"Oh yes there will; yes there will!" Vanderbilt insisted, as Allen later recalled, "in that peculiar emphatic way that I have no doubt he meant it to be so."3 At the time, Vanderbilt was reordering the hierarchy of his heirs apparent, his sons and sons-in-law. Allen, who had served him so well for so long, slipped inexorably downward. He had self-righteously opposed the steamship sale, and now resigned his directorship in the Accessory Transit Company in protest. Horace Clark, on the other hand, continued his climb in his father-in-law's favor. Vanderbilt had asked him to review the terms of the sale, and now referred to him as his "professional adviser."4 Daniel Torrance and James Cross hovered nearby, but Vanderbilt treated them as middle managers rather than possible successors. Daniel Torrance and James Cross hovered nearby, but Vanderbilt treated them as middle managers rather than possible successors.
As for the sons by blood, Billy lurked in Staten Island obscurity, while George remained too young to be of much note-though he was strong and athletic, a favorite of his father. Cornelius Jeremiah continued to walk under the shadow of his addiction to gambling and his episodic epilepsy. His sister Mary later remembered how their mother confronted the Commodore in their home around this time. "Your hatred or dislike of Cornelius arises from the fret of his affliction," she insisted. "You intend to give all your money to William."
The old man said nothing, as usual.5 Leaving a legacy grew increasingly important to him, but what he intended to do with his wealth remains a mystery. Frugality, suspicion, and silence guided his every step. Leaving a legacy grew increasingly important to him, but what he intended to do with his wealth remains a mystery. Frugality, suspicion, and silence guided his every step.
In contemplating his mortality and his fractious family, Vanderbilt embarked on a most un-Vanderbiltian adventure. Reports soon spread that he was building a new steamship larger than any of those he had just sold. "Various opinions were entertained as to his ultimate designs," reported Rev. John Overton Choules, a noted travel writer. "Many imagined that Mr. Vanderbilt... was to sell his ship to this monarch, or that government-or he was to take contracts for the supply of war steamers." Choules learned the truth from Vanderbilt himself. In February, the minister sat down with the Commodore in the library at 10 Washington Place. There Vanderbilt confirmed the wildest rumor of all: that the great steamship, named North Star North Star, was to be his private yacht. He planned to take his extended family on a grand tour of the Old World, and he invited Rev. Choules and his wife to join them. "Mr. V. expressly informed me that his sole object was to gratify his family and afford himself an opportunity to see the coast of Europe," Choules wrote. "He observed that, after more than thirty years' devotion to business, in all which period he had known no rest from labor, he felt that he had a right to a complete holiday"6 It seemed out of character that this "boorish, vy. austere" businessman (as the Mercantile Agency would call him that May) would splurge on his family in such grand fashion, and on a grand tour of Europe, no less. But even so monomaniacal a moneymaker as Vanderbilt was capable of ordinary human complexity. In his own blunt fashion, he loved his wife and children. Indeed, the North Star North Star was a sign that, as he attained public eminence, he paused, as it were, and looked fondly at the family he had pressed so hard for so long. Then, too, there was his brooding over his advancing age. Recently the leading men of his day had started to die off: John Jacob Astor, Philip Hone, Daniel Webster, and Henry Clay. Believing that he had limited time, he sincerely wanted a holiday. was a sign that, as he attained public eminence, he paused, as it were, and looked fondly at the family he had pressed so hard for so long. Then, too, there was his brooding over his advancing age. Recently the leading men of his day had started to die off: John Jacob Astor, Philip Hone, Daniel Webster, and Henry Clay. Believing that he had limited time, he sincerely wanted a holiday.
This is not to say that Vanderbilt underwent a Scrooge-like conversion to Christian charity. He refused to bring along Corneil, for example. And two of his oldest obsessions, pride and patriotism, shaped his vision for the voyage. "I have a little pride, as an American, to sail over the waters of England and France," he wrote to Hamilton Fish, now a U.S. senator, on February 15, "up the Baltic and through the Mediterranean and elsewhere, under this flag without a reflection of any kind that it is a voyage for gain-with such a vessel as will give credit to the enterprize of our country." He wrote to Fish to learn if the North Star North Star would retain the protection of the U.S. government, since Congress had not covered private yachts under the statute for American shipping abroad. "When the law was passed," he observed (or perhaps boasted), "they did not think at that time our yachts would ever sail to a foreign port." would retain the protection of the U.S. government, since Congress had not covered private yachts under the statute for American shipping abroad. "When the law was passed," he observed (or perhaps boasted), "they did not think at that time our yachts would ever sail to a foreign port."7 Vanderbilt made careful preparations for the smooth operation of his corporate interests during his long absence. Amid rumors that he himself would take the presidency of the Accessory Transit Company, he forced Joseph L. White and his clique to resign from the board of directors. Vanderbilt resumed his seat on the board and brought in two close allies, Nelson Robinson and Charles Morgan. The Tribune Tribune reported talk that other friends, including Robert Schuyler, would become directors as well. reported talk that other friends, including Robert Schuyler, would become directors as well.8 The Vanderbilt group also took steps to put the Pacific end of the business in capable hands. At the end of January, they called to New York Cornelius K. Garrison, a former Mississippi River steamboat captain who had established a successful bank in Panama. On February 1, Garrison agreed to an unusually lucrative two-year contract. As Accessory Transit's San Francisco agent, he could keep a 5 percent commission on receipts and 2.5 percent on disbursements, up to a maximum of $60,000 per year; or he could choose to limit himself to 2.5 percent all around, with no limit on his income. On February 19, Garrison departed New York to embark upon his new career in San Francisco.9 With White out and such trusted men as Morgan and Garrison in, Vanderbilt could sail for Europe with peace of mind. With White out and such trusted men as Morgan and Garrison in, Vanderbilt could sail for Europe with peace of mind.
No other unfinished business was as important as Vanderbilt's indictment for manslaughter in Richmond County for the Staten Island Ferry's deadly bridge collapse. He showed no sign of concern, however, and for good reason: on February 26, the Brooklyn Eagle Brooklyn Eagle announced that the indictment had been quashed. announced that the indictment had been quashed.10 In all likelihood, the result surprised no one. Vanderbilt dominated Staten Island more thoroughly than any medieval baron did his manor. For all his wealth, his mansion off Washington Square, his international prominence, he remained very much a man of Richmond County, a son of the soil between the Narrows and the Kills. In all likelihood, the result surprised no one. Vanderbilt dominated Staten Island more thoroughly than any medieval baron did his manor. For all his wealth, his mansion off Washington Square, his international prominence, he remained very much a man of Richmond County, a son of the soil between the Narrows and the Kills.
Jacob J. Van Pelt brought up Vanderbilt's extensive Staten Island holdings in conversation one day early in 1853. For years, Van Pelt had sold timber to Vanderbilt for the construction of his ships; in recent weeks, they had begun to socialize, riding together on Vanderbilt's wagon as he whipped a pair of fast horses out of the narrow streets of New York and up through the rural stretches of upper Manhattan. "The Commodore asked me once what was the best thing to invest money in," Van Pelt recalled. "I told him I thought he ought to improve his Staten Island property."
"Oh, the Staten Island property?" Vanderbilt replied. "The title ain't worth a damn."
"I didn't think you bought property unless it had a good title," Van Pelt said.
"Well, I didn't pay much for it."11 Indeed he had not, for he had purchased his crucial waterfront real estate from the dying Richmond Turnpike Company. His control of key landings had sustained his monopoly with the Staten Island Ferry for years; but now his title was under siege by the state attorney general, and he faced two rival ferries. (In addition to George Law's, another had been started by Minthorne Tompkins, the son of the late vice president.) With his departure looming closer, Vanderbilt had little time to rescue his imperiled fortunes on Staten Island. His ferry, once stripped of its landings, could well be crushed during his long absence overseas, and one of his most valuable businesses would become worthless. As the days ticked by, he simultaneously lobbied the New York legislature to pass a law confirming his title and opened negotiations with Law and Tompkins for a consolidation of the three ferries. Using his lobbying for leverage-along with Tompkins's anxiety over the value of his own Staten Island real estate-he achieved a triumph. In his most vulnerable moment, he convinced his rivals to buy him out for $600,000-$150,000 in cash, plus $50,000 a year (the annual profits on the ferry) for the next nine years.12 "I asked him if he had everything fixed," Van Pelt later reported. "He said yes." Vanderbilt had picked up his friend for another rattling fast ride shortly before his planned departure. The Commodore added, "Van, I have got eleven millions invested better than any eleven millions in the United States. It is worth twenty-five percent a year without any risk." Given the size of Vanderbilt's business operations, the $11 million figure rang true. It would have made him one of a half-dozen or so of the richest men in America; only William B. Astor and very few others could boast notably larger estates. The risk-free rate of return he cited was clearly hyperbole, but his point was clear: he had taken great care to put his affairs in order.
To Van Pelt, Vanderbilt seemed very much like a man preoccupied by his own death-and incapable of accepting it. "Commodore," he once asked, "suppose anything should happen, what are you going to do with your property?" (As Van Pelt added, "He never liked to have me say 'die,' so I always said, 'if anything happens.'") Vanderbilt replied, "They will all have plenty if they let things stay the way I leave them." He thought he knew best, and always would know best, even after he was dead.13 THE NATION WATCHED AS THE North Star North Star approached completion. On March 10, it slid down the ways at Simonson's shipyard into the East River, to rousing cheers from a crowd of onlookers. It was towed to the Allaire Works dock, where a swarm of engineers spent the next few weeks installing its massive twin engines, attracting the notice of newspapers as well as technical experts. approached completion. On March 10, it slid down the ways at Simonson's shipyard into the East River, to rousing cheers from a crowd of onlookers. It was towed to the Allaire Works dock, where a swarm of engineers spent the next few weeks installing its massive twin engines, attracting the notice of newspapers as well as technical experts.
The intense public interest that surrounded Vanderbilt's ship and trip stemmed from more than curiosity about the rich. "Although it is solely a personal matter," the New York Herald New York Herald explained, "it partakes somewhat of a national character." Americans considered the regimes of Europe their ideological opponents. Monarchs ruled all of the Old World-even France, now that Louis Bonaparte had declared himself Emperor Napoleon III. In the United States, less than eighty years had passed since the Revolution, and the people thought of themselves as the guardians of a bold experiment in republican government and social equality. "The sovereigns of Europe," the explained, "it partakes somewhat of a national character." Americans considered the regimes of Europe their ideological opponents. Monarchs ruled all of the Old World-even France, now that Louis Bonaparte had declared himself Emperor Napoleon III. In the United States, less than eighty years had passed since the Revolution, and the people thought of themselves as the guardians of a bold experiment in republican government and social equality. "The sovereigns of Europe," the Herald Herald added, "have looked upon our increasing power with mingled surprise and alarm-surprise at our progress, and alarm lest the lesson which it silently inculcates might be learned by their own oppressed subjects." The added, "have looked upon our increasing power with mingled surprise and alarm-surprise at our progress, and alarm lest the lesson which it silently inculcates might be learned by their own oppressed subjects." The North Star North Star would bring them face-to-face with the superiority of American democracy. As would bring them face-to-face with the superiority of American democracy. As Scientific American Scientific American put it, "Queen Victoria, Czar Nicholas of Russia, and Napoleon III will get some of the conceit knocked out of them by a private citizen of New York." put it, "Queen Victoria, Czar Nicholas of Russia, and Napoleon III will get some of the conceit knocked out of them by a private citizen of New York."14 Of course, fascination with this fantastic display of wealth did account for much of the attention. It is important to remember that steamships were the largest, most complicated, and most expensive man-made objects in existence (apart from a very few buildings). Most of the vessels that plied the oceans were still sailing ships; even the U.S. Navy remained largely under sail, with only sixteen steam vessels of any description in 1852 (and only nine of those categorized as frigates or "first-class" steamers).15Now Vanderbilt had constructed, as a personal yacht, a steamship to rival the largest commercial liners-260 feet in length (at the keel; it stretched to 270 feet on deck) and 2,500 tons. The press lovingly described two mighty walking-beam engines, their pistons pumping a ten-foot stroke, fed by four massive boilers, each ten feet in diameter. The Commodore had designed the North Star North Star himself; in keeping with his now-standard pattern, it boasted enormous thirty-four-foot paddlewheels and a straight stem (as the nearly vertical line of the bow was called). himself; in keeping with his now-standard pattern, it boasted enormous thirty-four-foot paddlewheels and a straight stem (as the nearly vertical line of the bow was called).
The ship's luxuriousness attracted the most notice. A grand staircase led down to a reception area, with a large circular couch, which opened onto the main saloon. "The furniture... is of rosewood, carved in the rich and splendid style of Louis XV covered with a new and elegant material of figured velvet plush," the New York Tribune New York Tribune reported. "Connected with this saloon are ten staterooms, superbly fitted up, each with a French reported. "Connected with this saloon are ten staterooms, superbly fitted up, each with a French armour le gles armour le gles, beautifully enamelled in white, with a large glass-door.... The berths are furnished with elegant silk lambricans and lace curtains. Each room is fitted up with a different color, viz: green and gold, crimson and gold, orange, etc." Then there was the main dining saloon, paneled with polished marble and Naples granite, with tables boasting fine silverware and china with a ruby and gold finish. "The ceiling of the room is painted white, with scroll-work of purple, light green, and gold, surrounding medallion paintings of Webster, Clay, Washington, Franklin, and others."16 Vanderbilt-who paid close attention to his reputation-fully grasped the public impact of his grand holiday. Indeed, there is every reason to think that he planned the entire thing with an eye on his growing status as a cultural icon. He was not merely a businessman, but "one of our steamship nobility" as Scientific American Scientific American wrote. Compared with his "magnificent steamship-his pleasure steam yacht... the yachts of the English nobility are like fishing cobles to a seventy-four gun ship." wrote. Compared with his "magnificent steamship-his pleasure steam yacht... the yachts of the English nobility are like fishing cobles to a seventy-four gun ship."17 He was no mere rich man; he was the Commodore. He was no mere rich man; he was the Commodore.
When May 19, the date of departure, arrived, Vanderbilt encountered an omen of what lay before him in the year ahead-a jarring reminder that there was indeed no friendship in trade. All spring, labor trouble had wracked the docks. Firemen and coal passers, the crewmen who fed the fires under the boilers, had organized repeated strikes in April, forming angry processions from ship to ship along the waterfront. Just a week before the North Star's North Star's departure, a mob of white dockworkers attacked their black counterparts when they learned that the black men received lower wages, which undercut their own pay departure, a mob of white dockworkers attacked their black counterparts when they learned that the black men received lower wages, which undercut their own pay18 The The North Star North Star had a picked crew of firemen and coal passers who had served on Vanderbilt's other ships, but they, too, caught the militant mood. One hour before departure, they (and some of the sailors) called a strike. had a picked crew of firemen and coal passers who had served on Vanderbilt's other ships, but they, too, caught the militant mood. One hour before departure, they (and some of the sailors) called a strike.
"Mr. Vanderbilt refused to be coerced by the seeming necessity of the case," Rev. Choules wrote. "He would not listen for a moment to demands so urged, and in one hour selected such firemen as could be collected; and many of them were green hands, and ill-adapted to give efficient service in their most important department." The action was so in keeping with Vanderbilt's personality, it scarcely needs comment. Rather than accept his disadvantage, he fired the strikers and took his chances with untried men.19 At ten thirty in the morning, after the new firemen had been ushered down into the hold and handed their coal shovels, the crew cast loose the lines that held the ship to the dock at the foot of Grand Street. The side-wheels began to churn, and the immense hull of the North Star North Star eased into the East River. Some four hundred guests milled about the deck with Vanderbilt and his family; the visitors were to sail aboard until Sandy Hook, where they would transfer to the eased into the East River. Some four hundred guests milled about the deck with Vanderbilt and his family; the visitors were to sail aboard until Sandy Hook, where they would transfer to the Francis Skiddy Francis Skiddy for the return to New York. for the return to New York.
Suddenly the happy crowd felt a jolt. The rapidly ebbing tide had caught the ship and smacked the stern into another pier. Vanderbilt shouted at the pilot to spin the wheel hard aport, to carry the North Star North Star into the main channel, but the current was too strong. The ship struck hard on a hidden reef, and the alarmed visitors lost their footing as it keeled over onto one side, tilting the deck at a frightening angle. "For a moment," into the main channel, but the current was too strong. The ship struck hard on a hidden reef, and the alarmed visitors lost their footing as it keeled over onto one side, tilting the deck at a frightening angle. "For a moment," Scientific American Scientific American reported, "there appeared danger of her capsizing." In a breath, the ship righted itself-but it was still "stuck fast." reported, "there appeared danger of her capsizing." In a breath, the ship righted itself-but it was still "stuck fast."
The grand voyage had come to a halt 150 feet from the pier, with the near sinking of the celebrated yacht. But the Commodore knew how to manage a crisis. As the passengers returned to shore in another boat, he telegraphed Secretary of State William L. Marcy asking permission to use the U.S. Navy's dry dock across the East River. Permission was immediately granted. As soon as the rising tide lifted the North Star North Star free of the rocks, it steamed into the facility for inspection and repairs. That night Vanderbilt dined aboard ship (as it sat in the stocks of the dry dock), accompanied by broker Richard Schell, and the two men drank a toast to Marcy. The Commodore paid the not inconsiderable sum of $1,500 for use of the dock. To Marcy, the money mattered less than facilitating a voyage that would serve as a bit of informal public diplomacy free of the rocks, it steamed into the facility for inspection and repairs. That night Vanderbilt dined aboard ship (as it sat in the stocks of the dry dock), accompanied by broker Richard Schell, and the two men drank a toast to Marcy. The Commodore paid the not inconsiderable sum of $1,500 for use of the dock. To Marcy, the money mattered less than facilitating a voyage that would serve as a bit of informal public diplomacy20 Vanderbilt's children and their spouses* fretted over a long delay; fortunately the damage was superficial, and easily fixed. "At seven minutes to eight o'clock P.M. on the 20th of May," Choules wrote, "we left the gates [of the dry dock] amid the cheering of our kind friends who lined the dock; and, as we steamed down the river, we fired salutes and received them from various ships, and at the Battery, where a large party had gathered to give us a farewell greeting." As the fretted over a long delay; fortunately the damage was superficial, and easily fixed. "At seven minutes to eight o'clock P.M. on the 20th of May," Choules wrote, "we left the gates [of the dry dock] amid the cheering of our kind friends who lined the dock; and, as we steamed down the river, we fired salutes and received them from various ships, and at the Battery, where a large party had gathered to give us a farewell greeting." As the North Star North Star churned through the Narrows, past the home of Vanderbilt's aged mother, the crew fired off cannons and shot rockets into the clear night sky. The flinty old woman had taught the Commodore his shrewdness and frugality; now he saluted her from an emblem of extravagance, on a voyage that would prove shrewder than anyone could know. churned through the Narrows, past the home of Vanderbilt's aged mother, the crew fired off cannons and shot rockets into the clear night sky. The flinty old woman had taught the Commodore his shrewdness and frugality; now he saluted her from an emblem of extravagance, on a voyage that would prove shrewder than anyone could know.
