Chapter 2

He assured me he would, and I bade him good morning. As I was leaving he said there was intense excitement on the street; Anderson's command had just marched up Broadway and aroused the greatest enthusiasm. I had observed a small United States flag near the entrance, and Mr. S. said he believed if that flag were not at the door, the mob would attack the bank.

At the office of Trenholm Brothers I inquired for Mr. Wellsman, and was shown into an inner room where I met a large, middle-aged man bearing a striking resemblance to the white-haired gentleman who had been one of the party from Baltimore to Havre de Grace. I introduced myself by saying that Captain Wellsman was my travelling companion from Baltimore on Sunday.

"He is my father," said Mr. Wellsman. I told him of meeting Capt. Wellsman at the Philadelphia station that morning, and that he asked me to say he had found his daughter much better than he expected, and they now had hopes of her recovery. I then explained to him that I was an officer of the Confederate States Army, on my way to Europe to purchase arms and other army supplies; that I was to be provided with funds through Fraser, Trenholm & Co., Liverpool, and expected to get money from Trenholm Brothers for the expenses of the voyage. Mr. Wellsman had no letters for me, and had received no information from Montgomery concerning me. Having no money for my voyage, the situation was becoming serious.

Excusing himself after a short time, Mr. Wellsman left the office, and returning within half an hour, was even more alarmed than Mr. S. had appeared to be. He said the excitement was very great, and that he believed if the crowd discovered my business, they would hang me to a lamp-post; I must not leave the office till I started for the train. What did I propose to do? I ought not to think of sailing from New York.

I replied that I would go to Canada and take the steamer from Montreal. But I could not sail from anywhere without money.

"You can have the money," said Mr. Wellsman. "How much do you want?"

"Five hundred dollars."

"And you want it in gold?"

"Yes."

He procured the gold, ordered some lunch to be brought, and about three o'clock I started for the Erie Railway station. Sometimes we entertain angels unawares. Captain Wellsman seems to have been a veritable angel. The simple, verbal message that I carried to his son served me as a letter of credit. Without it, I cannot now see what I could have done. Ten years after the war, when I met an old friend, he assured me that he would have had me arrested, had he known my mission while I was in New York.

When I left the office of Trenholm Brothers, a man on the sidewalk signaled to another on the opposite side of Pine street, and one of these men sat opposite me on the ferry-boat. Whether or not they were shadowing me I never knew. I saw nothing more of them after leaving the boat, and had no further adventures till I reached Turner's, where trains stop for supper. In the restaurant, I recognized a number of friends, and my only prudent course was to go without my supper or seek it elsewhere. I chose the latter, and got what I could at a bar near by.

I had no baggage--not even an overcoat--and the night was cold. I was in an ordinary day-coach on my way to Hamilton, Canada. Through trains were not so frequent then as now, and in Buffalo I had to wait some time, much of which I passed in seeing the town. While walking in a retired part of the city, I just escaped meeting an officer of the army whom I knew, by turning down a cross street.

At Hamilton I purchased clothing for the voyage, and was disappointed to find that I should have to wait several days for the next steamer from Montreal; I therefore decided to sail from Portland, but delayed purchasing my ticket till I could take the last train that would reach that city in time to board the steamer. This train went only to State Line on the day it left Hamilton, where I stopped over night. I remember the place from the fact that, although late in April, I was obliged to break the ice in my pitcher the next morning, when I started on what proved to be my last journey in the United States for several years. At nearly every stopping place on the way to Portland, men in uniform and fully equipped entered the cars. We were picking up a regiment under orders for the front.

We finally arrived, and my ship was in sight at anchor. I confess to a feeling of relief when I stepped on board from the tug, and that feeling was enhanced when we weighed anchor and the screw began pushing us out into the neutral territory of the broad Atlantic.

There were few passengers, and the voyage was without incident save one of no importance except as tending to confirm the theory of transmission of thought without language. My table-neighbor was a young sea-captain from Maine, who was returning to his vessel, which he had left in Liverpool some weeks before, to confer with the owners.

One day at dinner, without any previous conversation whatever to lead even indirectly to such a remark, he said: "I believe you are going to Europe to buy arms for Jeff. Davis."

I was in the act of taking a piece of potato on my fork, and, to gain time before answering, I passed the potato to my mouth and then made about as foolish a reply as was possible, saying, "If he wanted arms he would be likely to select a man who knew something about arms." The captain immediately remarked, "Sometimes those fellows that know the most, say the least." I could think of nothing to say to advantage, and said nothing; the matter was never referred to again.

