The case of AM Couturie, Consul of the Netherlands in New Orleans

In early May 1862 Major General Butler received information that a great sum of money belonging to insurgent enemies was hidden in the liquor store of A Couturie consul of the Netherlands. Butler states that Couturie denied all knowledge of it and claimed all property there as his own. He reports that $800,000 in Mexican coin bearing th mark of the Citizens' Bank of New Orleans were found and that he took possesion of it. Couturie however states that the money was not found in his store but at his consular office. In a letter to Butler he writes:

NEW ORLEANS, Saturday, May 10, 1862--9 p.m.

Maj. Gen. B. F. BUTLER, U.S. Army,
Commanding Department of the Gulf, New Orleans:

SIR: Herewith inclosed I have the honor to transmit to you a statement of facts which transpired in my consular office during the afternoon of this day, duplicates of which statement I am about to transmit to the minister of my Government, accredited at Washington, and also to the minister of foreign affairs at The Hague. I desire to know whether the acts recited in said statement were performed with your sanction or by your orders. Your answer, or a faithful copy thereof, shall accompany my messages to my ministers and Government. I have the honor to be, respectfully, your obedient servant,

AM. COUTURIE,

Consul of the Netherlands.

Statement of facts.

On this day, the 10th of April, 1862, and at the hour of five minutes to 2 o'clock p.m., I, being in my consular office, No. 109 Canal street, was called upon by an officer wearing the uniform and arms of a captain of the U.S. Army, accompanied by a squad of six or eight men under his command.
The captain informed me that he came to prevent the exit of any person or property from the premises. I said that I was consul of the Netherlands; that this was the office of my consulate, and that I protested against any such violation of same. I then wrote a note to Comte Mejan, consul of France, in this city, requesting him to come to me for consultation.
This note was handed to the officer, whose name I then learned to be Captain Shipley, who promised to send it after taking it to headquarters.
Captain Shipley returned and stated to me that by order of Major-General Butler my note would not be sent to Consul Mejan, and that he, the captain, would proceed forthwith to search the premises. Captain Shipley then demanded of me the keys of my vault. These I refused to deliver. He remarked that he would have to force open the doors, and I told him that in regard to that he could do what he pleased. For the second time I again protested against the violation of the consular office to Captain Shipley, who then went out. Before he left I distinctly put the question to him, "Sir, am I to understand that my consular office is taken possession of and myself am arrested by you, and that, too, by the order of Major-General Butler?" He replied, "Yes, sir." During Captain Shipley's absence another officer remained in the office and a special sentinel was put on guard in the room where I then kept myself. The name of this second officer was Lieutenant Whitcomb, as he informed me. Captain Shipley returned and was followed by another officer, Whose name I could not ascertain, but from appearances ranking him.
This officer approached me, and in a passionate, insulting tone, contrasting singularly with the gentlemanly deportment of both Captain Shipley and Lieutenant Whitcomb, made the same demand for the keys as had been made by Captain Shipley, and I made the same refusal, protesting against the act, as I had done before. He then gave orders to search the office and break open, if need be, the doors of the vault.
I then arose and said:

I, Amedée Couturie, consul of the Netherlands, protest against any occupation or search of my office; and this I do in the name of my Government. The name of my consulate is over the door, and my flag floats over my head. If I cede, it is to force alone.

