William H. Seward to Right Hon. Lord Lyons, February 19, 1864

Mr. Seward to Lord Lyons.

My Lord: Recurring to your note of the 9th instant, which relates to the capture of the British vessel Saxon by the United States ship Vanderbilt, at Angra Pequena, on the coast of Africa, and in which you inform me that her Majesty’s government have commanded you to request the government of the United States either to direct the immediate release of the Saxon, with proper compensation to the owners, or at least to explain the grounds on which her seizure and detention are supposed to be justified. I have the honor to enclose, in reply, a copy of a letter of the 15th instant, from the Secretary of the Navy, from which it appears that Commander C. H. Baldwin, commanding the Vanderbilt, reports that he seized the Saxon for having on board a portion of the cargo of the American bark Conrad, which vessel had been captured by the piratical steamer Alabama, and that the Saxon is now in the hands of the district court for the southern district of New York for adjudication.

I have the honor to be, with the highest consideration, my lord, your obedient