On arriving in London I went to what was then a favorite hotel for Americans,--Morley's in Trafalgar Square. The remark of the ship-captain interested me, and I resolved to probe the matter a little by calling on a gentleman with whom I had conversed more freely than with any other passenger. He was a lawyer from Portland, who in his younger days had taught school in Mississippi. He was stopping at a near-by hotel on the Strand. On meeting him, I asked if he knew the object of my visit to Europe. He replied he had not the slightest idea why I was there. I then told him of the captain's remark, and that his surmise was correct. I am very sure that, during the voyage, I said nothing from which the nature of my business could be inferred; and as for papers, I had received none since leaving Montgomery.

My orders were to purchase 12,000 rifles and a battery of field artillery, and to procure one or two guns of larger calibre as models. A short time before the beginning of the war, the London Armory Company had purchased a plant of gun-stocking machinery from the Ames Manufacturing Company of Chicopee, Mass. Knowing this, I went to the office of the Armory Company the day after my arrival in London, with the intention of securing, if possible, their entire output.

On entering the Superintendent's office, I found there the American engineer who superintended the erection of the plant. I had known him in Chicopee. Suspecting he might be an agent for the purchase of arms for the United States Government, I asked him, bluntly, if he was, and added, "I am buying for the Confederate Government." Such a disclosure of my business may seem to have been indiscreet, but at that time I thought it my best plan, and the result proved that I was right. He made no reply to my inquiry, but I was satisfied my suspicion was correct and resolved on the spot, to flank his movement if possible.

As he had entered the office first, it was in order for me to outstay him, which I did. On his leaving, I asked for a price for all the small arms the Company could manufacture.

The Superintendent said he could not answer me, but would refer me to the Chairman of the Company,--President, we should call him--and would accompany me to his office. There I repeated my inquiry for a price for all the arms the Company could make for a year, with the privilege of renewing the order. The President was not prepared to give me a price, but would do so the next day. On calling at his office the following day, he told me that the Company was under contract for all the arms it could turn out, and considering all the circumstances, the Directors felt they ought to give their present customer the preference over all others.

Confirmed in my belief that my competitor was no other than the man whom I had encountered the day before, I was now more determined than ever to secure the London Armory as a Confederate States arms factory. The Atlantic cable was not then laid, and correspondence by mail required nearly a month--an unreasonable time for a commercial company to hold in abeyance a desirable opportunity for profit. Within a few days I succeeded in closing a contract under which I was to have all the arms the Company could manufacture, after filling a comparatively small order for the United States agent. This Company, during the remainder of the war, turned all its output of arms over to me for the Confederate army.

Baring Brothers were, at that time, the London financial agents for the United States Government, and they would unquestionably have been supported and gratefully thanked, had they assumed the responsibility of contracting for all the arms in sight in England. Any army officer, fit for such a mission as that of buying arms for a great Government at the outbreak of a war, would have acted, if necessary, without instructions, and secured everything that he could find in the line of essentials, especially arms, of which there were very few in the market. There were _muskets_ enough to be had for almost any reasonable offer, but of modern Enfield or Springfield rifles--which were practically the same--there were only a few thousand in England, and none elsewhere except in Austria, where all were owned by the Government. And, according to Mr. Cushing, these would be available by the United States but impossible of purchase by "the South." Yet even so high an authority as Ex-Attorney General Cushing proved to be wrong in his assumption, as will be shown below.

Any young, intelligent West Point graduate holding an army commission and as fearless in assuming responsibility as the average "graduate," would not only have prevented my making this important contract, but would have blocked my efforts in every direction; for in all Europe the supply of arms ready for use or possible of manufacture was very limited. Such an officer would have secured everything worth having--in other words, all the best--and only inferior arms of antiquated model would have been left for the Confederacy. The effect would have been not only to give the United States good arms in profusion, but utterly to discourage their opponents by the inferiority of their weapons.

Mr. Davis did not make the great mistake of sending a civil agent to purchase supplies--a duty as thoroughly military as any that could be named--nor the still greater blunder of setting several men to do what one man, with uncontrolled authority, could do so much better. Doubtless he could have found men who would have performed the duty as well as did the young officer whom he selected, and some who would have done their part better; but, during the whole war, no change was made, although not to remove him often required that firmness--not to say obstinacy--which was a prominent trait of Mr. Davis's character, and which, right or wrong, but especially when he was right, he exercised to a remarkable degree.