Search being begun in the office by the officer, I told him that the keys were on my person. He then in a more than rough tone ordered two of the soldiers to search my person, using the following among other expressions: "Search the fellow," "strip him," "take off his coat, stockings," "search even the soles of his shoes." I remarked to the officer that the appellation "fellow" that he gave me was never applied to a gentleman, far less to a foreign consul in his consular capacity, as I was then, and that I requested him to remember that he had said the word. He replied it was the name he had given me, and he repeated over the name three times.
Both Captain Shipley and Lieutenant Whitcomb then stepped forward. The latter was the first to take two keys out of my coat pocket. The former took the key of my vault from the right pocket of my pantaloons. Of the keys taken by Lieutenant Whitcomb there was one opening my place of business, which had nothing to do with my place consulate and is situated in a different part of the city. I claimed it, but was told by the commanding officer that he would keep it for the present, but might let me have it to-morrow.
I must here state that when Captain Shipley told me that my letter to the consul of France would not be sent I remarked that I had forwarded another message to the consul and was expecting him every moment, and that if he, the captain, would delay action until I had seen the consul of France something good might come out of my consultation. Captain Shipley replied that he could not delay action, and that the order of General Butler was to go on with the work he was charged with.
The superior officer then took the keys, opened the vault, and in company of Captain Shipley and Lieutenant Whitcomb entered the same. What they did there I was unable to see, as I kept myself in the same place and in the same chair where I had been searched.
After searching for some time said officer retired, leaving the vault open, Captain Shipley and Lieutenant Whitcomb remaining with their men. Two other officers that I had not seen before came in and joined them for some time.
After an absence of about three-quarters of an hour the officer in question returned, and in the presence of the other officers closed and locked the vault, taking the keys along with him. I then remarked to him that the key of my store was among those that had been taken away from my person, and I wished to have it. The same officer then asked me whether my store contained any goods or property belonging to the Confederates, to which inquiry I answered in the negative. The same officer made use of the following language at the time: "You have placed yourself in a bad position, and shall be treated without any consideration." He retired after that. It was then about 4 p.m.
I then continued to be a prisoner under the charge of Captain Shipley and a guard of armed soldiers placed inside and outside of my office until about 7 p.m., when Captain Shipley, having communicated with another officer who came in the consular office, approached me and said: "You are now at liberty to go wherever you please, sir." I said: "I am at liberty to go wherever I please?" He answered: "Yes, sir." I then remarked: "And it is by verbal communication that I am informed of the fact?" He replied: "The same as you were arrested." I then rose, and before leaving my office made the following remark to Captain Shipley: "You have taken possession of this office, I leave everything in your charge." To this he replied: "I will take care of it." Whereupon I left my office, and a short time after I took down my consular flag.

AM. COUTURIE,

Consul of the Netherlands.

He then writes:

NEW ORLEANS, May 13, 1862--11 a.m.

A statement of the facts that occurred after I took down the consular flag:
Having hauled down the flag of the Netherlands and left the premises, I paused for a moment in front of the building, which was surrounded by a great crowd of citizens of this place. I noticed that the inside and outside of the consular office were occupied by armed soldiers.
Passing by at 9 o'clock and again at midnight I noticed armed sentinels pacing all around the building; which was then closed. On the following day, being Sunday, the 11th instant, or thereabout, a party of armed soldiers, commanded by officers in uniform with sidearms, reached the consular office, which they entered. At the same time a certain number of drays and wagons arrived in front of the consular office, and the articles hereinafter recited were removed from the vault of my consulate, placed on the sidewalk, thence upon the vehicles, carted off, and removed in presence of a large crowd of citizens. The articles removed by the military force are the following:
No. 1.--One hundred and sixty kegs containing each $5,000, being in all $800,000, Mexican silver dollars, which were deposited with me, as consul of the Netherlands, on the 12th day of April last, by Edmund J. Forstall, esq., a prominent merchant and citizen of this city, acting as agent of Messrs. Hope & Co., of Amsterdam, by virtue of an act of procuration which he then communicated to me. Said specie I was to keep and promised to keep in pledge for account of said firm and hold subject to their order. The above facts were afterward communicated by me to the minister of foreign affairs at The Hague, with a request that he would be pleased to transmit the information of the same to Messrs. Hope & Co.
No. 2.--One tin box (to which we gave the name of a bank box of this city), locked, containing, first, ten bonds of the consolidated debt of the city of New Orleans for $1,000 each, the nominal value of which is $10,000; second, eight bonds of the city of Mobile of the value of $1,000 each, the nominal value of which is $8,000. Said eighteen bonds were deposited with me on the 12th day of April last by Edmund J. Forstall, esq., in the capacity above recited as the property of Messrs. Hope & Co.; third, divers papers, being titles and deeds, my consular commission from His Majesty the King of the Netherlands, and exequatur from the President of the United States.
No. 3.--Six other tin boxes marked with my name, "Amedée Couturie," containing private deeds, silverware, &c., which boxes are the property of divers persons for whom I am agent.
No. 4.--Two or more tin boxes, the property of the Hope Insurance Company, of this city, which occupied a portion of the premises in which my consulate was located.
Since the removal of the articles herein recited from the vault of the consulate the doors of the same have been closed and locked and armed sentinels continue to be placed at the entrance of and around the building. The coin and other articles above enumerated have been deposited, to the best of my knowledge, either in the mint or customhouse in this city, both public edifices, being occupied by the U.S. military.

AM. COUTURIE,

Consul of the Netherlands.

Butler was hated by the people of New Orleans and the rest of the South because he ordered that women who insulted his men should be treated as women of the streets plying their trade. His nickname was therefore "Beast" Butler. His other nickname "Spoons" Butler came from the rumour to have personnaly plundered homes. His reply to the letters of Couturie did not help him to improve this reputation:

HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE GULF,
New Orleans, May 14, 1862.