At nine thirty in the evening, the North Star North Star passed Sandy Hook and slowed to a halt to allow the pilot, John Martineau, to board a boat for the return to New York. Martineau may have been a bit dispirited after his highly public embarrassment of the day before, and perhaps more so when, as he was about to step off the ship, he was called to Vanderbilt's cabin. He encountered Horace Clark, the Commodore's "professional adviser." The Commodore, Clark informed Martineau, had sent a letter to the New York newspapers concerning his conduct. "He is entirely free from censure," Vanderbilt wrote. "I know Mr. Martineau to be as good a pilot as there is out of the Harbor of New-York." Then Clark dropped a "purse of gold" into Martineau's hand. passed Sandy Hook and slowed to a halt to allow the pilot, John Martineau, to board a boat for the return to New York. Martineau may have been a bit dispirited after his highly public embarrassment of the day before, and perhaps more so when, as he was about to step off the ship, he was called to Vanderbilt's cabin. He encountered Horace Clark, the Commodore's "professional adviser." The Commodore, Clark informed Martineau, had sent a letter to the New York newspapers concerning his conduct. "He is entirely free from censure," Vanderbilt wrote. "I know Mr. Martineau to be as good a pilot as there is out of the Harbor of New-York." Then Clark dropped a "purse of gold" into Martineau's hand.21 The North Star North Star steamed into the Atlantic, its paddlewheels churning the calm sea under bright moonlight. An unexpected act of generosity marked the departure; but then, the entire voyage was an unexpected act of generosity. More telling may have been Vanderbilt's choice of messenger. With nearly his entire family aboard, from his oldest son to those sons-in-law who had long served him as lawyers, managers, and agents, he chose Clark. It was a sign of things-and trouble-to come. steamed into the Atlantic, its paddlewheels churning the calm sea under bright moonlight. An unexpected act of generosity marked the departure; but then, the entire voyage was an unexpected act of generosity. More telling may have been Vanderbilt's choice of messenger. With nearly his entire family aboard, from his oldest son to those sons-in-law who had long served him as lawyers, managers, and agents, he chose Clark. It was a sign of things-and trouble-to come.
VANDERBILT HAD PREPARED as well as anyone could have for a long absence overseas. It would not be enough. "Ships are but boards, sailors but men," Shylock wisely observes in as well as anyone could have for a long absence overseas. It would not be enough. "Ships are but boards, sailors but men," Shylock wisely observes in The Merchant of Venice The Merchant of Venice. "There be land rats and water rats-water thieves and land thieves."
When Vanderbilt had resumed his place in the Accessory Transit Company, he had not, in fact, moved to take complete control. It appears that he acted merely to protect his interests, to ensure an income stream as agent during his prolonged absence.22 As a result, the company suffered a power vacuum. It was filled, in part, by a man intimately familiar with the company's affairs, a man who still served as its counsel, if no longer as a director: Joseph L. White. Like a tapeworm, he had wound his way into the intestines of the Transit Company, and would not be removed until both he and it had been murdered. As a result, the company suffered a power vacuum. It was filled, in part, by a man intimately familiar with the company's affairs, a man who still served as its counsel, if no longer as a director: Joseph L. White. Like a tapeworm, he had wound his way into the intestines of the Transit Company, and would not be removed until both he and it had been murdered.
White's influence persisted because it was of a particular kind, confined to the company's relationship with the U.S. and foreign governments. The board did elect a new president, James De Peyster Ogden, but, as White explained to Secretary of State Marcy "He is new in the company & hence not familiar with its antecedents." With characteristic arrogance and condescension, White took it upon himself to advise the new administration of President Franklin Pierce on Nicaraguan affairs. "I know know the Central Americans quite as well, I think, as any man in this country," he told Marcy. "Firmness & determination will accomplish anything with them." the Central Americans quite as well, I think, as any man in this country," he told Marcy. "Firmness & determination will accomplish anything with them."23 White was not wealthy enough to become a dominant stockholder-but Charles Morgan was. Initially, at least, Morgan made no attempt to take power. He waited until the North Star North Star steamed over the horizon, then began to buy up the company's shares. "The movement in Nicaragua is of such a decided character," the steamed over the horizon, then began to buy up the company's shares. "The movement in Nicaragua is of such a decided character," the New York Herald New York Herald reported on May 28. "A large party have taken hold of it." Soon a rumor ran through Wall Street that this was more than a short-term operation. Morgan, the brokers whispered, "is to take superintendence of the Company" reported on May 28. "A large party have taken hold of it." Soon a rumor ran through Wall Street that this was more than a short-term operation. Morgan, the brokers whispered, "is to take superintendence of the Company"24 As Morgan strengthened his grip on the stock, White wormed into his confidence. Each offered something the other lacked. White could handle political intrigue with slippery, insinuating skills that did not come easily to a self-made businessman like Morgan; Morgan, on the other hand, possessed the wealth, financial acumen, and large blocks of stock that White lacked. The two men, it appears, agreed on a new axis of power in the Accessory Transit Company. On Monday, July 18, they held a new election for the board of directors. White and his lackey H. L. Routh resumed their seats, and Morgan took office as president. Vanderbilt was out.25 Nelson Robinson survived on the board, but he could not protect the Commodore. Robinson's own interests were complicated enough. By March 1853, he had accumulated twelve thousand shares of the Erie Railroad. At a par value of 100, that made his holdings officially worth $1.2 million. There were few American businesses that, in their entirety, had a value equal to his stake in Erie. In the stock market, though, the share price was only 83, and it was falling. The stress proved to be too much for him. He declared that, as of May 27, he would retire from business. "The tremendous vicissitudes of stocks affected his nerves," a Wall Street observer later wrote. "His family implored, his doctor insisted. At last he yielded and retreated into the country"26 Vanderbilt's other long-standing ally, Daniel Drew, did nothing to help his absent friend. After the loss of the North America North America, he had abandoned all interest in California steamship lines. In any event, he was busy with his religious duties. For the past year, he had raised funds for a very special project of a Methodist charity, the Ladies' Home Missionary Society: to purchase the Old Brewery, the hulking warren that glowered over Paradise Square at the heart of the infamous Five Points, the most violent, impoverished slum in the city. Since 1837, the very poorest of the very poor had packed into the filthy and infested building, "creating a tenament so repulsive that it quickly became the most notorious in New York," writes historian Tyler Anbinder. "Here is vice at its lowest ebb," wrote the National Police Gazette National Police Gazette, "a crawling and fetid vice, a vice of rags and filth." Drew collected the $16,000 to buy the structure, which was then ripped down. On June 17, the society celebrated the opening of a new four-story mission where the Old Brewery had long stood.27 With uncontested control of Accessory Transit, Morgan and White removed Vanderbilt from his post as agent, depriving him of his rich commission on tickets. "This payment was regularly made to Mr. Vanderbilt up to the time he left in his yacht for Europe," the New York Herald New York Herald reported on July 29. "Since, the company have refused to make payments to Mr. Vanderbilt's agent." Morgan himself took over as agent. Brokers on Wall Street chattered anxiously about the act of treachery. As the reported on July 29. "Since, the company have refused to make payments to Mr. Vanderbilt's agent." Morgan himself took over as agent. Brokers on Wall Street chattered anxiously about the act of treachery. As the Herald Herald observed, "Trouble is anticipated upon the return of Commodore Vanderbilt." observed, "Trouble is anticipated upon the return of Commodore Vanderbilt."28 AS THE NORTH STAR NORTH STAR CHURNED ACROSS CHURNED ACROSS unusually smooth seas, smoke billowing out of its twin black funnels, Vanderbilt instructed Captain Eldridge to cover no more than 250 miles every twenty-four hours. "As my journey would be a long one," he explained in a letter to a friend in New York, "and as I meant to have the ship in such order on our arrival in a foreign country as to be a credit to our 'Yankee land,' I did not wish to hazard this by making any attempt to obtain high rates of speed." Pushing a new engine too hard could damage it; steam engines generally had to be broken in before they could produce their best speed. unusually smooth seas, smoke billowing out of its twin black funnels, Vanderbilt instructed Captain Eldridge to cover no more than 250 miles every twenty-four hours. "As my journey would be a long one," he explained in a letter to a friend in New York, "and as I meant to have the ship in such order on our arrival in a foreign country as to be a credit to our 'Yankee land,' I did not wish to hazard this by making any attempt to obtain high rates of speed." Pushing a new engine too hard could damage it; steam engines generally had to be broken in before they could produce their best speed.
Stoking a fire, though, was no mere unskilled labor; keeping the heat under a boiler at just the right level required experience. And the untrained firemen Vanderbilt had plucked off the wharf when he fired the strikers had no experience. After the first day passed, Vanderbilt wrote, "I was somewhat astonished." Instead of 250 miles, the ship made 272. He went to the engine room to investigate, and found the green hands stoking away heedlessly, the great pistons and beams of the engines pounding up and down, turning the wheels at fourteen and a half revolutions per minute.
He complained about the firemen, but he found that his guests were, in fact, delighted by the ship's speed. And so the man who always knew better than everyone else did something unusual: he indulged them.
The party were so elated and pressed so hard to let her make one day's run, that I finally told the engineer that he might let her engines make 14 revolutions per minute for twenty-four hours, but no higher would I permit him to go. Whenever it rated a particle above this I compelled him to shut the throttle valve and confine her to the 14 To my astonishment, at the end of twenty-four hours, she had made three hundred and forty-four miles, a greater distance, by twenty-four miles, than ever was made from New York to Europe.
It ran as fast as eighteen knots, a remarkable speed in 1853.29 Vanderbilt referred to his group as a party, and a party they had. Even the ignorance of the raw sailors amused them. At one point, the mate ordered one of the green hands to ring two bells, a traditional mark of time at sea. The mate grew annoyed when nothing happened. "He again called for two bells," Rev. Choules chortled in a letter home, "and the novice innocently said, 'Please, sir, I can't find but one.'" Most evenings, the guests-attired in their heavy broadcloth suits and elaborate dresses, and tended by a squad of Irish maids-gathered in the main saloon, where one of the men played a piano and the ladies sang. Sometimes the crew joined in. Some of the sailors were black, and, Choules claimed, "were decidedly fond of negro melody. One of them, who answered to the euphonious name of 'Pogee,' was, I think, quite the equal of the Christy Minstrels [a famous musical group that performed in blackface]."30 Now began the hour of Vanderbilt's glory. Southampton, Copenhagen, and St. Petersburg; Le Havre, Malaga, and Naples; Malta, Constantinople, and Gibraltar: the North Star North Star sailed around Europe in triumph over the course of four months. The triumph was technical; at each port, marine experts pored over the ship. Commanders of the Royal Navy inspected its beam engines; officers of the tsar's fleet sketched its lines; pashas of the sultan's forces browsed through its cabins. And the triumph was patriotic: American newspapers published accounts of the sailed around Europe in triumph over the course of four months. The triumph was technical; at each port, marine experts pored over the ship. Commanders of the Royal Navy inspected its beam engines; officers of the tsar's fleet sketched its lines; pashas of the sultan's forces browsed through its cabins. And the triumph was patriotic: American newspapers published accounts of the North Star North Star's progress, reporting its speed and fuel efficiency, describing the thousands of spectators who lined up at each port to visit the gigantic yacht. Editors across the United States reprinted lengthy articles from the English press. "In this magnificent trip to England by Mr. Vanderbilt," the Chicago Tribune Chicago Tribune quoted the quoted the Southampton Daily News Southampton Daily News as writing, "Brother Jonathan has certainly gone ahead of himself." ("Brother Jonathan" was a nickname for America in the 1850s, as common as "Uncle Sam" later would be.) as writing, "Brother Jonathan has certainly gone ahead of himself." ("Brother Jonathan" was a nickname for America in the 1850s, as common as "Uncle Sam" later would be.)31 And the triumph was social. When the North Star North Star docked in Southampton, Vanderbilt, with his wife and guests, took the train to London, where the prestigious expatriate American banker George Peabody played host-tendering his box at the opera, for example, to the Commodore and his family. The U.S. minister to Great Britain, Joseph R. Ingersoll, held a formal reception for Vanderbilt. "The attendance was large," Choules wrote, "and the party a very fashionable one. The display of diamonds was very brilliant. General attention was directed to Mr. Vanderbilt, who was quite the man of the occasion; and all seemed desirous to obtain an introduction." docked in Southampton, Vanderbilt, with his wife and guests, took the train to London, where the prestigious expatriate American banker George Peabody played host-tendering his box at the opera, for example, to the Commodore and his family. The U.S. minister to Great Britain, Joseph R. Ingersoll, held a formal reception for Vanderbilt. "The attendance was large," Choules wrote, "and the party a very fashionable one. The display of diamonds was very brilliant. General attention was directed to Mr. Vanderbilt, who was quite the man of the occasion; and all seemed desirous to obtain an introduction."32 Lords and squires and millionaires crowded around the man from Staten Island, pressing him to bring his yacht up the Thames "and enable the fashionable world-then, of course, in London-to visit the Lords and squires and millionaires crowded around the man from Staten Island, pressing him to bring his yacht up the Thames "and enable the fashionable world-then, of course, in London-to visit the North Star," North Star," Choules added. Vanderbilt begged off, lest he "take a step which might appear like ostentation"-as if anything could be more ostentatious than crossing the Atlantic in such a yacht. More likely he wished to save coal. Choules added. Vanderbilt begged off, lest he "take a step which might appear like ostentation"-as if anything could be more ostentatious than crossing the Atlantic in such a yacht. More likely he wished to save coal.
The lord mayor of London invited Vanderbilt to a soiree, where the Commodore and Sophia mingled with the Archbishop of Canterbury and Thomas Carlyle. Vanderbilt went away with a party to the races at Ascot, the most fashionable racetrack in the world. In St. Petersburg came chats with Grand Duke Constantine, second son of the tsar, and a visit to the Winter Palace. In Florence came a session with Hiram Powers, perhaps the most famous American artist of the age, who sculpted a bust of Vanderbilt's proud head (for $1,000) and then accompanied him around Italy. In Naples the royal government turned the North Star North Star away, for fear that the ship carried antimonarchical arms or rebels, but Vanderbilt and his wife paid calls on the British governors of Malta and Gibraltar. away, for fear that the ship carried antimonarchical arms or rebels, but Vanderbilt and his wife paid calls on the British governors of Malta and Gibraltar.33 On May 27, less than a week after the North Star's North Star's departure from New York, the Mercantile Agency recorded its scathing judgment of Vanderbilt as "illiterate & boorish," not to mention "offensive." This judgment was wrong-or, at least, incomplete. Though he could still manifest a brutal demeanor when locked in combat, he had learned by 1853 to affect the sort of polish expected of a man of wealth and accomplishment. Men ranging from Hiram Powers to Lord Palmerston were struck by his confident, commanding air, an impression reinforced by his erect posture and neat appearance. Though Choules was no disinterested observer, he spoke for many when he reflected on Vanderbilt's "dignified reserve" and "dignified self-control." (After the journey, he would broadcast these judgments in a popular book on the trip.) departure from New York, the Mercantile Agency recorded its scathing judgment of Vanderbilt as "illiterate & boorish," not to mention "offensive." This judgment was wrong-or, at least, incomplete. Though he could still manifest a brutal demeanor when locked in combat, he had learned by 1853 to affect the sort of polish expected of a man of wealth and accomplishment. Men ranging from Hiram Powers to Lord Palmerston were struck by his confident, commanding air, an impression reinforced by his erect posture and neat appearance. Though Choules was no disinterested observer, he spoke for many when he reflected on Vanderbilt's "dignified reserve" and "dignified self-control." (After the journey, he would broadcast these judgments in a popular book on the trip.)34 Vanderbilt even came to terms with his old rival, the English language. Not that he conquered it; as Lambert Wardell later recalled, he "abominated papers of every description." The phonetic spelling and careless punctuation that marked the letters of his youth remained in those few notes he chose to write in his own hand. Usually he dictated to Wardell, who smoothed out the sentences.35 More significant was the change in his speaking. Among cronies and underperforming subordinates, he still would spout profanity with fluency and enthusiasm; but he had learned to speak on something like equal terms with men of refinement. This was reflected in Vanderbilt's comments at a grand municipal dinner given to him in Southampton, which were articulate, if brief. After a very few remarks, he said, "Were I able to express the gratification we have experienced in passing through the country and your town... I am fearful you would construe it into an attempt to make a speech." Then he sat down. More significant was the change in his speaking. Among cronies and underperforming subordinates, he still would spout profanity with fluency and enthusiasm; but he had learned to speak on something like equal terms with men of refinement. This was reflected in Vanderbilt's comments at a grand municipal dinner given to him in Southampton, which were articulate, if brief. After a very few remarks, he said, "Were I able to express the gratification we have experienced in passing through the country and your town... I am fearful you would construe it into an attempt to make a speech." Then he sat down.
Perhaps self-conscious of his lack of education, he avoided public speaking-a significant fact in that great era of oratory, when men and women passed the hours listening to long, elaborate speeches from politicians and ministers, lecturers and poets. But his recorded remarks show that he was capable of keeping his errant grammar under control in conversation. A more likely explanation for his reticence was given by those who knew him best: that he detested circuitousness, viewed loquacity as a kind of vanity and distrusted the rhetorical flourishes expected in this culture of the word upon word. When dictating letters, for example, he expected Wardell to preserve the brevity, the concentrated force, of his language. As Vanderbilt said in his terse Southampton toast, "He had been accustomed, all his life, to go direct to a point."36 When he plumped back into his seat at that dinner, another of his party rose: Horace Clark. At the Commodore's request, the ambitious lawyer gave precisely the sort of speech expected on this occasion, the kind that Vanderbilt loathed, larded with such passages as, "a few days of unalloyed pleasure, passed in contemplation of the Great Creator in his broadest and most glorious field-a few nights of calm repose, undisturbed by danger or fear-and lo! your magnificent shores burst upon our view." Now that Vanderbilt was most emphatically a public man, he needed someone like Clark. He had thought he had found such an ally in Joseph White; but White's treachery had taught him to look within his own circle for someone more trustworthy.
Clark wanted to be more than Vanderbilt's mouthpiece, but others stood in his way. His most serious rival was Daniel Allen, who had shown himself to be a quiet, shrewd businessman more like the Commodore himself. But Allen's split with his father-in-law over the steamship sale to Accessory Transit continued to fester. So he and his wife, Ethelinda, decided to spend a year in Europe. They had a son and a brother-in-law currently residing on the continent, and perhaps they hoped the time abroad might improve Ethelinda's health. "Mrs. Allen came on board the yacht from a sick bed," Rev. Choules wrote, "and in a condition of extreme debility." The months at sea seem to have helped immensely, and she and her husband said their good-byes at Gibraltar.37 More ominous for Clark's future (though there is no sign that he thought of matters this way) was the thaw in Vanderbilt's relationship with Billy. The two had never spent so much time together; more than that, they socialized in a holiday setting overseen by Billy's eternally patient and kindhearted mother. Overshadowed by her domineering husband, Sophia's personality rarely flowers in the historical record, though a few suggestive comments come from Rev. Choules (however prone he may have been to praising everything and everyone, apart from the pope, whom he reviled). "Every day, everyone on board was made to see and feel the excellent qualities" of Sophia Vanderbilt, Choules wrote, "whose uniform amiable spirit was the regulator of the circle."38 Amiable patience marked William's manner as well. A story would later circulate that depicted father and son on the North Star's North Star's deck as it churned toward home, both of them puffing on cigars. Vanderbilt cocked an eye at Billy and said, "I wish you wouldn't smoke, Billy; it's a bad habit. I'll give you $10,000 to stop it." The young man pulled the cigar out of his mouth and said, "You needn't hire me to give it up. Your wish is enough. I will never smoke again." With a flick of his wrist, Billy tossed the cigar over the rail and into the waves below deck as it churned toward home, both of them puffing on cigars. Vanderbilt cocked an eye at Billy and said, "I wish you wouldn't smoke, Billy; it's a bad habit. I'll give you $10,000 to stop it." The young man pulled the cigar out of his mouth and said, "You needn't hire me to give it up. Your wish is enough. I will never smoke again." With a flick of his wrist, Billy tossed the cigar over the rail and into the waves below39 The tale is utterly apocryphal, but it survived because it reflected two truths: Cornelius's relentless testing of his son, and William's steady display of loyalty-a dutifulness that slowly affected his father. The tale is utterly apocryphal, but it survived because it reflected two truths: Cornelius's relentless testing of his son, and William's steady display of loyalty-a dutifulness that slowly affected his father.
