Matthew Fontaine Maury, the Pathfinder of the Seas

by Charles Lee Lewis

Maury also had a hand in the attempt to have two ironclad rams constructed in a French port for the Confederate government, one of which he hoped to have the privilege of commanding. The specifications for such vessels were these: ability to cross the Atlantic, hulls of wood and iron with two armored turrets, engines of 300 horsepower which would give great momentum and a speed of fifteen or sixteen knots, two twin screw propellers, and a draft of fifteen feet. His general plan and the cost of construction were approved by Secretary Mallory, and on July 16, 1863 the contract was signed between Bulloch and L. Arman, a naval constructor at Bordeaux, for the building of the two steam rams. But these ships of war were destined never to be finished for the Confederacy, for the turn of events in America and the attitude of Great Britain caused the Emperor Napoleon to shift his position diplomatically and maintain a strict neutrality, though at one time, according to Maury’s diary, the Emperor had written to Arman for a description of the guns with which the rams were to be armed in order that the French government might superintend their fabrication, and test them to see if they were properly constructed.

Maury was engaged in other activities in England and on the Continent which were altogether political in their nature. He had a European reputation for his literary and scientific attainments, and was peculiarly well qualified to bring the Southern version of the causes, progress, and probable outcome of the war before an influential class of people. Upon his arrival in England he began at once to exert this influence, both privately and publicly. As an example of the latter form of propaganda was a letter which he addressed to the editor of the London Times. This appeared in that newspaper on December 22, 1862, and set forth a sanguine account of conditions in the South as he had recently seen them, and sought to impress upon the British the hopefulness of the Southern cause.

On October 7 of that year, Gladstone, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, had said at a banquet at Newcastle, “There is no doubt that Jefferson Davis and other leaders of the South have made an army; they are making, it appears, a navy; and they have made, what is more than either—they have made a nation”. The speech caused a sensation, and was received with cheers. “We may anticipate”, he also declared, “with certainty the success of the Southern States so far as their separation from the North is concerned”.[17] Maury had reason, therefore, for being at first very hopeful of European recognition and intervention, and was not merely drawing on his imagination when he wrote, “The Emperor may, and I hope will, decide on recognition and there are hopes here that when Parliament meets, February 5, the British government may find itself compelled to do something”.

In a short time, however, his eyes began to be opened, and he saw that, though great admiration was expressed for the bravery of the soldiers and the heroism of the women of the South, such sympathy was more apparent than real and was confined mostly to the upper classes. He began to realize that, since 1850, a million and a half had gone from the English middle class and settled in the North, and that their relatives and friends at home naturally sympathized with that section in the war.

Toward the close of the year 1863, Maury drew up a “Recast of Resolutions, etc.” for a Southern sympathizer, the Reverend Dr. Tremlett, of London, and for his 2000 parishioners, the purpose of which was the organization of a society to encourage remonstrance against the war. This developed into the “Society for Obtaining the Cessation of Hostilities in America”, which was very active during the year 1864. It had its headquarters at 215 Regent Street, London, and numbered among its officers and members many very influential persons. Leaflets and pamphlets were drawn up and distributed, which called upon the participants to bring the strife and bloodshed, the misery and suffering to a close. Many of these petitions were read in the churches of both Ireland and England, and signatures representing several millions of British people were secured. By that time, however, the war had advanced to that stage in which no such petitions could affect the North and only the complete collapse of the Confederacy would bring the struggle to an end.

In addition to this work as a propagandist which was carried on more or less in the open, Maury was also concerned in political intrigues with the Emperor Napoleon and Maximilian of Austria. These matters were veiled in secrecy, of course; and it is difficult to determine, at this late day, the exact extent of Maury’s operations. But there is evidence that it was very considerable. Napoleon had succeeded in conquering Mexico, and the crown had been offered to the Archduke Maximilian of Austria. Maury, who in the old days in Washington had had correspondence with this Austrian prince, thought the time opportune to write to him concerning a scheme which he thought might be greatly to the advantage of both Mexico and the Confederacy. The plan was the offer of assistance in the separation of California from the Union and its restoration to Mexico. Maury hoped that, in this way, foreign complications would arise, which would result in European intervention that would bring the war to a close.

