I think that the allegations of the United States Consul ought to have been brought to the knowledge of Captain Semmes while the Tuscaloosa was still within British waters, and that he should have been requested to state whether he did or did not admit the facts to be as alleged.  He should also have been called upon (unless the facts were admitted) to produce the Tuscaloosa’s papers.  If the result of these inquiries had been to prove that the vessel was really an uncondemned prize, brought into British waters in violation of Her Majesty’s orders made for the purpose of maintaining her neutrality, I consider that the mode of proceeding in such circumstances, most consistent with Her Majesty’s dignity, and most proper for the vindication of her territorial rights, would have been to prohibit the exercise of any further control over the Tuscaloosa by the captors, and to retain that vessel under Her Majesty’s control and jurisdiction until properly reclaimed by her original owners.

Sir P. Wodehouse to the Duke of Newcastle.  December 19, 1863.

I have had the honour to receive your Grace’s despatch of the 4th ultimo, from which I regret to learn that the course taken here relative to the Confederate war steamer Alabama and her prizes has not in some respects given satisfaction to Her Majesty’s Government.

I must only beg your Grace to believe that no pains were spared by the late Acting Attorney-General or by myself to shape our course in what we believed to be conformity with the orders of Her Majesty’s Government and the rules of international law, as far as we could ascertain and interpret them.

Mr. Denyssen has been so constantly engaged with professional business since the arrival of the mail that I have been prevented from discussing with him the contents of your despatch; but I think it right, nevertheless, to take advantage of the first opportunity for representing to your Grace the state of uncertainty in which I am placed by the receipt of this communication, and for soliciting such further explanations as may prevent my again falling into error on these matters.  In so doing I trust you will be prepared to make allowance for the difficulties which must arise out of this peculiar contest, in respect of which both parties stand on a footing of equality as belligerents, while only one of them is recognized as a nation.

In the first place, I infer that I have given cause for dissatisfaction in not having more actively resented the fact that the Sea Bride, on the day after her capture, was brought a short distance within British waters.

Your Grace demurs to my having accepted Captain Semmes’ apology for this improper act, which he ascribed to inadvertence.  You will pardon my noticing that the fact of the act having been done through inadvertence was established by the United States Consul himself, one of whose witnesses stated, “the officer in command of the barque came on deck about that time, and stamping his foot as if chagrined to find her so near the land, ordered her further off, which was done immediately.”