Onward the North Star North Star sailed toward New York, cutting through clouds of flying fish, dredging through green Sargasso Sea islands of seaweed, and steaming into view of Staten Island. Back through the Narrows it went-firing another salute as it passed the home of Vanderbilt's mother-up to the Allaire Works, where the journey had begun. "On the dock were kind friends and beloved relatives," Choules wrote, "and I almost felt that the entire four months of absence was but a dream! But I soon learned a painful fact... that the sweetest joys of life are dashed with bitter waters." sailed toward New York, cutting through clouds of flying fish, dredging through green Sargasso Sea islands of seaweed, and steaming into view of Staten Island. Back through the Narrows it went-firing another salute as it passed the home of Vanderbilt's mother-up to the Allaire Works, where the journey had begun. "On the dock were kind friends and beloved relatives," Choules wrote, "and I almost felt that the entire four months of absence was but a dream! But I soon learned a painful fact... that the sweetest joys of life are dashed with bitter waters."40 FOR THE FIRST SUMMER IN TWO DECADES, Cornelius Vanderbilt did not go to Saratoga Springs. He was, of course, on the far side of the Atlantic, so Saratoga went on without him. "Senators and members of Congress are abundant," the New York Times New York Times reported on August 12. Other notables included George Law; Thurlow Weed, the Albany newspaper editor and titan of the Whig Party; Edward K. Collins, head of a federally subsidized transatlantic steamship line; and Charles Morgan. reported on August 12. Other notables included George Law; Thurlow Weed, the Albany newspaper editor and titan of the Whig Party; Edward K. Collins, head of a federally subsidized transatlantic steamship line; and Charles Morgan.41 In the summer of 1853, it was Morgan, not the Commodore, who went each morning to the little temple erected over the Congress Spring, inside the hollow square of the Congress Hall hotel, where a boy lowered a staff to dip tumblers full of mineral water, three at a time. It was Morgan who played hands of whist with other Wall Street warriors, or sat in the evening in the colonnade of the Congress or the United States Hotel, smiling at the passing girl in white muslin and a pink sash, daringly wearing no bonnet, who made her way to a fashionable ball or a more casual "hop."42 It was Morgan who took a carriage up to the lake to eat a dinner of wild game at the Lake House restaurant, famous for its crispy fried potatoes (or potato chips, as they would come to be known), a wildly popular dish invented by "Eliza, the cook," in the 1840s. It was Morgan who took a carriage up to the lake to eat a dinner of wild game at the Lake House restaurant, famous for its crispy fried potatoes (or potato chips, as they would come to be known), a wildly popular dish invented by "Eliza, the cook," in the 1840s.*
By September 23, Morgan was back in New York, where he could not have missed Vanderbilt's return in the North Star North Star. Every newspaper published the news, as if it were a matter of national import to announce (as the headline in the Times Times read), "Com. Vanderbilt's Pleasure Party at Home Again." The read), "Com. Vanderbilt's Pleasure Party at Home Again." The New York Herald New York Herald went further, notifying the Commodore that during his absence the Accessory Transit Company had fired him as agent and kept his money. It reprinted a letter from the corporation that had run on July 29. "It is quite true that since the departure of Mr. Vanderbilt the company have not paid him the twenty percent on the gross receipts of the transit route," the company had stated, "for the plain and simple reason that, in their belief, he is largely indebted to the company, it having found it impossible to obtain a statement of the accounts of the agency during the time he had acted as agent for the steamers of the company." The went further, notifying the Commodore that during his absence the Accessory Transit Company had fired him as agent and kept his money. It reprinted a letter from the corporation that had run on July 29. "It is quite true that since the departure of Mr. Vanderbilt the company have not paid him the twenty percent on the gross receipts of the transit route," the company had stated, "for the plain and simple reason that, in their belief, he is largely indebted to the company, it having found it impossible to obtain a statement of the accounts of the agency during the time he had acted as agent for the steamers of the company." The Herald Herald added, "As soon as Commodore Vanderbilt gets fairly located again among us, it is expected he will furnish some exculpatory reply" added, "As soon as Commodore Vanderbilt gets fairly located again among us, it is expected he will furnish some exculpatory reply"43 Vanderbilt's discovery of this treachery provided the context for what is said to be one of the most famous letters in the history of American business: "Gentlemen: You have undertaken to cheat me. I won't sue, for the law is too slow. I'll ruin you. Yours truly, Cornelius Vanderbilt." This terse, belligerent note is pure Vanderbilt. It is also mythology. It first appeared decades later, in Vanderbilt's obituary in the Times Times, and its validity is dubious at best. He never wrote "Yours truly," but usually he signed, "Your obedient servant." And it never would have occurred to him to give up legal redress. He had been suing his opponents since 1816; he knew that, even when the courts did not give satisfaction, legal action gave him leverage in negotiations.44 But reply he did. As soon as he had wobbled on his sea legs into his office, he ordered Lambert Wardell to pull out pen and paper; he wanted to dictate a letter to James Gordon Bennett, editor of the Herald Herald. "The statement made in the name of the company," he wrote, "calls for a few words of explanation. To say nothing of the cowardice which, in my absence in a foreign country, dictated the calumnious statement referred to, it is none the less unfortunate that it was utterly false."
Cowardice and mendacity-the two cardinal sins in Vanderbilt's business code, and the two salient traits of Joseph White-drove him into a fury. He did not owe the Transit Company, he said; rather, it owed him him some $36,000 for property (mostly coal and coal hulks) that he had sold along with the steamships, an amount that was to have been paid out of the first earnings of the ships. "My object in accepting the agency of the steamships... was chiefly to enable me to secure the amount of the company's unpaid indebtedness to me," he explained. "These earnings should come directly into my hands. I need not say that I would not have trusted the company for so large a sum of money upon any other terms." His man in New York, Moses Maynard, had made the books freely available for inspection at any time. And, far from decrying lawsuits, he concluded with this warning: "My rights against the company will be determined in due time by the judgment of the legal tribunals." some $36,000 for property (mostly coal and coal hulks) that he had sold along with the steamships, an amount that was to have been paid out of the first earnings of the ships. "My object in accepting the agency of the steamships... was chiefly to enable me to secure the amount of the company's unpaid indebtedness to me," he explained. "These earnings should come directly into my hands. I need not say that I would not have trusted the company for so large a sum of money upon any other terms." His man in New York, Moses Maynard, had made the books freely available for inspection at any time. And, far from decrying lawsuits, he concluded with this warning: "My rights against the company will be determined in due time by the judgment of the legal tribunals."45 On September 29, the day after the Herald Herald published Vanderbilt's angry letter, the Commodore and Charles Morgan met to discuss their conflict. Where they spoke is unknown, though Morgan's office was at 2 Bowling Green, only a few doors from Vanderbilt's. The Commodore proposed to refer the dispute to arbitration. Morgan seems to have thought well of the idea, but he declined to make a commitment, and the meeting broke up without any settlement. published Vanderbilt's angry letter, the Commodore and Charles Morgan met to discuss their conflict. Where they spoke is unknown, though Morgan's office was at 2 Bowling Green, only a few doors from Vanderbilt's. The Commodore proposed to refer the dispute to arbitration. Morgan seems to have thought well of the idea, but he declined to make a commitment, and the meeting broke up without any settlement.
A split seems to have formed in Accessory Transit over how to proceed. On October 27, the Herald Herald reported that it had agreed to arbitration; on the next day, the company refused, making petty excuses about the state of the accounts Vanderbilt had rendered. Indeed, it taunted him, in what sounds very much like the voice of Joseph White. "The company are desirous he should commence proceedings against them at once," said the official statement, "and are afraid he will do nothing but threaten." Vanderbilt's lawsuit, postponed to allow time for negotiations, would proceed. reported that it had agreed to arbitration; on the next day, the company refused, making petty excuses about the state of the accounts Vanderbilt had rendered. Indeed, it taunted him, in what sounds very much like the voice of Joseph White. "The company are desirous he should commence proceedings against them at once," said the official statement, "and are afraid he will do nothing but threaten." Vanderbilt's lawsuit, postponed to allow time for negotiations, would proceed.46 THE BATTLE SEEMED TO energize Vanderbilt, for he simultaneously embarked on a series of breathtakingly huge financial transactions. First, his friend Robert Schuyler-now president of the New York & New Haven, the Illinois Central, and other railroads-asked for help. He had overextended himself in his vast stock operations, and the energize Vanderbilt, for he simultaneously embarked on a series of breathtakingly huge financial transactions. First, his friend Robert Schuyler-now president of the New York & New Haven, the Illinois Central, and other railroads-asked for help. He had overextended himself in his vast stock operations, and the Independence Independence, the ship he and his brother George had purchased from Vanderbilt, had sunk in the Pacific. He needed money, a lot of money; fortunately, he could offer thousands of railroad shares as collateral. Vanderbilt took them, loaning Schuyler $600,000 in October to see him through his difficulties. This was a staggering figure: if a merchant's entire estate amounted to that sum, he would be praised as extremely wealthy by the Mercantile Agency47 Next came a fresh campaign on Wall Street led by Nelson Robinson-who, it appears, could not bear to remain in retirement as long as he owned twelve thousand Erie shares, waiting to be bulled. In mid-October, Robinson won reelection to the Erie Railroad's board of directors, and took over as treasurer; he was joined by Daniel Drew, who was new to the board. The two organized a "clique" of investors to run up the price of Erie. Vanderbilt agreed to cooperate, though he demanded a bonus in the form of a discount on the stock. He purchased four thousand shares at 70 each, 2 below the market price. (How Robinson and Drew arranged the discount is unclear.) "The removal of so much stock, even temporarily from the market, was calculated to improve it [the price]," the New York Evening Post New York Evening Post reported. reported.
With so many stock certificates sitting in Vanderbilt's office rather than circulating among brokers, Erie's share price immediately rose. Robinson made the most of it as he worked both the curb and the trading floor on Wall Street. "His name & influence put up the price," the Mercantile Agency reported. "It went as high as 92 in April [1854] & he sold out." Robinson made as much as $100,000 in this single operation. Vanderbilt garnered perhaps $48,000 in profit (less brokers' commissions), in a lucrative beginning to a long and ultimately tragic relationship with Erie.48 Success in this operation had been far from certain, but Vanderbilt "was a bold, fearless man," Wardell later explained, "very much a speculator, understanding all risks and willing to take them."49 As Vanderbilt's notoriety as a speculator rose, so would the public's ambivalence toward him. As Vanderbilt's notoriety as a speculator rose, so would the public's ambivalence toward him.
Ambivalence, but not simple loathing: the Commodore simultaneously remained the archetype of the economic hero, the productive, practical man of business, precisely the sort popularly depicted as the opposite of the speculator. Indeed, the key to understanding Vanderbilt is that he saw no distinction between the roles defined by moralists and philosophers. He freely played the competitor and monopolist, destroyer and creator, speculator and entrepreneur, according to where his interests led him. The real conundrum lies in how he saw himself. His public pronouncements reflected Jacksonian laissez-faire values, as he denounced monopolies and touted himself as a competitor. Did he detect a paradox, then, when he sold out to a monopoly or sought his own subsidies? Most likely no. Competition had arisen in America conjoined with customs and mechanisms to control it. Vanderbilt saw "opposition" as a means to an end-war to achieve a more advantageous peace. On a personal level, he was acutely aware that he had won all that he possessed by his own prowess. And whatever he won in battle, he was ready to defend in battle.
VANDERBILT'S COMBINATION of entrepreneurship and stock market gamesmanship also appeared in his elaborate plot to take revenge on Morgan and White. The first phase involved an attempt to drive down the Accessory Transit Company's share price. He faced long odds. In December, Morgan fed information to the of entrepreneurship and stock market gamesmanship also appeared in his elaborate plot to take revenge on Morgan and White. The first phase involved an attempt to drive down the Accessory Transit Company's share price. He faced long odds. In December, Morgan fed information to the New York Herald New York Herald that won him the support of its influential financial column (despite Vanderbilt's protest that the numbers leaked to the paper were "calculated to deceive"). Rumors of the company's rich profits and bright prospects sent its stock price up to 27. that won him the support of its influential financial column (despite Vanderbilt's protest that the numbers leaked to the paper were "calculated to deceive"). Rumors of the company's rich profits and bright prospects sent its stock price up to 27.50 Seemingly in defiance of reality, Vanderbilt deployed a platoon of brokers on the stock exchange to sell Accessory Transit short, starting on January 5. "The bears made a dead set against it," the Herald Herald reported. Vanderbilt shorted five thousand shares-that is, sold five thousand shares that he did not own-at 25, on contracts that gave him up to twelve months to deliver the certificates. He gambled that the price would go down in the interim, so he could buy the shares for less, thus making a profit when he delivered them. "This looks like a most determined opposition," the reported. Vanderbilt shorted five thousand shares-that is, sold five thousand shares that he did not own-at 25, on contracts that gave him up to twelve months to deliver the certificates. He gambled that the price would go down in the interim, so he could buy the shares for less, thus making a profit when he delivered them. "This looks like a most determined opposition," the Herald Herald noted. Morgan started buying to keep the price up, making for a direct battle between the two titans. noted. Morgan started buying to keep the price up, making for a direct battle between the two titans.
The next day the New York Times New York Times reported, "The contest of reported, "The contest of Bull Bull and and Bear Bear opened... on Nicaragua Transit stock, [and] was followed up with considerable spirit by the buyers for the rise. The large seller yesterday it is now confidently asserted is Mr. Cornelius Vanderbilt, and the buyer Mr. Charles Morgan, the President and managing man of the Company; both old heads on the Stock Exchange, and wealthy." The opened... on Nicaragua Transit stock, [and] was followed up with considerable spirit by the buyers for the rise. The large seller yesterday it is now confidently asserted is Mr. Cornelius Vanderbilt, and the buyer Mr. Charles Morgan, the President and managing man of the Company; both old heads on the Stock Exchange, and wealthy." The Herald Herald, too, observed the "immense pressure from the bears," as Vanderbilt's brokers sold feverishly in an attempt to drive down the share price, but "Nicaragua" stubbornly rose. "The enormous sales... had an effect quite contrary to that intended. The probability is that the same party [Vanderbilt] will not try the same game a second time. It was a desperate move, and must result in serious loss." Now firmly on Morgan's side, the Herald Herald reporter cited the "present able management" of the company and its glowing annual report, concluding that it was "rash to bear the stock." reporter cited the "present able management" of the company and its glowing annual report, concluding that it was "rash to bear the stock."51 The gold coming down from the mountains led to an international rush to California. In early 1849, Vanderbilt sent his son Corneil around Cape Horn in a schooner to work on a ferry in San Francisco Bay He jumped ship, as did the gold-crazed crews of dozens of vessels, turning the San Francisco waterfront into a floating graveyard. Library of Congress Library of Congress California's primary channel to the Atlantic coast consisted of steamship lines and a land crossing at Panama. Vanderbilt created a rival transit route across Nicaragua. This engraving shows a sternwheel riverboat in the harbor of Greytown on the Atlantic, having loaded passengers from a steamship in the background, as it enters the San Juan River, bound for Lake Nicaragua. Library of Congress Library of Congress The San Juan River flows from Lake Nicaragua to the Atlantic through a dense rain forest. This 1880s photograph shows a steamboat in a wide, shallow section. Vanderbilt personally piloted the first passengers on his Nicaragua line up the river in 1851. Library of Congress Library of Congress At the head of the San Juan River was the village of San Carlos. This photograph from the 1880s shows the great Lake Nicaragua in the background, along with typical thatched-roof huts. A fort also guarded this strategic point. Library of Congress Library of Congress On leaving the San Juan River, passengers transferred to larger sidewheel steamboats that traversed Lake Nicaragua's 110-mile expanse. The western landing was at Virgin Bay, where a large pier was eventually constructed. This somewhat exaggerated engraving shows the twin cones of the island of Ometepe. Library of Congress Library of Congress A twelve-mile carriage road connected Virgin Bay with the little Pacific port of San Juan del Sur, which was virtually uninhabited until Vanderbilt personally chose it as the terminus of the transit route. Passengers transferred between steamship and shore by means of launches. Library of Congress Library of Congress By 1851, San Francisco had emerged as a major American city, nourished in part by Vanderbilt's steamship line to and from New York. This photograph looks east across the bay toward Yerba Buena Island. It reveals the shipping that thronged the new wharves and the dense grid of substantial brick buildings that were constructed in the wake of repeated fires. Library of Congress Library of Congress This 1854 engraving shows the Narrows at the mouth of New York Harbor, with Staten Island in the foreground, Long Island to the right, and in the distance on the far right the cities of Brooklyn and New York. Library of Congress Library of Congress The offices of Vanderbilt's various lines to California could be found next to those of his competitors on Steamship Row, the nickname for this stretch of buildings just to the left of the small oval park of Bowling Green. Vanderbilt maintained a personal office here, at the southern tip of Manhattan, until he sold his steamship interests during the Civil War. Museum of the City of New York Museum of the City of New York Shrewd, dashing, and more than a bit slippery, Cornelius K. Garrison became the San Francisco agent for Accessory Transit, the company Vanderbilt had started to carry passengers via Nicaragua. He was manipulated into opposing Vanderbilt in late 1855. Library of Congress Library of Congress A small, quiet, intense man, Nashville-born William Walker emerged as a leading "filibuster"-a private citizen who launched armed invasions of foreign countries. In 1855, he landed in Nicaragua with fifty-six men to fight in its civil war. He won, formed a new government, and abolished Accessory Transit. He gave the transit rights to a friend, who resold them to Garrison. Library of Congress Library of Congress Granada was the capital of the Conservative government that ruled Nicaragua when Vanderbilt established the transit route. He visited the city on two of his three expeditions to the country. William Walker captured Granada in 1855 and consolidated his power by executing Conservative general Ponciano Corral on the city plaza, shown here. Library of Congress Library of Congress Vanderbilt resumed control of Accessory Transit just as Walker revoked its corporate charter and gave its property to Cornelius Garrison and his partner Charles Morgan. Vanderbilt made an alliance with Costa Rica to oust Walker. Walker's downfall began when Sylvanus Spencer, Vanderbilt's personal agent, led a force of Costa Rican soldiers in a surprise assault on a filibuster garrison at Hipp's Point on the San Juan River, shown here. Library of Congress Library of Congress In the 1850s Vanderbilt emerged as a major force on the stock exchange, often working closely with Daniel Drew. During this period stockbrokers conducted formal trades of securities in auctions in the Merchants' Exchange on Wall Street, shown here in 1850. Informal trades took place among unlicensed brokers on the curb outside. Library of Congress Library of Congress Vanderbilt's youngest son, George Washington Vanderbilt, entered West Point in 1855, graduated near the bottom of his class in 1860, and served briefly in the West. At the beginning of the Civil War, he was convicted by a court-martial of deserting his post. He died in France on December 31, 1863. Library of Congress Library of Congress Vanderbilt's respect for his son William grew in the late 1850s, as he became an officer of the Staten Island Railroad. Vanderbilt made him vice president of the Harlem Railroad, and eventually operational manager of all his lines. A gifted manager, William proved far less diplomatic than his father. Library of Congress Library of Congress Vanderbilt named the greatest vessel he ever constructed after himself. For a time the largest and fastest steamship afloat, the Vanderbilt Vanderbilt shared the characteristics of all the steamships he designed: a nearly vertical bow, massive sidewheels, supplementary sails, and twin walking-beam engines adapted from steamboats. shared the characteristics of all the steamships he designed: a nearly vertical bow, massive sidewheels, supplementary sails, and twin walking-beam engines adapted from steamboats. Naval Historical Center Naval Historical Center The Champion Champion was the first iron-hulled steamship constructed in the United States. Though not the largest in Vanderbilt's fleet, it was fast and fuel efficient. During the Civil War it ran between Panama and New York, as part of a monopoly on California steamship traffic that Vanderbilt helped establish. was the first iron-hulled steamship constructed in the United States. Though not the largest in Vanderbilt's fleet, it was fast and fuel efficient. During the Civil War it ran between Panama and New York, as part of a monopoly on California steamship traffic that Vanderbilt helped establish. Library of Congress Library of Congress The rampage of the Confederate ironclad Virginia Virginia (also known as the (also known as the Merrimack) Merrimack) created a panic in Lincoln's cabinet. The created a panic in Lincoln's cabinet. The Monitor Monitor rushed to the scene and battled it to a standstill, as shown here. But the rushed to the scene and battled it to a standstill, as shown here. But the Virginia Virginia survived. Its continuing threat led Secretary of War Edwin Stanton to ask Vanderbilt to equip the survived. Its continuing threat led Secretary of War Edwin Stanton to ask Vanderbilt to equip the Vanderbilt Vanderbilt to destroy it. to destroy it. Library of Congress Library of Congress Then the Commodore sprang his trap. On January 17, a headline in the Times Times announced, " announced, "NEW LINE OF STEAMSHIPS TO SAN FRANCISCO." He was going to compete against Accessory Transit. The move epitomized the paradox that was Vanderbilt, for it was motivated by a personal vendetta yet had wide public consequences. The resulting fare war would dramatically reduce prices on the corridor between California and New York, showering benefits on migrants and merchants. It would also destroy Accessory Transit's profits, lay low the share price, and thus enrich Vanderbilt at the expense of his enemy-and innocent stockholders.
