{"id":22603,"date":"2019-02-08T22:54:53","date_gmt":"2019-02-08T22:54:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/02\/08\/sometimes-a-good-man-has-to-take-a-hatchet-to-a-bad-mans-skull\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T18:57:30","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T18:57:30","slug":"sometimes-a-good-man-has-to-take-a-hatchet-to-a-bad-mans-skull","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/02\/08\/sometimes-a-good-man-has-to-take-a-hatchet-to-a-bad-mans-skull\/","title":{"rendered":"Sometimes, a good man has to take a hatchet to a bad man\u2019s skull."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Steward William Tillman had been waiting for more than a week to take back his freedom after Confederate privateers from the ship Jeff Davis<\/a> had captured and boarded his vessel, the schooner S.J. Waring, on July 7, 1861.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Rebels were piloting Waring back to a Confederate port with the intent of claiming prize money and selling Tillman, a free black, into slavery for additional profit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Tillman would have none of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On July 16, he slipped into the cabin of the Southern prize master who was leading Waring\u2019s prize crew, raised high a hatchet he had secreted away, and brought it crashing down on the Southern seaman\u2019s head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before 10 minutes had elapsed, two other Confederate crewmen had been killed with the same bloody hatchet. Tillman had effectively taken over the ship. Now what would he do?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Schooner ‘S.J. Waring’, Recaptured from the Pirates by the Negro Wm. Tillman. Line engraving published in Harper’s Weekly, 3 August 1861. (U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Southern sailors who had captured Tillman\u2019s ship were sailing under a letter of marque issued by Confederate President Jefferson Davis that permitted Jeff Davis (sometimes called the Jefferson Davis) to act as a privateer on behalf of the Confederacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Traditionally, nations without a strong navy \u2014 like the Confederacy \u2014 relied on private seamen to attack enemy merchant ships. Armed with letters of marque, these sailors claimed legitimacy under the nation for which they sailed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Abraham Lincoln refused to recognize these sailors as lawful belligerents, and on April 19 he issued a proclamation stating captains and crews of Rebel privateers would be treated as pirates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lincoln\u2019s proclamation gave little pause to ardent Southern seamen, however, and soon many ships like Jeff Davis were leaving from Confederate ports to prey on Union shipping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeff Davis struck quickly, capturing Enchantress on July 6, and then snagging S.J. Waring the next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

S.J. Waring had departed New York for Buenos Aires on July 4, and on board were the captain and mate, black steward William Tillman, a 23-year-old German seaman named William Stedding, a British sailor named Daniel McLeod, and a passenger named Bryce McKinnon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tillman would ultimately become the most consequential man aboard the ship. A 27-year-old native of Delaware who had lived in Providence, Rhode Island, since he was 14, he had been working as a sailor for the past decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Standing 5-feet-11 with an athletic build, one observer described Tillman as having a \u201chigh, open forehead, and pockmarked features.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Others would recount that they could \u201csee by the glimmer of his beaming eye, that he possessed within him a large amount of the high mettle and calculating mind peculiar to a courageous man.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On July 7, Jeff Davis captured Waring. The captain, two mates, and two of Waring\u2019s seamen were taken aboard Jeff Davis, while a prize crew consisting of a prize master, two mates, and two seamen took control of the captured vessel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The officers of Jeff Davis chose to leave Tillman on Waring, figuring they could sell him in Charleston, S.C., for a hefty sum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Initially the Rebels treated Tillman kindly as part of their deceit. The prize master told him that he would be \u201cwell rewarded in Charleston\u201d for helping bring the ship into port.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another member of the prize crew told him, \u201cWhen you go down to Savannah, I want you to go to my house, and I will take care of you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tillman replied politely, saying, \u201cYes, sir; thank you,\u201d as he doffed his hat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Tillman afterward told Billy Stedding, \u201cI am not going to Charleston a live man; they may take me there dead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tillman\u2019s intuition proved prescient. At one point he overheard the prize master say to another member of the crew, \u201cYou talk to that stewart [sic], and keep him in good heart. By God, he will never see the North again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The captain became more direct with Tillman, telling him \u201cthat he would yet see me down in Savannah, and there he would deal with me as he pleased.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At that, Tillman thought to himself, \u201cOld man, you will never catch me down there.\u201d Indeed, the prize crew would come to regret having kept him on board the ship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Confederate President Jefferson Davis issued letters of marque to ship captains to act as privateers on behalf of the Confederacy. The U.S. Navy disregarded the paperwork and treated the sailors as pirates. (Library of Congress)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Almost immediately after taking over Waring, the prize crew cut up the American flag in order to make a Rebel banner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This action \u201cincensed me to use violence,\u201d Tillman later recalled, for it \u201cmade my blood boil, and I vowed to have revenge.