The Sumter banner. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, 1855-04-04


From he Washington Un.o..1
The Ei Dorado Outrage, The
Facts of the Case.
The brief nllusion made by ,ls on
Yesterday to the late outrage upon the
steamer El Dorado by Spanish
fr'Satr was based upon unofficial intel.
llgence, but so well authenticated, tha
we tr't authorized to rely upon -.
correctness. We have been f,y.,r.,I
| by The State Department with Z ~,
"fa 'lelterOf Cartain Gray, the i.
mander}of'he FL Dorndn, addressed
to The acting American Consul II
Havana, which wepubIish below, and
"hlch fully sustains the account on
which our comments of yesterday were
made. The insult to our naI was
Migrant, wholly unprovuked, and
without the shadow OF paliation. Al
armed Spanish man of war deliberate.
y tlre,s two shots at one Of our reunla,
mail steamers, stops her on her vow.
go by force. and compels her io
submit to search by il Spanish off
cl"l! 1t is difficult t. Conceive of n
grosser outrage upon our national
h"i'"r,nr a b"lder assertion of sstlIc
right of search" If the case takes
he usual course, The facts will be
forwarded 10 Madrid, where q
Spalllsl' government will be called
upon Tor repatriation. The. Spanish
government will claim time to send 10
Havana, "iprocure evidence; and in
The mean tine, whilst th- DELAY takes
i il'iarr, s"l'ir other American vessel will
be ilrsd int" and s,arc:led by another
4 Spanish lrlgate, and in this way the
lnslit.'+d injury are never acknowI.
edged nr.a'onrd for. We will not
pursue the subject, but only remark
that our ag and our hnarr have :becI,
in,uited and the right of search practi.
";:!ls asserted. We have full conf.
dsnce that The President will do Ills
duty iaitllI'nIlyin the premises. The
letter oi Captain Gray is fJIIows:
SrEMsII1p Ell DORADO.
I Havana, March 8. 1855.
Sir: J have To report to vou that on
the night. Of. the 9th lust, Willie on my.
! la~sng" to ASpinwail IN - T0W.
I''"i- r'sos--t,,. ne tJ'6'.. Ji,S. :. ;s:",s I
"a" sd G. .,'nia :-7ngers.
1 va, iir"d at, ana o,"uuht to. by the
Spanish irigatc "FcroIona,' the cir
cnn'Slances {" which are these: The
n'3ht was beautifully clear. with u
smooth sea and light brcczes from
The south and cast. \. twenty min.
nl's past midnight | made Cape An.
t"ni" light, bearing north by west.
per compa<s,) steering north by ives,
81 west, and few niiules afterwards
snip was seen "n our port tow with
her head /" south and west and
courses hau ed up. AT about I.l5,
when she was two points forward of
the cam, and distant from half to
three quarters Of II mile, without sir.
nal any dcscri ption, she fired shot
ut lis, which fell about twenty wards
from the ship on port side, abreast OF
fore rigging. Immediately ordered
The helm put q starbnard. and ran
down towards her, intending to pass
nndrr her stern, but. when within three
hundred yards of her, she Tired So.
c" d shot, which PASSED but short
d'>tance over the port whcel.hnuse
from forward to aft. The engines
having been previously slowed,
Sop cd tAen, and ranging up under
her stern, asked what he wished. He
r'pI'ed by asking what ship it was,
aud wh re | was from. | told him
lhr Cn'rd States mail steamship Eel
Dorado" from A>ril,wnll. bound To
Havana. lie then told me to back
aud wait. Alter stopping some min.
ute, again hailed and asked him
whit he wanted, and to know if he
was going :" keep me there all night.
lie answered by say ing he would
send il boat alongside, which ne did.
When the officer came on board, he
requested /" sec the papers. showed
h'Ih The clearance from the United
States Consulate at A-pinwall, and
ais" the bill of health; after reading
winch, he told me- could proceed So
soon is the beat g"t short distance
from the slip Tie d ten,ion of
stopping heing about forty five min.
"tcS, besides rulning out of my
course.
| would further remark that during
The Whole night my signal lights were
burning brigh; and clear, and that l
was pl'r uI..T my c"nrsr at distance
"i tnliy eight "r ten miles from amy
land, and without the intention of
violating the laws Of any country.
Remain with respect, your obt SER
ALFRED G. GRAY.