All these months, the Simonson shipyard had been refitting the North Star North Star as a passenger liner. The world-famous yacht was to serve as the flagship of a new steamship fleet, but it would take time to build more vessels. So Vanderbilt made an alliance with merchant Edward Mills, who owned the as a passenger liner. The world-famous yacht was to serve as the flagship of a new steamship fleet, but it would take time to build more vessels. So Vanderbilt made an alliance with merchant Edward Mills, who owned the Uncle Sam Uncle Sam and built the new and built the new Yankee Blade Yankee Blade with Vanderbilt's help. "These vessels are all known as exceedingly swift and commodious," the with Vanderbilt's help. "These vessels are all known as exceedingly swift and commodious," the Times Times reported; they would run on the Pacific, and connect to the reported; they would run on the Pacific, and connect to the North Star North Star at Panama. Official notice of the "Vanderbilt Line for California" ran on January 23. With Daniel Allen in Europe, James Cross would manage the ships. at Panama. Official notice of the "Vanderbilt Line for California" ran on January 23. With Daniel Allen in Europe, James Cross would manage the ships.52 Interestingly, it was the Washington correspondent of the Times Times who broke the story. Vanderbilt had gone to the capital to add a third role to those of speculator and entrepreneur-that of lobbyist, in pursuit of the California mail contract. As early as October 10 he had written to Secretary of State William L. Marcy on the subject. Vanderbilt likely knew Marcy personally, and undoubtedly found the jowly former governor of New York appealing. Historian Allan Nevins judged Marcy "blunt, humorous," and highly social. "A gentleman of the old school," he reportedly coined the phrase "To the victor belong the spoils," an apt summary of the Commodore's own code. Vanderbilt wrote to Marcy, "I feel some solicitude to enlarge my reputation by doing something valuable for the country," and suggested that a transit across Mexico, farther north even than Nicaragua, could save two weeks on the mail to San Francisco. who broke the story. Vanderbilt had gone to the capital to add a third role to those of speculator and entrepreneur-that of lobbyist, in pursuit of the California mail contract. As early as October 10 he had written to Secretary of State William L. Marcy on the subject. Vanderbilt likely knew Marcy personally, and undoubtedly found the jowly former governor of New York appealing. Historian Allan Nevins judged Marcy "blunt, humorous," and highly social. "A gentleman of the old school," he reportedly coined the phrase "To the victor belong the spoils," an apt summary of the Commodore's own code. Vanderbilt wrote to Marcy, "I feel some solicitude to enlarge my reputation by doing something valuable for the country," and suggested that a transit across Mexico, farther north even than Nicaragua, could save two weeks on the mail to San Francisco.53 Washington had been empty when Vanderbilt wrote to Marcy; in December Congress reassembled, and the capital came alive. "The hotels and boarding-houses filled up, the shopkeepers displayed a varied stock, and the deserted villages [that made up the city] coalesced into a bustling town," Nevins wrote-though it was still "a fourth-rate town." Since Washington existed entirely for the seasonal gathering of Congress and a mere handful of year-round civil servants (the entire State Department staff consisted of eighteen men), it had few attributes of a true city. It lacked proper water or sewage works; parks remained undeveloped tracts, overrun by weeds; most government buildings were small, drab brick structures; even the Capitol and the Washington Monument sat unfinished. The most common business seems to have been the boardinghouse. "Music and drama were so ill-cultivated," Nevins noted, "that a third-rate vocalist or strolling troupe created a sensation."54 This was the town that Vanderbilt traveled to in January to press his war on Accessory Transit. This was the town that Vanderbilt traveled to in January to press his war on Accessory Transit.
And to win glory for himself. The triumphant voyage of the North Star North Star had swelled his sense of importance. It also seems to have soothed his strained relationship with his wife. Sophia acompanied him to Washington, where they socialized with Joseph L. Williams, a former Whig congressman whom Vanderbilt hired to assist in his lobbying. "The Commodore and lady were in pleasant spirits when here," Williams wrote to a friend in New York. "I visited them several times at the hotel, and they went to see Mrs. [Williams] at our house, as she could not go out. I am to see the Secretary of the Navy for the Commodore by the time he comes back. Between you and I, he is anxious, or, rather, had swelled his sense of importance. It also seems to have soothed his strained relationship with his wife. Sophia acompanied him to Washington, where they socialized with Joseph L. Williams, a former Whig congressman whom Vanderbilt hired to assist in his lobbying. "The Commodore and lady were in pleasant spirits when here," Williams wrote to a friend in New York. "I visited them several times at the hotel, and they went to see Mrs. [Williams] at our house, as she could not go out. I am to see the Secretary of the Navy for the Commodore by the time he comes back. Between you and I, he is anxious, or, rather, ambitious ambitious to build the government vessels." Vanderbilt offered to build a "first-class steam frigate" for the navy; unlike most such proposals, his demanded no money up front, but merely repayment of the cost should the ship be accepted into the fleet. to build the government vessels." Vanderbilt offered to build a "first-class steam frigate" for the navy; unlike most such proposals, his demanded no money up front, but merely repayment of the cost should the ship be accepted into the fleet.
This was patriotism, yes, but Vanderbilt hoped the positive publicity would strengthen his attempt to capture the contract for the California mail, to carry it by the aforementioned transit over Mexico, via Veracruz and Acapulco. As lobbyist Williams added in his letter, "He has other wishes in respect to the Vera Cruz and Acapulco route to California, to succeed in which he has to break down the prejudices of the Postmaster General and the elaborate arrangements of Jo White as to Nicaragua."55 Inevitably, Joseph White dashed to Washington as soon as he learned of Vanderbilt's lobbying mission. "We are having some excitement indoors just now, relative to California mail contracts," the Washington correspondent of the Times Times reported on January 17. "Parties interested in the Ramsey [Mexico] route, the Panama route, and the Nicaragua route, are all upon the ground attending to their respective interests." (Ramsey was a figure in the company trying to open the Mexican land transit that Vanderbilt hoped to link to with his ships.) reported on January 17. "Parties interested in the Ramsey [Mexico] route, the Panama route, and the Nicaragua route, are all upon the ground attending to their respective interests." (Ramsey was a figure in the company trying to open the Mexican land transit that Vanderbilt hoped to link to with his ships.) White did what he did best: insult Vanderbilt. He desired the mail contract for Accessory Transit, of course, but he wanted most to deny it to Vanderbilt. Together with Senator James Cooper, White called on Postmaster General James Campbell "for the purpose of impressing him with the advantage of the Nicaragua route and the worthlessness of any other, and especially the Ramsey route via Vera Cruz and Acapulco," the Times Times wrote. "Postmaster-General Campbell says it is a waste of time to cry down the latter route in his presence, because his mind is decidedly and irrevocably made up against it, which of course is a great satisfaction to the Nicaragua people." wrote. "Postmaster-General Campbell says it is a waste of time to cry down the latter route in his presence, because his mind is decidedly and irrevocably made up against it, which of course is a great satisfaction to the Nicaragua people."56 The Commodore soon had more bad news. He returned to Washington in March with Sophia and daughter Phebe Cross, and discovered that his lobbyist Williams had fallen sick with tuberculosis-"lung fever," as Williams called it. Vanderbilt carried on, one colleague recalled. "We wanted to see [Senator] John M. Clayton, and arranged to go and call on him on a certain evening. When night came... it rained pitchforks. I said to the Commodore, 'We can't go now; wait, and if it slacks up we will go over.'" When the weather cleared, the friend couldn't find Vanderbilt, so he took the stage to Clayton's house. "I went in and found him, and the Commodore with him, playing whist.... He [Vanderbilt] said, 'Between you and me, that's the way I got ahead of some of the other boys. I never failed to keep an engagement in my life.'" as Williams called it. Vanderbilt carried on, one colleague recalled. "We wanted to see [Senator] John M. Clayton, and arranged to go and call on him on a certain evening. When night came... it rained pitchforks. I said to the Commodore, 'We can't go now; wait, and if it slacks up we will go over.'" When the weather cleared, the friend couldn't find Vanderbilt, so he took the stage to Clayton's house. "I went in and found him, and the Commodore with him, playing whist.... He [Vanderbilt] said, 'Between you and me, that's the way I got ahead of some of the other boys. I never failed to keep an engagement in my life.'"57 In this case, Vanderbilt would not get ahead of the other boys. He and White neutralized each other. Pacific Mail, U.S. Mail, and the Panama Railroad (a formidable lobbying bloc in their own right) would remain the official carriers for the Post Office. Stymied in politics, Vanderbilt carried on the business war, the one he knew best. His and Mills's ships continued to connect via Panama, rather than Mexico, but the Commodore's prowess at cutting costs would allow him to slash fares until he had cut open the very arteries of the Accessory Transit Company.
AS THE BUSINESSMEN BATTLED, the fixer left Washington to continue his work. In February 1854, Joseph White returned to Nicaragua to cope with the government's anger over Accessory Transit's failure to pay the required 10 percent of its profits. White, of course, preferred intrigue and corruption to simply paying the debt, as he freely admitted to Secretary of State Marcy "I am fatigued with listening to the extortionate demands of this Govt. & bribing it into silence," White wrote from Nicaragua. "This process of securing the observance of chartered rights is too annoying and expensive."58 Whatever Marcy thought of White personally, he supported the company. As Nicaragua surpassed Panama in popularity as a route to California, keeping the transit open became a strategic imperative for the United States, which would admit no fine points of morality Whatever Marcy thought of White personally, he supported the company. As Nicaragua surpassed Panama in popularity as a route to California, keeping the transit open became a strategic imperative for the United States, which would admit no fine points of morality59 In the course of 1854, the company's profits suffered under the competition of Vanderbilt's Independent Line, as the Commodore slashed fares-by half, then to one-third of what Accessory Transit charged.60 At Virgin Bay on Lake Nicaragua, an Accessory Transit launch shuttling passengers to a steamboat overturned, drowning twenty-one. At Virgin Bay on Lake Nicaragua, an Accessory Transit launch shuttling passengers to a steamboat overturned, drowning twenty-one.61 In July, a murder carried out by one of the Accessory Transit riverboat captains brought to a head years of conflict with the people of Greytown. Together with Solon Borland, the belligerent U.S. minister to Nicaragua, White convinced Marcy to send the USS Cyane Cyane to destroy the town. White himself wrote instructions for the ship's captain, telling him not to "show any mercy to the town or people.... It is of the last importance that the people of the town should be taught to fear us. Punishment will teach them." On July 13, the to destroy the town. White himself wrote instructions for the ship's captain, telling him not to "show any mercy to the town or people.... It is of the last importance that the people of the town should be taught to fear us. Punishment will teach them." On July 13, the Cyane Cyane bombarded Greytown for several hours; then a landing party burned the remaining buildings to the ground. Not for the last time, Americans had completely destroyed a Nicaraguan city bombarded Greytown for several hours; then a landing party burned the remaining buildings to the ground. Not for the last time, Americans had completely destroyed a Nicaraguan city62 VANDERBILT FACED SWINDLERS of every description, in every direction. In June 1854, he sued William C. Moon for fraud. He had accepted a $3,000 promissory note from Moon, who claimed to represent a well-known mercantile house. Vanderbilt endorsed it over to August Belmont, who discovered the hoax. The Commodore promptly paid Belmont, though he is unlikely to have gotten his money back from Moon. In this case, the crime is less interesting than what it says about Vanderbilt's prolific small-scale lending. In 1854, he took numerous promissory notes for amounts ranging from $1,000 to $5,000. Years later, Lambert Wardell would claim that Vanderbilt had no time for small deals, observing, "An intimate friend of his once said that 'The Commodore was the biggest man in a big thing and the littlest man in a little thing that he ever knew'" In 1854, that judgment was only half true, as Vanderbilt sought to invest every penny. He reportedly admitted all callers at his private office, and accommodated requests for minor loans rather freely (though he charged market rates of interest). of every description, in every direction. In June 1854, he sued William C. Moon for fraud. He had accepted a $3,000 promissory note from Moon, who claimed to represent a well-known mercantile house. Vanderbilt endorsed it over to August Belmont, who discovered the hoax. The Commodore promptly paid Belmont, though he is unlikely to have gotten his money back from Moon. In this case, the crime is less interesting than what it says about Vanderbilt's prolific small-scale lending. In 1854, he took numerous promissory notes for amounts ranging from $1,000 to $5,000. Years later, Lambert Wardell would claim that Vanderbilt had no time for small deals, observing, "An intimate friend of his once said that 'The Commodore was the biggest man in a big thing and the littlest man in a little thing that he ever knew'" In 1854, that judgment was only half true, as Vanderbilt sought to invest every penny. He reportedly admitted all callers at his private office, and accommodated requests for minor loans rather freely (though he charged market rates of interest).63 But swindlers continued to haunt him; indeed, they would plague him in 1854 as at no other point in his life. The most heartbreaking, though not the worst, was his son Corneil. In March, Corneil's epilepsy struck him hard. "He is in feeble health," a friend wrote, "and visits Washington for pleasure & for the benefit of his health." The idea of anyone visiting the swampy city of Washington to improve his health would have struck most Americans as a bit strange. Stranger still were the identities of the friend who wrote this letter and the man who received it: John P. Hale, former senator from New Hampshire, and Charles Sumner, senator from Massachusetts, both leading opponents of slavery.
At the moment, Hale and Sumner were embroiled in a struggle against the Kansas-Nebraska bill, which threatened to overturn the Missouri Compromise's ban on slavery in the lands north and west of Missouri. It was a titanic battle, yet Hale found time to intervene for the "son of the celebrated Mr. Vanderbilt." He told Sumner, "If you can show him any attention, you will confer a favor on yours [truly]."
Corneil, who once had limited himself to drawing drafts on his unsuspecting father or skipping out on his bill at the haberdashery, had discovered a new method of acquiring gambling money: he charmed and flattered powerful men, playing on his father's fame to elicit loans. "Corneil was eccentric, and was possessed by some astonishing peculiarities that made him a genius in his way," said Henry Clews, a gossipy banker who knew Corneil in later years. That genius lay in "his ability to catch the ear of prominent men, who would listen attentively to his tale of woe, and some of them were so thoroughly under the spell of his persuasive powers that they would fork out the required amount without hesitation, to relieve his pressing necessities."64 As if this were not strange enough, Corneil managed to get himself arrested for forgery. His father, it seems, bailed him out of jail, then took him for a carriage ride.65 What Vanderbilt said to his son is unknown, but clearly he was unhappy with Corneil's increasingly disturbing behavior-the behavior of an addict. And he had a plan to address it. Before he could put it into operation, however, he suddenly fell ill. What Vanderbilt said to his son is unknown, but clearly he was unhappy with Corneil's increasingly disturbing behavior-the behavior of an addict. And he had a plan to address it. Before he could put it into operation, however, he suddenly fell ill.
One day in late May, Dr. Linsly received an urgent message to come to 10 Washington Place. He rushed to Vanderbilt's bedside. Listening closely to his patient's heart, he heard the same rapid yet feeble beating that had afflicted the Commodore in 1848. It was "a severe attack," Linsly recalled. "He had had this trouble with his heart for eighteen days. He could not lie down, and the infiltration of water into his legs gave him dropsy." It was a "singular heart trouble," Linsly said. "There is no name for it." Nonplussed, he once again advised Vanderbilt that he would likely die, and should put his affairs in order.
"SERIOUS ILLNESS OF COMMODORE VANDERBILT," the Times Times announced on May 31. "We regret to hear that Cornelus Vanderbilt, Esq., lies dangerously ill at his residence in Washington Place." The children, including Corneil, took up vigil in the house, shrouded by a near certainty of their father's demise. As in 1836, Vanderbilt called for an attorney and dictated a will. "He told me he had given the bulk of his property to his two sons, William H. and George," Linsly reported. "He also told me he had left the house in Washington Place to Mrs. Vanderbilt, and, my impression is, with $10,000 added." Like an ancient dynast, the Commodore meant to keep his estate intact, and pass it on to his sons-the sons for whom he still had some respect, that is. Curiously, he drafted no special provisions for the sons-in-law who played such a large role in his businesses, not even for Horace Clark, who had just settled 128 lawsuits stemming from the announced on May 31. "We regret to hear that Cornelus Vanderbilt, Esq., lies dangerously ill at his residence in Washington Place." The children, including Corneil, took up vigil in the house, shrouded by a near certainty of their father's demise. As in 1836, Vanderbilt called for an attorney and dictated a will. "He told me he had given the bulk of his property to his two sons, William H. and George," Linsly reported. "He also told me he had left the house in Washington Place to Mrs. Vanderbilt, and, my impression is, with $10,000 added." Like an ancient dynast, the Commodore meant to keep his estate intact, and pass it on to his sons-the sons for whom he still had some respect, that is. Curiously, he drafted no special provisions for the sons-in-law who played such a large role in his businesses, not even for Horace Clark, who had just settled 128 lawsuits stemming from the North America North America disaster for just $61 each. For the daughters who fretted beside his deathbed, and for Corneil, the Commodore planned to leave comparatively little. disaster for just $61 each. For the daughters who fretted beside his deathbed, and for Corneil, the Commodore planned to leave comparatively little.66 On the very day the Times Times announced Vanderbilt's illness, he began to improve. The announced Vanderbilt's illness, he began to improve. The New York Evening Post New York Evening Post reported "the favorable change today in the symptoms of the disease." His heart began to beat strongly and evenly, and the "dropsy" disappeared. By June 30, he had fully recovered. On Sunday, July 2, he had Corneil arrested. "Dear Sir," Corneil wrote to his lawyer, at four o'clock that afternoon, "I have this moment been arrested by two officers, on the charge of insanity, and am now on my way to the Asylum. Do what you can to release me at once." reported "the favorable change today in the symptoms of the disease." His heart began to beat strongly and evenly, and the "dropsy" disappeared. By June 30, he had fully recovered. On Sunday, July 2, he had Corneil arrested. "Dear Sir," Corneil wrote to his lawyer, at four o'clock that afternoon, "I have this moment been arrested by two officers, on the charge of insanity, and am now on my way to the Asylum. Do what you can to release me at once."
Four days later, a judge ordered Corneil's release from the Blooming-dale Asylum, after its presiding physician testified that "he was perfectly sane."67 The physician was correct. Corneil's problem was not insanity; it was addiction to gambling. The Commodore's heavy-handed intervention in Corneil's self-destructive course failed because the era lacked the language, let alone the science, for addressing the disease. The physician was correct. Corneil's problem was not insanity; it was addiction to gambling. The Commodore's heavy-handed intervention in Corneil's self-destructive course failed because the era lacked the language, let alone the science, for addressing the disease.