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For about a week, Waring cruised on the high seas while, unbeknownst to its Confederate captors, Tillman and Billy Stedding, the German, were plotting a way to secure their freedom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the afternoon we talked it over again, and I said it\u2019s our only chance, and if we don\u2019t go in tonight and clear ourselves we have to go to a southern port; go into slavery, or have our heads chopped off,\u201d Tillman later stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He spoke to McLeod about the plans, but the British sailor was not willing to join the mutiny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That night Tillman and Stedding worked alone, preparing their weapons and finalizing their plans. Finally, Stedding came to Tillman and said, \u201cNow\u2019s our time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shortly before midnight on July 16, Stedding signaled to Tillman that the prize crew was asleep. Stedding drew a pistol and clutched a knife while keeping watch on the deck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tillman grabbed a hatchet and crept into the captain\u2019s quarters, where he \u201craised his axe and gave him a vigorous blow on his skull, from which he seemed to be launched into eternity, for he moved not an inch.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the time Tillman was finished, the captain\u2019s stateroom looked like a slaughterhouse, with the bed linens and floors \u201ccovered with blood.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tillman next found the first mate sleeping nearby \u201cand dealt with him in the same summary and terrible manner.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McKinnon, the passenger, witnessed this second slaying and let out a scream in terror.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Tillman, \u201cHe jumped up very much affright. I said \u2018you need not be scared; I suppose you know what I have been up to.\u2019 He said \u2018yes.\u2019 I told him to take a chair and sit down. He did so.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before leaving, Tillman assured him, \u201cDo you be still; I shall not hurt a hair of your head.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tillman went to the poop deck, where he saw Stedding holding a knife and pointing a pistol at the second mate, who had just been awakened by the sound of McKinnon\u2019s scream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fearing that the report of a gunshot would awaken the other two members of the prize crew, Tillman signaled to Stedding not to fire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still groggy from sleep, the second mate said to Stedding, \u201cWhat the h\u2014ll is all this noise in the cabin.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But before he could get to his feet, Tillman struck him with his hatchet near the temple. The second mate had been lying near the desecrated Union flag, and now it bore \u201cseveral marks of the crimson fluid.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tillman and Stedding grabbed the second mate and threw him overboard. Then they went below-deck and grabbed the captain and first mate and flung them overboard, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The entire enterprise took less than eight minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The Rebel Pirate\u2019s Fatal Prize (Barclay & Co.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There were still two men from the prize crew asleep, one named Miller and the other named Dorset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tillman said to Stedding, \u201cWe\u2019ve done all the butchering we shall on this voyage; the other two fellows I\u2019ll take back; there are two of them and two of us; we can manage them I guess.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stedding took a knife away from Miller, and Stedding, Tillman and McKinnon then put the two prize crewmen in irons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dorset begged Stedding to spare his life. \u201cYes, we don\u2019t intend to spill any more blood than we have done,\u201d Stedding assured him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next Tillman called McLeod, the British sailor, out of his berth and said, \u201cDo you know we have taken this vessel to-night?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McLeod replied, \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tillman said, \u201cYou would not help to take this vessel, and I want to see if you will help to take her to a northern port. We saved ourselves so far.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After McLeod agreed to work for the mutineers, Tillman hove the vessel on a northwest course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mutineers, however, did not know how to navigate the ship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next morning Tillman spoke to one of the prize crew, saying, \u201cI want you to join us, and help take this vessel back. But mind, the least crook, or the least turn, and overboard you go with the rest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell,\u201d replied the man, \u201cI will do the best I can.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tillman recalled, \u201cAnd he worked well all the way back. He couldn\u2019t do otherwise. It was pump or sink.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more than four days the men worked with \u201cunremitting vigilance and exertion\u201d and brought the vessel to port at Sandy Hook, N.J., just south of New York City.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once in New York, Tillman was placed in police custody as a witness, while the flag, hatchet, and Rebel captain\u2019s coat were held at the headquarters of the harbor police.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People gazed in wonder at the hatchet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne would be surprised to look upon the small instrument which did such serviceable and at the same time bloody work on board the schooner,\u201d marveled the New York Herald<\/i>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is a simple wood hatchet, the handle about eighteen inches in length and the head not weighing much over sixteen or eighteen ounces\u2026being covered with the blood of those whom it slew, and several splinters knocked off the handle in the efforts of the brave Tillman to destroy the enemies of his flag.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Battle of Bull Run–July 21st 1861–Federal (Gen. McDowell) … Confederate (Gen. Beauregard), lithography by Kurz & Allison. (Library of Congress)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

