The Catalpa Rescue, 1876

From my sleeve notes for the album So Ends This Day :
After John Boyle O ‘Reilly’s escape on the whaleship “Gazelle “ in 1869, he settled in Boston and became known as an author , a poet and the editor of The Pilot newspaper. He was determined that his comrades who remained in Fremantle’s Prison known as The Establishment would not be forgotten. John Devoy who in 1871 was a leader of Clan na Gael in new York corresponded with O ‘Reilly and a plan to rescue the six Fenians by means of a whaling ship slowly became reality . Devoy was introduced to Henry Hathaway. Hathaway was a friend of O Reilly’s since he helped him escape aboard the Gazelle and he was at this time a new Bedford Night Police Chief. The three men who are searching for a suitable whaler in the first verse were Captain George Smith Anthony , John T. Richardson , a Quaker whaling agent , and Henry Hathaway .
There is no doubt that the plan to defy the world’s mightiest maritime power , the British Navy, with a single ( unarmed ) whale ship was risky in the extreme.
Captain George Anthony proved to be more than equal to the task of navigation and whaling , while keeping the truth of the mission even from his First Mate until they reached Australia.
In Fremantle, John Breslin coordinated the highly secretive and dangerous task of getting the prisoners to safety, where personnel and timing were of the utmost importance. Fr Patrick Mc Cabe was instrumental in passing messages in and out of the prison. When the time came, Easter Monday April 1876, many of the prison guards and officials were attending Royal Perth Yacht Club Regatta . The prisoners slipped away from their work details to Rockingham beach . A smaller whaleboat from the Catalpa, under Anthony’s command ,then brought them to the ship which was moored some 15 miles off shore in international waters.
This was the really dangerous part of the mission, as by then the alarm had been raised and the British naval ship was in pursuit.