Thomas H. Dudley to Charles Francis Adams, December 18, 1865

Mr. Dudley to Mr. Adams.

Sir: I have the honor to enclose you copies of two affidavits: one of William A. Temple, a very intelligent seaman, who shipped on the Shenandoah (then called the Sea King) in London, and remained on her during the cruise, and was discharged from her after she came to this port; the other that of Margaret Marshall, the wife of David Marshall, of Liverpool, who went out from here in the steamer Laurel, and joined the Shenandoah near the island of Madeira in the capacity of a fireman. David Marshall was also on the Shenandoah during the whole of her cruise. At the time of his enlisting they gave him what is known as a half-pay note, for the one-half part of his wages, payable to his wife at the office of Fraser, Trenholm & Co., in Liverpool. This note was sent to Mrs. Marshall by her husband; it was for 3l. 10s. per month. Her affidavit shows that this money was paid to her at the office of Fraser, Trenholm & Co., Liverpool, monthly, during the cruise of the vessel, up to the month of October, 1865. That the last payment was made to her on the 18th day of October last.

The affidavit of Temple covers the time of the whole cruise, and gives an account of some of the events that occurred, with a list of the officers and crew, and their nationalities. By it you will see that she had 26 officers, 33 petty officers, 54 seamen, 12 firemen, and 12 marines, making, in all, 137 persons on board. Of these 78 were British subjects, 26 foreigners belonging to other nations, and 33 Americans, divided as follows: Of the officers, 19 Americans and 7 British subjects; of the petty officers, 5 Americans, 23 British subjects, and 5 other foreigners; of the seamen, 9 Americans, 26 British subjects, and 19 other foreigners; of the 12 firemen, all British subjects; of the 12 marines, 10 British subjects and 2 foreigners of other nations.

Among other matters, the affidavit shows that the Sea King, when she sailed from London, had two 18-pounder guns mounted upon her decks, and that these were the principal guns used during the whole of her cruise; that the day before they reached the island of Madeira they painted over the name of Sea King wherever it appeared on the vessel or any of the iboats or fixtures; that on her arrival at Melbourne she was received in the most cordial manner by the officials and people at that port, and every facility afforded to obtain supplies and make repairs; that the officers of the Shenandoah were entertained on shore, and in their turn entertained the officials of Melbourne on board the Shenandoah; that Captain Waddell entertained privately on the Shenandoah the governor of Melbourne; that the government engineer at Melbourne was on the vessel two or three times a day, and if he did not superintend the repairs that were being made, at least gave them the benefit of his advice; that at the time they left Melbourne they had more than forty persons stowed away on board the vessel, all of whom were enlisted and enrolled upon the ship’s articles before they were out of sight of land; that the ship was coaled there by the English ship John Fraser, of Liverpool; that notwithstanding they received information of the surrender of Lee and the termination of the war as early as the month of June of this year, they still went on burning and destroying all vessels they fell in with sailing under the United States flag, and after receiving this information captured no less than nineteen vessels, all of which were either bonded or burned; that the flag generally used on the Shenandoah when speaking other vessels or decoying their victims was the English; that the men received their bounty-money when they enlisted and their wages afterwards in English gold; that the contract made with them was that they were to be paid in this money, and be discharged at an English port or placed on board of an English vessel after their several terms of enlistment had expired; that they were brought to the English port of Liverpool and entertained by Captain Whitehead, who sent off a boatload of fresh provisions to them on the night of their arrival; that Jones & Co. on the following evening also sent off a boat-load of provisions, which the custom-house officers refused to permit to be taken on board; that the officers and crew were all discharged from the ship by Captain Paynter, of her Majesty’s ship Donegal, the crew having been previously informed that on their names being called they must give their nationality as southerners; that the crew upon being landed at Liverpool were admitted into the Sailors’ Home, and that they were paid there either the whole or part of the wages due them in money obtained at Liverpool.

I am informed that the Captain Whitehead who sent off the boat-load of provisions to the Shenandoah on the night of her arrival is a member of the firm of Whittaker, Whitehead &. Co., Liverpool; and that the firm Jones & Co., who sent off the boat-load on the following evening, is the same firm that fitted out the pirate Georgia.

When you add to the facts disclosed in these affidavits those that were known before, that the vessel was built in Scotland; owned at the time she sailed upon her cruise by Richard Wright, an English merchant of Liverpool, in whose name she was registered in London, and who so late as October of this year stood there as her registered owner; that she was fitted out and sailed from London upon her cruise, was armed with English guns and wholly supplied from England, it seems to me that the character of this vessel as an English buccaneer is fully made out.

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,