New Yorkers, eager for positive Union news to help offset the newly arriving news of the Federal defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run, hailed Tillman as a hero.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Herald<\/i> stated that his \u201cname will now become historic as the enactor of as great a piece of daring and heroism as perhaps the world ever saw\u201d and that he \u201cpossesses the physique and general appearance of a brave man.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The editors marveled \u201cthat he could bear almost anything than seeing the dear old flag which had fluttered so long over the freest country in the world transferred into the colors of the rebel government. His powers of speech, although tinctured with that accent peculiar to his race, yet possesses a simple eloquence and force of its own, which has been the remark of all who conversed with him yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On July 22, Tillman was taken from the House of Detention to the office of U.S. Marshal Robert Murray, where he was visited by \u201ca large number of citizens\u201d of all classes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They greeted him \u201cwith the warmest expressions of esteem and laudation for the manner in which he had taken from the robber bands of the rebels the property so ruthlessly stolen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the marshal\u2019s office Tillman held court as a line of visitors came to meet him. Sitting comfortably in an armchair, Tillman rose and bowed \u201cwith an air of humility\u201d and shook the hand of each guest. The visitors praised him for his gallantry and bravery, telling him he deserved the \u201cthanks of the whole country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou deserve to have your liberty,\u201d one caller told him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes,\u201d said another, \u201cIf all the colored people were like you, we would not have all of this trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI did the best I could,\u201d Tillman replied. \u201cI couldn\u2019t see any other way to get my liberty.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tillman told another visitor that killing the men was \u201ca good action\u201d and a \u201cservice to that Union which I love.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

E. Delafield Smith, New York City\u2019s federal prosecutor, joked, \u201cWe will have to run you for President yet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On one occasion, Marshal Murray asked Tillman, \u201cDid they beg, any of them?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tillman replied, \u201cThey didn\u2019t have any chance to beg.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tillman admitted that he had initially thought about trying to capture all five of his captors, but quickly determined that this would not be practicable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere were too many for that; there were five of them and only three of us. After this I said, well, I will get all I can back alive, and the rest I will kill.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tillman became something of a celebrity in New York City and throughout the nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One photographer advertised his photograph \u201cfor sale at wholesale,\u201d while P.T. Barnum\u2019s American Museum<\/a> announced that he \u201cwill receive visitors at the Museum at all hours, and relate his experiences with Southern chivalry and exhibit the Secession Flag which the rebels made out of the schooner\u2019s American Flag; also a Rebel Cutlass and THE IDENTICAL HATCHET with which Tillman killed the ocean robbers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
William Lloyd Garrison’s The Liberator noted the irony of Tillman\u2019s legal victory in light of the 1857 Dred Scott decision \u2014 a case that held that African-Americans were not citizens and could not sue in federal court. (Library of Congress)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

William Lloyd Garrison\u2019s The<\/i> Liberator<\/i> noted that one print depicted Tillman \u201cas an embodiment of black action on the sea in contrast with some delinquent Federal officer as white inaction on land.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It continued: \u201cThis one signal act of colored American executiveness, thus exhibited in shop windows and elsewhere to the masses, outweighs any amount of argument or rhetoric \u2014 for here is a palpable fact, directly appealing to their sense of justice, and invested, let us hope, with a potent and magical influence towards conquering that offspring of slavery, prejudice of color.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On October 29, 1861, Tillman, Stedding, McLeod, and McKinnon sued in the federal court in New York City, claiming the value of the ship as salvage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The owners of the vessel and cargo objected, asserting that Tillman could not claim a share of the salvage because he had been \u201canimated by a desire to escape the doom of Slavery, to which he feared, not without reason that his captors intended to consign him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But a recent precedent led the local press to believe that the court would likely rule in favor of Tillman and \u201cwill make his ebony face to shine with joy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that is precisely what happened. Tillman and Stedding offered gripping testimony before the court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And in a remarkable decision, Judge William D. Shipman, a President James Buchanan appointee, awarded Tillman and the other plaintiffs a $17,000 judgment in the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roughly half of that award went to Tillman, while Stedding received the next largest share.