When Corneil went free, he found his brother Billy and lawyer Charles A. Rapallo waiting for him. Billy told him, Corneil later reported, "that the doctor had sworn to this commitment to keep me out of the State prison [for forgery], and I told him I had rather be considered a damned rascal than a lunatic.... After that I had no conversation with William H. for two years."68 Corneil blamed his brother, but his father almost certainly gave the order. The incident speaks to Vanderbilt's exasperation with Corneil. George inherited his athleticism; Billy showed signs of his shrewdness and intelligence; but Corneil was a schemer, a talker, and a weakling, all things that aroused the Commodore's contempt. Characteristically Vanderbilt tried to solve the conundrum with a decisive act; but family cannot be managed like a business. Like so many fathers, he would have to just muddle through. Corneil blamed his brother, but his father almost certainly gave the order. The incident speaks to Vanderbilt's exasperation with Corneil. George inherited his athleticism; Billy showed signs of his shrewdness and intelligence; but Corneil was a schemer, a talker, and a weakling, all things that aroused the Commodore's contempt. Characteristically Vanderbilt tried to solve the conundrum with a decisive act; but family cannot be managed like a business. Like so many fathers, he would have to just muddle through.
On the day that Vanderbilt had his son arrested, he confronted a far more dangerous, and far less likely, swindler: Robert Schuyler. Vanderbilt's relationship with him reached back at least as far as 1838, when Schuyler had served as president of the New York & Boston Transportation Company, the steamboat monopoly on Long Island Sound. But the twisted tale that unfolded over Independence Day of 1854 may have begun even earlier.
The nephew of Alexander Hamilton, Schuyler was "no nameless money-making speculator," George Templeton Strong wrote in his diary "but... one of our 'first' people in descent and social position and supposed wealth." And yet, according to one Wall Street source, he led a double life. As an unmarried man, he resided at a hotel downtown, and maintained an office with his brother on Wall Street. Yet he also had a small house in the upper reaches of Manhattan, where he kept a mistress. "Here he lived a part of his time, and reared a family, though the mother of his children was not his wife," the Wall Street insider wrote fifteen years later. Why he did not marry the woman is unclear-perhaps she was not considered a suitable match for the illustrious Schuyler scion. "The landlord, the butcher, the grocer, and the milkman transacted all their business with the lady. Bills were promptly paid, and no questions asked. The little girls became young ladies. They went to the best boarding-schools in the land."
His eldest daughter indirectly ended the masquerade. A minister of the gospel asked for her hand, insisted on meeting her family, and was stunned to discover that his prospective father-in-law was the rich and famous Robert Schuyler-and that his fiancee was an illegitimate child. At the minister's insistence, Schuyler agreed to marry the mother of his children, despite the likely scandal. To Schuyler's surprise, the elite of New York embraced his new family. "An uptown fashionable mansion was purchased, and fitted up in style. Crowds filled the spacious parlor, for there was just piquancy enough in the case to make it attractive. Splendid coaches of the fashionable filled the street; a dashing company crowded the pavement, and rushed up the steps to enjoy the sights."69 No other sources mention this tale; perhaps it was too delicate a subject for the newspapers, or perhaps it was just a rumor, an echo in the ruins of Schuyler's cataclysmic downfall. Tellingly, it suggested a personality steeped in subterfuge, an accomplished liar who saw deception as something other than his last resort. As Vanderbilt soon discovered, this described Robert Schuyler with tragic precision.
On the morning of Saturday, July I, New York's merchant community expected runners to spread through the streets of downtown New York from "the eminent house of Robert and George L. Schuyler," as the Evening Post Evening Post called it, carrying payment for promissory notes and other debts now due. But instead of money, a message went forth that the firm could not meet its engagements; and Robert, the senior partner, had fallen terribly ill and could not leave his bed to manage his affairs. called it, carrying payment for promissory notes and other debts now due. But instead of money, a message went forth that the firm could not meet its engagements; and Robert, the senior partner, had fallen terribly ill and could not leave his bed to manage his affairs.
Wall Street had known great failures before, but this one deeply troubled the city's businessmen. The Schuylers occupied the center of the emerging corporate economy. George served as president of the New York & Harlem Railroad, Robert of the Illinois Central, the New York & New Haven, and others. Even worse, the money market was already approaching a crisis. The capitalists of New York and New England had overextended themselves in lending to expanding railroads in the West, while the supply of credit from London had dried up because of heavy borrowing by the British and French governments to finance the Crimean War against Russia.70 When word went out of the Schuylers' failure, Cornelius Vanderbilt drove to Robert's mansion on Twenty-second Street. Schuyler owed him $600,000, of course, but Vanderbilt also feared a general panic in the wake of the bankruptcy. Sitting at Schuyler's bedside, the Commodore held out a check for $150,000, enough to see him through the next week or so. After a few arrangements, he said, he could provide still more help, as much as $3 million. Furthermore, he would go into Wall Street and start a bull campaign to drive the stock of the New Haven and Harlem railroads up to par, which would inflate the value of Schuyler's stock portfolio and allow him to settle with his creditors. All this and more he would do, the Evening Post Evening Post reported, "if Mr. Robert Schuyler would only assure him that 'all was right.' To this Mr. Robert Schuyler made no other reply than shaking his head. No such assurance could be given." reported, "if Mr. Robert Schuyler would only assure him that 'all was right.' To this Mr. Robert Schuyler made no other reply than shaking his head. No such assurance could be given."71 Perhaps this disturbing conversation had something to do with Vanderbilt's decision, the next day, to have his son arrested for lunacy. Certainly he saw something rotten in Schuyler's affairs-and others did too. On Monday, July 3, a director of the New Haven Railroad, Morris Ketchum, went to the company's office to investigate some unusual sales of the company's stock. "In a conversation with the book-keeper his suspicions were excited," according to the press, because Schuyler had given orders that no one should be allowed to examine the company ledgers. Ketchum seized the books, and the next day pored over them with the treasurer and two other directors.
When Schuyler learned of Ketchum's actions, he panicked. He sent for his brother, and "executed an assignment of all the property belonging to the firm, as well as his individual property," to his attorneys. The next day, as the directors examined the books, he boarded a train to Burlington, Vermont. There he took a Lake Champlain steamboat to Canada.
On Wednesday, July 5, Ketchum and his fellow directors announced the stunning news: Robert Schuyler had issued certificates for nineteen thousand shares of stock that legally did not exist-a fraud amounting to $1.9 million at par value. Since Schuyler was both president and stock transfer agent, he had thought he could hide his crime, because he had not sold the stock but used it as collateral for loans. He had hoped to ride out the crisis in his finances, repay the loans, and then destroy the fake certificates. Instead, he had gone bankrupt, leaving the railroad with an excess of nineteen thousand shares.72 "The business and money circles of New York were electrified, and the whole community in some measure shocked, by the sudden disclosure," one magazine reported. "Mr. Robert Schuyler, the person implicated, stood among the highest in the community was the honored representative of one of the old aristocratic families of New York." As Strong wrote in his diary, "Wall Street all agog.... This swindle of Schuyler's is a great disaster and may well be the first crack that preludes a general crash and collapse." Stock prices swiftly fell as further failures ensued. One of the bankrupts, the aristocratic Gouverneur Morris, had borrowed $100,000 on Schuyler's behalf, with the fraudulent stock as collateral.73 Vanderbilt held more "spurious" shares than anyone-a total of 2,210, worth $221,000 at par value. The man scorned as "boorish" by New York's elite had done his best to save the most elite of them all, and had been repaid with treachery. To make matters worse, the New Haven Railroad soon announced that it would repudiate the spurious shares. Even the legitimate Harlem stock that Schuyler had given Vanderbilt as collateral proved a source of trouble when the now-struggling railroad refused to pay dividends on Vanderbilt's one thousand shares.74 Robert Schuyler fled across the Atlantic to Genoa, where his family followed, and lived "in the strictest incognita," a French reporter claimed. "Since his departure from America his health has been on the decline, and he finally died of grief and mortification" around the middle of February 1856. His widow returned to the United States and retired to an isolated cottage on Saratoga Lake, dogged by rumors that her husband was still alive, hiding himself with the woman he had once hidden from the eyes of society. "Fashionable New York, which could overlook twenty years of criminal life, could not excuse poverty" wrote Matthew Hale Smith, the aforementioned Wall Street insider. "It took reprisals for bringing this family into social position by hurling it back into an obscurity from which probably it will never emerge."75 NOTHING, IT SEEMS, WAS BETTER for the public than an angry Cornelius Vanderbilt. For all the distraction of Schuyler's fraud, the Commodore remained fixated on punishing Morgan and White-and the consumer profited. At the end of May 1854, he opened a second front by attacking one of the main sources of Morgan's wealth: his Gulf Coast steamship company. Vanderbilt established a rival line, running "three large first-class steamships" between Texas and New Orleans. "The avowed object," the for the public than an angry Cornelius Vanderbilt. For all the distraction of Schuyler's fraud, the Commodore remained fixated on punishing Morgan and White-and the consumer profited. At the end of May 1854, he opened a second front by attacking one of the main sources of Morgan's wealth: his Gulf Coast steamship company. Vanderbilt established a rival line, running "three large first-class steamships" between Texas and New Orleans. "The avowed object," the Indianola Bulletin Indianola Bulletin reported, "is to oppose Harris & Morgan-to the death." (Harris & Morgan, a New Orleans firm run by Israel C. Harris, Morgan's son-in-law, was the agent for his line.) Here, it seems, Vanderbilt's lobbying in Washington actually worked, for the Post Office took the Gulf mail contract away from Morgan and gave it to the Commodore. This pleased Texans who had grown tired of the "Harris & Morgan" monopoly. "Their uniform course was high-handed and despotic in the extreme," the reported, "is to oppose Harris & Morgan-to the death." (Harris & Morgan, a New Orleans firm run by Israel C. Harris, Morgan's son-in-law, was the agent for his line.) Here, it seems, Vanderbilt's lobbying in Washington actually worked, for the Post Office took the Gulf mail contract away from Morgan and gave it to the Commodore. This pleased Texans who had grown tired of the "Harris & Morgan" monopoly. "Their uniform course was high-handed and despotic in the extreme," the San Antonio Ledger San Antonio Ledger wrote. "It is not probable that they will succeed in running Messrs. Vanderbilt & Co. off the track" wrote. "It is not probable that they will succeed in running Messrs. Vanderbilt & Co. off the track"76 This attack began just as the California traffic slacked off for the summer. Accessory Transit share prices slid down from a high of over 27 in January to 20 on July 17. A company official would feel obliged to explain to stockholders, "For some time, the sharp competition of three lines caused heavy losses." That reference to three three lines serves as a reminder that Vanderbilt's Independent Line hurt not only Accessory Transit but also the long-established axis of the Pacific Mail and U.S. Mail Steamship companies. Their revenues plunged as they tried to match Vanderbilt's reduced fares, which drew away passengers by the shipload. And that was the Commodore's intention, for he hoped the mail companies would put pressure on Morgan and White to settle. lines serves as a reminder that Vanderbilt's Independent Line hurt not only Accessory Transit but also the long-established axis of the Pacific Mail and U.S. Mail Steamship companies. Their revenues plunged as they tried to match Vanderbilt's reduced fares, which drew away passengers by the shipload. And that was the Commodore's intention, for he hoped the mail companies would put pressure on Morgan and White to settle.
U.S. Mail recently had undergone a change in management that boded well for Vanderbilt's strategy. On March 18, George Law had sold his shares to Marshall O. Roberts; on April 4, he resigned from the board. With the scratch of a pen, Vanderbilt's most intransigent foe had retired from the battlefield. Leadership now passed to Roberts, the president of the North River Bank, owner of vast amounts of prime real estate in Manhattan and New Jersey, and a wily operator on the stock market. On Wall Street, he was "not [very] popular," the Mercantile Agency reported that year. "Mr. Roberts, on the commencement of his mercantile life, was in [very modest] circumstances, & has risen to his present position by his industry, shrewdness, & perseverence." This sounded very much like a description of Vanderbilt. But Roberts had ascended into the sanctum of New York's most refined society A former Whig candidate for mayor, a close ally of Moses Taylor and August Belmont (both wealthy social leaders), Roberts built a costly mansion on Fifth Avenue in 1854, and boasted that his net worth amounted to half a million dollars. He had no interest in pursuing Law's old vendetta or in bleeding profits merely to save Charles Morgan's pride.77 With steerage fares between New York and San Francisco as low as $35, passengers flocked to the Independent Line, only to see the ugly side of competition, the ferocious cost cutting that made such prices possible. As one popular song ran: You are driven round the steerage like a drove of hungry swine, And kicked ashore at Panama by the Independent Line;Your baggage is thrown overboard, the like you never saw, A trip or two will sicken you of going to Panama.
Despite this ruthless attempt to limit expenses, Vanderbilt, too, lost money on his California line, especially when traffic fell during the summer. And so did his partner, Edward Mills, who "was [about] ruined in consequence," according to the Mercantile Agency. Desperate to cut his losses, Mills sold his share of the Uncle Sam Uncle Sam and the and the Yankee Blade Yankee Blade to Vanderbilt. It did little good. Unable to pay his debts, he went bankrupt, ending a long career as a steamship entrepreneur. to Vanderbilt. It did little good. Unable to pay his debts, he went bankrupt, ending a long career as a steamship entrepreneur.78 Vanderbilt had carried him down to disaster. Truly there was no friendship in trade. Vanderbilt had carried him down to disaster. Truly there was no friendship in trade.
If Mills had been able to hold on for just a few weeks longer, the outcome for him would have been very different. On August 29, rumors began to circulate on Wall Street that Vanderbilt and his foes were meeting to discuss terms. Two days later, news broke of a final settlement. Driven to desperation, Morgan, Roberts, and Aspinwall decided to buy out Vanderbilt on his terms. The Accessory Transit, U.S. Mail, and Pacific Mail companies purchased his steamships for $800,000, an amount far exceeding their original cost ("a gd. price," the Mercantile Agency judged). The mail companies jointly paid half and received the North Star North Star, which U.S. Mail would operate. Accessory Transit paid the other $400,000 and took the Yankee Blade Yankee Blade and the and the Uncle Sam; Uncle Sam; it also agreed to give Vanderbilt $115,000 in compensation for "his claims of every sort, including his interest, past and prospective (say for two years), in the transit over the isthmus," as the company reported. The first payment of $60,000 would be made in December, with two more scheduled in early 1856. To add injury to insult, the it also agreed to give Vanderbilt $115,000 in compensation for "his claims of every sort, including his interest, past and prospective (say for two years), in the transit over the isthmus," as the company reported. The first payment of $60,000 would be made in December, with two more scheduled in early 1856. To add injury to insult, the Yankee Blade Yankee Blade soon went ashore on a reef at Point Arquilla and proved to be a total loss. soon went ashore on a reef at Point Arquilla and proved to be a total loss.79 On top of that, the Accessory Transit share price slid still lower, allowing the Commodore to "buy in" and profitably "cover" the short-selling contracts he had made in January (to use the jargon of the time). He paid as little as 16 for each share that he now sent over to Charles Morgan, who had agreed to pay 25 whenever Vanderbilt chose to deliver them.80 The Commodore had not only forced his foe to acknowledge he was right, he also had forced Morgan to pay him three times-in an inflated price for his steamships; in cash for his claims; and in the stock market. The Commodore had not only forced his foe to acknowledge he was right, he also had forced Morgan to pay him three times-in an inflated price for his steamships; in cash for his claims; and in the stock market.
Accessory Transit and the mail companies quickly made arrangements with each other to return fares to their previous high levels: $300 for first cabin, $250 for second, and $150 for steerage-three times or more what Vanderbilt had charged. But if Morgan and Roberts had paid any attention to the Commodore's long career, they must have been wary of his agreement to forgo future competition. "Vanderbilt is slippery," observed the San Francisco Alta California San Francisco Alta California, "very much like the Irishman's flea, and we should not be at all surprised if a line of opposition steamers were puffing away in the course of six months, established at least indirectly through his means."81 The precise prediction would prove wrong, but the sentiment was entirely correct. In little more than a year, Vanderbilt would once again take his place as a major force in the steamship lines to California. And when he did, he would find himself embroiled in a war not only for business but for the very survival of Central America, as the United States plunged toward civil war.
* John Overton Choules, John Overton Choules, The Cruise of the Steam Yacht North Star The Cruise of the Steam Yacht North Star (New York: Evans and Dickerson, 1854), 267, records the following passengers, in addition to himself and his wife: Dr. Jared Linsly and his wife; the wife of the captain, Asa Eldridge; Cornelius and Sophia Vanderbilt; and the Vanderbilts' children and their spouses, Phebe Cross, Kate Vanderbilt, George W. Vanderbilt, Maria and William H. Vanderbilt, Ethelinda and Daniel B. Allen, Eliza and George Osgood, Emily and William K. Thorn and their daughter Louisa, Sophia and Daniel Torrance, Louise and Horace F. Clark, Mary and Nicholas B. La Bau. Cornelius J. Vanderbilt and Frances Lavinia did not accompany them. (New York: Evans and Dickerson, 1854), 267, records the following passengers, in addition to himself and his wife: Dr. Jared Linsly and his wife; the wife of the captain, Asa Eldridge; Cornelius and Sophia Vanderbilt; and the Vanderbilts' children and their spouses, Phebe Cross, Kate Vanderbilt, George W. Vanderbilt, Maria and William H. Vanderbilt, Ethelinda and Daniel B. Allen, Eliza and George Osgood, Emily and William K. Thorn and their daughter Louisa, Sophia and Daniel Torrance, Louise and Horace F. Clark, Mary and Nicholas B. La Bau. Cornelius J. Vanderbilt and Frances Lavinia did not accompany them.* A popular story attributes the invention of the potato chip to Vanderbilt. In 1853 he supposedly complained that his fried potatoes were not salty or thin enough; the Lake House cook, George Crum, retaliated by frying absurdly thin and salty slices, which Vanderbilt loved. (The A popular story attributes the invention of the potato chip to Vanderbilt. In 1853 he supposedly complained that his fried potatoes were not salty or thin enough; the Lake House cook, George Crum, retaliated by frying absurdly thin and salty slices, which Vanderbilt loved. (The Washington Post Washington Post, May 19, 1917, credited Crum's half sister, Catherine A. Wicks.) There is no truth to the tale. The New York Herald New York Herald, August 2, 1849, strongly suggests that the potato chip originated with the now-forgotten Eliza, no later than the summer of 1849. See William S. Fox and Mae G. Banner, "Social and Economic Contexts of Folklore Variants: The Case of Potato Chip Legends," Western Folklore Western Folklore 42, no. 2 (April 1983): 11426. 42, no. 2 (April 1983): 11426.
Chapter Ten.
ARIEL.
