The Civil War created a rip in our national fabric and re-wove it with historic change. It resonates to this day, and continues to influence and define how we, as Americans, view ourselves. It is arguably the most traumatic, transformative and talked about event in U.S. History. Despite all the research, all the interest, and all the experts, the American Civil War still has some secrets to reveal. This series will explore a Civil War that you weren't taught about in school...
Confederate Military Operations In California: The
Privateer
Throughout
the War, fears abounded on the West Coast that Confederate privateers were to
be outfitted in the Pacific and prey upon the gold shipments that were sent
east from San Francisco. These were not
without basis. Steamships carried $40,000,000 in California gold to the east
coast annually. Capturing one of these
steamers would create a financial disaster for the Federal Government[1]. Rumors abounded as to where these Confederate
men-of-war were being outfitted. Some suggested
Chile, others suggested Shanghai, and still others suspected Vancouver[2]. Despite the hysteria, none of these exotic
locations produced a Confederate warship to prey upon the rich pickings of
California’s coast. That honor was
reserved for San Francisco, the only Pacific local to produce a Confederate man-of-war,
albeit an unsuccessful one.
It all began with a gentleman by the name of Ashbury
Harpending, a Kentuckian living in California.
He hatched a plan that involved taking rich Pacific coast maritime
prizes, and turning these ships into a navy of secession, a Confederate Pacific
Squadron of sorts. Harpending rode all
the way to Richmond and presented his plan to the Confederate authorities,
including Secretary of War Benjamin and President Davis. After this meeting, He secured a Captain’s
commission in the Confederate Navy and a Letter of Marque, which allowed him to
outfit a Confederate government sanctioned warship to prey on U.S. vessels[3]. With this commission in hand, he returned to
California and began surreptitiously recruiting crew and searching for a suitable
ship. San Francisco Bay yielded up just what
Harpending needed, a 90-ton schooner named the Chapman[4].
He recruited a crew of 21 men, and secretly outfitted his new privateer with
two 12-pound cannons, shells, solid shot, rifles, revolvers, cutlasses,
provisions and goods that could be sold in foreign ports for a profit[5].
All was ready on the night of March 14th,
1863. The Chapman was anchored in
the Bay to await departure at first light.
Strangely, the ship’s navigator, William Law (a New Yorker) was
absent. As it turned out, he had alerted
the authorities. As morning broke on
March 15th, the West Coast’s only Confederate warship, sat directly
under the guns of U.S.S. Cyane.
U.S. sailors, marines and city policemen boarded the schooner. The crew
on deck were arrested and handcuffed. An
intrepid San Francisco police detective, Captain W. Isaiah Lees rounded up the
rest below decks. With the Chapman’s sailors
in custody, the schooner was towed and anchored off Alcatraz Island, now the
property of the U.S. Government[6].
Thus ended the only known attempt by the Confederacy to
harass and capture the rich shipping emanating from California. Had the Chapman set sail, it's
probable she would have captured some prizes, perhaps some rich “gold
shipments”, but it's doubtful she'd have been able to thwart the power of the
U.S. Pacific Squadron for any length of time[7]. The plan might have succeeded in hurting the
Federal Government by possibly stopping the gold shipments for a time, but
eventually, the Chapman (along with any captured “attendant” vessels)
would have been hunted down, and sunk.
*****
1. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the
Rebellion, (Washington: Government Printing Office, Series I, Part 1), P.
8
2. William M. Robinson, Jr., The Confederate Privateers (Columbia:
University of South Carolina Press, 1990), pp. 264-270
3.
Alta California (March 17th, 1863), p. 280, Laurence F.
Talbott, California Secessionist Support of the Southern Confederacy: The
Struggle 1861-1865 (PhD. diss., The Union Institute, 1995), p. 165-166
4.
William M. Robinson, Jr., The Confederate Privateers (Columbia:
University of South Carolina Press, 1990), p. 279
5. Laurence F. Talbott, California Secessionist Support of the Southern Confederacy:
The Struggle 1861-1865 (PhD. diss., The Union Institute, 1995), p. 167-168
6. William B. Secrest, California and the Civil War, Renegades and Rebels: The
Noted Chapman Affair (Berkeley: The Book Club of California, Okeanos Press,
1992) pp. 1-2
7. Laurence F. Talbott, California Secessionist Support of the Southern
Confederacy: The Struggle 1861-1865 (PhD. diss., The Union Institute,
1995), p. 196