To James Madison from John Elmslie, 19 March 1806 (Abstract)
From John Elmslie, 19 March 1806 (Abstract)
§ From John Elmslie. 19 March 1806, Cape of Good Hope, Cape Town. “Since my letter of 18th. January; giving account of the Capture of the Cape of Good Hope by the forces of His Britannick Majesty, under the command of Major General Sir David Baird, I have had the honor of an audience of His Excellency the Commander in chief respecting my public admission as Consul of the United States, which was readily accepted, and publicly notified in the Cape Town Gazette of 22nd. Feby. I am sorry to observe that there has been a long embargo on all Neutrals at the Cape & which has been extremely distressing to some of our merchants. A severe and indeed I may say in some cases a rather rough & irregular investigation of the Neutral cargoes by the Captains of the squadron under the command of Commodore Si⟨r⟩ Home Popham have taken place. The Union of N. York, Jacobs Master from Batavi⟨a⟩ bound to N. York and the ship Thame⟨s⟩ Capt. Perry also from Batavia are sent to England for adjudication. The schooner Charlotte of Boston which arrived here before the capture & had disposed of her cargo which consisted principally of Naval stores—has been seized, sold, and the proceeds of the cargo arrested till her ca⟨se⟩ is tried in England. The ship Gustavi⟨a⟩ of Savannah Capt. Hill from St. Sibar wi⟨th⟩ a cargo of Slaves, ostensibly for Charleston was taken possession of as she was coming in to Table Bay by one of the ships belong⟨ing⟩ to the squadron and an English officer—put on board, the master was taken out, with his papers & put on board the Diadem—in the course of the night in which the Gustavia was taken possession of she was driven to sea and has not yet been hard of. Respe[t] ing the Charles and Harriot of New port, Rhode Island, I beg leave to refer to the enclosures on that subject.1 I have also to acquaint Government that a Number of American Seamen have been pressed on board the ships of the squadron now at the Cape. But from the little attention which his Britannic Majestys commanders have paid to former applications for the discharge of American seamen pressed on board their ships, except in cases where I had special Orders so to do from the Department of State—induces me not to make any further applications on that head till I have instructions from Government. Annexed is a list of Americ⟨an⟩ seamen pressed on board the ships belonging to the Squadron under the command of Sir Home Popham, as far as I have been able to ascertain.”
Adds below his signature: “List of American Seamen pressed on board the squadron of his B.M. under the Command of Commodore Sir Home Popham Cape of good Hop⟨e:⟩
Thomas Miers belonging to Brig Rio of Portsmouth pressed on board the frigate Volontaire
Ebenezer Cowell pressed on board Do.
David Simons. belonging to the Augusta of Boston pressed on board the Volontaire.
| John Mitchell |  |
pressed on board the Raisonable. |
| Thomas Wood | ||
| Charles Brown | ||
| Rice Green | ||
| John Holiden | ||
| Benjm. David, belonging to the Thames of N. York. Capt. Perry, pressed on board the diadem, Commodore Pophan. |
||
| Charles Puffer. Do. Do. | ||
| Thomas Milligan Do on board the Leda.” | ||
RC and enclosures (DNA: RG 59, CD, Cape Town, vol. 1). RC 5 pp.
1. The enclosures (20 pp.; docketed by Wagner) are copies of: (1) Alexander Gillespie of the Naval Committee, 25 Feb. 1806, to Elmslie informing him that the American ship Charles and Harriot, William Earl master, arrived “full of Slaves from mozambique,” ostensibly bound for Charleston, but the committee believed the true destination was a Spanish port; that a desire to treat American commerce favorably and Elmslie’s character qualified him to investigate, and Elmslie’s knowledge would make him aware that U.S. law prohibited such traffic “even with her own coasts”; mentioning how Great Britain must view such trade with its enemies; suggesting that the ship qualified for confiscation by Elmslie, but if not, the committee would follow up adjudication in England, adding that an anecdote “by no means favorable” to Earl’s neutrality and attested to by the ship’s log book would be delivered to Elmslie verbally; (2) Elmslie to Gillespie, 26 Feb. 1806, thanking the committee for the information and adding that he would like to inspect the ship’s papers; (3) Elmslie to Gillespie, 3 Mar. 1806, returning the papers, and commenting that it appeared from the owner’s instructions that the ship had set out on a voyage that would make it liable to seizure on arrival in the United States and “those concerned subject to heavy penalties”; (4) Gillespie to Elmslie, 14 Mar. 1806, stating that the papers had been lodged in the customhouse on 13 Mar.; repeating Elmslie’s verbal acknowledgment that his authority did not allow him to confiscate American ships even when they were engaged in in illegal traffic, and his assurance that he would make “every representation” to the U.S. government so that Earl might be punished on his return home; and asking that Elmslie include the breach of neutrality resulting from Earl’s telling a British officer, disguised in French uniform, that Earl would pilot him to pursue an English South Seas vessel that only two days before had relieved the “urgent necessity” of Earl, his crew, and the slaves; (5) Elmslie to Gillespie, 16 Mar. 1806, repeating the information in his 3 Mar. letter; stating that if Earl persisted in the voyage described in his owner’s instructions, he would be liable by U.S. laws to seizure on his return; and stating that the facts of the breach of neutrality should be affirmed under oath; (6) extracts from Earl’s ship’s log at Mozambique stating that the ship Swift, Freeman Mayberry, belonging to the same owner, was at Mozambique, ready to sail with a load of slaves for South America; that the brig Trial, John Gardner, arrived from Newport; that the ship Juliana of Boston sailed on 30 Nov. 1805 for Montevideo with a load of slaves; that the ship Aspasia of New York sailed on 29 Nov. for “the River de la Plata”; and one from 1803 stating that the Oneida, Freeman Mayberry, of Newport, took in slaves at Mozambique, carried them to Havana, took on a cargo of sugar, and arrived in Newport on 10 Mar. 1803; and (7) 29 May 1805 instructions from Jacob Smith of Newport to Earl, telling him to dispose of his cargo at Mozambique; to take in as many slaves as the “ship will conveniently stow, half Boys and half Girls”; to sail for Montevideo, where if he found no further instructions, he should sell the slaves for specie, take on a full cargo of “Jurked Beef & Tallow,” and return to Newport; cautioning Earl not to let the officers or crew take anything from Mozambique that would make the Charles and Harriot liable to seizure at Montevideo, and to let nothing be smuggled from there to Newport. Smith further instructed that if Earl could get over the bar at “Killman,” he should go there instead, unless slaves were cheaper at Mozambique, noting that the ship was not insured against insurrection, so Earl should “not be too much off your guard,” and adding that the chief officer could have a bonus of five slaves and the second mate one. For the 22 Mar. 1794 and 10 May 1800 statutes prohibiting U.S. citizens from participating in slave trade to and from foreign ports, see , 1:347–49, 2:70–71.