of war confined at Camp Douglas, near Chicago, Illinois, which prisoners were to be forcibly released by them on or about the date above mentioned. This at or near Chicago, in the State of Illinois, within the military lines and the theatre of military operations of the army of the United States, at a period of war and armed rebellion against the authority of the United States, and on or about the first day of November, anno Domini eighteen hundred and sixty-four "

To which said charges and specifications the accused, G. St. Leger Grenfel, citizen, pleaded "not guilty."

Finding.

The commission, having maturely considered the evidence adduced, finds the accused, G. St. Leger Grenfel, citizen, as follows:

And the commission does therefore sentence him, G. St. Leger Grenfel, citizen, "To be hung by the neck until he is dead, at such time and place as the commanding general may direct; two-thirds of the members concurring therein."

II. The proceedings of the commission in the above case were forwarded by the reviewing officer, Major General Joseph Hooker, for the action of the President of the United States. The following are his orders:

EXECUTIVE MANSION, July 22, 1865.

The proceedings and findings in the case of G. St. Leger Grenfel are hereby approved; but in consideration of the recommendation of members of the court, and of the successful progress of the government in suppressing the rebellion, and in accordance with the suggestion of the Judge Advocate General, the sentence is hereby commuted to "imprisonment for life, at hard labor, at the Dry Tortugas, or such other place as the Secretary of War may designate."

ANDREW JOHNSON, President.

III. Major General E. O. C. Ord, United States volunteers, commanding department of the Ohio, is ordered to send the prisoner G. St. Leger Grenfel, under charge of a commissioned officer, with a sufficient guard, to the Dry Tortugas, Florida, designated as the place of imprisonment, where he will be delivered to the commanding officer of the post, who is hereby ordered to confine said Grenfel at hard labor during the period designated in his sentence as commuted. By order of the Secretary of War:

Official copy:

E. D. TOWNSEND, Assistant Adjutant General.

E. D. TOWNSEND, Assistant Adjutant General

RICHMOND, October 9, 1866.

DEAR SIR: I have received yours of the 11th ultimo just this minute, after it has followed me to several places. I at once have sent it to the World, with a note, becoming responsible for the statements, and asking its immediate publication. I am glad to have the means of communicating with you. The time will never come when I can hesitate a moment to aid a comrade, and one who wore the gray and fought under the cross.

You are doubtless aware that, by a decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, convictions like yours, by military commissions, have been held to be illegal.

You are, therefore, entitled to be discharged. I have little doubt, upon proper effort, you could be got out. I should gladly, most gladly, start at once in the matter, but you are doubtless aware that, like yourself, I gave my sword to the confederacy, and left everything behind me. The loss of the cause lost me everything. I am now actually not making a support, though I doubt not I shall do so. This will explain why I do not at once go to Washington to see the authorities, and apply for your release. If that fails, the next step is to apply for a writ of habeas corpus to the United States judge for the district in which Florida is. He is, I believe, Judge Bryan, of Charleston. At any rate, the district judge is the party to grant relief, and he must do so, I should think. I will go to work at the matter at once. If you can refer me to any person who is able to advance a small sum to pay expenses, or help, it will greatly expedite

matters.

In the mean time, do not despond. Out of there you shall come! Present me to Dr. Mudd, whose family I knew, and who knows me by reputation. Write me here.

With my warmest sympathies, I am your obedient servant, BRADLEY JOHNSON. Official copy of a letter forwarded by commanding officer at Dry Tortugas, and reported as found among papers of G. St. Leger Grenfel.

E. D. TOWNSEND, Assistant Adjutant General.

A. J. PEELER'S LAW OFFice,

IN SOUTHWESTERN RAILROAD BANK BUILDING,

Tallahassee, Florida, October 11, 1866.

MY DEAR COLONEL: I am in receipt of your favor of the 29th of September, and have resolved to make your release the "chefd'ouvre" of my professional life. I shall do all that can be done as a lawyer, and bring every political influence that I can possibly invoke to assist me in my efforts. I am a member of the Florida legislature, which will convene in a few weeks. I shall introduce a resolution asking your release. I will also be one of the electors for a United States senator, and before voting for any one I shall have their solemn promise, if elected, to use their influence in your behalf at Washington. I will at once consider the question of applying for a writ of habeas corpus. In a few days I will advise you of the course I have concluded to pursue. As to the means required, were I able to advance it, I should not ask for one cent. All I want is enough to pay the necessary cost of any steps I may determine to take. It may be that I will require a copy of the record of your trial from Washington, and it is more than likely that I may ere long go to Key West, in reference to the writ of habeas corpus, and possibly to Washington. I will try to get permission to see you. The governor of this State will assist me in any way in the world. Send me an order for $500, and any part of it that I do not spend

I will return to you. When I succeed in having you released it will be time enough to talk about a fee. I was a prisoner myself at Johnson's island for nearly two years, and I know what it is to suffer a long and painful separation within prison walls from friends, &c.; and, besides, you have my deepest and warmest sympathies, not only as your advocate, but as a comrade in arms. God bless you.