When I arrived in England, the Confederate States Government was already represented by Hon. William L. Yancey, Commissioner to England; his secretary, Mr. Walker Fearn, afterwards United States Minister to Greece; Judge Rost, of New Orleans, Commissioner to France, with his son as secretary; and Mr. Dudley Mann, commonly known as Col. Mann, who held an appointment as Commissioner, but to what country I do not know. Later, Hon. L. Q. C. Lamar, afterwards United States Secretary of the Interior, and later still Justice of the United States Supreme Court, was appointed Commissioner to Russia, but he went no further than Paris, and returned to Richmond before the end of the war. Commander James D. Bulloch, previously of the United States Navy, whose sister was the mother of President Roosevelt, was in charge of all naval matters. Messrs. Fraser, Trenholm & Co., of Liverpool, were the fiscal agents.

All these representatives worked in complete harmony, without jealousy or clashing of opinion; each was ready to assist the others in every way possible. They were all cultured men, of agreeable personality, and as far removed from the _genus homo_ which has been designated as "hot-headed Southerner," as can well be imagined. They lived unostentatiously, in modest, but entirely respectable lodgings in the West End, London, except Judge Rost, who resided in Paris, and Commander Bulloch, who made his headquarters in Liverpool. None of the representatives of the Confederate Government required much money in the discharge of his duties, except Commander Bulloch and myself. We were both to look to Fraser, Trenholm & Co., for all the money we were to expend, as indeed were all the diplomatic agents.

The fiscal system was, almost of necessity, of the most simple character. Fraser, Trenholm & Co., of Liverpool, John Fraser & Co., of Charleston, S. C, and Trenholm Brothers, of New York, were practically one concern, and the senior member of John Fraser & Co., Mr. William Trenholm, became Confederate States Secretary of the Treasury early in the war. Mr. Wellsman, senior member of Trenholm Brothers, in New York, joined the Liverpool house, the senior member and manager of which was Charles K. Prioleau, formerly of Charleston. There was no loan to negotiate; for the Confederacy--recognized only as belligerents--had no credit among nations, and no system of taxation by which it could hope to derive any revenue available for purchasing supplies abroad. But it possessed a latent purchasing power such as probably no other Government in history ever had.

The cotton crop of its people was a prime necessity for the manufacturing world outside, and, for want of machinery, was utterly valueless in all the Southern States except Georgia, where there were a few small factories. Almost immediately after the outbreak of hostilities the Confederate authorities began to buy cotton, paying in such "money" as it had; that is to say, its own promises to pay whenever it could. Some of these promises bore interest and were called _bonds_; some bore no interest, and these constituted the currency of the country.

The cotton, as it lay on the plantations or in the warehouses, was for sale, and the Government was almost the only buyer. To all others there was a difficulty, amounting almost to impossibility, in getting cotton to market. Some, no doubt, was smuggled across the border, to the advantage of "patriots" of each side; but this outlet for a bulky article like cotton was altogether inadequate, and, practically, every one was compelled by the very condition of affairs, without the application of even moral force, to sell to the Government and receive in payment the best that the Government had to offer; namely: its own promises to pay, which, whether stated as a condition of the promise or not, could not be made good till after the favorable close of the war. If the South failed, the promises would be valueless; if it succeeded, the obligations would be met as promptly as possible. The situation was accepted by the people, and the Government acquired cotton and shipped it to Nassau, Bermuda, and Havana as fast as it could.

To get cotton through the blockading squadron called for daring and skill; but there seems to have been no lack of either, and it was not long before every steam vessel that could carry even a few bales, and was sea-worthy enough to reach Nassau, was ready with a crew on board, eager to sneak out any dark night and run to a neutral port,--generally Nassau.

For a long time this traffic went on almost without a capture, and the Confederate Government not only deposited in places of safety large quantities of a commodity in general demand throughout the world, but also had the satisfaction of seeing its property advance rapidly in value as the war went on, and its necessities increased. The cotton thus shipped was all consigned to Fraser, Trenholm & Co., Liverpool, and the consignments for the army, navy and diplomatic departments were carefully kept separate. There was, therefore, no clashing of interests between the army and navy, as to disposition of proceeds. The requirements for the diplomatic agents were trifling compared with those of the army for supplies and the navy for building, equipping and manning ships.

I had not been long in England before the sinews of war began to be available, and I found myself able to meet my engagements in a manner entirely satisfactory to my creditors. To buy supplies was simple enough; but to ship them was another matter. As was to be expected, detectives employed by the U. S. Government as well as volunteer spies were about me. Efforts were made to intercept telegrams and to tamper with employees, but few of these attempts at stopping Confederate army supplies were successful.

