Editor’s Note—See discussion, page 335 this issue.
ONE of the writer’s earliest memories is of a long hall hung with old time ship pictures, among which was a particularly bold lithograph labelled “The U. S. Sloop of War St. Louis in the Harbor of Smyrna, July 2, 1853,” with the sub-title Commander Duncan N-. Ingraham demanding the release of Martin Koszta from the Austrian Brig of War Hussar.”
The artist was evidently more noted for conscientious attention to detail than for a very intimate acquaintance with naval architecture or a too slavish adherence to the laws of perspective. Not for him were any of the tricks of the modernist school, whereby so much is left to the imagination and so little actually done by the artist; his job was to get into the picture everything that belonged there, and in this he has succeeded admirably.
True, the bows of his ships are of the dish-pan variety, and there is a certain stiffness and formality in his treatment that is faintly reminiscent of the toy Noah's arks of our childhood. Nevertheless he did not miss a trick; every spar, shroud, and stay is there, and his fidelity to the actual facts becomes more apparent when we study the incident on which the picture was based.
This incident is described in the Elements of International Law, by G. B. Davis, and is quoted as follows:
Koszta was a Hungarian, and so a natural born citizen and so a natural born n of Austria. He was concerned in the revolutionary outbreak of 1848, and at the unsuccessful termination of that movement effected his escape to Turkey, where he was arrested and imprisoned, but finally released on condition that he should quit Turkish territory. He went to the States, took up a residence there, and at the proper time made a declaration in due form of his intention to become an American citizen.
In 1853, and so before the naturalization process been completed in his case, he went to Smyrna on business, and was there granted a traveling pass by the United States consul. This paper conferred upon him, to a certain extent, the national character of an American, and stated that he was entitled to American protection.
Not long after his arrival in Smyrna his presence was made known to the Austrian consul, and on June 21, 1853, Koszta was seized by certain persons in the pay of the Austrian consulate and taken out into the harbor in a boat. At some distance from the shore he was thrown into the water, and was picked up by boats from the Austrian man-of-war Hussar. He was taken on board that ship and was there confined with a view to his ultimate conveyance within Austrian jurisdiction.
The United States consul at Smyrna protested against this arbitrary action, but without avail, and as a last resort, reported the circumstance to the American Legation at Constantinople. The St. Louis, a public armed vessel of the United States, commanded by Captain Ingraham, happened to be lying in the harbor of Constantinople at the time, and Captain Ingraham was requested by the Charge d’Affaires to proceed to Smyrna and demand Koszta’s release, if necessary by a resort to force. In compliance with these instructions Captain Ingraham went to Smyrna and demanded the surrender of Koszta, stating that unless he were delivered up he should take him by force of arms.
As such a conflict, aside from its international consequences, would have led to the certain destruction of much of the shipping in the harbor and to possible destruction of the town itself, the French consul offered his mediation, and Koszta was delivered into his custody pending the result of the negotiations in his case. As a result Koszta was conveyed back to the United States, the Austrian government reserving the right to proceed against him should he ever return to Turkish territory.
The foregoing covers the mere outstanding facts from a legal standpoint. A more colorful account came to light recently when a musty volume, about to be thrown into the bonfire, turned out to be an intimate diary kept on board the St. Louis in 1852-54 by Passed Midshipman (afterwards Rear Admiral) Ralph Chandler, U.S.N., who brought the picture home from the Mediterranean. The style is somewhat sententious and flowery, as was the habit of the 1850’s, but the prompt line on the pretty girls of a new port would do credit to the leading sheiks of any modern J. O. mess.
His story runs:
“On the twentieth of June our canvas wings were loosed to the breeze and we glided from the little harbor of Piraeus and soon lost sight of the city, venerable Acropolis and all, and steered away for Smyrna. On the twenty-second or twenty-third we were beating up the gulf, and early on the morning of the twenty-fourth let go the anchor in Smyrna harbor.
