Pictorial history of the war for the Union, volume 2 (of 2)

by Ann S. Stephens

THE BIRKENHEAD RAMS.

During the war the United States consuls in various parts of the world often rendered important services to the country by detecting the ungenerous attempts made by European nations to aid the Confederacy by blockade runners, and by secretly fitting out iron-clads and other efficient craft for the use of the rebels.

Mr. Hammond, Consul to Dublin in the early part of the war, rendered efficient service in this respect, having prevented several vessels from being sent out as blockaders. But perhaps the most important service rendered by any consul was that which prevented the Birkenhead rams, two formidable iron-clads, from performing the rebel work for which they were intended. These rams were supposed for a long time to have been building in Egypt, for the Pacha of Egypt. That they were not completed and allowed to depredate on our commerce, is owing exclusively to the tact and energy of our Consul-General of Egypt, at the time residing in Alexandria. The history of this unwritten and hitherto unacknowledged service is this:

Said Pacha, late Viceroy of Egypt, during his European trip in 1862, visited the shipyard of Messrs. Laird & Co., Birkenhead, England, and being highly pleased with the works of these great ship-builders, gave an order on his return home to Mr. Broway, a French merchant widely known in the East for his extensive business connections with the Egyptian government, for two iron clads, which were to be constructed by the Messrs. Laird. Broway conveyed the order, as directed, and the rams were commenced. While the building of these iron-clads was in progress the Viceroy died, and his successor, Ismael Pacha, the present ruler of Egypt, was called upon by Monsieur Broway for the necessary payments, which that potentate declined giving. But Monsieur Broway being strongly backed by the Count De Morney, a near relative of the French Emperor, compelled Ismael Pacha to come to terms. Through this powerful influence, an arrangement was made, by which the Pacha was released from all further obligations regarding the same by a payment of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars to Broway, who for that sum took the contract on his own shoulders. It was, however, understood between the Viceroy and Monsieur Broway that this arrangement should be kept secret, and the same continue to be known as the Viceroy’s property until the vessels were completed and disposed of.

Early in September, 1863, telegrams from the Federal Minister at London and the Consul at Liverpool were sent to the United States Consul-General at Alexandria, stating that the two iron clads were ready for sea and would sail as Egyptian property unless satisfactory evidence of their real ownership and destination could be produced, as this alone would enable the United States Minister at London to stop them.

To procure that evidence was a delicate and difficult task, as it could only be obtained from the Viceroy himself. Great tact and a refinement of diplomacy was necessary even in approaching the Viceroy, who was bound to secrecy by his agreement with Broway. Still the evidence could be obtained from no other source.

The Consul-General, Mr. Thayers, had previously sailed for Europe on leave, entrusting the affairs of his mission to Francis Dainese, Esq., of Washington City, a gentleman of fine capacity, who possessed great experience in the language and customs of the Orient. The diplomatic talent of this gentleman had been tested in various responsible positions which he had held under the government, and being placed on terms of easy communication with the Viceroy, both by position and a thorough knowledge of the Turkish language, he was, perhaps, the only person at that time in Egypt who could have approached that potentate with any hope of success. With quiet tact Mr. Dainese obtained an interview with the Pacha, and enlightened him regarding the subtle and skilful designs which were carried on against the United States under his name. For the first time Ismael Pacha understood clearly that these rams were to be delivered under his name, and as his property, to the enemies of the United States. So vividly and earnestly did Mr. Dainese represent to His Highness the dangerous position in which this fraud would place himself and his government, that he obtained from the Pacha an official denial of his ownership in these rams, or that the Egyptian government was in any way connected with them.

On the 11th of September, 1863, Mr. Dainese telegraphed to Mr. Adams in London, that the Egyptian Government officially denied having any ownership, or being in any way concerned with the iron-clads of Birkenhead. By the steamer of the 13th of September, a certified copy of the document itself was forwarded to Mr. Adams.

The telegram reached London on the 12th of September, 1863, and the two rams were shortly after seized by the British Government, at the urgent request of our Minister, founded entirely on the intelligence obtained by Mr. Dainese. This transaction made a good deal of excitement at the time, both in England and this country, and great credit was certainly deserved by Mr. Dainese for his timely interference, which saved our commerce from fresh depredations. There was a degree of boldness in his action worthy of all praise, for he promptly undertook and accomplished this important affair, without instructions from Washington, and the result was communicated by him to the Secretary of State, in whose department the diplomatic correspondence is now on file. Perhaps this record will be the first ever made of a transaction so important to the country, but in a war like that which has swept over our land, all events bearing upon it should be matters of public history, and the man who serves his country as a diplomat can be no more overlooked, in strict justice, than the general who leads its armies to the field.

THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION.
By the President of the United States of America.
January 1, 1863.

Whereas, on the twenty-second day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, a Proclamation was issued by the President of the United States, containing among other things the following, to wit:

“That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State, or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforth and forever free, and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom.

“That the Executive will, on the first day of January aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the States and parts of States, if any, in which the people thereof respectively shall then be in rebellion against the United States; and the fact that any State, or the people thereof, shall on that day be in good faith represented in the Congress of the United States by members chosen thereto at elections wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such State shall have participated, shall, in the absence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such State and the people thereof are not then in rebellion against the United States.”

Now, therefore, I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested as Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States in time of actual armed Rebellion against the authority and government of the United States, and as a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing said Rebellion, do, on this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and in accordance with my purpose so to do, publicly proclaimed for the full period of one hundred days from the day first above mentioned, order and designate as the States and parts of States wherein the people thereof respectively are this day in rebellion against the United States, the following, to wit: ARKANSAS, TEXAS, LOUISIANA (except the Parishes of St. Bernard, Plaquemines, Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. James, Ascension, Assumption, Terre Bonne, Lafourche, St. Marie, St. Martin, and Orleans, including the City of New Orleans), MISSISSIPPI, ALABAMA, FLORIDA, GEORGIA, SOUTH CAROLINA, NORTH CAROLINA, and VIRGINIA (except the forty-eight counties designated as West Virginia, and also the counties of Berkeley, Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth City, York, Princess Ann, and Norfolk, including the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth), and which excepted parts are, for the present, left precisely as if this Proclamation were not issued.

And by virtue of the power and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that ALL PERSONS HELD AS SLAVES within said designated States and parts of States ARE, AND HENCEFORWARD SHALL BE FREE: and that the Executive Government of the United States, including the Military and Naval Authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons.

And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free, to abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self-defence, and I recommend to them that in all cases, when allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable wages.

And I further declare and make known that such persons of suitable condition will be received into the armed service of the United States to garrison forts, positions, stations and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service.

And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution, upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious favor of Almighty God.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my name, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

[L. S.]

Done at the City of Washington, this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-seventh.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

By the President—William H. Seward,

Secretary of State.