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CAPT. GEORGE S. ANTHONY
Commander of the Catalpa
THE CATALPA EXPEDITION
BY
Z. W. PEASE
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS
NEW BEDFORD, MASS.
GEORGE S. ANTHONY
1897
Copyright, 1897,
By GEORGE S. ANTHONY.
All rights reserved.
INTRODUCTION
One hundred years after the Declaration of Independence, an Americanwhaling captain, George S. Anthony, commemorated the event by enforcinganother declaration of independence which set free the Irish politicalprisoners who were sentenced to a lifetime of servitude in the Englishpenal colony in Australia.
The story of the rescue of these prisoners in 1876 is a brave incidentof history which has hitherto been told too briefly. When CaptainAnthony, commanding the bark Catalpa, landed the men for whose reliefthe expedition was planned, at New York, public interest in theromantic voyage was very intense. The boldness of the raid upon theEnglish colony and the remarkable features of the conspiracy, exciteduniversal curiosity concerning the details of the affair.
At that time international complications seemed certain, and there weremany reasons why those concerned in the rescue furnished only meagreinformation of the inception of the plan and its progress during thetwo years which were spent in bringing it to a successful consummation.
Brief newspaper accounts appeared at the time, and this material hasbeen worked over into magazine sketches. The frequency with whichthe original newspaper story has been revived during the years whichhave elapsed suggested that the interest was still alive and led tothe writing of the story which follows. The facts were contributed byCaptain Anthony, who placed his log-book and personal records at thedisposition of the writer, and the present version is authorized by theman who was most prominent in it.
Some of the incidents of history which led up to the Fenian conspiracyin 1867 are compiled from familiar sources. The records of thecourt-martial are from transcripts of the proceedings made in Dublinexpressly for this book, and have never previously been published.
No attempt has been made to embellish the narrative. It has beenthe effort of the writer to tell it simply, as he knows the gallantcommander would best like to have it told.
New Bedford, Mass., 1897.
CONTENTS