CAPTURE OF THE ARIEL.
The next afternoon the Alabama ran down to the solitary little island of Blanquilla, near the coast of Venezuela, whither the Agrippina had preceded her. At the anchorage Captain Semmes was somewhat surprised to find an American whaling schooner. Some boilers had been set up on the island, and her crew were busily engaged in trying out oil from the carcass of a whale which had recently been captured. As the Alabama floated the United States flag, the captain of the whaler rowed out to her and volunteered to pilot the new comer in, and expressed much satisfaction that the United States navy department had shown such a commendable determination to protect commerce in the Carribean Sea. After an inspection of the Alabama’s armament, he expressed the opinion that she was “just the ship to give the pirate Semmes fits.” When he was finally informed into whose hands he had fallen, his consternation was really pitiable. Semmes, however, was not disposed to stir up a quarrel with even so weak a government as that of Venezuela, and magnanimously informed the young skipper that he should consider the island as a Venezuelan possession, notwithstanding the slight evidences of occupation, and that the marine league surrounding the island would be respected as Venezuelan waters. The Yankee master was detained on board the Alabama during her stay as a precautionary measure. Some of the junior officers took delight in tantalizing the enforced guest in the interim. A midshipman asked him with great earnestness if “the old man” told him that he would not burn his ship.
“Why to be sure he did,” was the response.
And then followed doleful waggings of the head and the comforting remark that it all looked very much like one of Semmes’ grim jokes.
In the end the whaler was released and her master warned to get into a Federal port at the earliest opportunity, and not permit himself to be caught on the high seas, as he might not fare so well a second time.
The Alabama spent five days here coaling from the Agrippina. The crew were allowed shore liberty in quarter watches, but as there were no rum shops or dance houses on the island, the privilege was not greatly appreciated by a large part of the rough sailors. Several of the boats were rigged with sails and the officers went fishing. Gunning for pelicans, plovers, gulls and sand-snipes was also a favorite pastime. Flocks of flamingoes waded in the lagoons around the island in search of food, or stood in line like soldiers on the beach.
A few settlers from the main land had taken up their residence on the island, and were cultivating bananas. The sailors helped themselves bountifully to this fruit, and complaint having been made to Captain Semmes, he squared the account with ship’s rations.
A court martial was appointed to consider the case of the incorrigible George Forrest, and he was condemned to be put ashore and left on this island.
November 26th the Alabama left her anchorage at Blanquilla, and on the 29th was coasting along the shore of Porto Rico. It was the hope of Captain Semmes that he might capture a treasure steamer on her way north with gold from California. In the Mona passage a Spanish schooner was boarded, which contained late Boston papers giving long accounts of the extensive preparations which were being made for a campaign in Texas, the conduct of which was to be placed in the hands of General Banks. Captain Semmes had already heard of this proposed transfer of a northern army to the Texan coast, and had laid his plans to be in the Gulf of Mexico about the time it should arrive, which it was expected would be early in January. In the meantime he had something over a month to devote to other matters. The Spaniards were told that the Alabama was the United States steamer Iroquois. A few hours later another sail was sighted, and the Alabama having drawn nearer, it needed not the skill of Evans to pronounce her “Yankee.” The stamp of New England was in her tapering royal and sky-sail masts and her snowy canvas. Newspapers were hastily put aside and attention concentrated on the chase. Almost within sight of her destination the bark was overhauled and proved to be the Parker Cooke, of Boston, bound for San Domingo with provisions. Large quantities of butter, salt meats, crackers and dried fruits were transferred to the Alabama, and at dusk the torch was applied to the prize.
That night the Alabama’s officers had a bad scare, and the men were ordered to their guns. A large ship of war came suddenly upon them, and as the cruiser had her propeller up and no steam in her boilers, she would have been completely at the mercy of so powerful an adversary. The stranger, however, was evidently not Federal, and passed quickly by without paying the slightest attention to the Alabama, which was in plain view. Next day three vessels were boarded, but one showed Dutch papers and the others Spanish.
December 2d the Alabama chased and overhauled a French bark, and her master’s ignorance of international law came near costing him dearly. He paid no attention to a blank cartridge, and it was not until a solid shot was thrown between his masts and at no great distance above his people’s heads, that he consented to round to. When asked by the boarding officer why he had not stopped at the first summons, he replied that he was a Frenchman, and that France was not at war with anybody!
On the 5th the Union, of Baltimore, was captured, but she had a neutral cargo, and her captain having given a ransom bond and consented to receive on board the prisoners from the Parker Cooke, she was suffered to proceed on her voyage.
A sharp lookout was now kept for a steamer which it was expected would be on her way from the Isthmus of Panama to New York with a million dollars or upward of California gold. This money, if captured, would be lawful prize, and the portion of it which would go to officers and crew would be a welcome addition to the pay received from the Confederate government. The Alabama held her post in the passage between Cuba and San Domingo from December 3d to December 7th, but no steamer approached from the south. Many vessels were overhauled, but all were neutrals except the Union, which ran into the Alabama’s arms without the necessity of a chase. The 7th was Sunday, and while the Captain was at breakfast and the crew preparing for the usual Sunday muster, the lookout raised his shout of “Sail-ho!”