At first, the scheme was received with great favor by Maximilian. Meanwhile, Napoleon changed his mind concerning any plan he may have once had for the recognition of the Confederacy and intervention in her behalf, probably because of England’s repeated refusals to join with him in any such action. As Bulloch says, “The invitation to build ships in France was given during the period of successful resistance at the South, and of apparent doubt and trepidation at the North. It was withdrawn when force of numbers and immeasurable superiority in war material began to prevail, and when aid and encouragement was most needed by the weaker side. It suited the Imperial policy, and appeared to be consistent with the designs upon Mexico, to extend a clandestine support to the South when the Confederate armies were still strong and exultant”.[18] Accordingly, when Maximilian visited the Emperor in Paris to consult in regard to his acceptance of the Mexican throne, he was persuaded by Napoleon to give up his plan of recognizing the Confederacy and entering into intimate relations with that government; and he did not receive Slidell, the Confederate representative, in Paris, as he had fully expected to do. Nothing further came of Maury’s plan. Maximilian was proclaimed Emperor of Mexico by a deputation from that country at the Archduke’s palace at Mirarmar on the Adriatic, on April 10, 1864; and on the 15th of that month he embarked for Vera Cruz, without making any further advances toward the Confederacy.

So much, then, for Maury’s endeavors to secure ships of war for the Confederacy, his work as a propagandist, and his political intrigues. But a fourth activity of his remains to be considered. This had to do with experiments with electric mines,—a continuation of that pioneer work in this field which he had commenced in Richmond early in the war. It has often been stated that this was the primary object of his mission to England; but certainly neither his correspondence nor his diary, which was begun at Bowdon on April 27, 1863, not very long after his arrival abroad, bear out this impression. The fact is, that not until after the comparative failure of his other plans and projects did Maury devote much time and attention to these experiments. Then from July, 1864 up to the time of his departure from England the following spring, everything indicates that his mind was absorbed with the electric mine.

It was not the fault of Maury, however, that this weapon was not more quickly developed, and used more effectively in the war. “I saw”, he bitterly complained in one of his letters, “that he did spring at least one mine on Farragut’s ships (in the Battle of Mobile Bay). It is so strange to me that sensible men will require to see ship after ship blown up before they will have faith in submarine mining. Don’t you remember some drawings that cousin John was making for me in the fall or winter of 1861? That was a plan for mining our channel ways, and our authorities have not yet faith in it to make of it a regular organized system of defense”. Even as late as November, 1864 he wrote in his diary: “The question may be asked why I do not hasten home with this information and knowledge? Who—for Davis and Mallory are bitter enemies—will believe my report? The importance of a navy and the value of submarine mining were urged upon them by me from the beginning. Moreover, I have written both the Secretary of War and the Secretary of the Navy urging these things, and here I am ordered to lie. Another thing, since the whole field is so new I can be of more service here in traversing and exhausting it with experiments where mechanical facilities and appliances are so abundant. I report results as fast as I obtain them and in a manner, as to circumstances and details, so minute that they may be brought into play as well as though I were there. Finally, I think it best since so it must be”.

The results of Maury’s experiments in the electric mine while in England are embodied in the following agreement, made April 11, 1865 with an English electrical engineer as agent: “My dear Sir,—My own experiments show that the electrical torpedo or mine has not hitherto been properly appreciated as a means of defense in war. It is as effective for the defense as ironclads and rifled guns are for the attack. Indeed, such is the progress made in what may be called the new department of military engineering that I feel justified in the opinion that hereafter in all plans for coast, harbor, and river defenses and in all works for the protection of cities and places whether against the attack by armies on land or ships afloat, the electrical torpedo is to play an important part. It will not only modify and strengthen existing plans but greatly reduce the expense of future systems. These experiments have resulted in some important improvements and contrivances, not to say inventions and discoveries, which have been fully made known to you verbally. The communication was confidential and for the purpose of making you a party interested in bringing the subject into proper notice. It was also verbally agreed that you should undertake to negotiate with certain powers for the adoption of this new system of defense as improved by me and grants made therefor should be shared between us, I receiving one half of the full amount so granted without charge or deduction of any sort.