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J. F. H. Claiborne at ?Laurel Wood? Plantation, 1853-1870	15
terests; at any rate, he did not allow his adventures in espionage to interfere with his business activities. He con- . tinued to produce cotton at ?Laurel Wood,? and, by engaging himself to serve as purchasing agent in the Confederacy for the Belgian consul at New Orleans, was able to transport through the lines, under a pass issued by Admiral David G. Farragut and General W. K. Emory,52 his own cotton and cotton purchased from planters on the Pearl River. The Confederate authorities did not long remain in ignorance of Claiborne?s intrigues, but in the absence of absolute proof of an overt act of trade with the enemy, they were unable to interfere. In letters written in October, 1863, Secretary of State Judah P. Benjamin and Secretary of War James A. Seddon discussed Claiborne?s cotton shipments. Benjamin wrote:
I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of your favor of 29th instant, enclosing a report relative to the trade carried on by -? Mr. Claiborne as agent of the Belgian consul at New Orleans. The trade is one evidently illegal, and is, in point of fact, a trade with the port of New Orleans covered up under the disguise of a trade with neutral vessels ... it is necessary to have the papers now in possession of Mr. Claiborne proving the assent of the enemy?s officers to the shipment of the cotton. ... I refrain from suggesting anything on the subject of breaking up this illegal traffic, as I take it for granted that you have made up your mind what course to pursue on that point.53
Perhaps Claiborne?s position during the Civil War is best summed up by a passage in his Mississippi in which he defended the Loyalists who fled to West Florida during the American Revolution, and whose course paralleled his own: ' It has been the custom to denounce these men as . . . enemies of their country. Such censure would be proper when applied to
52	Pass signed by Admiral D. G. Farragut and endorsed by General W. K. Emory, May 13, 1863; and Cuthbert Bullitt, acting collector of customs, New Orleans, to Belgian Consulate at New Orleans, May 12, 1863, Claiborne Papers (Library of Congress)f
53	Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War the Rebellion, 30 vols. and index (Washington, 1894-1927), Ser. I, Vol.
XX, 848.