The Virginius Affair was a diplomatic dispute that occurred from October 1873 to February 1875 between the United States, Great Britain, and Spain (then in control of Cuba) during the Ten Years' War.

Virginius was a fast American ship hired by Cuban insurrectionists to land men and munitions in Cuba to attack the Spanish regime, in support of the Ten-Year revolutionary war.

[1] On October 10, 1868, a revolution broke out, known as the Ten Years' War, by Cuban landowners, led by Carlos Manuel de Céspedes.

[5] One of the US Cuban patriots was John F. Patterson, who bought a former Confederate steamer, Virgin, at the Washington Navy Yard, renaming her Virginius.

[8] Virginius was a small, high-speed side-wheel steamer built to serve as a blockade runner between Havana and Mobile, Alabama, for the Confederacy during the Civil War.

[9] In August 1870, Virginius was purchased by an American, John F. Patterson, acting secretly as an agent for Cuban insurgent Manuel de Quesada and two US citizens, Marshall O. Roberts and J.K.

Captain Fry surrendered Virginius, knowing that his ship's overworked boilers and leaking hull could not outrun Tornado on the open sea.

[18] The entire Virginius crew, both American and British citizens, as well as the Cuban patriots, were found guilty by a court martial and were sentenced to death.

On November 8, twelve more crew members were executed until finally, both the USS Wyoming, under the command of Civil War Naval hero Will Cushing, and HMS Niobe reached Santiago.

[22] The carnage stopped on the same day that Cushing (and possibly the British Captain Lorraine) threatened local commander Juan N. Burriel that he would bombard Santiago if there were any more executions.

The initial press reaction to the capture of Virginius was conservative, but as news of executions poured into the nation, certain newspapers became more aggressive in promoting Cuban intervention and war.

[26] The British Minister to the United States, Sir Edward Thornton, believed the American public was ready for war with Spain.

[27] A large rally in New York's Steinway Hall on November 17, 1873, led by future Secretary of State William Evarts, took a moderate position, and the meeting adopted a resolution that war would be necessary, yet regrettable, if Spain chose to "consider our defense against savage butchery as a cause of war...."[28] On Wednesday, November 5, 1873, the first news from the US Consul-General in Havana, Henry C. Hall, informed the US State Department that Virginius had been captured.

"[31] On November 8, Fish met with Spanish minister Don José Polo de Bernabé and discussed the legality of the capture of Virginius.

[34] Fish ordered US Minister to Spain Daniel Sickles to protest the executions and demand reparations for any persons considered US citizens who were killed.

[40] As the Sickles-Carvajal negotiations broke down, President Emilio Castelar decided to settle the Virginius matter[41] through Fish and Polo in Washington.

[42] On Thanksgiving Day, November 27, Polo proposed to Fish that Spain would give up the Virginius and the remaining crew if the US would investigate the legal status of its ownership.

[43] Both Fish and Grant agreed to Polo's offer and that the Spanish salute to the US flag would be dispensed with if Virginius was found not to have legal US private citizen ownership.

[47] On January 6, 1874, after advice from Fish on a replacement for Sickles, Grant appointed eminent attorney and Spanish scholar Caleb Cushing as Minister to Spain.

[48] On December 16, Virginius, now in complete disrepair and taking on water, was towed out to open sea with the US flag flying to be turned over to the US Navy.

Whiting on board USS Despatch agreed with Spanish Commander Manuel de la Cámara to turn over Virginius the following day.

[58] In October, Cushing was informed that President Castelar had secretly negotiated reparations between Spain and Britain that totaled £7,700, but black British citizen families were given less money.

[60] On January 16, Cushings met with the new Spanish state minister Castro, urged settlement before the US Congress adjourned, and noted that reparations would be a minor matter compared to an all-out war between Spain and the US.

[64] In addition to the reparation, a private indemnity in St. Louis was given to Captain Fry's financially troubled family, which had been unable to pay rent and had no permanent place to live.

[65] When the Virginius affair first broke out, a Spanish ironclad—the Arapiles—happened to be anchored in New York Harbor for repairs, leading to the uncomfortable realization on the part of the US Navy that it had no ship capable of defeating such a vessel.