Your friend,

Colonel GEORge St. Leger Grenfel,

Fort Jefferson, Tortugas, Florida.

Official copy:

A. J. PEELER.

E. D. TOWNSEND,

Assistant Adjutant General

A resolution of the House of the 3d instant, transmitting reports relative to the loss of the steamer Evening Star.

JANUARY 22, 1867.-Referred to the Committee on Commerce and ordered to be printed.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT,

January 22, 1867.

SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of House resolution of the 3d instant, directing me to communicate to the House the result of the investigation into the causes of the loss of the steamer Evening Star, and requesting me to institute an investigation into the causes of the loss of the steamer Commodore, wrecked on Long Island sound, and to transmit the resul: thereof to the House alo, with my opinion as to what additional legislation may be necessary for the further protection of the lives of passengers on vessels propelled by steam.

I have to inform you, in reply, that the report by Captain William M. Mew upon the loss of the steamer Evening Star has already been laid before Congress, having accompanied my annual report.

It has also been printed in pamphlet form, as enclosed herewith, for the benefit and information of owners of steamships.

This report, I have reason to believe, has attracted the attention not only of the owners of steam vessels at home, but in England and on the continent of Europe.

I have the honor also to transmit herewith a copy of the report by Captain Mew on the loss, on the 27th ultimo, of the steamer Commodore on Long Island sound, an investigation undertaken by direction of the House.

The examination into the facts of this case was very carefully made, and though it develops so great disregard of the provisions of law and of the regulations governing this class of vessels, and of the lives of the passengers and crew on board, I regret to remark that it is by no means of an exceptional character, save in the absence of loss of life.

Our merchant marine is believed to abound with incompetent officers, and it is not only necessary to hold them and shipowners to a strict accountability as to the condition and equipment of their vessels and the competency of the crews engaged, but they must be required to consult and adapt their navigation to the ordinary safeguards with which science has provided them, or neglect them at their personal peril.

To this end legislation must be adequate and radical. It must go at once to the causes from which disasters ensue, and remove them. It must place responsibility on the shoulders of men who defy the law and seem to court accident or the destruction of their vessels, known to be aged, worthless, or unseaworthy ere they sailed. Such men, after the occurrence of a calamity in which they have been the principal actors, and which might have been avoided, humanly speaking, had they exercised a wise precaution, become emboldened by the facilities now presented for escaping the consequences of their crime, and hold themselves in readiness to risk the enactment of another.

This must be peremptorily met by stringent provisions of law both against such masters and such owners. Indeed, the reports on the circumstances culminating in the loss of the Commodore and the Evening Star demonstrate fully the necessity for speedy and just legislation at the hands of Congress to guard against future calamity and provide, before the danger is incurred, for the safety of passengers travelling in American ships.

I have the honor to be, very respectfully,

H. McCULLOCH,

Secretary of the Treasury.

The SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

Washington, D. C.

:

TREASURY DEPARTMENT, November 8, 1866.

SIR By virtue of the instructions contained in your letter of the 5th ultimo, I now have the honor to report the resu t of the examinations (referred to in my report of general operations already before you) relative to the loss of the steamship Evening Star, on the 3d ultimo, off the coast of Florida.

It may be proper for me to state here that the object I had in view when making the inquiry was not so much to determine the degree of culpability which should attach to the owners of the Evening Star, should the examination prove the correctness of the common report and universal belief that the ship had been sent to sea in an unseaworthy condition, as to decide a question which more immediately concerns this office, to wit: whether or not the inspectors in New York had given a certificate of seaworthiness to a ship unsound in hull. engines, or boilers, and had thus rendered themselves directly responsible for the loss of some two hundred and fifty lives?

In order to satisfactorily determine this, it was obviously necessary to examine into the general history of the ship, an important point in which would be to ascertain the way in which she was built. It appears from the testimony of J. A. Raynor, esq., the ex-superintendent of the New York Mail Steamship Company, to which the Evening Star belonged, and who held that office at the time the Evening Star was built, as well as from that of Isaac L. Waterbury, esq., her builder, that her keel was laid in 1862, and the ship Launched in 1863, under contract with Messrs. Rosevelt, Joyce & Waterbury. She was built under the immediate supervision of Mr. Raynor, and the specifications called for a firstclass ship in every particular.

It should be known that Mr. Waterbury built, as a sub-contractor, the wellknown steamships Marion, Pacific, Baltic, and Pioneer. He also constructed the other ships of the New York Mail Steamship line, besides numerous large sailing ships, during his twenty-eight years' experience as a ship-builder; and it may be interesting to you to know, in this connection, that Mr. Waterbury stated under oath that the Evening Star was as strong a ship as any he ever built of her dimensions.

The value of the hull of the Evening Star was about $100,000, and her