The Alabama Claims

From Wikipedia.

The Alabama Claims were a series of  demands for damages sought by the government of the United States from the United Kingdom in 1869, for attacks on its merchant shops by commerce raiders of the Confederate Navy built in British shipyards during the war.

The claims were against all such Confederate ships, but took the name Alabama after the most famous of those vessels.  At one time the Confederates had essentially driven U.S. shopping from the world seas.

Caleb Cushing was involved with these.  The U.S. Revenue Cutter Caleb Cushing was named after him.  This is the ship that Charles W. Read captured in Portland Harbor, Maine, which I have been writing about.

An international arbitration endorsed the American position in 1872.    Britain settled the matter by paying the United States $15.5 million and ending the dispute.

--Old B-Runner

Caleb Cushing in the Civil War and the 'Alabama Claims'-- Part 2

I will keep the information about him as mostly pertaining to his involvement with the Civil War.  From Wikipedia.

In 1860, he presided over the  Democratic National Convention, which first met in Charleston and then later in Baltimore.  He joined those who seceded from the convention who nominated John C. Breckinridge for the Presidency.

Also in 1860, President James Buchanan sent Cushing to Charleston, S.C. as Confidential Commissioner to the Secessionists of South Carolina.

Despite having supported states rights and opposing the abolition of slavery, he supported the Union during the war.

After the war, he took a part in the Alabama Claims in 1869.  The Alabama Claims  were damages sought by the U.S. government against  the United Kingdom  for damages done to American shipping caused by commerce raiders built in British shipyards.

Since the CSS Alabama was the most famous of the raiders and had sunk the most shipping, the case was called the Alabama Claims.

--Old B-Runner

So, Who Was This Caleb Cushing the Revenue Cutter Was Named After?-- Part 1

I'd heard of the revenue cutter before, but not the man it was named after.  He also played a role in the Civil War as it turns out.

From Wikipedia.

CALEB CUSHING  (January 17, 1800 to January 2, 1879)

Was an American Democratic politician and diplomat who served in Congress from Massachusetts and was attorney general under President Franklin Pierce.  He was an eager proponent of American territorial and commercial expansion, especially regarding the acquisition of Texas, Oregon and Cuba.

He believed that enlarging the American sphere of influence would would fulfill  "the great destiny reserved for this exemplar American Republic."

He also secured a treaty with China in 1844, which opened  five ports to American trade..  After the Civil War, he secured a treaty with Colombia to give the United States a right-of-way  for a transoceanic across the isthmus of Panama. 

In addition, he also helped obtain a favorable  settlement of the Alabama Claims, and as the ambassador to Spain in the 1870s, helped defuse  the troublesome Virginius Affair.

An Important Man in U.S. History Even If I Didn't Know About Him.  --Old B-Runner