The secret history that lives on to this day.
The Beatles wrote a song called “Do You Want To Know A Secret”, a song that now could well be about the secret history of Liverpool, A history that lives on today in the port of Liverpool. A history that is in many ways wrapped around the CSS Alabama.
From the offices where the Confederate Navy Officers were assigned to vessels, to the homes used by James Dunwoody Bulloch and his family. From the pub where Bulloch and Semmes discussed tactics, to the school attended by the children of Jefferson Davis. The same school were a visiting young Theodore Roosevelt, had an altercation with the son of Jefferson Davis. They are all here still, to be seen, and to be touched.
It all began on 4 June 1861, when the vessel North American brought to England, one James Dunwoody Bulloch. Ostensibly a civilian, but in reality he was a Lieutenant in the Confederate Navy, here on a secret mission for his fledgling nation. That rainy wet evening, Bulloch made his way to Rumford Place, to the offices of Fraser Trenholm and Company. And that will be my starting point also, offices that still stand today, as they did then. The building itself is what is known in England as a listed building, in that the exterior may be altered, nor may it be demolished.
The building itself has four sides, with an inner courtyard, accessed by an archway in Rumford Street. The building is currently used by a law firm, who are happy to fly both the Union Jack and the Stars & Stripes on the building. Each of the offices has been named and has a plaque on the exterior wall. Among them are Bulloch House, Enrica House, Semmes House, and even a Winslow House. And it was in these very offices, that legends of the South would have assembled. Their names now etched into history, Matthew Fontaine Maury, John Newlands Maffit, Raphael Semmes, James Iredell Waddell.
Each a hero in their own right, who, along with so many other sailors passed through Liverpool.
The manager of Fraser Trenholm, was Charles Kuhn Prioleau, of South Carolina. Prioleau lived at a beautiful house in Abercromby Square; among the features are a ceiling fresco of a Palmetto tree, that is as beautiful now, as it was on the day it was painted. The South Carolina Flag that was on the wall, is now sadly faded. The building itself remains in use, as part of the city`s University. It is thought that Bulloch possibly stayed in what was then called The liver Inn, but is now a hotel. Semmes and Bulloch undoubtedly visited the Liver, and the land lord is now proud to display both a photo of Bulloch, and a saltire in the pub, along with framed newspaper articles.
Of course Bulloch himself required somewhere to live, and when his wife Harriet arrived, with James D Junior in tow, she quickly found a house to rent. The house was at #2 Marine Terrace Waterloo. And stil stands today, much as it did then almost 150 years ago. Stand by the gate, look North, you will see a few yards of grass, and then, the River Mersey, exactly as Bulloch, and Semmes would have seen it in those heady days of war. Actually Bulloch lived in three houses in that area, all within yards of each other. At one time living next door to his secretary, and fellow Southerner, Moses P Robertson. Bulloch lived at #12 Wellington St, and Robertson at #10. Across the road from these houses, stands the now closed St John`s Church, a church that opened in December 1965, and the first four names in the baptismal register are the four Bulloch children that were born here in England.
The Bulloch children attended a private school run by Madame Micheline De Zastro and her sons. Jefferson Davis` s two sons also attended this school from 1868 – 71, it is within walking distance of all the Bulloch homes in Waterloo. Bulloch`s sister, the mother of the future President of the USA, Theodore Roosevelt, visited with the Bulloch`s, bringing her husband and son to Liverpool. They visited the Bulloch children at their school, where it was reported that Roosevelt and the elder Davis had a fight.
Of course the Confederates did not have it all their own way in Liverpool, just around the corner from Rumford Place is Water Street, where the United States Consulate had their offices. The US Consul throughout the war was Thomas Haines Dudley, who proved a very able ally for the US Ambassador Francis Adams in London. They did everything in their power to thwart Bulloch at his every move. It needs to be noted here, that 3 weeks after Buloch arrived in Liverpool, he received a copy of the New York Times, an issue that named him, and gave full details of his “secret” mission to England. From these offices in Water St, now the “Battle Of The Atlantic” Museum, Dudley ran a team of spies, following Bulloch everywhere. One such spy, Matthew Maguire, managed to board the Alabama while she was being finished off, and produced a report for the US authorities.
On a lighter note, Matthew Maguire also spoke of meeting some of the crew and workmen from Lairds, where the Alabama had been built, as they walked down Canning Street, towards the Liverpool ferry terminal in Birkenhead. They were playing musical instruments and laughing and singing to the tune of “Dixie`s Land”. He states they kept this up on the ferry ride, all the way across the River. This was on July 26th 1862, just a few days prior to the escape of the Alabama. It is still possible to cross the river by ferry, and disembark at these same places. Lairds Yard still exists, and after a brief period of closure, has recently reopened, to do what they do best.
There are many things to see here, the model of the Alabama in the Merseyside Maritime Museum. The silver ewer presented to “Capt Bulloch, by grateful passengers of the SS Cahawba, and presented to Liverpool City Town Hall by Bulloch`s daughter.
The homes of Irvine Bulloch, Lt John Low, the hotels use dby Maffit and Waddell, and of course, the final resting place of some very brave men. Several of the Alabama crew, local men, are buried at St James Church, in the shadow of the Anglican Cathedral, others are in cemeteries around the city.
And in Toxteth Park Cemetery, we have both Union and Confederate graves. The most famous being that of Commander James Dunwoody Bulloch, alongside the family grave of his half brother, Irvine Stephens Bulloch.
Both of these men are regularly honoured by British people with an interest in their story, and I know from personal experience many American visitors often pay their respects here, including the family of Raphael Semmes. Workers there tell me that they are often asked by American people, “where is Captain Bulloch please?”
Your sons of the South may sleep in a foreign land, but, they are most certainly, not forgotten
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