One success scored by the United States was the capture of the "Stephen Hart," a schooner of American build, but purchased by an English house and put under the British flag for Confederate use. The proof that she was loaded with army supplies destined for the Confederate States was so complete that no expense was incurred in defending the rights of the quasi British owners. It was a mistake to ship such supplies by sailing vessels, and there were other errors of judgment which were not repeated.

After the "Stephen Hart" episode, all army supplies were carried by steamer, either to a Confederate port direct, or to Nassau or Bermuda. There was little difficulty in chartering steamers to carry supplies to "The Islands." Generally both ship and cargo belonged in good faith to British subjects; and, as the voyage was from one British port to another, the entire business was as lawful as a similar shipment would have been from London to Liverpool. But one of the most innocent shipments was not only captured, but the capture was confirmed, and there was not on board one penny's worth of property belonging to the Confederate States or to any American citizen. The ship "The Springbock," was loaded by a firm from whom I had purchased many supplies; but in this instance, the cargo was to be sold in Nassau, and there was nothing of a suspicious character on board, excepting some brass buttons bearing the device "C. S. A.," and these buttons were put on board the last day against the wishes of one of the partners who feared they would be considered as tainting the whole cargo. And so the United States Court decided. Everything else on board was likely to be wanted in any country whose ports had been blockaded for several months, but none of the articles were such as could be classed as _military_ supplies.

To get the supplies from "The Islands" to the main land required sea-worthy steamers of light draught and great speed. Many such vessels were purchased and sent out under captains who were equal to any emergency, among whom were several former U. S. Navy officers. Some of these steamers had been private yachts, as for example the "Merrimac;" (there were two "Merrimacs"); some were engaged in trade between British ports, as the "Cornubia;" some were taken from the Channel service between England and France, as the "Eugenie;" and some were built for opium smuggling in China. Later in the war, steamers were built expressly for the service.

During the first two years, the captures were so infrequent that, it may be safely stated, never before was a Government at war so well supplied with arms, munitions, clothing and medicines--everything, in short, that an army requires--with so little money as was paid by the Confederacy. The shipment from England to the Islands in ordinary tramp steamers; the landing and storage there, and the running of the blockade, cost money; but all that was needed came from cotton practically given to the Confederate Government by its owners.

The supplies were, in every instance, bought at the lowest cash prices by men trained in the work as contractors for the British army. No credit was asked. Merchants having needed supplies were frankly told that our means were limited, and our payments would be made by cheques on Fraser, Trenholm & Co., Liverpool, an old established and conservative house. The effect of such buying was to create confidence on the part of the sellers, which made them more anxious to sell than were we to purchase. When the end came, and some of the largest sellers were ruined, I never heard a word of complaint of their being over-reached or in any manner treated unfairly.

As long as the system thus described continued, the South not only equipped an army able to cope with the colossal forces constantly advancing upon it, but it accomplished this without distressing its people with taxes. And thus, in part, was answered Mr. Cushing's apparently unanswerable exclamation: "What _possible_ chance can the South have?"

But the supply of acceptable arms was not equal to the demand. The civilized powers had but recently been equipped with modern arms. The United States had the Springfield; England had the Enfield, which was practically the same as the Springfield; Austria had a rifle bearing a close resemblance to both, and of about the same calibre; Prussia had a breech-loader which no Government would now think of issuing to troops; France had an inferior muzzle-loader, and was experimenting with an imitation of the Prussian needle-gun, which finally proved ruinous to the Empire. There were few arms for sale, even in the arsenals of Europe, which Mr. Cushing had said would be open to the United States and closed to the South. Austria, however, had a considerable quantity on hand, and these an intermediary proposed I should buy.

I knew something of the armament of Austria, having visited Vienna in 1859, with a letter from the United States War Department, which gave me some facilities for observation. At first I considered the getting of anything from an Imperial Austrian Arsenal as chimerical. But my would-be intermediary was so persistent that, finally I accompanied him to Vienna and, within a few days, closed a contract for 100,000 rifles of the latest Austrian pattern, and ten batteries, of six pieces each, of field artillery, with harness complete, ready for service, and a quantity of ammunition, all to be delivered on ship at Hamburg. The United States Minister, Mr. Motley, protested in vain. He was told that the making of arms was an important industry of Austria; that the same arms had been offered to the United States Government and declined, and that, as belligerents, the Confederate States were, by the usage of nations, lawful buyers. However unsatisfactory this answer may have been to Washington, the arms were delivered, and in due time were shipped to Bermuda from Hamburg. Mr. Motley offered to buy the whole consignment, but was too late. The Austrian Government declined to break faith with the purchasers.