The CONSUL OF THE NETHERLANDS:
SIR: Your communication of the 10th instant is received. The nature of the property found concealed beneath your consular flag, the specie, dies, and plates of the Citizens' Bank of New Orleans, under a claim that it was your private property, which claim is now admitted to be groundless, shows you have merited, so far as I can judge, the treatment you have received, even if a little rough. Having prostituted your flag to a base purpose, you could not hope to have it respected, so debased.
I am, officially, your obedient servant,

BENJ. F. BUTLER,

Major-general, Commanding.

The Dutch Government received copies from the letters of Couturie and Butler and was not very pleased with them. The Dutch minister to the United States of America Mr. Roest van Limburg called "the grave offenses committed against the consul by calling him a "fellow," searching his pockets, and writing to him that he had "prostituted his flag to a base purpose" acts which the Government of the United States (I am happy to acknowledge) has hastened to decline to be responsible for, an outrage.
Alarmed by these harsh words and other correspondense between Roest van Limburg and Seward, the United States Government emphasized to Butler that it is necessary to preserve the harmonious relations with all foreign Governments. President Lincoln desired from Butler that his actions shall be conform to the views expressed by Secretary Seward to Baron Van Limburg as the policy of the United States Government toward foreign nations.
To resolve this little crisis President Lincoln appointed Reverdy Johnson from Baltimore to investigate the complaints made by foreign consuls and particularly the consul of the Netherlands in New Orleans.

Mr. ROEST VAN LIMBURG, &c.:

SIR: The Hon. Revrdy Johnson, who, as you have heretofore been informed, was appointed by this Department a commissioner to proceed to New Orleans and investigate, among other affairs, the transaction which occurred there affecting the consul of the Netherlands and certain subjects of the King of the Netherlands, under the direction of Major-General Butler, has performed that duty. He submitted his reports concerning the same and they have been approved by the President.....

WILLIAM H. SEWARD.

One of the conclusions of the investigation of Johnson is that the $800,000 were in good faith deposited to Couturie. He writes the following to Butler:

U.S. COMMISSIONER'S OFFICE,
New Orleans, July 21, 1862.

Major-General BUTLER:
SIR: The examination I have been making into the ownership of $800,000 in coin deposited by Mr. E. J. Forstall as agent of Messrs. Hope & Co. with the consul of the Netherlands, and taken possession of by your order, has resulted in satisfying me that the ten bonds for $1,000 each of the city of New Orleans, and the eight of the city of Mobile for the like amount each, taken at the same time, are the property of Messrs. Hope & Co., and were in good faith deposited as alleged by their said agent, and that they should be returned to him. His authority as agent appears by an original power of attorney, properly proved before me, and also by the fact that he has for years, acted in that capacity. With high regard, your obedient servant,

REVERDY JOHNSON,

Commissioner, &c.

In the letter below Seward informs Roest van Limburg of the results from the Johnson investigation.

Mr. ROEST VAN LIMBURG, &c.:

.....As a result of the approval of Mr. Johnson's proceeding in the premises, I have now the honor to inform you that the $800,000 in coin which was taken by Colonel Shepley under direction of Major-General Butler, from the possession of Amedée Couturie, the consul of the Netherlands at New Orleans, and which was claimed to have been deposited with him to the use of Messrs. Hope & Co., of Amsterdam, and which is more particularly described in the correspondence which has heretofore taken place between yourself and this Department, will be restored by the major-general or other U.S. officer commanding at New Orleans to either Mr. Couturie, the consul of the Netherlands, or to Mr. Forstall, as the agent of Messrs Hope & Co., or to the Citizens' Bank of Louisiana, whichsoever of them you may designate. I refer the designation of it to yourself, because your Government has intervened in regard to the transaction, whereby its consent to the designation has become necessary, and it will, of course, be conclusive.
Secondly, I proceed to speak of the articles of property other than coin, described specifically by part No. 2, in a statement of the said consul, Mr. Couturie, dated May 13, 1862, and which was submitted to this Department by you, as follows:

One tin box (to which we give the name of bank box in this city), locked, containing:
First. Ten bonds of the consolidated debt of the city of New Orleans, per $1,000 each, making the nominal value of $10,000.
Second. Eight bonds of the city of Mobile of the value of $1,000 each, the nominal value of which is $8,000, claimed by Mr. Couturie to have been deposited with me on the 12th day of April last by Edmund J. Forstall, esq., in the capacity of agent, and as the property of Messrs. Hope & Co.
Third. Divers papers, being titles and deeds, the consular correspondence of Mr. Couturie and his exequatur. No. 3. Six other tin boxes marked with the name of Amedée Couturie, containing private deeds, silverware, &c., which boxes are claimed to be the property of divers persons for whom he was acting as agent.
Fourth. Two or more tin boxes, the property of the Hope Insurance Company, of the city of New Orleans, which occupied a portion of the premises in which the consulate was located.

