Ken Conklin at 00:35, 20 January 2006

2006-01-20T00:35:47Z

Jere Krischel at 23:25, 14 January 2006

2006-01-14T23:25:33Z

Jere Krischel at 04:41, 12 December 2005

2005-12-12T04:41:13Z

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73G HAWAIIAN ISLANDS.
Mr. LAIRD. Yes.
The CHAIRMAN. Bluejackets or marines?
Mr. LAIRD. Blue jackets.
The CHAIRMAN. Did you carry the national colors ?
Mr. LAIRD. Yes.
The CHAIRMAN. YOU say that the officers were assembled in the
cabin, and that Capt. Wiltse read his orders?
Mr. LAIRD. Yes, read the orders and instructions that were given to
Mr. Swinburn. Mr. Stevens was sitting there at the time of this conference;
and after a general discussion, into which I did not enter, I
turned to Capt. Wiltse and asked him, " Now, Captain, how far will
these orders and instructions which you have read, carrj me in case I
am detached from the main command and sent off to soint other part
of the city?" Capt. Wiltse turned to me and said, " My desire is that you
remain neutral; you are to protect the lives and property of American
citizens; you have been in Honolulu four months and have been going
ashore and meeting the people and I must depend a great deal upon
the discretion of my officers."
The CHAIRMAN. Was there anything in the orders or instructions
you received that looked to the establishment of any government different
from that of the Queen ?
Mr. LAIRD. None. The burden of the orders was to look out for the
lives and property of American citizens.
Senator FRYB. And that order of Capt. Wiltse was given in the
presence of Mr. Stevens ?
Mr. LAIRD. It was.
The CHAIRMAN. Did Capt. Wiltse on that occasion read any order
from the Secretary of the Navy or admiral of the fleet?
Mr. LAIRD. NO; I do not think he had any communication from the
admiral of the fleet.
The CHAIRMAN. Did he read any orders to him?
Mr. LAIRD. I think he read an extract. I do not know what the extracts
were made from. I understood one of the extracts was taken
from his letter of instructions from the Department; but I can not say
where they were taken from.
The CHAIRMAN. The authority and the intervention he made there
were discussed?
Mr. LAIRD. No; we did not discuss; we had not the right.
The CHAIRMAN. I mean, they were explained by him.
Mr. LAIRD. Yes. His explanation, after reading over these instructions,
was general—that we were sent ashore for the protection of life
and property of American citizens. That was the burden of it. The
instructions were contained on a piece of paper the size of that (indicating
an ordinary note sheet).
The. CHAIRMAN. At the time you left the ship, had you any knowledge
of the existence of a committee of safety in Honolulu?
Mr. LAIRD. I knew by hearsay that such a committee had been
formed.
The CHAIRMAN. Did you know anything about the Provisional Government
having been established ?
Mr. YOUNG. NO.
The CHAIRMAN. Your information was that there had been a committee
of safety organized ?
Mr. LAIRD. Yes.
The CHAIRMAN. Proceed and state how you landed and what you
did over there.
HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 737
Mr. LAIRD. The boats landed at Brewer's wharf at about quarter to
5. The battalion was formed on Queen street, marched up Queen
to Fort street. On Fort street the battalion was halted in front of the
U. S. consulate. Here the marines under command of Lieut. Draper
were detached with instructions to protect the U. S. consulate and the
U. S. legation.
The CHAIRMAN. Up what streets did you march?
Mr. LAIRD. Queen, Fort, Merchant, and King streets.
The CHAIRMAN. Abreast of the consulate, and there the detachment
was made?
Mr. LAIRD. Yes, and there Mr. Draper was given orders to guard the
consulate and to send part of his force up the valley to the minister's
residence. About one-fifth of the whole command was detached.
The CHAIRMAN. SO that the consulate was left in the hands of that
officer?
Mr. LAIRD. Left in the hands of Mr. Draper.
The CHAIRMAN. Well?
Mr. LAIRD. The main body marched up Fort to Merchant, from Merchant
to King, and out the King street road. The Queen was standing
on the balcony of the palace as we passed. We gave the royal
salute by drooping the colors and a blast from the trumpet. We went
a half mile beyond the palace and came to the halt. There 1 wont to
Lieut. Commander Swinburne and said that something should be done
to house the men, as the weather was threatening.
The CHAIRMAN. What time was that?
Mr. LAIRD. About half past 5 o'clock.
The CHAIRMAN. Was it dark?
Mr. LAIRD. It was not dark.
Senator FRYE. Whom did you go to?
Mr. LAIRD. Lieut. Commander Swinburne; and he turned over the
command of the infantry to me and went to see some of the citizens.
Mr. Gunn was in the neighborhood, on horseback, and I think Mr.
Charles Carter was there. Lieut. Commander Swinburne told me that
Capt. Wiltse was down the street seeing if he could not find some covering
for the men that night. When we went ashore we did not expect
to remain more than a day or two at the most. We then inarched up
to Mr. Atherton's place, we stacked arms, and the men bivouacked
there until 10 o'clock before a place was found.
Senator FRYE. Did it rain?
Mr. LAIRD. It did; there were casual showers; quite a number of
light showers passed over during the time we were there. We got
under way about 10 o'clock and started down the street. In order not
to make any disturbance, the music was stopped. We halted in front
of Arion Hall. I did not know before that there was such a place. It
is situated immediately back of the opera house on Palace Square.
It was used as a Mormon church, and all the chairs and all the paraphernalia
were on the floor. A detachment was sent in and the hall
prepared for occupancy; the men spread their blankets on the floor and
on the front and back verandas.
The CHAIRMAN. AS you marched up the street during your progress
there, did you see any bodies of people assembled anywhere?
Mr. LAIRD. NO, not more than usual. Natives were grouped around,
and there was quite a group around the palace gate. But I would not
call it a body of people. They were immediately around the palace
gate and Government building gate.
The CHAIRMAN. You speak of lolani Palace?
S. Doc. 231, pt 6 47

@@ Line 18: / Line 18: @@
 turned to Capt. Wiltse and asked him, "Now, Captain, how far will
 these orders and instructions which you have read, carry me in case I
-am detached from the main command and sent off to soint other part
+am detached from the main command and sent off to some other part
 of the city?" Capt. Wiltse turned to me and said, "My desire is that you
 remain neutral; you are to protect the lives and property of American

Template:736-737 - Revision history

Ken Conklin at 00:35, 20 January 2006

Jere Krischel at 23:25, 14 January 2006

Jere Krischel at 04:41, 12 December 2005