"SEC. 1. _The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact_, That the President of the Confederate States is hereby authorized to use the whole land, and naval force of the Confederate States, to meet the war thus commenced, and to issue to private armed vessels, commissions, or letters-of-marque, and general reprisal, in such form, as he shall think proper, under the seal of the Confederate States, against the vessels, goods, and effects of the Government of the United States, and of the citizens, or inhabitants of the States, and Territories thereof, except the States and Territories hereinbefore named. _Provided_, however, that the property of the enemy, (unless it be contraband of war,) laden on board a neutral vessel, shall not be subject to seizure, under this Act; and _provided further_, that the vessels of the citizens, or inhabitants of the United States, now in the ports of the Confederate States, except such as have been since the 15th of April last, or may hereafter be, in the service of the Government of the United States, shall be allowed thirty days, after the publication of this Act, to leave said ports, and reach their destination; and such vessels, and their cargoes, excepting articles contraband of war, shall not be subject to capture, under this Act, during said period, unless they shall previously have reached the destination for which they were bound, on leaving said ports."
Among the private armed vessels which took out commissions under this Act, was the schooner _Savannah_, formerly a pilot-boat out of Charleston. She carried one small gun, and about twenty men. During the month of June, this adventurous little cruiser was captured by the U. S. brig _Bainbridge_, and her crew were hurried off to New York, confined in cells, like convicted felons, and afterward brought to trial, and _convicted of piracy_, under Mr. Lincoln's proclamation. I had informed myself of these proceedings from newspapers captured on board the enemy's ships, and hence the announcement I had made to the prisoners of the _Joseph Maxwell_. The reader may imagine the delight of those men, and my own satisfaction, as well, when my lieutenant brought back with him, from the shore, after his visit to the Governor, an American newspaper, of late date, stating that the _Savannah_ prisoners had been released from close confinement, and were to be treated as _prisoners of war_. I was stretching a point, in undertaking retaliation of this serious character without instructions from my Government, but the case was pressing, and we of the _Sumter_ were _vitally_ interested in the issue. The commission of the _Savannah_, though she was only a privateer, was as lawful as our own, and, judging by the abuse that had already been heaped upon us, by the Northern newspapers, we had no reason to expect any better treatment, at the hands of well-paid New York District-Attorneys, and well-packed New York juries.