Virginius Affair - Capture, Trial, and Executions

Capture, Trial, and Executions

Captain Joseph Fry, the new captain of the Virginius from October 1873, was a large imposing man with a full beard in his mid 40s. Fry had served in the U.S. Navy for 15 years, before joining the Confederacy during the American Civil War. Fry was promoted to Commodore in the Confederate Navy. However, after that position disappeared following the Union victory in 1865, Fry was underemployed. In 1873 he took the job as Captain of the Virginius. The 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 men, both American and British; many whom were inexperienced and apparently did not understand that the Virginius was supporting the Cuban rebellion. Three were very young recruits, no older than 13 years of age. The Virginius took on 103 native Cuban soldiers that arrived on board a New York steamer. Fry had been warned by U.S. Consul at Kingston, Thomas H. Pearne, 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 four mercenaries, took the Virginius to Haiti and loaded the ship with munitions. On October 30, the Virginius sailed to Comito to pick up more weapons, then on the same day started toward Cuba. The Spanish had been warned when the Virginius left Jamaica and sent out the warship Tornado to capture the vessel.

On October 30, 1873 the Tornado spotted the Virginius on open water six miles from Cuba and gave chase. The 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 the Tornado, a fast warship, fired on the Virginius several times, damaging the top deck. Captain Fry, surrendered the Virginius knowing that his ships over-worked boilers and leaking hull could not outrun the Tornado on the open sea. The Spanish quickly boarded and secured the ship. The entire crew was taken as prisoners and the ship sailed to Santiago, Cuba.

The Spanish immediately ordered the entire crew to be put on trial as pirates. The entire Virginius crew, both American and British citizens, were found guilty by a court martial and were sentenced to death. The Spanish ignored the protest of American vice-consul who attempted to give American citizens legal aid. On November 4, 1873 the four mercenaries that accompanied Capt. Fry were executed by firing squad without trial, since they had already been condemned as pirates. After the executions, the British vice-consul at Santiago, concerned that one of the mercenaries killed, George Washington Ryan, claimed British citizenship, wired Jamaica to receive aid from the British navy to stop further executions. Hearing news of the Virginius capture and executions, Altamont de Cordova, a Jamaican resident, was able to get British Commodore A.F.R. de Horsey to send the HMS Niobe under Sir Lambton Lorraine to Santiago to stop further executions. On November 7, a further 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 the HMS Niobe reached Santiago. The carnage stopped on the same day when Lorraine threatened local commander Juan N. Burriel that he would bombard Santiago if there were any more executions. There were a total of 53 executions at Santiago under Burriel’s authority.