engine as necessary, and make the southeast trades in a favorable position to weather the Brazil coast. Avoiding the vicinity of Cape Town, Waddell was to continue well south into the steady southwest winds of the higher latitudes and by 1 January pass the Cape of Good Hope at 45° south. There the cruise would properly begin. Due to unknown sources of supply in the Pacific, Waddell should husband coal, acquiring what he could at Sydney or Melbourne and among the islands through which he passed. Brooke’s memo would guide him from there. By the time Waddell reached the position north of Oahu, continued Bulloch, the ship probably would need repairs. If she were still sound, Waddell could proceed to Valparaiso for news. If she were no longer fit for service, he should sell her, preferably in South America or Asia, and release the crew.19
Waddell should avoid returning to Europe, where “[Shenandoah’s] presence might give rise to harassing questions and complications.” He was provided with ample cruising funds but would draw supplies from prizes. He carried £2,000 in gold, £2,000 in marginal credits on the Bank of Liverpool, and a letter of credit from Messrs. Fraser, Trenholm & Co. for £1,000 to use at Sydney or Melbourne. Bulloch would write privately and forward letters via Manila to Waddell at the island of Guam in the Ladrones Islands, but official documents could not be trusted by that route. Waddell should direct progress reports from wherever possible to Fraser, Trenholm & Co. of Liverpool; Bulloch would forward them to the navy department. “I can think of nothing else worthy of special remark. You have a fine-spirited body of young men under your command, and may reasonably expect to perform good and efficient service. I earnestly wish you Godspeed. I am, respectfully, your obedient servant, James D. Bulloch, Commander, C. S. Navy.”20
Commodore Barron added his cautions: Waddell was to remember that many American ships had been sold to the British, were now under protection of a neutral flag, and could not be harmed. He must observe strictest regard for neutral rights, lose no opportunity to cultivate friendly relations with naval and merchant services, and place “the true character of the contest in which we are engaged in its proper light.” Waddell must not hesitate to assume responsibility whenever the interests of his country demanded it. He was above all “to do the enemy’s property the greatest injury in the shortest time.” The maintenance of strict naval discipline would be essential to success; he must enjoin this principle upon the officers and “enforce its rigid observance, always tempering justice with humane and kind treatment.”21
Despite efforts of Union officials, Sea King glided unchallenged down the Thames and slipped into the English Channel on the morning of 8 October 1864. Laurel cleared Liverpool that night. “The entire expedition is far away at sea,” reported Bulloch to Secretary Mallory, beyond interference by any U.S. authority in Europe. Minister Adams had stationed the USS Niagara off the mouth of the Thames and the USS Sacramento in the English Channel, but they had no instructions concerning Sea King if they saw her. On the 12th, Commodore Thomas T. Craven of Niagara received a letter from the Liverpool legation with intelligence that Laurel had sailed, undoubtedly in support of a new rebel pirate. Captain Semmes was said to have sailed in her with eight officers and about one hundred men, forty of whom were formerly of Alabama. The consul recommended that she be taken wherever found. Craven immediately raised anchor and proceeded to the Channel Islands to make a thorough but fruitless search. Similar alerts were forwarded to consuls in Paris, Brussels, and Lisbon, from which word was passed to the Madeira consulate.22
Bulloch again wrote to Mallory six weeks later. He was proud of the accomplishment given the difficulties but did not think it wise to attempt a similar adventure until excitement over this one had “somewhat subsided.” However, if the war continued until the next summer (of 1865), he was convinced that “a formidable naval expedition can be fitted out.” On the same day Bulloch wrote this letter, Mallory penned one to him—not having received reports from Liverpool, the secretary was anxious. Northern newspapers had already headlined the departure of Sea King, speaking of her as a new Confederate raider. Mallory expressed concerns for the safety of men, ship, and mission. “I trust that it has been in your power to carry out what I have long had so much at heart. The success of this measure would be such an effective blow upon a vital interest as would be felt throughout New England.”23
Soon after leaving Madeira, Lieutenant Whittle opened his personal cruise journal and started daily entries with Shenandoah’s position, progress, course, and weather, adding his thoughts and observations. “Thank God we have a fine set of men and officers, and although we have an immense deal to contend with, all are industrious and alive to the emergency.” On the other hand, “never I suppose did a ship go to sea so miserably prepared.” They were afloat in a vessel constructed for peaceful pursuits that was to be transformed in midocean into an active cruiser carrying a battery for which she was not constructed and with no hope of defense or friendly port for shelter.1
Midshipman Mason found it difficult to maintain his journal or to read or study while everyone from the first lieutenant on down worked about the deck making sail, taking it in, stowing the hold, and doing everything else that was needed. Back in the spring of 1861, John Thomson Mason of Virginia had been planning to take up his appointment to the Naval Academy, but instead joined the 17th Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment, fought at First Manassas, and then transferred to the new navy. (He was a distant nephew of founding father George Mason and cousin to James Murray Mason, Confederate commissioner in England and victim of the Trent Affair.)2
The midshipman intended to record every detail of the last few weeks, which he considered the most eventful of his young life, but he was at a loss where to commence with a description of “confusion worse confounded.” The junior officers’ quarters in the steerage were uncomfortable—full of rope, iron bread tanks and “all sorts of stuff that smelt bad.” But they strung their hammocks and made the most of it. The first task was to discover what they had and where it was. Cargo invoices from Laurel were worthless; many pieces of equipment were missing. To locate the smallest item required extensive searching, and before stowing anything in the hold men had to sort out and restow what already was there. The running gear, used to manage the yards and sails, was so worn it became necessary to rig all new lines. John O’Shea, the ship’s carpenter, hurt his foot badly and had no trained assistants. The bulwarks required reinforcement to absorb gun recoil and gun ports were to be cut. Several officer cabins had no berths while buckets were used as washbasins.
Officers worked aft while crewmen worked forward, shifting coal from the fore hold and berth deck to bunkers so men could sling hammocks and clearing the spar deck for mounting the battery. Clean mattresses were issued. The royal yards—the highest on each mast—were sent up and crossed, quite an undertaking as spars, sails, and rigging were scattered all over the ship. In the absence of a magazine, gun powder was stored under a tarp in the captain’s day cabin and then moved to the small space in the steerage underneath his cabin. It was like cutting down a mountain to put things in order, recalled Lieutenant Grimball, “but there was always so much good humor prevailing that not until after we finished our task could we fully appreciate what we had gone through.”
Despite heavy swells, the big guns were lifted from their crates, swayed up by the halyard winches and tackles from the masthead, and mounted in carriages: two Whitworth 32-pound rifles and four 8-inch, 68-pound smoothbores. Warrant Officer John L. Guy, ship’s gunner, attempted to assemble the gear; there was plenty of rope for the gun tackles, but no suitable blocks and without them the battery was useless. He cut gun ports anyway. “At a distance
