out spotting the C onfederate band. Alarmed by the close encounter, Parr rowed ashore to telegraph Brain and Locke in Halifax about the situation. Shortly after Parr arrived at the telegraph office, a quickthinking clerk noticed that trouble was potentially afoot and quickly ushered Parr into a back room just as Nicholls came through the front door and headed to the telegraph counter. Nicholls and Parr narrowly missed a face-to-face meeting.
and H er Majesty's Empire. Clary tactfully persuaded Nicholls to call at H alifax to obtain British approval for his actions. 8 A convoluted four-month trial ensued. The British government officials strongly objected to a foreign vessel landing at a sovereign port to seize a ship, even though it had been hijacked and had been the scene of a murder. They were also incensed by the way Nicholls treated his Canadian captives. The incident threatened to spark
~
z
~
u J: J:
Z ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ella and Annie, renamed as USS Malvern, as she looked in 1865. On the night of 13 D ecember, Retribution steamed to Sambo Harbor, a small town just west of H alifax, where Brain and Locke reboarded the ship . But early the next day, just as Retribution started to take on coal from a small Halifax collier, the Ella and Annie appeared at the mouth of the harbor. Fearing capture, Brain, Parr, and Locke quickly deserted the ship. Seeing the rapidly approaching Union gunboat, a Chesapeake crewman who had been held hostage got ahold of an American Bag and raised it capsized, a signal of distress. His target now identified, Nicholls boarded, seized the ship in the name of the United States government, and roughed up the Canadian rebels who were left behind. Shortly thereafter he sailed for Portland, Maine, with his prize and prisoners. En route, he was halted by the US Navy steamsloop Dacotah. Its captain, Albert G. Clary, told Nicholls that capturing a Confederate vessel in a British port might seriously undermine relations between the United States 8
British sensibilities into yet another conBict with the United States, but reasonable heads prevailed. The Halifax Vice Admiralty Court ruled the Confederate attack was illegal because the Confederates' letter of marque was issued to a vessel that no longer existed (the original Retribution) . Also, the letter was not issued to Locke by name but rather to a "John Parker," who could not be produced in court. As a result, Chesapeake and her cargo were returned to her owners. Article X of the Webster-Ashburton Treaty of 1842 addressed the northeastern boundary of the United States with Canada and said that if a citizen of one country sought asylum in another country for an act that was considered a crime in both localities, a judge could issue a warrant for the accused criminal's extradition. The Canadian Confederate sympathizers were accused of committing murder and piracy that took place on an American vessel while in the jurisdiction of the United States.
C laire Hoy, Canadians in the Civil War (Toronto, ON: McArthur and Company, 2004) 184, 187. 9 Ken , Trimming Yankee Sails, 83.
24
That was legal cause for extradition under the terms of the treaty. The defense argued that the offenses were committed in international waters and, as such, they could be tried in Canada. Nevertheless, the Canadian citizens who participated in the seizure were found guilty of piratical behavior. 9 Many citizens in the Maritime Provinces were Southern sympathizers and believed the marauders had legally engaged in an act of war under a Confederate letter of marque. Brain and Parr escaped extradition, and, with the help of some Halifax Confederate supporters, all of the Canadian men, in a confusing series of events, were transported away and scattered into Canadian towns. Parr made his way back to Richmond, Virginia, by January 1864, whereupon he was paid $290 on 29 February for his services from the Confederate "Necessaries and Exigency" secret service account. Jefferson Davis personally signed Parr's warrent. 10 Brain and Parr reunited for a second maritime hijacking, this time the 1,071-ton side-wheeled mail steamer Roanoke, whose regular route ran between Havana and New York. On 29 September 1864, they and ten accomplices boarded the Roanoke in Havana as regular passengers, with orders to surprise the ship's crew once the ship was out of territorial waters. About twenty-five miles off the coast of Cuba, Brain and Parr and the others confronted the captain and crew. Brain made his way through the ship, shouting that he was taking command of the vessel in name of the Confederate States of America, and that the vessel was now a lawful prize of war. He also ordered Captain A. Drew, Roanoke's captain, to surrender to them as a prisoner of war. Brain, accompanied by two officers and a seaman, secured Drew and his officers below deck, placing them in irons . The vessel was now the Confederate States' prize steam-ship Roanoke. The capture was accomplished with little violence except that the vessel's carpenter, having first surrendered, seized an axe and aimed a blow at Parr. The carpenter missed his target and was shot dead during the confrontation by one of Parr's companions.
1 °Confederate Stares of America Record. Pickett papers, Ma nuscript Collection , warrant for H. A. Parr, Executive offi cer Jefferson Davis ro Sec reta ry of the Treasury, Confederate Stares, 29 February 1864, Roll 19, Library of Co ngress.
SEA HISTORY 152, AUTUMN 2015