The Alabama Claims

C.S.S. Alabama

What we like to call “the special relationship” between the United States and Great Britain, cemented by two world wars, was in short supply in the 1860`s. At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, the North declared a blockade of Confederate harbours thereby cutting off exports of cotton and causing great problems for the British textile industries.

It was against this background in November 1861 in international waters off Cuba, that the Union warship San Jacinto, commanded by Captain Wilkes intercepted the British mail steamer Trent. A boarding party seized two Confederate commissioners, John Siddell and James Mason, en route to Britain and France. Lord Palmerston, Britain`s foreign secretary demanded their release and war clouds gathered between Britain and the United States for the second time in less than thirty years. After intense diplomatic pressure, President Abraham Lincoln reluctantly backed down and ordered the release of the two commissioners commenting that one war at a time was enough! The immediate threat of foreign intervention was thereby lifted.

Both Union and Confederate governments expected the war would be over in a matter of weeks. The South`s President Jefferson Davis was convinced that cotton was the key and knowing that the European powers would not allow the newly announced blockade to starve them of that essential staple, he encouraged the cotton growers to hold their crops off the market. Commissioners from both North and South were sent to Europe, the South to try to get Europe to intervene on its behalf and the North to thwart this. Jefferson Davis was fortunate in having Stephen R Malloryas his Secretary of the Navy, a very able appointee who, in a shrewd move, chose James Dunwoody Bulloch as his chief purchasing agent in Europe.

Mallory had to take account of the South`s virtual lack of a navy in developing a strategy to counter the Northern blockade. He decided that what was needed was several fast wooden cruisers to strike, not at the blockading fleet, but at the North`s vast commercial fleet. He hoped this would divert warships from the blockade so weakening its effectiveness.

Bulloch was given the task of procuring the necessary ships and with his experience of shipping matters felt that Liverpool with its vast shipyards was the perfect choice. Mallory warned him that the task would not be easy. Queen Victoria`s Proclamation of Neutrality recognized the parties as belligerents and limited the amount of help that could be given to their ships in British ports. But this was not the only obstacle. Mallory advised Bulloch to familiarize himself with Britain`s Foreign Enlistment Act 1819. This Act stated , inter alia, that “No British subject shall engage in equipping any vessel or ship, with the intent that such ship or vessel shall be employed in the service of a belligerent.”

Bulloch wasted no time in seeking legal advice from an eminent Liverpool solicitor Mr. F.S. Hull, a choice which was to have far reaching results. Mr. Hull briefed two leading barristers on the interpretation of Section 7 of the Act. He framed his brief to the barristers to the effect that Section 7 dealt with warships and he argued that to be a warship, a ship had to have guns. However it would be legal to sell an unarmed vessel to a belligerent regardless of its intended use. The two barristers concurred with his interpretation.

Armed with these opinions, Bulloch lost no time in placing his first ship order in Liverpool with the yard of William C Miller & Sons. This was for a screw gunboat called the Oreta. Bulloch`s activities in Liverpool attracted the unwelcome attention of the newly appointed US Consul Thomas Haines Dudley. Dudley employed a retired detective, Matthew McGuire, to spy on the Confederate shipbuilding operations. Within days, McGuire spotted the Oreta in Miller`s yard and was able to indentify her as a gunboat possibly destined for the Confederacy. Dudley reported these facts to Charles Francis Adams, the American Minister in London, who in turn, protested to Lord John Russell the British Foreign Secretary, requesting that the ship be detained under The Foreign Enlistment Act.

Lord Russell undertook to look into the matter. He instructed The Collector of Customs in Liverpool, Mr. S. Price Edwards to interview the owner William C Miller and Price Edwards himself made arrangements for his officers to examine the Oreto. Ostensibly, the ship was being built for an Italian firm in Palermo and although she had all attributes of a gunship, she carried no guns. A report of these enquiries was sent to London by the Collector who advised that the ship could not be detained as her builders had broken no law.

Bulloch, realizing that he had had a narrow escape, lost no time in arranging for the Oreta to sail and hired an English captain, James Angus Duguid. who hired a crew for a voyage to Italy. To further conceal her true destination he arranged a party on board with female guests hoping that this would suggest to the authorities that she was going on a routine trial. On 22^nd March 1862, the Oreta steamed out of Liverpool. The steamer Bahama, chartered by Bulloch and carrying Oreta`s guns sailed to meet her at Nassau in the Bahamas where she also took on her Confederate commander, Captain John Newland Maffet. When she set sail again it was as the commerce raider CSS Florida.

This successful ruse was repeated by Bulloch in the case of his second order for a screw gunboat placed with Laird`s of Birkenhead. This vessel was known as No290, ie. the 290^th ship built by the yard. Dudley, had identified the 290 in Laird`s yard and reported that he believed she was a gunboat intended for the Confederates. Once again, Adams complained to Lord Russell who showed no more interest than he had done in the case of the Oreta.

