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The Seizure of Myers and Tunstall at Tangier.

By Terry Foenander.

It is common knowledge that during armed conflict between two nations, outside parties are generally considered as being on neutral ground, and are prohibited from participating in any way on one side or the other. This prohibition includes arming the warring parties, supplying personnel, and even allowing the use of their territory for confrontation between the belligerents. The seizure of Confederate agents, Mason and Slidell, from aboard the British vessel Trent, by the United States naval vessel San Jacinto, under the command of Captain Charles Wilkes, on November 8, 1861, was one of the acts which created consternation in the United Kingdom, and almost precipitated conflict between the United States and England.

If a third nation assisted one side or the other during such conflict, then it would be considered an open act of war between the third nation and the party against whom it's assistance was detrimental. Such an incident occurred at the Moroccoan city of Tangier, on February 19, 1862. The act was in all respects more flagrant than was the seizure of Mason and Slidell, but seems, with the passage of time, to have been all but forgotten.

Henry Myers, a native of Georgia, was Paymaster of the CSS Sumter. He had previously been commissioned as Paymaster in the U.S. Navy, June 21, 1854, but had resigned on February 1, 1861, and, on March 26, was appointed Paymaster in the Confederate Navy. On February 19, 1862, while the Sumter was anchored in the port of Gibraltar, attempting to obtain coal from some source, Myers embarked on the French passenger steamer, Ville de Malaga, for Cadiz. Thomas T. Tunstall, a citizen of the Confederate States and former U.S. Consul at Cadiz prior to the commencement of the war, volunteered to accompany Myers. [1] The vessel made a brief stopover at Tangier, at which port Myers and Tunstall went ashore for an uncertain purpose. As they were returning to the French vessel, they were arrested by Moorish soldiers, at the request of the U.S. Consul, James De Long. Myers, on being arrested, at first gave his name as Lieutenant John Smith, but De Long was able to ascertain his real name and status by interrogating Tunstall. They were then taken to the Consul's residence, where they were incarcerated at his stable, and shortly after they were taken to the residence itself. They were kept here, in irons, for more than a week, during which time they attempted to bribe the native guards to release them. Having failed in these attempts, Myers eventually managed to obtain a case knife by which he was able to saw off the rivets, and slip out of the irons. He then jumped out of the second story and over a wall, but was re-arrested and returned into custody.

Meanwhile, when word had gotten around the city about the seizure, crowds gathered outside the Consul's residence, demanding the release of the prisoners. These gatherings continued right up to the day the USS Ino arrived in port, by which vessel the prisoners were to be removed to another port or vessel, from which they were to be taken to the United States.

Commander T. Augustus Craven, of the USS Tuscarora, had ordered the USS Ino, commanded by Acting Volunteer Lieutenant Josiah P. Creesy, to proceed to Tangier, and after consulting Consul De Long, to bring the prisoners to Algeciras. When the Ino arrived at Tangier, February 26, 1862, Creesy, accompanied by four other officers went ashore and visited the Consulate for instructions. Because of the brash attitude of the mob outside the Consul's residence, he sent for an armed party from the vessel, and a squad of 30 men, accompanied by two more officers came ashore, but they were not allowed to leave the confines of the Moorish custom house, until the governor permitted their (the armed party from the USS Ino) release.

Once the party arrived at the Consulate, Creesy personally interviewed Myers and Tunstall, and advised them that he was there to take them and hand them over to Commander Craven at Algeciras. Tunstall mentioned that he was related to Craven. Creesy then addressed the squad of armed sailors and his officers and advised them that they might have to face certain danger when escorting the prisoners through the mob. However, the mob did not attempt to create any trouble and allowed the armed party and it's prisoners through. They were then taken aboard the Ino, which remained in the harbor for a few hours more before sailing to Algeciras, arriving there on the 27th.

On arrival at Algeciras, Commander Craven sent several messages to Creesy including the following:

February 27, 1862. If you have not yet sent the pirates on shore I would like to see you on the matter.

This was followed shortly after by the following message, also of the same date:

On examination into the laws of neutrality I find we have no right to detain prisoners in the port of a neutral; the alternative is presented of going to sea or releasing the prisoners and sending them on shore. Under such circumstances, you will therefore release the rebel prisoners you have on board.

To which Lieutenant Creesy answered on the same day:

....Without further comments than to say I positively decline to give these men up, and in coming to this conclusion, having no other alternative, shall proceed to sea immediately, where I can carry out my instructions quite as much to the interest of the Government as to be lying here.

However, at a later date, Commander Pickering of the USS Kearsarge, after hearing of the difficulties involved with the seizure of Myers and Tunstall, sent a message to the Charge d'Affaires at Madrid, Horatio J. Perry, stating:

.....I cordially agree with you in opinion that the great and patriotic action of our consul ought to be sustained, being perfectly legal and proper, since it was sanctioned and aided by the Moorish authorities, who alone had any right to interfere.

This may be correct, but later correspondence between Southern naval and government authorities indicate that the authorities at Tangier may have been coerced by the U.S. Consul into seizing Myers and Tunstall, an action which they (the Moors) later regretted. [2]

Shortly after his answer to Commander Craven, Lieutenant Creesy took the Ino and her two prisoners out of the harbor and cruised through the Strait of Gibraltar until he fell in with a U.S. merchant vessel, the Harvest Home, onto which the prisoners were transferred for the journey to Fort Warren. Captain Dickey of the Harvest Home treated them with much kindness, for which Myers later mentioned he was very grateful. He was confined until August, 1862, when he was exchanged as a prisoner of war. Myers subsequently served aboard the CSS Georgia and at the Charleston station. He was paroled at Greensboro, North Carolina, in April, 1865. After the war he married Jane E. Green at Marietta, Georgia, and they lived in that state for a number of years before moving to Florida, where Henry died at Jacksonville, on March 20, 1901. [3]

[1] Myers, in a statement made before Justice of the Peace, John S. Keyes at Boston, Massachusetts, on April 24, 1862, mentions that he had been on his way to Cadiz to visit Tunstall and his family, but had never met him (Tunstall) before. However, Commander Raphael Semmes, in a despatch to the Colonial Secretary at Gibraltar, Captain S. Freeling, dated February 22, 1862, states that he had sent Myers and Tunstall from the CSS Sumter to Cadiz, on a business trip connected with the Confederate vessel, which seems to indicate that they were acquaintances before the Tangier incident See Myers statement in the War of the Rebellion: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series 2, Volume 3; and the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion (hereinafter cited as ORN), Series 1, Volume 1, page 668.

[2] Correspondence relating to the seizure and subsequent events can be found in ORN Series 1, Volume 1, pages 310-320, 358-360, 392, 676-679.

[3] Details of Myers' post war life from copies of his pension papers, original of which are at the Florida State Archives.

2000.