CAPTAIN WILKES’S SEIZURE OF MASON AND SLIDELL.

BY D. MACNEILL FAIRFAX, REAR-ADMIRAL, U. 8. N„ EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF THE “ SAN JACINTO.”

I N October, 1861, the United States screw-sloop San Jacinto , of which Cap-tain Charles Wilkes was commander and the writer was executive officer,on her return from the west coast of Africa, touched at the island of St.Thomas to coal ship. Here for the first time we learned of the presence inthose waters of the Confederate cruiser Sumter (Captain Raphael Semmes ). JCaptain Wilkes immediately determined to search for the enemy. At Cien-fuegos, on the south coast of Cuba, he learned from the United States consul-general at Havana that Messrs. Mason and Slidell, Confederate com •missioners to Europe , and their secretaries and families had recently reachedthat port from Charleston en route to England. He immediately put to sea,October 26th, with the purpose of intercepting the blockade runner whichhad brought them out. The commissioners were to have left Charleston bythe cruiser Nashville , but their plans had been changed, and the steamerGordon, otherwise known as the Theodora (Captain Lockwood), had beensubstituted. They had run the Union blockade successfully during a stormon the night of October 11th, and had arrived at Nassau on the 13th, and atHavana on the 17th. There we ascertained that their plan was to leave on the7th of November in the English steamer Trent for St. Thomas on their wayto England, and readily calculated when and where in the Bahama Channelwe might intercept them. Meanwhile, on the 2d of November, Captain Wilkescontinued his cruise after the Sumter along the north coast of Cuba , alsorunning over to Key West in the hope of finding the Toivhatan or some othersteamer to accompany him to the Bahama Channel to guard against the pos-sibility of the escape of the commissioners. But the Toivhatan had left theday before, and the San Jacinto therefore returned alone to the channel toawait the Trent. Here, 240 miles from Havana , and 90 miles from Sagua laGrande, where the channel contracts to the width of 15 miles, at noon on the8th of November the Trent was sighted.

On our way from St. Thomas to Havana we had stopped at the Caymans,an English possession, to procure fresh provisions for the crew. The nativeshad not many days before received a visit from the Sumter, and were loud

/ The Sumter, one of the first, if not the very first,of the regularly commissioned vessels of the Con-federate navy, left New Orleans on the 18th ofJune, 1861 (see cut, p. 14), and, running the block-ade, almost immediately began privateering opera-tions. She was a screw steamer of 600 tons, andwas armed with 5 guns — an 8-ineh pivot, and 424-pound howitzers. She cruised for two monthsin the Caribbean Sea and along the coast of SouthAmerica , receiving friendly treatment and coalingwithout hindrance in the neutral ports. Duringthe succeeding two months she cruised in the Atlan-tic. On the night of the 23d of November, sheran out of the port of St. Pierre , Island of Marti-nique, eluding the Iroquois (Captain Palmer), which

had been sent to search for her. AtGibraltar, havingbeen effectually blockaded by the Tuscarora, shewas sold, afterward becoming a blockade runner.Among the vessels sent in search of her were theNiagara, Powhatan, Keystone State, Richmond , andSan Jacinto.

In his volume, “ The Blockade and the Cruisers ”(Charles Scribner’s Sons ), Professor J. B. Soleysums up her career thus:

“ During her cruise she had made 17 prizes, of which 2were ransomed, 7 were released in Cuban ports by orderof the Captain-General, and 2 were recaptured. Apartfrom the delays caused by interrupted voyages, thetotal injury inflicted by the Sumter upon American com-merce consisted in the burning of sis vessels with theircargoes.” Editors.

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