“When one sees one Turkish city he has seen them all, and to me there is a sameness about the mosques and minarets, the burial grounds among the trees, and even among the Turks themselves. Smyrna may be an exception for there are many Franks there and in their quarter of the city it looks quite homelike.
“The first news that greeted our ears on arrival was a description of the horrible and barbarous manner in which the Austrian consul, assisted by the brig-of-war Hussar, had treated one Martin Koszta, a Hungarian. Even the pretty girls were full of indignation and vowed vengeance against the Austrian officers, and refused to have anything to do with them; and their sweet faces would at once assume an angry cast when the subject was mentioned. The facts of the case were laid before the captain and in substance were as follows:
“Martin Koszta was one of the refugees that went to America with Kossuth, and while there filed a Declaration of Intention to become a citizen of the United States, and soon after left and came to Smyrna. Our consul refused to take him under protection as an American citizen, and for a few months he lived very quietly without being under the protection of any flag.
“One evening while he was at one of the coffee houses where he usually spent his evenings smoking his pipe—but a short description of the coffee house is necessary: It was partly supported by spiles driven into the ground and the larger portion of the building projected over the bay with a railing around it, and chairs and tables so placed that one might enjoy the cool breeze and take his coffee in the open air.
“While he was thus engaged at dusk one evening he was forcibly seized and thrown over the railing and then dragged some yards by a boat that was in waiting, sometimes under water and sometimes not, until the scoundrels thought themselves far enough from shore. They then took him into the boat and carried him to the Hussar where he was confined in chains on the lower deck. The brutal manner in which he was treated, together with his intention to become an American citizen, influenced Captain Ingraham to act as he subsequently did.
“On our arrival, after the consul had seen the captain, a committee of citizens consisting of many English and Americans came on board to beg the interference of Captain Ingraham in behalf of the unfortunate Koszta, but the case was so singular a one that the captain could not take any immediate steps in reference to it, but at once wrote to the minister at Constantinople. The minister proper was absent but Mr. Brown, the dragoman, was acting, and after two statements of the affair from Captain Ingraham his advice was to take the unfortunate prisoner at all hazards.
“On July 2, a day I shall long remember, before breakfast the captain went on board the Hussar and demanded to see Koszta, but was told by the executive officer (the captain being on shore) that no such person was on board the brig. The contrary we knew, and therefore the captain informed the captain of the Hussar both verbally and in writing, that if Koszta was not delivered up by twelve meridian (it was then about 8:00 a.m.) he would take him by force. To which the Austrian captain replied, ‘I am a soldier, sir, as well as a sailor, and will obey the orders of my superior, the consul, come what may.’
“When Captain Ingraham came back and told what he had done there was no surprise expressed, but we all saw that unless the man was given up there would be bloodshed, and every man on board seemed anxious for a fight. The time was put off until 4:00 p.m. for his delivery into our hands and we had ample opportunity to get ready for action.
“The Austrian force consisted of the brig Hussar of sixteen guns, the schooner Artemisia of twelve guns and a steamer of four guns. None of the guns of the Austrians were of as large calibre as ours, but their number exceeded ours by twelve guns. If that excess were all in one battery,—for instance, if it were one thirty-two gun ship instead of the three separate ones we were to contend against, our chance would of course be much better for we could always avoid a raking fire, and would not be obliged to fight both batteries at one time. In the other case one vessel might be on each side of us and another ahead or astern, and in either position we would be exposed to a raking fire. It was evident that in the case before us our plan of tactics was to get underway and fight at a long range until one or more of our opponents were disabled; and that being accomplished, we were certain of victory.
“This was the plan Captain Ingraham adopted and intended to put in force. Slip ropes were got on the chain ready to cast off at any moment from the anchor, the men were called to quarters, shot and shell passed UP to the guns, and everything soon assumed a warlike aspect. Before all this was effected, however, we left our old berth and stood closer in just ahead of the Hussar and came to again within less than half a cable’s length from that vessel, and only veered to twelve fathoms of chain, so that the fifteen- fathom shackle would be near at hand to slip with.
