The Republican journal., 1906-01-18
THE VOLUNTEER NAVY.

ern Ports. Personal Experiences of a
Maine Officer to Follow
For many years l have been lmpor-
tuned by my friends to Write some OF
nv experiences in the L. s. Navy tor
four years during the War OF the Re
bellion as a volunteer officer. But be-
ing unable to do so without making
rather too free use of the personal
pronoun, and egotism being no part OF
my makeup, l have declined to do SO.
Now, having passed my 10th mile stone,
have come to the conclusion that If 1t
is ever to be known among my friends
and numerous acquaintance through
out the State it had better be done
soon, OF it would be too late. In the
language of Shakespeare: '1f 1t were
done, when t is done, then It were well
it were done quickly
Before relating my personal expert
ences | will give short history OF the
L. S. Navy at the beginning OF the War
of the Rebellion and tell what led TO
the Governments calling for volunteer
officers to officer their ships The civil
war opened by the Rebels firing on
Fort Sumter on April II, 1861, and on
the 10th of the same month the Presl-
dent of the United States issued
proclamation declaring the Southern
ports of the United States to be IN
state of blockade. May 18th, England,
with unseemly and indecent haste,
issued a proclamation recognizing the
Southern States as belllgerentS, thus
showing that the interest it sought
to protect was their own interest IN
the Acknowledgement of great rival.
Rv according them belligerent rights
they were able to strengthen the arm
of the Rebellion so materially that the
chance of success was greatly increased.
An Englishman has written as late as
1891 that the recognition OF the Con-
federates as belligerents by Great
Britain was distinctly unfrlendly act,
stragetic move in the contests OF
Nations, taken in the hope that IL
would destroy growing and rlVal
power. They knew very well that at
the time President Lincoln issued MS
proclamation declaring the ports OF the
Southern States under state OF BLOCK
AIDE that we had no Navy to enforce
that blockade; and SO laughed that
proclamation to scorn. LORD John
Russell of England, secretary OF foreign
affairs. said in manifesto to the Eng
iish people that it was but a paper
blockade that could not be maintained
and they need have no fear of theiT
trade with the Confederate ports being
interrupted by the ships of the Federal
Navy. for they had no Navy, and there
were 1900 miles of coast to blockade,
OF from the Capes Of Virginia to the
Rio Grande: and by international law
in order to blockade port it must be
continuous: that is, there must be ships
in sight off the port all the time; that
if by reason of stress of weather OF
any or ali other causes combined, there
was no vessel of the blOckadlng fleet to
be seen off d port for three days, the
blockade off that port could be de-
clared broken and that declaration
would be sustained by all nations. They
laughed to think that President Lincoln
10
shardy proclamation; and from then
standpoint at that time they were Justl-
fed. for we had no navy. The whole
force of the U. S. Navy at tie begin
ming of the Rebellion was but AZ vessels
of all kinds both great and small and
MI TQusey, SECRETARY of the Navy
4inder Buahanan's administration, who
was Rebel sympathiSer, had managed
to have all the ships on foreign stations,
with tie exception of eight, when the
Rebels brought the civil war upon us.
Gideon Weles, who had been APP
pointed Secretary of the Navy by Pres
ident Lincoln began to order the ships
home. But as fast as they arrived in
port the officers of each ship resigned
and went south. By the first of June,
1861, between three and four hundred
of them had resigned, and the Fed
eral Government found itself in sad
plight A blockade of more than fifteen
hundred miles had to be maintained
with but few ships, and half compile
ment of officers. But there was an
element in the United States at that
time that was equal to the emergency.
We had a matches merchant marine,
the best in the world, from which the
Government began to buy ships and
convert them into gunboats and to APP
point men from the merchant service
to officer them, 50 that before the ink
was fairly dry on Lord John Russell's
sarcastic manifesto we had perfect
gordon of ships from the Chesapeake
to the Rio Grande and had established
one of the most perfect blockades the
world had ever seen.
The writer of this entered the service
in October, 1851, and his vessel the u.
no rly Mi1Dirht WAC tho laot ljnlf in