Joseph Henderson v. United States

Joseph Henderson v. United States, 709 (1882), is a decision of the Alabama Claims to compensate New York Sandy Hook pilots for their loss of a pilot boat by an attack upon Union pilot boat by Confederate Navy commerce raiders during the American Civil War. The claim focused chiefly on the most famous of these raiders, the and the CSS Tallahassee. The CSS Tallahassee took 20 prizes before she was forced to return to Wilmington on August 26, 1864. A similar case was James Callahan v. The United States (No. 710).
Background
On August 11, 1864, the William Bell ventured too far out to sea and was captured and burned by the Confederate raiding steamer the . James Callahan was a pilot on the William Bell when it was captured.
Depositions were taken from shipbuilders Edward F. Williams and Richard Poillon of C. & R. Poillon about the cost of building pilot boats and the cost to build a duplicate William Bell. In Joseph Henderson's deposition on February 17, 1883, he said he was 56 years of age; living in Brooklyn, New York; was a Sandy Hook pilot since 1847; born in Charleston, South Carolina on Sept. 9th, 1826; was a pilot in the U. S. Transport Service between New York, Port Royal, South Carolina and New Orleans; he was 5/16 owner of the William Bell; he had bought and sold a half a dozen Sandy Hook pilot boats; and was at sea acting as pilot for the Government when the William Bell was captured.
James Callahan filed a similar case in James Callahan v. The United States (No. 710). In his court case Callahan conducted a deposition on February 10, 1883, with his counsel and the counsel for the United States. In his deposition Callahan said that he was 70 years of age; lived in Brooklyn, N. Y.; was a Sandy Hook pilot for 38 years; that he owned 5/16 of the William Bell and was captain of the boat. He was asked to recount the capture of the William Bell by John Taylor Wood, captain of the Confederate CSS Tallahassee.
Judgement
The final award, made on June 5, 1883, gave compensation of $9,289.59 to Henderson, who owned 5/16 shares in the William Bell and James Callahan, $9,410.14, who owned 5/16 shares, for a total award of $18,699.73. Although this was less than the $24,000.00 amount claimed, it was a reasonable settlement.
Significance
Hardin Craig, Jr., praised the decision of the Alabama Claims to compensate the pilots in his article, The William Bell, A New York Pilot Boat, saying that: "Her owners later filed claims for compensation on the strength of the Alabama Claims award; of concern to this study, however, it is not so much the recovery of damages as the information about New York pilotage in general, and of one typical boat in particular, which was brought out in the course of the testimony." He goes on to say that "To make good their claims, the owners had to show in detail what they had paid for their vessel and for the replacement, as well as a statement about their earnings."<ref name="Mystic"/>

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