"The schooner, as soon as she was informed of our captain's demand, weighed her anchor and stood off and on across our bows for the rest of the day, and the steamer got up steam ready to tow either of the other vessels into position. No one can doubt that these were all hostile maneuvers and tended to show that resistance would be shown to the last.
"Our guns were loaded each with a round shot and a shell, the men armed with cutlasses and pistols, and the ship put in readiness for an action. Bulkheads were knocked down, yards slung, and rigging snaked down, and the array of amputating instruments that were displayed on the steerage table by the doctors was enough to chill ones blood. We were all in a great state of excitement, but not an expression of fear or regret did I hear, and I believe our officers and men would have fought the most desperate fight yet recorded.
The people on shore heard of our intention and it produced much consternation among them as they had fears of our firing by chance into the town, and many of those men who were loudest in their advice to capture Koszta, now thought better of it and would rather a little diplomacy and forbearance were exercised. But it could not be. Either Koszta must be delivered into our hands or we would take him, and so matters stood at half past three when an express came from the shore stating that the Austrian consul had thought better of the matter and would negotiate. Agreements were therefore entered into that Koszta should be delivered over to the French consul to be treated as a prisoner at large until the actions of the separate governments be known.
“He was taken on shore, our boat following to see that everything was conducted properly, and so ended the Koszta excitement. It created at the time quite a sensation both at home and throughout Europe and became the by-word, and everyone applauded Captain Ingraham for his decisive action on that occasion. We were all certain of victory in case it came to blows, but many a gallant life would have been sacrificed, and many a family at home plunged into mourning for a beloved son or husband!’’
These accounts tally fairly well, though there are some discrepancies. The diary shows that the St. Louis had been some time at Piraeus and left there on June 20, while the account quoted from Elements of International Law states that Koszta was abducted on June 21. It would appear therefore that the St. Louis just happened in to Smyrna at the crucial moment instead of having been sent there on purpose.
It is probable that the American consul at Smyrna did give Koszta a traveling pass or paper of some sort, for if he had refused him all protection as stated in the diary, he could not logically have interested himself later when the man was seized. He probably had little idea himself as to just how much protection a half-naturalized American was entitled.
The first account states that two boats were used in the abduction while the diary mentions only one. It is likely that he was taken out into the harbor in one boat by longshore thugs in the pay of the Austrian consul, and thrown overboard to be picked up by a boat from the Hussar. This would give the Austrians a chance to claim that he had been merely found and picked up instead of having been forcibly abducted.
It is an interesting speculation as to what would have happened had the Austrians stood their ground and kept Koszta. Captain Ingraham evidently meant business, though presumably hoping that his hand would not be called. The forces were not too unequal, considering the heavier guns of the St. Louis; and if the Austrians showed the same fighting spirit that they later displayed under Tegetthoff at Lissa, there would have been as hot a fight as one could desire.
But the real battle would undoubtedly have come later, on the diplomatic game board, in trying to decide how far two wrongs go towards making a right. For while the seizure of Koszta was wholly illegal, it was more so through its violation of Turkish territory than from the shadowy character of his American citizenship; and on the same grounds the use of force by Captain Ingraham would have done equal damage to Turkish pride and considerably more to their harbor.
Probably in this, as in most other decisions that the captain of a naval vessel has to make, he was right so long as he got away with it!
The reason that such a promising casus belli passed off, with nothing more serious than indignation all around, is obvious. Austria and the United States had no conflicting interests nor indeed, any points of contact at all; there was no stage on which to produce a war even had they so desired. But had either one possessed an outlying colony to be seized as balm for wounded dignity, there might have been a different tale to tell-
The picture of this affair was apparently made in Genoa in 1854 and brought home on the St. Louis. A replica of it hangs in India House, New York City.