The Stonewall: The true story of a ship without a port

By Thomas T. Wiatt

She was considered the greatest warship of its day. The Stonewell’s problem was finding a war to go to or even a navy that wanted her. This story is not just of a ship, but of diplomats and emperors, captains and admirals, sailors and spies.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jun 5, 2021
• ISBN: 9781684746835

Book preview

Introduction

The ship, which is commonly called the Stonewall in history books, actually had six different names in its brief history. This ship’s construction was completed in France in 1865, and it was considered the greatest warship of its day. Its problem was that it had a difficult time finding a war to go to or even a navy that wanted to call her their own.

The Stonewall was originally built to participate in the American Civil War on the side of the Confederacy. The Northern states, with their great navy, had blockaded the southern ports that resulted in starving the south of badly needed imports. In this desperate state, the Confederacy needed a great warship to help break this blockade. The ship was built, but by the time she had crossed the Atlantic, the war was over.

After sailing under the flags of six different nations she finally did find a civil war that she could be a part of.

This story is not just about the history of a ship, but of the people who walked her deck. It is a tale about diplomats and emperors, captains and admirals, sailors and spies.

Designations, such as USS and CSS, are not used as a prefix to ships’ names in this book because that method of referring to a ship did not exist until 1907, when President Theodore Roosevelt issued Executive Order 549 making it a regulation. Appendix 2 of this book contains a helpful glossary of nautical terminology.

The author has taken some liberties in his portrayal of the characters’ innermost thoughts and emotions.

John Slidell

Chapter 1

John Slidell

This will be war…and we shall meet it with...efficient weapons.

-John Slidell, 1861

When John Slidell boarded the steamer ship the Gordon, he had no idea that he was about to become world famous. The Gordon was in the South Carolina port of Charleston Harbor on that day of October 12, 1861. The ship and passengers were headed for Havana, Cuba, that day, where Slidell and his family were then to board a ship to England and then to France.

With the recent creation of the Confederate States of America, Confederate Secretary of State, Robert Hunter, appointed John Slidell along with James Mason, as Confederate commissioners to France in August 1861 with a strong endorsement from Confederate President Jefferson Davis. Davis even sent a personal note to the French Emperor Napoleon III describing Slidell as one of our most intelligent, esteemed, and worthy citizens.¹

It was not Slidell’s first experience as a diplomat. In 1845, U.S. President James Polk picked then U.S. Representative John Slidell to go to Mexico City, in secret, to negotiate with the Mexican government over a border dispute between Mexico and Texas. Slidell offered the Mexican government 25 million dollars (about 861 million in today’s money) for the Rio Grande territory, plus other lands in the Southwest. The Mexican government rejected Slidell's offer. Soon after, Mexican forces attacked U.S. troops on the border and the United States declared war on Mexico.

Born in New York City in 1793, Slidell graduated from what was then called Columbia College in New York and then went into the mercantile business. While still a young man, he relocated to New Orleans, Louisiana where he practiced law from 1819 to 1843. Slidell also had the honor to serve in the state's House of Representatives and later in the U.S. Congress as a Democratic representative from Louisiana.

Slidell was elected to the Senate in 1853 and, in spite of his New York upbringings, he cast his lot with other pro-Southern congressmen. In 1861, with southern secession in the air, he remained pro-Union until Louisiana seceded from the United States. Slidell soon resigned from the Senate and headed home to Louisiana.

Early on, Slidell saw that the North, with its greatly superior Navy, would blockade Southern ports and cut off badly needed supplies if war did indeed break out. When the war actually began, building a great fleet to defend the South was one of his concerns.

In spite of his diplomatic failures in Mexico in 1845, Slidell was offered and accepted a diplomatic appointment to represent the Confederacy in France. Getting to France would be a problem. U.S. President Abraham Lincoln wanted these Confederate diplomats stopped before reaching Europe by any means necessary.

The intended departure of the envoys was no secret to the United States government, and Union spies received daily intelligence reports on their movements. By October 1, 1861, Slidell and Mason were known to be in Charleston, South Carolina, and the Confederate government was trying to determine how to get them to France safely.

Their original plan was to get to France by way of Britain. To get to Britain they first needed to run the Union blockade in Charleston Harbor. The first proposal was to use a fast steamer named the Nashville to bypass the union blockade through a side channel that was not heavily guarded by the Union ships, and then sail directly to Britain. It was decided that this plan would not work because the Nashville's draft was too