The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-06-28
BUILT FOR THE CONFEDERACY.
STORY or THE WRECKED BRITISH
MONITOR SCORPION.
Ex.Confederate Naval Omcers Think the
Resuit OF the War Might Have Been
Different Had Not England Seized
the Scorpion and Her Aistar SHIP.

Resu,t OF the War Might Have Been
Different Had Not England Seized
the Scorpion and Her Aister SHIP.
WARRINGTON, June T.--The laundering
OF the British monitor Scorpion on Georges
Shoals last week while being towed
from Bermuda to st. John, N. B., where
she was to he broken up As old metal. marks.
perhaps, the passing Of the last relic OF
the navy of the Confederate Government.
The Scorpion and her sister monitor,
the Wivern, were. constructed by Laird
Bros Of Liverpool under the super
vision Of Capt. James d. Bullock Of tho
Confederate N avy, an uncle Of President
Roosevelt. Owing to the protest OF Mr.
Adams, then Minister TO England, acting
under orders from Secretary Seward, the
British Government seized the two vessels
and refused to allow them to be turned
over to the Confederacy. 1t has always
been asserted by Southern naval officers
that the failure of the Confederate Govern
ment to secure these two monitors, which
were then the most formidable war vessels
afloat, went far to change the result of the
war between the States.
There are to-day living in Washington
two or three ex Confederate naval officers
who were among those sent to England to
bring the Scorpion and the Wivern to this
country, and one OF them furnished tho
following account Of the Scorpion:
Soon after the battle between the Monitor
and the Merrmac in Hampton Roads in
1852 the Confederate Government ordered
from Laird Bros. two monitors and sent
their construction. The contract price
was COS, $50, or about $48s,750. apiece. Ons
was to be completed in March, 1863, and the
other in May OF the same year. They vera
known while undergoing construction as
81 Touss1n and FL Mounassir
There was some delay in the work and
it was not until May ~, 1888, that the Con-
federate officers who. were to man the
new boats ran the blockade at Charles
ton; g. c., and started i for England. Those
r. Hamilton, Capt. Littlepage, Dan Trgg,
II. II. Marmaduke and Capt. James North.
Capt Bullock was to command one of the
monitors and Capt. North the other.
The party were beached at Eleuthera
vessel came to their relief and towed their
ship to Nassau. They arrived in England
The agents of the United States Govern
ment in England found out the intention:
Of the Confederates in regard to the Laird
tary Seward. The latter fled a protest
through Minister Adams, and England held
up the two vessels.
The Confederate offioers then invoked
who announced that they. would purchase
the monitors from Laird Bros, and
that they were the agents OF the Khedive
OF Egypt in the transaction. Their real
federates The British Government sent
a secret messenger to the Khedive, who
denied all knowledge Of the matter.
Upon this Secretary Seward notified the
British and the French GOVERNMENTS that
two boats to Bullock and North the United
States would consider 1t an act Of war on
the part OF Great Britain and, II Bravay
Bros. bought them and delivered them.
an act Of war on the part OF France. In
two boats, and reimbursed their cost to
the Confederate Government.
The English papers said at tbs time
that superiority of the Scorpion and the
Wivern to the other vessels OF the British
two monitors had the defective srmor
OF the Monitor and the Merrimac and were
fitted with revolving turreta; they
could have been secured by the Confectionery
the blockAdes might have been raised and
the effect upon the result OF the war might
have been very great.
In view of the fact that the Scorpion
had been used of late years as target for
British war vessels in the West Indies.
an old Confederate sailor wrote to the
Association of Confederate Veterans q
few weeks ago, suggesting that she be-
bought by the association and preserved
as . relic. His letter reached New Orleans
in the last week Of May, two days after
the convention had closed its annual session
and too late, therefore, to receive attention.
II was published In the New Orleans papers
and a movement was started to carry out