“Where-away?” demanded the officer of the deck.
“Broad on the port bow, sir!” was the reply.
“What does she look like?”
“She is a large steamer, brig-rigged, sir.”
Here was a steamer at last, but not in the expected quarter. This one was south bound, and visions of California gold vanished into air. Nevertheless, she might prove a good prize.
“All hands work ship,” called the boatswain, and Lieutenant Kell, seizing his trumpet, directed the furling of sails and the lowering of the propeller. The firemen worked like beavers, and in twenty minutes a sailing vessel had been transformed into a steamer. At a distance of three or four miles the United States flag was run up, and the stranger responded with the same ensign. The rapidity with which the latter approached showed that she was swift, but it was soon ascertained that she carried no guns. The Alabama ran down across her path as if to speak her, but the stranger kept away a little and swept by within a stone’s throw. The great packet-steamer had all her awnings set, and under these was a crowd of passengers of both sexes. Groups of soldiers were also seen and several officers in uniform. Many passengers with opera glasses could be seen curiously studying the construction and appointments of the false Union war ship. As the Alabama passed the wake of the packet, she wheeled in pursuit, ran up the Confederate flag, and fired a blank cartridge. Instantly the state of amused curiosity on the stranger’s deck gave way to panic. Ladies ran screaming below, and male passengers were by no means slow in keeping them company. Great clouds of black smoke poured from the smoke stacks of the fleeing monster, and her huge walking beam responded still more rapidly to the strain of her engines. A run of less than a mile convinced Captain Semmes that the stranger had the speed of him, and that if he wished to capture her he must resort to heroic measures. The “Persuader,” was cleared away. The Alabama was yawed a little to enable the gunner to take accurate aim, and a hundred-pound shell splintered the foremast of the fugitive ten feet above the deck. Her master declined to expose his passengers to a second shot, and the stranger’s engines were stopped, and she soon lay motionless awaiting the approach of her captor.
The prize proved to be the California mail-steamer Ariel, Captain Jones, bound to the Isthmus of Panama with five hundred and thirty-two passengers, mostly women and children, on board, a battallion of one hundred and forty-five United States marines, and a number of naval officers, including Commander Sartori, who was on his way to the Pacific to take command of the United States sailing sloop St. Marys. The boarding officer reported great consternation among the passengers. Many of them were hastily secreting articles of value, and the ladies were inclined to hysterics, not knowing to what indignities they might be subjected by the “pirates.” At this juncture Lieutenant Armstrong was ordered to take the captain’s gig and a boat’s crew rigged out in white duck, and proceed on board arrayed in his best uniform and brightest smile, and endeavor to restore a feeling of security. The young lieutenant found the most serious obstacle to the success of his mission in the person of the commander of the marines, who strenuously objected to having his men considered as prisoners of war and put on parole. But the lieutenant had a clinching argument in the muzzles of the Alabama’s guns, then distant but a few yards, and the marines finally stacked their arms and took the oath not to bear arms against the Confederacy until exchanged. $8,000 in United States treasury notes and $1,500 in silver were found in the safe, which Captain Jones admitted to be the property of the vessel’s owner, and this was turned over to Captain Semmes. The boats’ crews behaved very well, and none of the personal effects of the prisoners were seized.
Second Lieutenant R. F. Armstrong
The captain and engineers of the Ariel were sent on board the Alabama, and a number of the Alabama’s engineers took possession of the Ariel’s engines. Lieutenant Armstrong and Midshipman Sinclair, who acted as his executive officer, were not long in ingratiating themselves with the ladies, and when they finally left the prize two days later, nearly all the buttons on their coats had been given away as mementoes. They occupied respectively the head and foot of the long dining table. When champagne was brought in they proposed the health of Jefferson Davis, which they requested should be drunk standing. Their request was complied with amid considerable merriment, and then the Yankee girls retaliated by proposing the health of President Lincoln, which was drunk with a storm of hurrahs.
The next day after the capture of the Ariel the prize crew was hastily withdrawn from her, bringing away certain small fixtures from the engines, which rendered them temporarily useless. The reason for this move was the appearance of another steamer on the horizon, which it was hoped would prove to be the treasure steamer for which the Alabama had been waiting for a week past. Captain Semmes was doomed to another disappointment, however, for she was neutral. About eight o’clock the next evening, while in chase of a brig, which was afterward found to be from one of the German states, a valve casting broke in one of the Alabama’s engines, and the chief engineer reported that it would take at least twenty-four hours to repair the damage. Captain Semmes had been extremely loth to release the Ariel. To get her into a Confederate port was, of course, impossible, and the Alabama could not possibly accommodate such an immense number of passengers, even for the short time necessary to run into the nearest neutral port. He was debating in his own mind whether it might not be possible to get his prize into Kingston, Jamaica, long enough to get his prisoners ashore, when the accident happened to the engine, and a boat sent to board the German brig brought back the information that there was yellow fever at Kingston. A bond for the value of the prize and her cargo was therefore exacted from Captain Jones, and the Ariel was suffered to proceed on her voyage.