1873 — Nov 7 -8, Spanish execute captured gunrunner Virginius crew, Santiago de Cuba–53

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 6-25-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

–53  Britannica. “Virginius affair (1873).”

–53  The History Engine, University of Richmond. “The Virginius Affair.”

–53  Wikipedia. “Virginius Affair.” 6-22-2024 edit. Accessed 6-25-2024.

Narrative Information

Britannica. “Virginius affair (1873).”

“Virginius affair (1873), seizure of the Cuban ship Virginius (fraudulently flying the U.S. flag and carrying U.S. registration) by Spanish authorities and the summary execution of 53 of its passengers and crew, among them U.S. and British citizens. Hostilities between the United States and Spain were averted when Spain returned the ship and paid an indemnity of $80,000 to the families of the executed Americans. Spain also paid an indemnity to Great Britain for the executed British subjects. A promise to punish the Spanish officers responsible for the incident was never fulfilled.”

The History Engine, University of Richmond. “The Virginius Affair.”:

“The Virginius was a former Confederate blockade runner which had been captured by the Union during the American Civil War. A Northerner, John Patterson, purchased the Virginius from the government, and, unbeknownst to the New York Customs House, planned to use the ship to take supplies and men to Cuban insurgents fighting the Ten Years’ War with Spain. The Ten Years’ War was the Cuban war for independence which lasted from 1868-1878; the last three months of the conflict would escalate to become the Spanish-American War.

“On October 31, 1873 in international waters near Jamaica, a Spanish naval vessel took the Virginius (which was flying the American flag) and its passengers and crew into custody. There were 52 American and English crewmen, and around 100 Cuban passengers. On November 4 in Santiago de Cuba, the Spanish summarily tried and executed 53 of the Virginius’s crew, including the ship’s commanding officer and former Confederate Captain Joseph Fry, as well as some passengers who turned out to be insurgents.

“Americans were outraged at the news; it was inconceivable that Spain would dare to board a vessel flying the U.S. flag in international waters, then impound and execute most of the crew.

“….Even after the news came out that the Virginius had flown the American flag illegally, tensions were high between the U.S. and British and Spain. However, on December 8, Spain agreed to release the remaining prisoners, return the Virginius to the United States. In 1875, the Spain paid an indemnity of 80,000 to the American and British governments in apology for the execution of American and British citizens two years earlier. Though the Virginius incident rallied Southern pride, it also lit a fire of nationalism in the United States, a prelude to the rise of nativism later in the century, and sowed a seed of discord between the American and Spanish governments which would yield the Spanish-American War a few years later.”

Wikipedia. “Virginius Affair.” 6-22-2024 edit: “Captain Joseph Fry was made the new captain of Virginius in October 1873. Fry had served in the US Navy for 15 years before joining the Confederacy during the Civil War. Fry was promoted to commodore in the Confederate Navy. However, after that position disappeared after the U.S. victory in 1865, Fry was underemployed. In 1873 he took the job as captain of Virginius. Virginius, moored in Kingston, Jamaica by this time, needed repair, and the boilers were breaking down. As most of the previous crew had deserted, Fry recruited a new crew of 52 American and British men. Many were inexperienced and did not understand that Virginius was supporting the Cuban rebellion. Three were very young recruits, no older than 13 years of age. Virginius took on 103 native Cuban soldiers that arrived on board a New York steamer. The US Consul at Kingston, Thomas H. Pearne, had warned Fry that he would be shot if captured. However, Fry did not believe the Spanish would shoot a blockade runner. In mid-October, Captain Fry, accompanied by the four principal Cuban patriots, Pedro de Céspedes (brother of Carlos Manuel de Cespedes), Bernabe Varona, Jesus de Sol, and William A. C Ryan, took Virginius to Haiti and loaded the ship with munitions. On October 30, Virginius sailed to Comito to pick up more weapons and then, on the same day, started toward Cuba. The Spanish had been warned when Virginius left Jamaica and sent out the warship Tornado to capture the vessel.

“On October 30, 1873 Tornado spotted Virginius on open water 6 miles (9.7 km) from Cuba and gave chase. Virginius was heavily weighted, and the stress from the boilers caused the ship to take on water, significantly slowing any progress. As the chase continued, Tornado, a fast warship, fired on Virginius several times, damaging the top deck. Captain Fry surrendered Virginius, knowing that his ship’s overworked boilers and leaking hull could not outrun Tornado on the open sea. The Spanish quickly boarded and secured the ship, taking the entire crew prisoner and sailing the ship to Santiago de Cuba.

“The Spanish immediately ordered the entire crew to be put on trial as pirates. The entire Virginius crew, both American and British citizens, as well as the Cuban patriots, were found guilty by a court martial and were sentenced to death. The Spanish ignored the protest of the US vice-consul, who attempted to give American citizens legal aid. On November 4, 1873, the four principal Cuban patriots who accompanied Fry were executed by a firing squad without trial since he had already been condemned as a pirate. After the executions, the British vice-consul at Santiago, concerned that one of the patriots killed, George Washington Ryan, claimed British citizenship, wired Jamaica to receive aid from the Royal Navy to stop further executions. Hearing news of the ship’s capture and the executions, Altamont de Cordova, a Jamaican resident, was able to get British Commodore A.F.R. de Horsey to send the sloop HMS Niobe under Sir Lambton Loraine, 11^th Baronet to Santiago to stop further executions. On November 7, an additional 37 crew members, including Captain Fry, were executed by firing squad. The Spanish soldiers decapitated them and trampled their bodies with horses. On November 8, twelve more crew members were executed until finally, both the USS Wyoming, under the command of Civil War Naval hero Will Cushing, and HMS Niobe reached Santiago. The carnage stopped on the same day that Cushing (and possibly the British Captain Lorraine) threatened local commander Juan N. Burriel that he would bombard Santiago if there were any more executions. 53 were executed at Santiago under Burriel’s authority….”

Sources

Britannica. “Virginius affair (1873).” Accessed 6-25-2024 at: https://www.britannica.com/event/Virginius-affair

The History Engine, University of Richmond. “The Virginius Affair.” Accessed 6-25-2024 at: https://historyengine.richmond.edu/episodes/view/349

Wikipedia. “Virginius Affair.” 6-22-2024 edit. Accessed 6-25-2024 at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginius_Affair#Virginius_and_crew_returned