"Billy, never underestimate your opponents." Lambert Wardell overheard the comment in one of Vanderbilt's increasingly frequent, and increasingly fatherly, conversations with William. It is difficult to chart this father-son relationship, for it was entirely oral, yet it seems that a warming continued after their months together on the North Star North Star. This particular piece of advice stuck in Wardell's memory because it was so characteristic of his employer's thinking. "This was one of the secrets of his success," Wardell later reflected. "He never underrated himself nor anybody else."1 These well-remembered words say much about how the Commodore envisioned his business career. Wardell would add that he "detested details.... He was very concise and gave general directions regarding matters rather than dictating in detail." This statement seems not to apply to this stage of Vanderbilt's career, considering the minute attention he often lavished on his ships and various operations, until it is put into the context of that comment about "opponents." He did not think of his businesses as machinery; rather, he saw them as military campaigns against his enemies. When he could not avoid the merely mechanical aspect of his enterprises he often expressed impatience; but when he was locked in combat he paid attention to the tiniest detail. This helps explain why he regularly sold out his steamboat and steamship lines after only a year or two of competition: once he achieved victory, he lost interest. He devoted little time to the businesses that he did operate year after year, such as the Staten Island Ferry, which had attracted widespread complaints about its condition.2 In the months and years that followed the North Star's North Star's voyage to Europe, Vanderbilt increasingly thought of himself in another way: as a pillar of New York's mercantile community. That could be seen clearly in August 1854 (the same time that he achieved victory over the Accessory Transit Company), when he set out to rescue a bastion of New York's business establishment, the New York & Erie Railroad-or Erie, as it was more commonly known. The Democrats who ran New York State had chartered the company in 1832 with the Whiggish notion that it would be a private corporation with a public purpose, to bring the benefits of the newfangled railway to the southern tier of upstate New York counties. Even the radical voyage to Europe, Vanderbilt increasingly thought of himself in another way: as a pillar of New York's mercantile community. That could be seen clearly in August 1854 (the same time that he achieved victory over the Accessory Transit Company), when he set out to rescue a bastion of New York's business establishment, the New York & Erie Railroad-or Erie, as it was more commonly known. The Democrats who ran New York State had chartered the company in 1832 with the Whiggish notion that it would be a private corporation with a public purpose, to bring the benefits of the newfangled railway to the southern tier of upstate New York counties. Even the radical New York Evening Post New York Evening Post supported it, and prominent merchants subscribed to the stock. But building a line over the mountains from the Hudson River to Lake Erie proved far too expensive and time-consuming for private capital alone. The state stepped in repeatedly to keep the enterprise afloat as it grew ever more costly. Finally, in 1851, New York celebrated the completion of what was then the longest railroad in the world. supported it, and prominent merchants subscribed to the stock. But building a line over the mountains from the Hudson River to Lake Erie proved far too expensive and time-consuming for private capital alone. The state stepped in repeatedly to keep the enterprise afloat as it grew ever more costly. Finally, in 1851, New York celebrated the completion of what was then the longest railroad in the world.3 After all the trials the Erie endured in construction, it began to make a great deal of money. In 1853, it earned $4,318,762, a 25 percent increase over the year before and well above expenses (at a time when only three or four dozen textile factories represented a total investment of $250,000 or more). When Nelson Robinson carried its stock up to 92, it was not simply because of his skills as a broker, but also because the Erie had bright prospects. But it seems that Robinson did not attend to his duties as treasurer quite as carefully as he should have. A massive cluster of debts fell due on September 1, 1854; when the railroad's officers tried to arrange short-term loans to cover the payments, they encountered the same tight money market that had brought down Robert Schuyler. The company needed a great deal of credit, very fast.4 The Erie towered over the economic landscape. Its stockholders numbered in the hundreds, and it boasted a capitalization larger than all but a few other giant railroads. Yet it was situated in a culture that still did not distinguish between the invisible corporation and its corporeal managers and shareholders. In this crisis, all eyes turned to its directors, who were expected to take personal responsibility for the corporation's debts. Panicked by the enormity of the payments coming due, they all declined. "Where are all the great financiers who used to congregate in the directors' room of this huge concern, and put forth their edicts with all the pomposity of the Grand Mogul?" asked the New York Herald New York Herald. "Where are they now? We do not see them striding about the streets, annihilating all the little bears by a look. Verily, their occupation is gone, and they have given place to a set of hungry creditors."5 Robinson was nowhere to be found. As treasurer, he had seen the storm coming, sold all of his stock, and again went into retirement. Only his former partner, Daniel Drew, stood up to the challenge. Drew's connection to the road predated his election to the board of directors; as early as 1842, he and Isaac Newton had provided the steamboat connection between Manhattan and Piermont, the railroad's terminus on the west bank of the Hudson River. On August 30, 1855, the Mercantile Agency summarized his life and reputation in words that reflected the deep respect of Wall Street. "He is a self made man, of great energy, [prudence,] & integrity. Began his [business] life as a cattle dealer, in which he made considerable money. Was afterwards a broker in the firm of Drew, Robinson & Co.... until March 52, when he retired," it wrote. "Was then believed to be [worth] over a million & is probably [worth] that now.... He is [very] prompt in all his [business] transactions. Is in unquestioned [credit] & his [notes] are placed amongst the first-class paper."6 A day would come when the brokers of Wall Street would howl with laughter at the thought of Drew being described by the words "prudence" and "integrity." But in August 1854 he seemed like a savior when he undertook to rescue the Erie from bankruptcy. Not that he acted out of sheer nobility: he knew that the railroad would have to pay him enormous fees for credit it could get nowhere else. But it needed more credit than Drew alone could muster, and so the former drover turned to his old friend. "Mr. Vanderbilt has been called upon for aid after every member of the board of directors, except Mr. Drew, declined to come under for any further responsibility" the New York Herald New York Herald reported, "and if he backs out we really do not know what will become of the once magnificent Erie Railroad Company" reported, "and if he backs out we really do not know what will become of the once magnificent Erie Railroad Company"7 He did not back out. Vanderbilt endorsed the Erie's paper-that is, he accepted ultimate responsibility for its repayment of a six-month loan-to the sum of $400,000. For collateral, he took a mortgage on the entire rolling stock, all 180 locomotives and 2,975 cars. Drew endorsed notes for $200,000 (later even more) and took a mortgage on everything that was left. If the Erie didn't pay, it would become the personal property of Vanderbilt and Drew. The railroad's position was so precarious that a panicked sell-off of its stock broke out when it was rumored that Vanderbilt had been thrown from his wagon in Broadway and severely injured (it actually happened to his brother Jacob).
But the Erie paid back the loan. It also delivered a 10 percent fee to the two gentlemen, a neat $40,000 payoff for the Commodore on his bet that the Erie would survive.8 The incident reveals much about Vanderbilt's peculiar role in the emergence of the modern economy. The hallmark of a modern financial system is institutionalization-the emergence of banks and similar bodies to pool capital, assess risks, and provide credit. By 1854 such institutions had already sprouted on the American scene, but Vanderbilt the individual seemingly dwarfed them all. In rescuing the Erie, he (and Drew) accomplished what seemed beyond the combined might of New York's merchant class. He would have to battle that class again-as early as the beginning of October, when his spokesman faced down an angry meeting of New Haven Railroad stockholders, marking the start of Vanderbilt's long war to force the corporation to accept responsibility for the spurious stock Schuyler had issued.9 But his salvation of the Erie consolidated his position as a merchant prince in the Medici mold, both a relic of a bygone era and an aggressive leader of the new. And it contributed to a slow and subtle change in his social status. But his salvation of the Erie consolidated his position as a merchant prince in the Medici mold, both a relic of a bygone era and an aggressive leader of the new. And it contributed to a slow and subtle change in his social status.
At first glance, it seems impossible to decipher the contradictory signals sent by New York's great merchants in the 1850s. James King and the Mercantile Agency scorned him; Hamilton Fish and Robert Schuyler turned to him for help. But the signs of acceptance were growing more numerous. In 1855, for example, he received a dinner invitation from the socially prestigious merchant Cyrus W. Field, brother of the prominent lawyer David Dudley Field, denizen of fashionable Gramercy Park, and organizer of an attempt to build a transatlantic telegraph cable. Unusually, Vanderbilt personally wrote a reply. "I am extreamly mortified to be compelled to say it is out of my power to do so in consequinc of an ingagement previously made," he wrote.10 This otherwise insignificant letter is less notable for Vanderbilt's continuing disregard for conventional spelling than for the formal tone that now suffused his language, as well as the fact of the invitation itself. This otherwise insignificant letter is less notable for Vanderbilt's continuing disregard for conventional spelling than for the formal tone that now suffused his language, as well as the fact of the invitation itself.
Did this creeping social acceptance give his wife Sophia equal satisfaction? "She was of simple tastes and habits, and never learned to feel quite at home amid the great and splendid city" wrote William A. Croffut a decade after Vanderbilt's death. Croffut was more a gossip than a biographer, but we have little other evidence. "She clung closely to the acquaintances of her youth, and used to tell... that the happiest days of her life were those spent in hard work in the halfway tavern at New Brunswick, and that she liked the house that her husband had built on Staten Island, with all the children romping on the lawn... far, far better than the prim mansion on Washington Place."11 WITH ALL HIS ENEMIES CHASTISED, Vanderbilt had to decide what to do next. No matter how significant he was as a financier, temperamentally he wasn't suited to merely play the money man. He was a builder of enterprises-more specifically, he was a competitor. He was accustomed to taking a leading role in transportation, which was by far the largest sector in the American economy; that meant he was accustomed to being a public figure, for transportation was the great meeting ground of public and private interests in the nineteenth-century republic. It is not surprising, then, that as soon as he closed up his California lines he launched an attack on the sea lanes to Europe.
The end of 1854 happened to be the perfect time for his entry into the transatlantic steamship business. The Cunard Line, the British steamship company, temporarily disappeared because of the intensifying war with Russia. "In response to the British government's need for support in the Crimea," writes maritime historian John A. Butler, "the line was... obliged to withdraw from the New York-Liverpool route and send its ships to the Black Sea with troops and mail." In addition, the primary American competitor, the heavily subsidized Collins Line, had recently suffered the sinking of its flagship Arctic. Arctic.12 "There is room for more Atlantic steamships, and, just in the nick of time, we have the man to step in and fill up the deficiency," the Herald Herald announced in December. "We understand that Mr. Cornelius Vanderbilt, who, as a shipbuilder and navigator has earned for himself the title of 'Commodore Vanderbilt,' is now building two fine steamers, upon the general plan of the announced in December. "We understand that Mr. Cornelius Vanderbilt, who, as a shipbuilder and navigator has earned for himself the title of 'Commodore Vanderbilt,' is now building two fine steamers, upon the general plan of the North Star North Star, to ply from New York to Havre or Liverpool, and that they will be ready for sea in the course of the coming spring." Though the Herald Herald avoided criticizing the Collins Line, the political controversy surrounding its federal subsidies suffused its commentary. "Competition is the life of business," it wrote. "Commodore Vanderbilt has the necessary experience, both as a steamship builder and as a steamship navigator, to know what to do in the way of putting up a perfect steamer; and with a private fortune of some $7,000,000 or $8,000,000, he may undertake this great Atlantic enterprise with impunity" avoided criticizing the Collins Line, the political controversy surrounding its federal subsidies suffused its commentary. "Competition is the life of business," it wrote. "Commodore Vanderbilt has the necessary experience, both as a steamship builder and as a steamship navigator, to know what to do in the way of putting up a perfect steamer; and with a private fortune of some $7,000,000 or $8,000,000, he may undertake this great Atlantic enterprise with impunity"13 The Herald Herald was right in one respect, but off the mark in two others. The Commodore did indeed have a steamship under construction at the Simonson shipyard, one specifically designed for the Atlantic. The was right in one respect, but off the mark in two others. The Commodore did indeed have a steamship under construction at the Simonson shipyard, one specifically designed for the Atlantic. The New York Post New York Post lovingly described the three-deck sidewheeler: lovingly described the three-deck sidewheeler: "twenty-three "twenty-three hundred tons burden, and named the hundred tons burden, and named the Ariel Ariel, diagonally iron-braced throughout, and considered as strongly built as any steamship of her class afloat." But, according to Vanderbilt himself, the Herald's Herald's estimate of his fortune was short by several million-a margin larger than the estate of nearly any other wealthy man in the country. An associate later recalled how the Commodore asked him who he thought was New York's next-wealthiest merchant, after William B. Astor. When he guessed Stephen Whitney, with some $7 million, Vanderbilt snorted, "Hmmm! He'll have to be worth a good deal more than that to be the second-richest man in New York." estimate of his fortune was short by several million-a margin larger than the estate of nearly any other wealthy man in the country. An associate later recalled how the Commodore asked him who he thought was New York's next-wealthiest merchant, after William B. Astor. When he guessed Stephen Whitney, with some $7 million, Vanderbilt snorted, "Hmmm! He'll have to be worth a good deal more than that to be the second-richest man in New York."14 A more significant oversight concerned Vanderbilt's attitude toward subsidies. He undoubtedly took a dim view of federal payments to private businesses-but he had no intention of operating at a disadvantage. He wanted for himself those federal dollars now flowing to Collins, though he was willing to take smaller helpings. To get them, he would embark on a dramatic new lobbying campaign in Washington.
Before he did so, he may have seen an opportunity to make a quick return on his investment in the Ariel the Ariel. Sometime around January 1855 1855, he reportedly called upon Collins in his office. The sixty-year-old Commodore bluntly stated his proposition: he planned to fight for the subsidy in Congress, but "he would refrain from doing so if he (Mr. Collins) would put back two of his ships to the Allaire Works for repair, and purchase the steamer Ariel Ariel, then on the stocks, for $250,000," wrote the New York Times New York Times some weeks later. "Mr. Collins declined, considering the some weeks later. "Mr. Collins declined, considering the Ariel Ariel worth not over $150,000, and that $100,000 was asked simply as 'hush money'" If the story was true, Collins badly underestimated the worth not over $150,000, and that $100,000 was asked simply as 'hush money'" If the story was true, Collins badly underestimated the Ariel's Ariel's value. In conversations with friends, Vanderbilt reportedly shook his head over his foe's stupidity in turning down a very fair price (especially in light of his long history of commercial extortion). Then again, the story may have been false, as it was reported by the openly hostile value. In conversations with friends, Vanderbilt reportedly shook his head over his foe's stupidity in turning down a very fair price (especially in light of his long history of commercial extortion). Then again, the story may have been false, as it was reported by the openly hostile Times Times. The newspaper surmised, "The fact is, the 'Commodore' has become so accustomed to bringing down his game, that it is not to be wondered at if he does does expect it to fall the instant he points a gun." expect it to fall the instant he points a gun."15 Collins himself brimmed with confidence. In the age that saw the great flowering of lobbying, he lobbied more effectively than anyone. In 1847, he had convinced Congress to pay him a subsidy for ten years in return for building five ships capable of conversion into military transports or men-of-war. He built four, all luxury passenger liners. The sums his company drew were staggering for the time. Its ships, each roughly 2,800 tons, cost an average of $736,035, an extravagance that Vanderbilt would never have tolerated-though he never had federal loans to cover his expenses. By 1855, federal payments to the line had risen to $858,000 annually, or $33,000 per trip; one congressman calculated that it had sucked $7,874,000 out of Washington since its formation. Collins lavished luxuries on his ships, built them to be very fast, and ran them hard. "They used twice the coal of other ships," writes historian Mark Summers, "and cost more in repairs after six years than the original outlay for construction."16 "A great deal is said about the excellence of these steamers," one congressman quipped. "They are certainly the deepest-draught steamers I have ever yet heard of-drawing thirty-three feet in the National Treasury." Collins secretly pooled earnings with the Cunard company, and earned an average annual profit of 40 percent per year, though inventive accounting made it seem that his line ran at a loss. "Any observer," Summers concludes, "could see how well it did by a glance at the Brussels tapestries, chandeliers, silver tea-services, and rosewood furniture on board."
To keep Congress from so observing, Collins marshaled the most effective lobbyists in Washington, including banker and gambling-house proprietor W. W. Corcoran and former House clerk Benjamin B. French. "While others got their thousands for aiding in the Collins steamer appropriation, I got $300," French complained in 1852. "True I worked only one day one day, but if I had not worked that day, their appropriation would have been lost, for my intimacy with a single member caused him to remain at home, & his vote against it would have defeated it. They ought to have given me ten times what they did." Another of Collins's "borers" (as they were called), a man notorious for his effectiveness in greasing money out of Congress, was described by a close friend as suffering from only one flaw: "He is such an infernal scoundrel." Collins worked the Capitol in person, bringing the lavishly appointed Baltic Baltic up the Potomac in 1852 to entertain congressmen desperate for amusement in backwater Washington. up the Potomac in 1852 to entertain congressmen desperate for amusement in backwater Washington.17 The borers, the Collins subsidy, and the lucrative mail contracts for the California lines all represented a simmering crisis in American politics, as the ideology of an earlier generation broke down in the face of economic and territorial expansion. Radical Jacksonians condemned both active government and business corporations; yet the growing nation clearly needed transportation enterprises on a vast scale. This contradiction resulted, perversely enough, in large public payments to private corporations to do the work, with an attending frenzy of corruption.18 Ironically these circumstances set up Vanderbilt to play the Jacksonian champion even as he reached new heights of stockjobbing. Ironically these circumstances set up Vanderbilt to play the Jacksonian champion even as he reached new heights of stockjobbing.
In February 1855, Vanderbilt launched his attack on Collins's subsidy with a formal proposal to carry the mail to Liverpool for $15,000 per voyage-less than half of Collins's fee. "I have had some experience in ocean navigation," he wrote, "and am well satisfied that... the enterprise can be accomplished with great advantage to the country, and without loss to myself. I would not ask for the protection of $15,000 per voyage, were it not for the considerable compensation now allowed to the Cunard line by the British Government, and the still more stupendous protection afforded by our own Government to the Collins line." In conversation with the press, he won sympathy by directly appealing to Jacksonian values. "He considers that the large sums now paid by the American and British governments for carrying the mail blights individual enterprise, and defies individual competition," Scientific American Scientific American reported. reported.19 And so commenced the great congressional struggle over the Atlantic mail subsidy. It would be forgotten in later years, overshadowed by more ominous events. In 1854, the Kansas-Nebraska Act had passed, repealing the Missouri Compromise and throwing open the question of slavery to the settlers of those newly opened territories. An organized land rush was under way, as free-soil migrants from the North moved into Kansas, where they confronted heavily armed, pro-slavery "border ruffians" from neighboring Missouri. The collapse of the old sectional compromises undermined the Whig Party; out of its ashes were arising the nationalist, anti-immigrant Know-Nothings (formally the American Party) and the free-soil Republicans. The Kansas-Nebraska earthquake was tearing apart the political landscape; already many were talking about the secession of the South, should slavery fail to expand into Kansas.20 On February 15, 1855, however, it was Collins's "enormous appropriation" that dominated the floor of the House of Representatives. Though the principles at stake would later seem minor compared to secession, they went to the heart of American politics. Simply put, it was a struggle between the old Democratic belief in individual enterprise and limited government, and the patriotic conviction that the United States must assert its place in the world, at least to the extent of carrying its own mail-in speed and style. "We live in a fast age," declared Congressman Edson Olds of Ohio, chairman of the House Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads. "We have fast horses and pretty women [laughter]-and we want the fastest steamers in the world." Olds's enthusiasm aroused skepticism in a congressman who later became quite an expert in government extravagance, one William M. Tweed. But Olds was adamant in his defense of Collins. "His line of steamers have done more for the American name and skill on the ocean than all the Government [Navy] steamers put together," he claimed.
Olds spoke for a bill to lock in the Collins subsidy at its recently elevated level and eliminate Congress's option to cancel it with six months' notice. Congressman William Smith of Virginia stood up to interrupt him. According to the New York Times New York Times, Smith "said he listened with inexpressible surprise," because Olds had denounced the subsidy in 1852. "Mr. Vanderbilt offered to do the service for a very considerably less sum than Mr. Collins, tendering good security but the proposition was rejected and duly disregarded, in order to continue the present monopoly," Smith thundered. He "declared himself opposed to the whole scheme, viewing it as a source of corruption." At that, Olds stood up and asked, "If the gentleman were so opposed to extras, how he got the name of 'Extra Billy?' [Laughter.]" Smith replied, "By extra and faithful service in the Democratic Party-not by dishonorable means or unworthy tricks. 'Do you,' he asked of Mr. Olds, 'understand that?' [Sensation.]"21 The House of Representatives passed the Collins bill. In the Senate, Democrat Robert Hunter of Virginia pointed to bribery as the explanation, noting that just seven months earlier the House had defeated the same measure, as had the Senate. "Now look at both Houses and see the tendency to the other side. What has produced this? Have any new features come up? Shall we say the change is attributable to outside influences? Mr. Vanderbilt proposes to do this service without the extra pay and my constituents shall know that there is one Senator who is unwilling recklessly to squander the money of the people."
"I don't know nor care about Mr. Vanderbilt," said Whig George Badger. "I do know what Mr. Collins has done. He has accomplished a successful rivalry with Great Britain, and I think for the honor of the country he should be permitted to proceed."
