George Trenholm
GEORGE ALFRED TRENHOLMThe Company That Went to War 1861-1865 |
by Ethel Trenholm Seabrook Nepveux, Email ETSEABROOK@aol.com
This Book Excerpt is part of the Civil War @ Charleston Website.|
George Trenholm |
Fraiser Trenholm was the largest blockade running firm in the Confederacy. After the war, the United States Government demanded Canada, the country, as reparations from Great Britian for the damage done the union by its cargos.
A year before the war began, John Fraser and Co. proudly announced a line of sailing packets with monthly schedules between Charleston and Liverpool. The Charleston Daily Courier boasted that the company was having constructed an iron propeller ship, capable of stowing 3,500 or 4,000 bales of cotton, exclusively for trade between Liverpool and Charleston. The United States later claimed that four of the firm’s five members were South Carolinians who set up the Liverpool branch in anticipation of war and who had their fifth member, Charles Prioleau, naturalized as a British subject for the purpose of aiding the South. Prioleau became the manager of the Liverpool house.
The company’s sailing ships which made the round trip in two or three months were:
Fraser, Trenholm & Co. decided to prove that the blockade was ineffective and therefore illegal, by sending a steamer from Liverpool to one of the Southern ports. In August, 1861, they purchased three steamers of 2000 tons each - the Bermuda, Victoria, and Adelaide. Consul Wilding reported that Fraser, Trenholm, which he had frequently mentioned, was paying for an armsbroker named Grazebrook to collect in his warehouse a large order of rifles, packed to resemble earthenware.
Charles Francis Adams formally notified the British government on August 15 that the Bermuda was ready for sea and added that, the merchants who claim to be the owners have no intention of dispatching her on any errand of mercy or peace. Edward Haigh of Liverpool, the cotton broker of Fraser, Trenholm, became the nominal owner, but in a few days, a bill of sale was made out to Allan Stuart Hanckel and George A. Trenholm of Charleston. Captain Eugene Tessier, formerly master of the Emily St. Pierre and other John Fraser & Co. ships, took command. John Fraser & Co. sent from Charleston their experienced pilot, Captain Penn Peck. The Bermuda came from Fraser, Trenholm & Co., consigned to John Fraser and Co.
A million dollar cargo was on board: eighteen rifled cannon, a thirty-two pounder, a forty-two pounder, two 168 pounder Lancaster guns, with carriages and equipment, including powder and shot, 6500 Enfield rifles, 200,000 cartridges, 60,000 pairs army shoes, 20,000 blankets, 180 barrels gunpowder, large amounts of morphine, quinine, and other medical stores. In September, acting Secretary of War, Benjamin, acknowledged that John Fraser &Co. had placed the Bermuda at the service of the government and after conferring with the Navy, the Army was using the whole tonnage.
The Bermuda arrived safely at Savannah, Ga., September 18, 1861, and returned to Liverpool with a large cargo of cotton. Southerners in Liverpool rejoiced over the success. Fraser, Trenholm had been apprised of her arrival by telegram and letter by way of Quebec.
Consul F.H. Morse groaned that the Bermuda had entered Savannah with a full cargo of powder, etc., for the rebels. He was mortified and fretted over the fact that the Fraser, Trenholm’s Cheshire had left for Nassau.
"The Kate (a blockade runner) was an important factor in the battles fought at Shiloh, Tenn., in April, 1862, having run the blockade at Charleston several times to bring in supplies. On the Saturday night preceding the battle. the Kate arrived at Charleston with 1,000 barrels of gunpowder and arms and accouterments for 10,000 men. On Sunday morning, the Quartermaster engaged every available drag. and wagon to haul the cargo to the depot. The roar of the drays and wagons was incessant all day Sunday and that night. As fast as a train was loaded, it was started for Johnston's army The Kate arrived so frequently that the New York Times suggested. "Let us console ourselves like Mr. Disraeli, by allowing them to increase our respect for the energy of human nature."
Cpt. Wilson, who recaptured his blockade runner from the Federal Navy, has his exploits described on the Cpt. Wilson and the Emily St. Pierre Page.
Trenholm Book entry on our Bibliography