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The abolitionist editors of The Liberator<\/i> noted the irony of Tillman\u2019s legal victory in light of the 1857 Dred Scott decision \u2014 a case that held that African-Americans were not citizens and could not sue in federal court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt will be recollected that Tillman belongs to that class of persons who, according to Southern expounders of law, have no status in a United States Court, and no rights, either, which a white man is bound to respect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Southern newspapers offered little reaction to the case, simply reporting the verdict without much commentary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The editors of the New Orleans Times-Picayune<\/i> took notice of Barnum\u2019s advertisements for the public to come see Tillman, writing with derision, \u201cThis enables the public to see the greatest hero of this war!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Larger, bloodier events quickly pushed the story of Tillman\u2019s fight for freedom on the high seas out of the headlines, and he ended up being a footnote of Civil War history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But in addition to making for a stirring tale of a man battling to stay free, the reception to Tillman\u2019s story and his court case forced Confederates leaders to realize that they needed to maintain respectability among the powers of the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The civilized world had rejected both privateering and the trans-Atlantic slave trade over the previous five decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the Confederacy wanted to gain international recognition, it could not permit its privateers to engage in a black market slave trade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Recapture of the Schooner ‘Enchantress’ by the Gun-boat ‘Albatross’. Line engraving, based on a sketch by Mr. Donovan, published in Harper’s Weekly, 1861. The civilian schooner Enchantress was captured by the Confederate privateer Jefferson Davis on 6 July 1861. She was retaken by the Albatross off Hatteras Inlet, North Carolina, on July 20, 1861. (U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Epilogue: More Jeff Davis Drama<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jacob Garrick was another black sailor who escaped Jeff Davis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Garrick was a 25-year-old native of the Danish West Indies, a free man who was serving as a cook on Enchantress, a merchant ship out of Boston, when it was captured by Jeff Davis on July 6, 1861.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

William Smith, the prize master placed in command of Enchantress, planned to take the vessel back to Charleston, where he would sell Garrick into slavery for $1,500.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But on July 22, Garrick\u2019s fortunes improved when the Union steamer Albatross came up next to Enchantress to check its cargo, as shown in the above illustration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Garrick threw himself overboard, shouting that Enchantress was a \u201ccaptured vessel of the privateer Jeff Davis and they are taking her into Charleston.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Albatross picked up Garrick and then arrested Enchantress\u2019 crew. Albatross towed Enchantress to Fort Monroe in Hampton Roads, Va., and then to Philadelphia, where William Smith found himself indicted for piracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Garrick testified against Smith during the trial, depicting him as a pirate and a slave trader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One member of the prosecution called Smith\u2019s actions \u201can offence without feeling, because to tear a man from his home and enslave him forever, against the usages of warfare, stamps this transaction\u2026[as] a piratical, outrageous aggression, without any of the color or the forms of law.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trial ended on October 25, and Smith was found guilty and sentenced to be hanged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Four days later, on October 29, all but one of the other crewmen were also found guilty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jefferson Davis, however, threatened to retaliate if Abraham Lincoln should carry out the execution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Davis set aside 14 Union prisoners of war, including then-Col. Michael Corcoran<\/a> of the 69th New York Volunteers, as hostages in the place of Smith and the other privateers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Confederate authorities demanded of the Lincoln administration \u201can absolute, unconditional abandonment of the pretext that they are pirates\u201d before an exchange would take place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After protracted negotiations, the prisoner exchange finally took place in June 1862.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Brig.-Genl. Michael Corcoran – of the Irish Brigade late colonel of the gallant N.Y. “Sixty Ninth” (Currier & Ives, Library of Congress)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This article <\/i>originally appeared<\/i><\/a> in<\/i> Civil War Times Magazine, one of <\/i>Navy Times\u2019 sister publications. Jonathan W. White is the author or editor of eight books, including <\/i>Midnight in America: Darkness, Sleep, and Dreams During the Civil War <\/a>(2017) and <\/i>\u201cOur Little Monitor\u201d: The Greatest Invention of the Civil War <\/a>(2018), with Anna Gibson Holloway. Check out his website <\/i>here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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