"Mr. Vanderbilt is well known to us all," countered Stephen R. Mallory of Florida. "His reputation is second to nobody." But William H. Seward, the giant of New York's old Whig Party and an emerging Republican leader, came to Collins's defense. "It is said by some senators that this is an extravagant, a luxurious line," Seward announced. "Sir, this line of steamers is, in my judgment, the proper diplomatic representative of the United States to the Old World."22 The debate in the Senate raged on February 27 from one o'clock in the afternoon until nine at night. Finally the chamber passed the Collins subsidy bill. "Congress was not not deluded-it was corrupted," the deluded-it was corrupted," the New York Tribune New York Tribune declared. "Where the money came from, we do not legally know-we can only give a Yankee guess-but that money passed this bill-money not merely expended on borers and wheedlers, and the usual oyster-cellar appliances of lobby legislation-but money counted down into the palms of Members of Congress themselves-this is as clear as the noon-day sun." declared. "Where the money came from, we do not legally know-we can only give a Yankee guess-but that money passed this bill-money not merely expended on borers and wheedlers, and the usual oyster-cellar appliances of lobby legislation-but money counted down into the palms of Members of Congress themselves-this is as clear as the noon-day sun."23 At nine thirty a.m. on Saturday, March 3, the Ariel Ariel slid down the stocks into the East River. That same morning, President Franklin Pierce vetoed the Collins subsidy bill, denouncing it as a "donation" that would establish a monopoly and eliminate "the benefits of free competition." The reaction on Capitol Hill was violent. "The veto of the Ocean Steamer Bill produced the greatest excitement in Congress today," the slid down the stocks into the East River. That same morning, President Franklin Pierce vetoed the Collins subsidy bill, denouncing it as a "donation" that would establish a monopoly and eliminate "the benefits of free competition." The reaction on Capitol Hill was violent. "The veto of the Ocean Steamer Bill produced the greatest excitement in Congress today," the New York Herald New York Herald reported. "When it was read cries for impeachment were heard from different parts of the hall. Mr. Campbell of Ohio, with much vehemence, exclaimed, 'The time for revolution has come!'" reported. "When it was read cries for impeachment were heard from different parts of the hall. Mr. Campbell of Ohio, with much vehemence, exclaimed, 'The time for revolution has come!'"24 "The veto was bought by the opposition," claimed one New York newspaper. "Vanderbilt is rich and bids high to carry his points, especially his enmities; and President Pierce has sold himself, and his friends, too so often, that his influence has become a marketable commodity. Fifty thousand dollars is supposed to be about the present price of a veto involving a million of dollars."
The accusation led Vanderbilt to respond, in one of the most distinct expressions of his philosophy ever to be printed. It may well have been crafted by Horace Clark or one of his attorneys, though Lambert Wardell would later claim that Vanderbilt dictated his correspondence with great skill; certainly the letter he now sent to the New York Tribune New York Tribune crystallized sentiments he had expressed for the last thirty years. He suggested that he might file a lawsuit over the libelous accusation that he had bribed the president, but for the moment, "I desire that the public should know all that I have done and all that I wish to do," he wrote. "After my return from my last visit to Europe, I became satisfied that the facilities of communication between the two countries were altogether insufficient." The Cunard Line's interruption had brought matters to a head. crystallized sentiments he had expressed for the last thirty years. He suggested that he might file a lawsuit over the libelous accusation that he had bribed the president, but for the moment, "I desire that the public should know all that I have done and all that I wish to do," he wrote. "After my return from my last visit to Europe, I became satisfied that the facilities of communication between the two countries were altogether insufficient." The Cunard Line's interruption had brought matters to a head.
Now I have made no attack upon the Collins line, though I have never regarded, and do not now regard, any particular line of steamers as one of the institutions of the country... to venture to compete with which is treason. I am not inimical to that line, nor have I entertained aught of ill will toward the gentlemen who founded it.... I congratulate them on the prosperity which has hitherto attended their enterprise, and perhaps ought to applaud them for their ingenuity in its management.... They have succeeded in awakening a species of national fervor in favor of their enterprise till some seem to have considered that the measure of American patriotism is the extent of the public contribution to their treasury.
The tone of disdain hardly needs comment. But Vanderbilt went further, using impeccable Jacksonian language. "I assumed that the Atlantic Ocean was wide enough for two lines of steamers, and that if I saw fit to venture there, I encroached upon no private domain, and invaded no vested right," he wrote.
But it is said that I am always in opposition, and that the same spirit of resistance which has often hitherto governed my action has influenced it now. In answer to this imputation I have only to say, that this is the same spirit which founded this great Republic, and which is now drawing the commerce of the world to our shores. It was the same spirit which unchained the fetters, which legislation similar in principle to that against which I now protest, once fastened upon the Hudson. Repress it if you dare, and before many centuries shall have passed away, your greatness and your glory, and your commerce will have gone still further west.My life has been thus far spent among a people who I supposed favored no such principles as these which sanction this kind of legislation, and the share of prosperity which has fallen to my lot is the direct result of unfettered trade and unrestrained competition.25 What is most remarkable about this letter is its complete consistency with his previous public pronouncements, going back to the early 1830s. For all the apparent contradictions in his behavior, he envisioned his own career-his mission-in terms of a coherent philosophy: Jacksonian laissez-faire. Though the day was approaching when laissez-faire would be the conservative philosophy of a wealthy establishment, at this moment it lay on the populist-even radical-side of the spectrum. Vanderbilt had come of age in a society in which government intervention in the economy was seen as assistance for the elite. Even now, two decades after Jackson's day, the beliefs of that president pulsed through American politics, equating egalitarianism with individual enterprise and competition in a way that would make little sense to Americans of later centuries, after both government and the economy had grown larger and more intricate.
In Vanderbilt's mind, his commitment to competition kept alive the spark of the Revolution. He, Vanderbilt, represented the "spirit of resistance," whether to the odious Livingston steamboat monopoly or the obscene subsidy to the already-rich investors in the Collins Line. He, Vanderbilt, had "unchained the fetters" that held men and commerce and American greatness down. What is most notable about this self-image is how much truth it held. Between the stances of hero-worship and cynicism lies an honest assessment of Vanderbilt at half century, one that both recognizes his ambivalence as a historical figure and still gives him due credit. For all his contradictions over the years, he remained the master competitor, the individual who did more to drive down costs and open new lines in steam navigation than any other. More than that, he had helped shape America's striving, competitive, productive society. Waging war with his businesses, he had wrought change at the point of a sword. He was the selfish revolutionary, the millionaire radical.
What he did not realize was that the world in which he had made himself-the world that gave rise to these individualistic, laissez-faire values-was beginning to disappear, thanks in part to his own success. He helped create enterprises on a scale never seen before in the United States. Small proprietors could not compete against him. Still more profound, his businesses required large numbers of wage workers. Laboring for someone else had been seen as a temporary condition, until a man set up his own farm or shop; now lifetime employees began to appear on the American scene-still few in number, but significant nonetheless. The emerging importance of big business can be seen in the life of lawyer Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln's clients had always been individuals with small cases; but in the mid-1850s he began to devote most of his time to representing railroad corporations. Thanks to Vanderbilt, one day those corporations would grow far beyond any that employed attorney Lincoln.26 Despite the veto, Congress enacted the Collins subsidy through an amendment to a naval appropriations bill. The day after Vanderbilt's letter ran in the Tribune Tribune, the New York Times New York Times offered a closing commentary on his defeat. The offered a closing commentary on his defeat. The Times Times supported Collins, and condemned the lack of "morality" in Vanderbilt's purported attempt to force him to buy the supported Collins, and condemned the lack of "morality" in Vanderbilt's purported attempt to force him to buy the Ariel Ariel. "'Commodore' Vanderbilt has returned from Washington in rather unfortunate spirits," it declared. "Possessing a large capital, upon which he is willing to draw freely to accomplish his ends, and endowed with a more than ordinary share of energy and perseverence, he is accustomed to succeed. Under these circumstances he submits to defeat with a very bad grace." The paper saw one likely result: "Judging from his past history, we shall expect soon to see the 'Commodore' setting up an 'opposition' Congress, at half price."27 As the Times Times foresaw, Vanderbilt would not give up. At the beginning of April, he announced the imminent start of his new Atlantic line, featuring the foresaw, Vanderbilt would not give up. At the beginning of April, he announced the imminent start of his new Atlantic line, featuring the Ariel Ariel and his repurchased and his repurchased North Star North Star, managed by another capable son-in-law, Canadian-born Daniel Torrance. Subsidy or no subsidy, he would fight Collins to the death.28 DURING THE BATTLE IN CONGRESS, Vanderbilt attended to another matter pertaining to Washington, one that involved his own family. George, his youngest son, wanted to attend the United States Military Academy. Though evidence about the boy is mostly apocryphal, by all accounts he was an outstanding athlete, a favorite of his father. On February 7, 1855, Congressman James Maurice of New York wrote to Secretary of War Jefferson Davis to name George a cadet at West Point, after a spot opened up due to a serious injury to a previous appointment. Five days later, President Pierce authorized the selection; a week after that, the Commodore sent Davis his formal permission for George's entry in the academy. On July 1, the boy began his training.29 George's appointment could only have been a matter of pride to the father who, of course, had named two of his sons after famous generals. Corneil, too, seems to have taken a step to untangle his unhappy life, by becoming a notary public in March. To all appearances, he began to work productively during this period, first in the law firm of Charles Rapallo and Horace Clark, then as a clerk in the leather store of Willliam T. Miller & Co.30 For once the source of strife in the Vanderbilt family came from a different source-Daniel Allen, now returned from Europe. For once the source of strife in the Vanderbilt family came from a different source-Daniel Allen, now returned from Europe.
About the time of the launch of the Ariel Ariel and the veto of the Collins subsidy, Allen filed a lawsuit against the Accessory Transit Company claiming that its purchase of his father-in-law's steamships violated its corporate charter. "The street was full of rumors today about the proceedings instituted against the Nicaragua Transit Company," the financial column of the and the veto of the Collins subsidy, Allen filed a lawsuit against the Accessory Transit Company claiming that its purchase of his father-in-law's steamships violated its corporate charter. "The street was full of rumors today about the proceedings instituted against the Nicaragua Transit Company," the financial column of the New York Herald New York Herald reported. "Personal spite and prejudice has undoubtedly something to do with it." It was widely believed that the lawsuit was an attempt by short-sellers to drive down the stock price. reported. "Personal spite and prejudice has undoubtedly something to do with it." It was widely believed that the lawsuit was an attempt by short-sellers to drive down the stock price.31 Indeed, twenty-two years later Allen admitted, "I was representative of parties who had an interest." Indeed, twenty-two years later Allen admitted, "I was representative of parties who had an interest."
The problem was, that interest ran counter to those of his father-in-law. Vanderbilt had earned a large profit from the steamship sale. The lawsuit infuriated him, as Allen later acknowledged. "Our friendly relations were interrupted during that period," he would observe, rather drily. Vanderbilt delivered a damning affidavit to counter Allen's claims, and told Horace Clark to defend Charles Morgan and the company32 Just as Vanderbilt believed friends could not be trusted, he was showing once again that enemies could be partners. Indeed, he seemed to view his prior battle with Morgan strictly as a matter of business. In January, they both had served on a committee appointed by the Chamber of Commerce to honor Commodore Matthew Perry's recent trade treaty with Japan. In May, both would publicly oppose the conversion of Castle Garden into an immigrant depot. (Fear of epidemics motivated resistance to the plan.) Business made strange bedfellows; before the end of the year, Vanderbilt would be driven into the arms of still another despised rival.33 AS SPRING TURNED TO SUMMER IN 1855, opponents preoccupied Cornelius Vanderbilt, as they so often did. There was Edward K. Collins, of course; but the Commodore also confronted his old rival George Law in an unlikely ring. Law had become a hero to many by defying the Spanish rulers of Cuba, who had tried to bar his steamships from docking in Havana because of an employee who had written tracts in favor of Cuban freedom. In 1854, a rumor had circulated that Law planned to use his private yacht, the Grapeshot Grapeshot, to smuggle to the island 200,000 surplus muskets that he had purchased from the federal government. Thanks to widespread American enthusiasm for seizing Cuba from Spain, this made Law a champion of expansionist nationalism.34 In March 1855, a movement began to build within the Know-Nothing Party to nominate Law for president. These anti-Irish, anti-immigrant ex-Whigs hailed him as "Live Oak George," in tribute to his steamships; "Live Oak Clubs" sprang up in New York and Pennsylvania. The New York Herald New York Herald wrote, "He advocates the intermingling of all our adopted citizens in the homogenous mass of the American people, not as Irish Americans, German Americans, or American Catholics, but simply as Americans." The wrote, "He advocates the intermingling of all our adopted citizens in the homogenous mass of the American people, not as Irish Americans, German Americans, or American Catholics, but simply as Americans." The Herald Herald stressed his "opposition to all sectional agitators, North and South." stressed his "opposition to all sectional agitators, North and South."35 Law's candidacy reflected the chaos enveloping American politics. The destruction of the Whig Party, coupled with the growing crisis between North and South, left political activists scrambling to find new men and erect new parties. And the excitement around Law reflected his very public role as a creator of the U.S. Mail Steamship Company and stockholder in the Panama Railroad; in them he had owned and managed a vital piece of the nation's transportation infrastructure. It should not be surprising, then, that the next man spoken of as a suitable president should be another steamship tycoon. On March 30, ten members of the New Jersey legislature signed a letter to Cornelius Vanderbilt. "Recognized at home and abroad as an American citizen who, by ability and integrity, energy and enterprise, has practically illustrated the genius and character of our republican institutions," they wrote, "we desire to connect your name with the high office of President of the United States."
On April 12, Vanderbilt responded with a curiously ambivalent letter. "The earlier period of my life was devoted to unremitting toil, while my later years are severely burdened by the multiplied cares which my varied pursuits have engendered," he wrote. "I have never found the time to indulge one single dream of ambition; and I have already attained to that period of life when more simple realities take the place of the hopes and the anticipations of youth." Along with this apparent refusal to stand as a candidate, he announced some positions on public affairs. He declined to partake of the anti-immigrant fervor, for example, speaking in defense of "the large class of industrial emigration now flowing in upon our shores." And he recommended his personal approach to enterprise for the nation as a whole. "I am well satisfied that all the results that have attended the labors of my life are attributable to the simple rule which I early adopted, to mind my own business.... Nor can I suggest one more appropriate for the regulation and conduct of the foreign policy of the American people."36 The attempt to draft Vanderbilt, and his response, say a great deal about the man and his relationship to his times, albeit indirectly. The appeal to him was nonpartisan, which reflected the collapse of the old party system, of course, but also Vanderbilt's own lack of party affiliation. As noted earlier, the only evidence of serious political activity on his part is an apocryphal account of his parading for Henry Clay in 1844; before and after, he expressed no interest in public affairs unless they intersected with his own. Lambert Wardell later summarized, "He paid no attention to politics and was not a party man."37 His lack of partisanship showed in the positions that he did take. Like a Whig, he looked askance at U.S. intervention abroad, and embraced corporations and the entire invisible architecture of modern commerce; like a Democrat, he championed immigration and free competition. His lack of partisanship showed in the positions that he did take. Like a Whig, he looked askance at U.S. intervention abroad, and embraced corporations and the entire invisible architecture of modern commerce; like a Democrat, he championed immigration and free competition.
All of this was a bit remarkable in 1855. Politics saturated American life even more thoroughly than twenty years earlier, when Alexis de Tocqueville toured the republic and commented on the partisan passions of the people. To disengage from politics was, in some ways, to disengage from the substance of social intercourse.38 So, too, was Vanderbilt's lack of ambition rather noteworthy. In New York, the tradition of political leadership by the mercantile elite lingered from the eighteenth century. True, it had become attenuated in recent decades, as professional politicians came to dominate the ballot, but men such as Hamilton Fish and various Livingstons still walked the halls of power; banker August Belmont occupied the center of the national Democratic Party organization; and wealthy merchants organized mass meetings and citizens' committees that declaimed on every aspect of public affairs. Vanderbilt, on the other hand, represented a new species of wealthy Americans. After his precedent, it would not seem strange that Andrew Carnegie or John D. Rockefeller should shun public office, choosing to quietly exert their influence behind closed doors. So, too, was Vanderbilt's lack of ambition rather noteworthy. In New York, the tradition of political leadership by the mercantile elite lingered from the eighteenth century. True, it had become attenuated in recent decades, as professional politicians came to dominate the ballot, but men such as Hamilton Fish and various Livingstons still walked the halls of power; banker August Belmont occupied the center of the national Democratic Party organization; and wealthy merchants organized mass meetings and citizens' committees that declaimed on every aspect of public affairs. Vanderbilt, on the other hand, represented a new species of wealthy Americans. After his precedent, it would not seem strange that Andrew Carnegie or John D. Rockefeller should shun public office, choosing to quietly exert their influence behind closed doors.
Despite enthusiasm in the newspapers for the "steamboat candidates," neither went anywhere. Law being Law, he tried to corrupt delegates to the Know-Nothing convention. "A well-known agent of his attempted to bribe John H. Lyon of Jersey City with a certified check for $200," reported a New Jersey newspaper. "This fact was made known by Mr. Lyon, and thence [contributed to] Mr. Law's defeat." As for Vanderbilt, he never seriously considered running. It was a curious diversion in a year when business, not politics, drove his Washington agenda.39 The first order of business was his Atlantic line, scheduled to start on May 21. In April, he announced that he would slash fares to Europe from $130 to $110 for first cabin tickets, and from $75 to $60 for second cabin. "The magnificent steamship Ariel Ariel, lately built as a consort to the North Star North Star, in Vanderbilt's direct New York and Havre line, will sail on her first voyage on Saturday noon next," the New York Herald New York Herald announced on May 17. The newspaper lavishly praised the vessel, focusing in particular on the luxury of the grand saloon. "The wainscotting is of satin rose and other highly polished wood. The deck is superbly carpeted, and the walls are ornamented with beautiful mirrors; and easy chairs, ottomans, and lounges of the most luxurious description are profusely scattered about." Unlike the announced on May 17. The newspaper lavishly praised the vessel, focusing in particular on the luxury of the grand saloon. "The wainscotting is of satin rose and other highly polished wood. The deck is superbly carpeted, and the walls are ornamented with beautiful mirrors; and easy chairs, ottomans, and lounges of the most luxurious description are profusely scattered about." Unlike the North Star North Star, the Ariel Ariel had only one engine, a feature calculated to reduce fuel costs. And yet it proved fast enough, crossing the Atlantic on its first voyage in only twelve days. had only one engine, a feature calculated to reduce fuel costs. And yet it proved fast enough, crossing the Atlantic on its first voyage in only twelve days.40 "Both the Ariel Ariel and and North Star North Star are fine steamships of great speed," the London are fine steamships of great speed," the London Times Times observed on August 1. "Their voyages across the Atlantic have recently been performed with admirable regularity." It reported that "the well-known" Vanderbilt had arranged for the ships to stop at Southampton. "What is the most interesting feature of the business is, that Commodore Vanderbilt is running his ships entirely unassisted by any Government grant or subvention whatever." observed on August 1. "Their voyages across the Atlantic have recently been performed with admirable regularity." It reported that "the well-known" Vanderbilt had arranged for the ships to stop at Southampton. "What is the most interesting feature of the business is, that Commodore Vanderbilt is running his ships entirely unassisted by any Government grant or subvention whatever."
This was indeed international news. It may be that Vanderbilt conducted his campaign out of personal pique against the man who had snubbed him, yet his fast, well-run, unsubsidized unsubsidized line kept him at the center of the political debate. As the London line kept him at the center of the political debate. As the London Times Times concluded, "His ships have, therefore, to sail at every disadvantage against the heavily subsidized mail steamers of the various British and American lines. The Commodore appears to be convinced that good management and great speed of transit will enable his vessels to hold their own and to make a fair profit." Or, perhaps, he simply had to run his ships long enough, even at a loss, to undermine congressional support for Collins's subsidy. concluded, "His ships have, therefore, to sail at every disadvantage against the heavily subsidized mail steamers of the various British and American lines. The Commodore appears to be convinced that good management and great speed of transit will enable his vessels to hold their own and to make a fair profit." Or, perhaps, he simply had to run his ships long enough, even at a loss, to undermine congressional support for Collins's subsidy.
