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On the 8th of November, 1861, the capture of
John Slidell and
J. M. Mason, the commissioners of the Southern Confederacy to
England and
France, was effected.
It was the first considerable feat of the
Federal navy, and, two weeks afterward, when the
United States steamer “
San Jacinto” landed her prisoners in
Boston, the daring action of
Captain Wilkes became the prevailing topic of the day, and superseded in interest the questions that grew out of
Forts Henry and
Donelson, and the battles and the strategic movements of our army on land.
The writer was an eye-witness of the seizure and release of the British steamer
Trent, and the capture of
Slidell and
Mason, and their secretaries,
George Eustis and
J. E. McFarland.
I have never seen, even in the official reports of
Captain Wilkes and his officers, an account that does justice to the facts in all their relations, although it is the generally admitted fact that, at the time, there was less exaggeration in the publications of the
Northern papers than in the
English prints.
The foreign publications were the letters of the officers of the
Trent,
Captain Moir, commanding, his purser, and
Commander Williams, of the
Royal Navy Reserve, who chanced to be a fellow-passenger of the voyaging emissaries.
In
Captain Moir's report to Lord Palmerston, the
Premier, he says that
Captain Wilkes sent an order (which he did not) to him to bring his ship close under the guns of the American sloop-of-war.
These matters of detail, however, are, perhaps, not essential, only inasmuch as the truth thereof may put in its proper light the conduct of the officers of the “
San Jacinto.”
The “
San Jacinto” had cruised during the fall months on the west coast of
Africa, bearing a roving commission, and keeping a bright lookout for the privateer “
Sumter.”
The cruise had not resulted in anything of practical benefit, either in the way of prize-money to the crew or service to the government, and the 1st of October beheld her steering for the
Spanish Main, with her crew and officers in fine spirits and eager for adventure.
Touching at
Cienfuegos, news was received that
Mason and
Slidell had passed out of
Charleston in the blockade-runner
Theodora, and had reached
