Navy Department,
26 August, 1863.
SIR,
In the case of the Mont Blanc, seized by Commander Collins
at Sand Cay as a prize, the Court decreed: “That the cause of the U. S. against
the schooner ‘Mont Blanc’ and cargo, having come on to be heard, it is ordered
by consent of all the parties interested that the vessel and cargo be restored
to the claimant for the benefit of whom it may concern; that there was probable
cause for the capture and detention of the vessel, and that each party pay his
own costs.”
The proper tribunal having thus disposed of the question as
between the parties, a further claim is presented by the British Government for
damages for violated sovereignty, and the Secretary of State, who has
communicated with Her Majesty's representative on this subject, having desired
me to designate some person at Key West to confer with Vice Consul Butterfield
on the matter of damages, I have presented your name to him for that duty.
The case being, in its present position, one of a political
nature, the Secretary of State will furnish you with the necessary
instructions, should the subject be prosecuted.
I am, respectfully,
Your Obd't Serv't
Gideon Welles,
Secty. of the Navy.
Acting Rear Admiral T. Bailey,
Commd'g. E. G. B. Squadron,
Key West.
SOURCE: Gideon Welles, Diary of Gideon Welles,
Secretary of the Navy Under Lincoln and Johnson, Vol. 1: 1861 – March 30,
1864, p. 427
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