As Vanderbilt pounded the Collins Line with his swift, luxurious ships and low fares, he prepared for a second assault: a ship nearly twice the size of the North Star North Star, a steamship larger than any ever built. Construction began in the Simonson yard about the time the Ariel Ariel made its first voyage. It would prove to be the pinnacle of Vanderbilt's shipbuilding career. made its first voyage. It would prove to be the pinnacle of Vanderbilt's shipbuilding career.41 Collins began to see his company fall apart under the strain. He doggedly kept his fares up, only to see passengers flock to the Vanderbilt line. Pressing his ships' advantage in speed, he ordered his captains to run them so fast that their engines needed costly, time-consuming repairs on each return to New York. Soon a second transatlantic line, the Ocean Steam Navigation Company-a line that had run to Bremen for a decade-began to struggle under Vanderbilt's pressure.42 Eventually all would come down to a test of will between Collins, with his bookkeeping tricks and political connections, and the fierce but savvy Commodore. Eventually all would come down to a test of will between Collins, with his bookkeeping tricks and political connections, and the fierce but savvy Commodore.
VANDERBILT'S SECOND ORDER of business for 1855 would be the Accessory Transit Company. It was rather like the business version of his son Corneil, a child with a kind of genius and a kind of curse, its great promise addled by an addiction to deceit, a child he was unable to simply shunt aside. of business for 1855 would be the Accessory Transit Company. It was rather like the business version of his son Corneil, a child with a kind of genius and a kind of curse, its great promise addled by an addiction to deceit, a child he was unable to simply shunt aside.
It was a ripe and vulnerable target. The company had continued to do "an exceedingly favorable business," according to the New York Tribune New York Tribune, but it faced seemingly grave difficulties: its unsettled debt to Nicaragua, its ongoing payments to Vanderbilt, its loss of the Yankee Blade Yankee Blade, and, perhaps most important, competition with the Panama route. In February, workers completed the Panama Railroad, and trains began to run from Aspinwall on the Atlantic to the city of Panama on the Pacific. Passengers flocked to the Pacific Mail and U.S. Mail Steamship companies as the isthmus crossing dropped from a matter of days to only hours. And yet, these obstacles were all surmountable. Over the previous two years, Accessory Transit had improved its operations, and even now remained competitive in terms of speed between New York and San Francisco. The initial surge of business to Panama slacked off as passengers began to return to the Nicaragua route. And shorter steamship voyages meant that operating expenses still remained significantly lower for the Transit Company. It was under these circumstances-short-term trouble but long-term possibilities-that Vanderbilt made his return.43 He had never left, really, having retained shares in the company all along. In early November, he went to the company offices, where Charles Morgan presided over the annual stockholders' meeting. There were "many other anxious faces" among the shareholders, one man reported. Of particular concern to them was Morgan's practice, as New York agent, of letting the company's ships sit "idle for the need of trifling repairs," while Morgan put his own Sierra Nevada Sierra Nevada on the line, taking 60 percent of the earnings for himself. "Cornelius Vanderbilt said he had performed similar service for the Transit Company for 40 percent," the witness wrote. "Mr. Morgan apologized for the extra 20 percent, under a plea of a higher price for coal." The meeting broke up in suspicion over Morgan's conduct. on the line, taking 60 percent of the earnings for himself. "Cornelius Vanderbilt said he had performed similar service for the Transit Company for 40 percent," the witness wrote. "Mr. Morgan apologized for the extra 20 percent, under a plea of a higher price for coal." The meeting broke up in suspicion over Morgan's conduct.44 Discontent within the company and worries without presented an obvious opportunity On November 21, the day when newspapers published Accessory Transit's annual report, detailing its difficulties, certain brokers began to bid for large amounts of its stock. Within a few days, the mysterious "new party" behind the purchases bought 25,000 shares, nearly a third of the 78,000 shares in existence. Word went out on Wall Street of a secret plan, the New York Tribune New York Tribune reported, "to buy a majority of the whole, so as to control the company" reported, "to buy a majority of the whole, so as to control the company"45 Vanderbilt, of course, was behind the "movement," as it was called; but he had something larger in mind besides simply taking back the Accessory Transit Company. For some time, he had plotted the future of the California passenger business with Marshall Roberts of U.S. Mail and William Aspinwall of Pacific Mail. Nothing could have said more about Vanderbilt's rising status, for these men-both leaders of New York's social establishment-wished to place their fortunes in his hands.46 The three men crafted a multifaceted plan for both immediate profit and long-term dominance. First, after they acquired control of Accessory Transit they intended to have the company buy back forty thousand of their shares for several dollars more for each than they had paid. Second, Vanderbilt was to bring his ferocious cost-cutting skill to bear, to enable the company to pay a consistent dividend. Third, Accessory Transit would buy out the U.S. Mail Steamship Company, and then abandon the Pacific to Pacific Mail, which would become sole carrier for both Nicaragua and Panama. Accessory Transit ships would provide the Atlantic connection for both routes. Fourth, Accessory Transit would assume the Atlantic mail contract from the soon-to-be-dissolved U.S. Mail; as an incentive for Congress, Vanderbilt would carry the mail weekly instead of bimonthly, and for $90,000 less per year.
It was a remarkable turnabout. Not nine months after Vanderbilt publicly proclaimed his belief in "unfettered trade and unrestrained competition," he conspired to erect a monopoly over California's steamship lines. To all appearances, he saw no inconsistency in this curious juxtaposition, despite the fact that this new monopoly would be supported by government funds (if they succeeded in transferring the mail contract). Perhaps he felt himself justified, for unlike his intended partners he had arrived at this point-at the threshold of total market control-through his prowess in competition, and he would maintain it in the future only if he remained ready to fight against any challengers. In any case, he never engaged in competition purely for its own sake, but always as a means of achieving a satisfactory, and profitable, equilibrium.47 One thing is certain: he had grown accustomed to holding his fate in his own hands, whether whipping a team of fast horses through a crowded street or seizing the corridor between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Little did he realize that he recaptured Accessory Transit at the very moment when its fate-and the fate of Nicaragua itself-was falling into the hands of an international criminal.
ON THE AFTERNOON OF NOVEMBER 8, a company of soldiers drew up in formation on the grand plaza of Granada, Nicaragua. They stood at attention as a distinguished figure approached: General Ponciano Corral, a popular patrician of the city a veteran of the republic's many civil wars, and the Conservative military commander. He strode beside a priest to the center of the plaza, sat down in a chair, and looked out over the city's tiled roofs and its massive cathedral, the volcano Mombacho in the distance. Then the soldiers raised their rifles and shot him dead.48 The man who ordered Corral's execution was William Walker. Vanderbilt would never meet Walker, but he would prove to be the most dangerous enemy of the Commodore's life so far. Walker was a small man, just five feet six inches tall, with a slender frame, thin mouth, thinning hair, and a freckled complexion. He had intense gray eyes that often drew notice. Commodore Hiram Paulding, one of the U.S. Navy's senior officers, remarked, "He listens to everything in a quiet way, says but little, speaks in a mild and subdued tone, and has rather the appearance and manner of a clerical gentleman than that of a warlike leader. He is said to be remarkable for his abstinence... and that wine and the society of ladies have no charm for him."49 Walker had landed in Nicaragua six months earlier, leading fifty-six rifle-carrying Californians hired to fight for Leon's Liberals in the most recent flare-up of civil war. In the United States, though, he was known not as a mercenary, but as a filibuster. "Filibustering" had entered the American vocabulary around 1850 as a name for armed invasions of foreign territory by private American citizens-generally with the hope of annexing those lands to the United States. The term had likely been imported from Spanish (filibustero) (filibustero), which had borrowed in turn from the Dutch word for freebooter. By any name, it dated back to the earliest days of the republic. In 1837, for example, the first steamboat constructed by Vanderbilt, the Caroline Caroline, went over Niagara Falls amid skirmishing between Canadian militia and American invaders. The current wave grew out of the fight for independence by American settlers in Texas and the Mexican War. Filled with that expansionist enthusiasm captured by the name "Manifest Destiny," small groups plotted expeditions into Latin America. In 1850 and again in 1851, scores of Americans made disastrous landings in Cuba. Walker himself had led an invasion of Mexico with a handful of men in 1853-a failure, but one that made him famous.50 In retrospect, filibustering can seem like a curious footnote to the antebellum era, a case of quixotic eccentrics racing down one of history's blind alleys. In reality, it was a significant element in the United States' slide toward civil war. Militants in the South embraced the movement in hopes of enlarging the territory open to slavery; the filibusters' focus on Cuba, for example, was due in part to the island's proximity to Florida and the fact that large-scale slavery already existed there. Perhaps most important, filibustering reflected the explosion of freelance violence as civil society and respect for political norms disintegrated in the fight over slavery's growth in the 1850s.
But filibustering was a complicated phenomenon, mingling nationalist expansionism with naked racism with a crusading belief in spreading Protestantism and free institutions to benighted Latin America. As one U.S. diplomat in the region wrote to Secretary of State William Marcy "Catholicism and Military rule have charms for them, which my pen is inadequate to describe, while any other more rational form of religion or government appears to them, heresy and anarchy." After Walker landed in Nicaragua, Paulding wrote to his wife, "Central America will soon be brought into harmonious action by the introduction of our own beautiful system of government."51 Walker himself had no lofty goals in mind. Entranced with the power of his own star, he believed himself destined to become Central America's own Napoleon. Nicaragua, with its transit route, was simply a convenient place to begin his conquests.52 He did have his beliefs-chiefly in his own genius. Born in Nashville, he received a classical education, and later wrote a memoir in which he referred to himself in the third person, in imitation of Julius Caesar's Commentaries Commentaries. Caesar he was not. He fought four pistol duels in his life, missing his antagonist every time. In Nicaragua he threw his men into headlong attacks against fortified enemy troops, suffering horrific casualties. But he was lucky. The Liberals' chief executive and army commander both died soon after Walker's arrival; by default, he emerged as Leon's senior military leader.
After some of his usual, costly blundering, he won the war with his only inspired maneuver: he commandeered an Accessory Transit steamboat at Virgin Bay on Lake Nicaragua, landed at Granada, and captured the city from the rear. He then took hostage the families of leading Conservatives, forcing General Corral to surrender. Walker dictated a peace treaty that established a provisional unity government nominally led by Patricio Rivas, former governor of San Carlos, a weak figure whom Walker easily dominated. Walker named himself commander of the army and Corral minister of war. Within days, Walker accused Corral of treason, had him tried by a court-martial of filibuster officers, then had him shot, thereby consolidating his own power.53 With his political position secured, Walker turned to the problem of the transit. If he were to survive as Nicaragua's strongman, he would need a steady supply of reinforcements from the United States; his fellow countrymen were his most reliable troops, but they died in large number in his frontal assaults. Walker was intensely aware of this dependence. As he later wrote, "Internal order as well as freedom from foreign invasion depended... entirely on the rapid arrival of some hundreds of Americans." Fortunately for him, his success created a wave of enthusiasm; thousands of young Americans proved eager to join his army-if they could get to Nicaragua. Walker, then, was as dependent on the Accessory Transit Company as he was on his American recruits. they could get to Nicaragua. Walker, then, was as dependent on the Accessory Transit Company as he was on his American recruits.
But how to get Accessory Transit to respond to his dictates? His initial correspondence with the company was discouraging. Joseph White dismissed his demands, and Cornelius Garrison, the company's agent in San Francisco, did not reply at all. Frustrated, Walker turned to an aide, a one-handed confidence man named Parker H. French. Walker instructed Rivas to appoint French as Nicaragua's minister to the United States, then sent French to New York with orders to buy guns from George Law and bring Accessory Transit to terms. But Walker continued to mull over his relationship with the company.54 In every account of Walker's invasion of Nicaragua, from the 1850s to the twenty-first century it has been said that Accessory Transit "willingly cooperated with Walker," as historian Robert E. May writes, "because company officials viewed him as a stabilizing influence on the country." This was neither true nor logical. It makes no more sense than a storekeeper, troubled by shoplifters, thinking of an armed robber as a "stabilizing influence." Most accounts cite as evidence a crate of $20,000 in gold bars that Accessory Transit donated to Walker upon his victory at Granada. In reality a local company official named Charles MacDonald, overcome with enthusiasm for Walker, delivered the gold on his own initiative. The move infuriated Garrison, who fired MacDonald when he learned of it. Indeed, Walker and French had called on Garrison before departing San Francisco to ask for transportation on an Accessory Transit steamship. "Garrison not only refused to let us go on the steamer," French recalled, "but told us he would have nothing to do with the matter, for if he did, he would be blamed by the company." After Walker sailed, French had remained behind to forward arms and men to Nicaragua, smuggling them aboard Accessory Transit ships with the connivance of friendly captains to avoid Garrison's scrutiny. When French himself had left San Francisco, leading scores of recruits, he had hijacked the steamship Uncle Sam Uncle Sam, forcing Garrison off the ship at gunpoint.55 Garrison's resistance is significant because he has consistently-and wrongly-been depicted as the mastermind who pitted Walker against Vanderbilt. Historians have not done well with Garrison; for example, they have named him as Charles Morgan's partner in throwing Vanderbilt out of Accessory Transit in 1853, even though Garrison had left for San Francisco shortly before the Commodore's departure in the North Star North Star, and took no part in the ensuing battle from all the way across the continent. It was only afterward afterward that Garrison and Morgan had formed a business partnership, establishing a bank in San Francisco and cooperating on the stock exchange. And in the story of William Walker, Garrison would be the manipulated one, not the manipulator. that Garrison and Morgan had formed a business partnership, establishing a bank in San Francisco and cooperating on the stock exchange. And in the story of William Walker, Garrison would be the manipulated one, not the manipulator.
Not that he was a man to be taken lightly: Garrison was wily, decisive, and personally courageous. An engraving from this period reveals a man of force, with a large head, a long, strong chin, a long nose that points downward between prominent cheekbones, large perceptive eyes lurking under a high forehead, and wings of hair tufting out above his ears, as if he were wearing fuzzy laurels. He wears a dignified gray double-breasted coat with large black lapels and a black cravat. But it was cunning, not dignity that defined his career.
Born in 1809 on a farm near West Point, Garrison went from cabin boy on a Hudson River sloop to command of the Mississippi riverboat Convoy Convoy. In 1849, he followed the tide of the gold rush to the city of Panama, where he established a firm that was part bank, part mercantile house, part casino. On one occasion, he and a rival drunkenly agreed to a duel in the moonlight at no paces. They grabbed each other's lapels and one of the men shouted, "Fire!" As they raised their revolvers to shoot, the weapons collided, both bullets went astray, and the duel ended in laughter. In 1851, bandits robbed a mule train carrying a large consignment of gold across Panama; Garrison leaped onto a horse and led a posse into the jungle in pursuit. He rode back in triumph with two captured outlaws, one white and one black, both from New York56 In Panama, Garrison had served as agent of Morgan's short-lived steamship line, which had led to his lucrative position as agent of Accessory Transit in San Francisco, where he had arrived on March 23, 1853. Over the course of three years, he would handle well over $3 million in revenues, and speculated in land, coal, and flour. A reporter for R. G. Dun & Co. would conclude almost two decades later that Garrison would "take an interest in almost any apparent successful venture... but is not consd. reliable. Antecedents not in his favor, and all transactions [with him] should be clearly defined." Or, as one writer put it, it took "twenty men to watch him." That made him an ideal leader for San Francisco, which elected him mayor six months after his arrival.57 At the end of 1855, Garrison did not know about Vanderbilt's campaign to buy control of Accessory Transit, which was just beginning to unfold on the far side of the continent. But he did know about Walker's victory. So he paid close attention when Edmund Randolph, one of Walker's closest friends, walked into his office on the southeastern corner of Sacramento and Leidesdorff streets in San Francisco. The thirty-five-year-old scion of one of Virginia's first families and an early California lawmaker, Randolph would become the link between Garrison, Morgan, and Walker-the man who would threaten Vanderbilt with financial disaster and throw into chaos one of the primary lines of communication with California. And he would do it all out of greed.
Randolph explained to Garrison, quite candidly, that he intended to profit from his friend Walker's conquest of Nicaragua. "I told him that it seemed to me inevitable that the Accessory Transit Company would be abolished," Randolph recalled; inevitable, that is, after Randolph spoke to Walker about the matter. But Walker would need a replacement company to bring arms and men from the United States. Randolph would later testify that he told Garrison, "I believed that I could obtain General Walker's influence with the new government to grant me the [new] charter in preference to anybody else." If Garrison threw his support behind the filibuster movement, then Randolph promised to sell the transit rights to him, as a private individual. In essence, Randolph aspired to be Nicaragua's own "dummy," in the proud tradition of the California steamship business.58 Garrison indignantly declined, but Randolph's insouciance gave him pause. "If things should take that twine," Randolph recalled him musing, "he did not wish to be involved in the ruin.... He would do nothing whatever against the company, but if they fell wanted to save himself." Garrison believed that Morgan remained in charge of the company, and he worried that Morgan would think that he had betrayed him if he gave in to Randolph's plot. But the wily Garrison was up to the challenge. When Randolph sailed for Nicaragua on December 5, Garrison sent along two agents (one of them his son, William R.). If Walker approved Randolph's plan, they were to buy the transit rights, and William was to go to New York to bring Morgan into the new line.59 Less than two weeks later, Walker welcomed his friend with joy. "The friendship between Randolph... and Walker," the filibuster wrote, "was of a character not to be expressed by words; but the existence of such a sentiment... is essential for an understanding of the perfect confidence which marked their acts in reference to the Transit."60 Walker listened closely as Randolph outlined a case for revoking Accessory Transit's corporate charter. It existed to aid the original canal company, he argued, but the canal had been abandoned. It had failed to pay the state its $10,000 in dues for 1855. And it never had paid the 10 percent of its profits. Walker accepted the indictment without question. Walker listened closely as Randolph outlined a case for revoking Accessory Transit's corporate charter. It existed to aid the original canal company, he argued, but the canal had been abandoned. It had failed to pay the state its $10,000 in dues for 1855. And it never had paid the 10 percent of its profits. Walker accepted the indictment without question.
There were solid arguments against these charges. Accessory Transit was a separate entity from the canal company (which had until 1861 to build a canal). It still had time to pay its 1855 dues; more than that, it had cause to withhold the money, since the legitimacy of the new government remained in question, and the United States refused to recognize it. Furthermore, the company was then negotiating with representatives of the old government over the unpaid 10 percent. Finally, Nicaragua previously had assigned all payments to Thomas Manning, a British merchant who had lent the state a great deal of money. Randolph, however, was not adjudicating-he was prosecuting. He freely admitted that he wanted "a grant for myself of a charter of a similar nature" so he could sell it to Garrison.61 By coincidence, Walker was looking for a legal justification for killing the company. He had just learned that White previously had sent a small armed force to aid the Conservatives against a completely different filibuster. Curiously, this short-lived body of some fifty mercenaries would be overlooked in all the press coverage of this episode. In Walker's mind, it was decisive. Accessory Transit had taken up arms on the side of his enemies; even before Randolph's arrival, he had concluded to destroy it.62 By the end of December, William Garrison finalized negotiations for a new transit company. Walker would grant Randolph the exclusive right to carry passengers and freight across Nicaragua. Randolph would sell that right to Cornelius Garrison for an undetermined sum. Garrison would bring Morgan into the new line, and transport reinforcements to Nicaragua for free. Walker would seize Accessory Transit's steamboats, steam ships, and other property, and give them to Garrison and Morgan. William left for New York to inform Morgan, and his fellow agent returned to San Francisco to secure Garrison's approval. Walker held off on the revocation of the charter until everything was in place.63 News of a coup of this scale would be explosive; they had to time the announcement very carefully to deny the Accessory Transit officials any hope of stopping them. News of a coup of this scale would be explosive; they had to time the announcement very carefully to deny the Accessory Transit officials any hope of stopping them.
The chief Accessory Transit official would soon be Vanderbilt, who purchased shares and drew up plans for a monopoly in happy ignorance of the looming disaster. As 1855 drew to a close, his world had suddenly become a very different place. He had grown accustomed to ruling his own fate, with money, guile, and force of will. Now his future was being driven by a quiet, fanatical man and his scheming friend, who wielded the one thing he lacked: armed force. To survive the impending conflagration, he would need armed force of his own.