The extract from Mr. Johnson's report will show you that under his direction all this property would have been delivered to Mr. Couturie if he had not declined to accept it for reasons specified by him in a letter to Mr. Johnson. Upon his thus declining the eighteen bonds were delivered by Major-General Butler, under Mr. Johnson's directions, to Mr. Forstall, as agent for Messrs. Hope & Co. A copy of his receipt for the same is herewith transmitted to you, and the original will be handed to you or given to whomsoever you may indicate. The other articles named in said statement No. 2 will be delivered, by Major-General Butler or other officer commanding at New Orleans, to Mr. Couturie, unless you shall designate some other person to receive them.
In your note of the 28th of July last you informed me that your Government shared the satisfaction which you had expressed when on a previous occasion I announced to you that the President and Government of the United States viewed the conduct of the military authorities at New Orleans, in regard to the transactions in which Mr. Couturie, the consul of the Netherlands, was concerned, as a violation of the law of nations, and that they disapproved of it, and disapproved the sanction which had been given to it by Major-General Butler. You added, however, that your Government flattered itself that the United States would go further, and that in the view of the Government of the Netherlands the gravity and publicity of the outrage (as you were pleased to call these transactions) demand that the Government of the United States give public evidence of its regret, for example, by manifesting by some public act its dissatisfaction with Major-General Butler.
You further add that the Government of the Netherlands, considering, until proof is made to the contrary, that Mr. Couturie, its consul, has acted in good faith, expects that the Government of the United States will not refuse to do likewise, and that it will please consequently to invite the consul, who, on the avowal of the American Government itself, has been very ill-used, to resume his consular functions.
I cannot avoid thinking that these requests were made by your Government under a mistaken idea that the United States, for some reason, desired in some way to cover or conceal from the world the proceedings which they have taken in regard to these questions. If this be true, your Government has fallen into a serious error. The whole of these proceedings have been direct, frank, and unreserved. The United States, as you are aware, did not only express their regret for the transaction, and their dissatisfaction with General Butler in the premises, in the language you have quoted, but they also sent an agent to ascertain the extent of injuries which were complained of, to the end that they might promptly be redressed, and that restitution might be made. That redress has now been made, and that restitution, ordering immediately upon the facts on which it depended, having been established. Moreover, you were advised in my former communication that, simultaneously with the appointment of Mr. Johnson as commissioner, Major-General Butler was relieved of his functions as military governor of New Orleans, and Brigadier-General Shepley was appointed military governor of that city. The military authorities were at the same time directed to invite Mr. Couturie to resume his consular functions. Their proceedings fully appear in the official correspondence which has taken place between yourself and this Department. This correspondence is not a private but a public one, which your Government is at entire liberty to promulgate without reserve whenever it shall please to do so, and whether your Government shall think proper to so promulgate it or not, it will, according to our national habit, be communicated without any reservation to Congress on their assembling here on the first Monday of December next. Nor is it at all a matter of reserve on the part of this Government that the dissatisfaction with Major-General Butler's precipitancy and harshness in the transactions concerned were among the causes for transferring the administration of public affairs at New Orleans to General Shepley.
It is very true, sir, as you remark, that Mr. Couturie has been very ill-used, and upon that ground General Shepley will be directed to invite him to resume his consular functions at New Orleans, if, indeed, he has not done so already under previous instructions. But I must, nevertheless, accompany this invitation with the declaration that, in the judgment of this Government, Mr. Couturie has acted throughout the transactions which have been reviewed, and even throughout the investigation of them which has taken place, in a manner that was very indiscreet, and calculated, though, I presume, not intended, to embarrass the relations between your country and our own, and that unless his conduct hereafter shall exhibit more of consideration for the authority of the United States it must not be expected that the President will be content with his remaining in the consulate at New Orleans.
I trust, sir, that your Government will be satisfied that the United States have resolved the questions which have been discussed in a spirit not merely of good faith, but also of friendship and good will, toward their ancient and esteemed friend, the Netherlands.
I avail myself of this opportunity to renew to you, sir, the assurance of my very high consideration.

The information on this page is taken from the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies