That he must have told a deliberate falsehood as to his nationality when he passed sound fund stated to me that he was an American seaman.

Second. That he considers himself defrauded by the confederate authorities of twenty-two sounds, due to him for wages.

Third. Mr. Woods, the landlord, of No. 108 St. James street, states no man of that name alged at his house.

Fourth. He admitted before Mr. Hamner, manager of the Sailors’ Home, that a considable portion of his affidavit, declared before Mr. Thornley, was false.

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It appears to me scarcely possible whilst mustering out a crew to decide upon the nationally or birthplace of most of the seamen frequenting this port; the enormous shipping trade both America, and the facility with which tickets of naturalization as American citizens can obtained, secures absolute impunity in that respect, whilst the dress, style, and habits the mongrel crews who man the vessels of this sport are such complete disguises that I trust I may be pardoned, if as a British officer, accustomed during my whole period of service to the uniform and cleanly appearance of British men-of-war’s men, I could not pronounce on my own responsibility whether some of the dirty-drawling, ill-looking, gray-coated, big-bearded men, who passed before me as the crew of the Shenandoah, were British subjects or American citizens.

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I have, &c., &.,