Near the end of September 1880, in a private home on 34th street, Paul Boyton, then 34 years of age, and his agent, George Kiefer, age 26, met with a stranger, who identified himself as Guillermo Bogardus. Bogardus told them that Nicolás de Piérola, now supreme chief in Peru, needed Boyton's help to break the blockade of the harbor at Callao. (Yábar, 2001, pg. 558)
Don Nicolás wanted them to bring their gear and torpedoes, including dresses, torpedo cases, and electrical appliances. In his autobiography, Boyton said that the agreement was to pay them 100,000 for the first Chilean boat destroyed, 125,000 for the second and 150,000 for the third. Don Nicolás wanted to destroy principally the Huascar, the Blanco Encalado and the Almirante Cochrane.
Naval officer Francisco Yábar, in his book Las Fuerzas Sutiles, describes a memorandum of agreement he discovered in the Piérola archives in Lima. The memorandum of agreement is between Daniel Raban and John Johnson for the purpose of using force to destroy boats. It is dated the 23rd of September, 1880, New York, with the name, Guillermo Bogardus, at the bottom. Yábar believes it is the contract made up for Paul Boyton and George Kiefer with the names obscured because of security reasons.
The contract has details of remuneration possibly relating to Boyton's mission: transports at 8,000 pounds, corvettes at 8,000, armor-plated ships of the first class such as the Huascar at 30,000 and armor-plated ships of the second class at 50,000. (Yábar, 2001, pg. 558) George Kiefer in a later letter to his niece told her that they were offered 100,000 for each ironclad, 60,000 for each corvette and 40,000 for each transport.
Bogardus gave money to Paul Boyton for his family's subsistence while he was in Peru. They also drew up a letter of credit with the House of Grace for 1000 soles per month for the families of both Paul and George Kiefer (Keifer) (Yábar, 2001, pg. 559).
Bogardus says that Paul wants to leave immediately for Peru, while Paul contends it is Bogardus that wants him to leave right away. Bogardus still sought a steam launch able to travel from Panama to Paita without having to refuel, and able to sustain an expedition up to ten days. Boyton needed such a vessel, capable of steaming up to and leaving him in his rubber suit near the enemy and, afterwards, capable of returning to pick him up out of the sea (Yábar, 2001, pg. 559)
Paul was promised a commission of captain in the torpedo service. Bogardus instructed him to go to Peru under an assumed name. Piérola expected him to arrive in November (Yábar, 2001, pg. 558)
Resources:
Boyton, Paul. 1892. The story of Paul Boyton: voyages on all the great rivers of the world, paddling over twenty-five thousand miles in a rubber dress. Milwaukee: Riverside. 358 pp.
Yábar Acuña, Francisco. 2001. Las Fuerzas Sutiles y la defensa de costa durante la Guerra del Pacifico. Lima: Dirección de Intereses Marítimos. 650 pp.
Paul Boyton and George Kiefer Offered Contract
W.R. Grace Continues Shipping Munitions
With the assumption of the Peruvian presidency by Nicolás de Piérola, W. R. Grace & Co. continued to act as a purchasing agent of munitions but W. R. Grace withdrew from active involvement. Charles Flint corresponded with John Ericsson regarding his torpedo designs.
In 1861 John Ericsson built the Monitor that fought the Confederate Merrimac during the Civil War. Ericcson worked previously with the Peruvians in May of 1862, when he was asked to build two boats similar to the Monitor. (Yábar, 2001, pg. 410) Ericsson also invented two other innovative weapons, one a torpedo cannon that could fire projectiles and also the Destroyer, a boat with a cannon mounted in its prow.
Flint and Ericsson tested dummy projectiles on the North River. Gullermo Bogardus, the agent for Peru, and Flint inspected the original Destroyer then in the port of New York and negotiated the purchase and a delivery date. It is possible that Peru succeeded in acquiring the torpedo cannon, but there is no indication that they were able to acquire the Destroyer. (Yábar, 2001, 411-413)
Realizing that the ports of Peru would be blockaded by Chile, the Grace firm shipped a cartridge factory to Peru which began turning out cartridges soon after its arrival.
Resources:
Yábar Acuña, Francisco. 2001. Las Fuerzas Sutiles y la defensa de costa durante la Guerra del Pacifico. Lima: Dirección de Intereses Marítimos. 650 pp.
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