Finally, Adams took legal advice from Robert Collier QC who confirmed that Britain would lay itself open to substantial redress unless the 290 was seized. Bulloch received warning of this and as with the Oreta he arranged for the 290 to go to sea. This time the rendezvous was with the steamer Agrippina in the Azores. Fully armed and with her new captain Raphael Semmes at the helm, the CSS Alabama as she was now known, proceeded on a two year guerre de course around the world. She sank or bonded so many ships that she became a major factor in crippling the American Merchant Marine.

The CSS Alabama was finally brought to book off Cherbourg by Captain John A Winslow of the USS Kearsarge. Following a two hour battle the CSS Alabama sank. Captain Semmes and some of his officers were rescued by the British yacht Deerhound and were landed in the UK.

After the end of the Civil War, Adams made several attempts to claim reparations from Britain for the damage inflicted on Northern shipping by the CSS Alabama and other Confederate cruisers which had been built, fitted out and otherwise aided by British interests. The Prime Minister Lord Palmerston, dismissed the claims out of hand and it wasn't until 1871 that the US Secretary of State, Hamilton Fish, brought about The Treaty of Washington which provided for arbitration between the two governments.

The object of the parties in agreeing the Treaty was to deal with all outstanding disputes under one umbrella, generically called The Alabama Claims. The Treaty provided for a panel of five arbiters representing Britain, America, the King of Italy, the President of the Swiss Federation and the Emperor of Brazil. It set out three rules which were to codify the obligations of neutrality which America regarded as international law, but Britain disagreed. The parties instructed the tribunal to apply these rules as a lex specialis.

1. That a neutral government is bound to use due diligence to prevent the fitting out, the arming or equipping, or the departure of any vessel from within its jurisdiction, which it has reasonable grounds to believe is intended to cruise or carry on war against a power with which it is at peace.

2. That a neutral government is bound not to permit or suffer any belligerent to use its ports or waters as a base for naval operations or to allow supplies or repairs to be carried out therein.

3. That a neutral government is bound to exercise due diligence in its own ports or waters and as to all persons within its jurisdiction to prevent any violation of the foregoing obligations and duties .

The Tribunal met in Geneva and the cases of the two parties were exchanged. At the first hurdle, the Treaty seemed doomed. The American case revived the indirect , constructive, consequential and national claims, originally put forward by Charles Sumner a senior senator from Massachusetts. Chief Justice Cockburn, Counsel for Great Britain, argued that the Treaty entirely waived indirect claims, whether by grammar, by reason , by policy, or by any other standard. Charles F Adams the American representative finally persuaded his colleagues on the Tribunal to drop the indirect claims.

With this obstacle removed and after considerable argument on the differing interpretations of the legal definitions of “due diligence”, the panel delivered its award. They were unanimous in finding that Great Britain was liable for the depredations committed by the CSS Alabama. In the case of the CSS Florida, the Tribunal found in favor of America by a majority of 4 to 1, and by a majority of 3 to 2 they found that the CSS Shenandoah should have been detained at Melbourne where she had recruited and coaled.

The damages awarded in full and final settlement of all claims amounted to £3,25000 against the American claim for £9,5000. As there was some difficulty in distributing the money to those who had any real right to the compensation, the American Treasury benefited from the damages.

The other disputes between the parties , eg. fishing rights, the legal status of naturalizations and the treatment of Fenians, were all dealt with in the Treaty. It was not until 1872, with Emperor William I of Germany acting as arbitrator, that the San Juan boundary dispute was decided.

The CSS Alabama and her captain Raphael Semmes continued to stir passions long after the Civil War had ended. During the First World War, Kaiser William ordered his Admirals to study the book written by Semmes entitled “My Adventures Afloat in the Sumpter and the Alabama.” No doubt in turn, they influenced their U-Boat commanders. It was only after World War One that the U.S. Merchant Marine started to recover from the damage caused by the Confederate raiders. As insurance rates went sky high, American merchant ships transferred their legal ownership to neutral nations and flags of convenience.

In 1984 the French Navy minesweeper Circe, commanded by Bruno Duclos discovered the wreck of the CSS Alabama on the seabed seven nautical miles off Cherbourg. Five years later in 1989, France and the US signed a pact agreeing that the US owned the ship, but the French retained custody. Even after this remove in time, despite having built the ship, Britain was not given any say in its disposal, which might have allowed some artifacts or even the wreck itself to be brought home.

Douglas W. Stewart resides in Great Britain. He is a retired Company Lawyer (Barrister at Law). Prior to reading for the Bar he spent 18 years in HM Customs & Excise, latterly as a Senior Officer (HEO) in the Investigation Division.