22 chapters
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22 chapters
PREFACE.
PREFACE.
The publication of the naval records of the Rebellion, both Union and Confederate, makes it possible to take a comprehensive view of the career of the famous cruiser. In addition to these, Captain Semmes kept a diary, which after the close of the war he expanded into a very full memoir. Various officers of the vessel also kept diaries, and wrote accounts of their adventures, The long report of the Geneva Tribunal of Arbitration, and various consular reports contain a great deal of information in
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ENGLAND AND THE BLOCKADE.
ENGLAND AND THE BLOCKADE.
In the decade preceding the Civil War in America the carrying trade of the United States had grown into a vast industry. The hardy seamen of New England had flung out the stars and stripes to every breeze, and cast anchor in the most remote regions where a paying cargo might be found. Up to October, 1862, they hardly felt that they had more at stake in the war of the Rebellion than any other loyal citizens. But in that month the news swept along the seaboard that the Alabama lay within a few day
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ESCAPE OF THE “290.”
ESCAPE OF THE “290.”
In March, 1862, a steamer just in from an ocean voyage ran up the Mersey, and as she passed the suspected craft the flag of the latter was dipped to her. The new comer was the Annie Childs, and she had run the blockade. But there was more important freight on board than the cargo of cotton which she brought. Consul Dudley gained an interview with some of her crew, and learned that it was understood at Wilmington, South Carolina, whence they had come, that a number of war vessels for the use of t
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ARMING AT THE AZORES.
ARMING AT THE AZORES.
Captain Bulloch had gone ashore with the pilot at the Giant’s Causeway, in the north of Ireland, and the vessel was under the command of Captain Butcher. During the next nine days the “290” struggled with strong head winds and a heavy sea, shaping her course toward the southwest. The speed at which she was driven was attended with some damage to the vessel and considerable discomfort to her crew, but immediate armament was a pressing necessity, and haste was made the first consideration. On the
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SEMMES AND HIS OFFICERS.
SEMMES AND HIS OFFICERS.
Captain Raphael Semmes was a typical representative of Southern chivalry. He was an ardent admirer of the South and a firm believer in her peculiar “institution.” His memoirs, written after the war, breathe secession in every line. He was born in Charles county, Maryland, Sept. 27, 1809. At the age of seventeen he received an appointment as midshipman, but did not enter active service until six years later, meanwhile adding the study of law to his naval studies. In 1834, at the end of his first
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DESTRUCTION OF THE WHALERS.
DESTRUCTION OF THE WHALERS.
The Confederate flag was first hoisted on the Alabama, Sunday, August 24th, 1862. When once the shipping articles had been signed coaxing and persuasion were at an end, and the man with the gray mustache had become a dictator, to disobey whom meant severe or even capital punishment. Semmes says: The democratic part of the proceedings closed as soon as the articles were signed. The “public meeting” just described was the first and last ever held on board the Alabama, and no other stump speech was
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BURNING THE GRAIN FLEET.
BURNING THE GRAIN FLEET.
A week of tempestuous weather followed. The prisoners from the last two prizes occupied the open deck, with no other shelter than an improvised tent made from a sail. They were frequently drenched by driving rain or by the waves which washed over the deck, and often awoke at night with their bodies half under water. The seamen of the Alabama, who bunked below, were not much better off, for the main deck above them leaked like a sieve. A few days of pleasant weather were occupied in calking the d
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SETTLING A “YANKEE HASH.”
SETTLING A “YANKEE HASH.”
On October 21st, 1862, a large ship was seen carrying a cloud of canvas, and running with great speed before the wind. The reefs of the Alabama’s topsails were shaken out and preparations made to set the topgallant sails in case it should be necessary, and the cruiser ran down diagonally toward the stranger’s path. She was pronounced “Yankee” long before she came within gunshot, and as she drew near a blank cartridge brought her to the wind. The admirable seamanship displayed in bringing her to
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OFF DUTY AMUSEMENTS.
OFF DUTY AMUSEMENTS.
When off duty the sailors amused themselves by spinning yarns and singing songs. Sometimes they got up a sparring match, and occasionally hazing of the duller or less active of the crew was indulged in. It is related that one sailor was nicknamed “Top-robbin” because he usually began his stories with the introduction, “When I sailed in the Taprobane, East Ingyman.” Once he was induced to attempt a song, and began in a voice in which a hoarse bass struggled with a squeaky treble: Jerry Lee was hu
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DODGING THE SAN JACINTO.
DODGING THE SAN JACINTO.
To his surprise Captain Semmes found the whole town expecting him, although this was the first port he had entered since leaving Terceira two months previous. The Agrippina had been in this port a week, and her master, Captain McQueen, had not been able to resist the temptation to boast of his connection with the Alabama, and aver that his cargo of coal was intended for her bunkers. It had, moreover, been whispered about that the Agrippina had guns and ammunition under the coal, which were inten
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CAPTURE OF THE ARIEL.
CAPTURE OF THE ARIEL.
The next afternoon the Alabama ran down to the solitary little island of Blanquilla, near the coast of Venezuela, whither the Agrippina had preceded her. At the anchorage Captain Semmes was somewhat surprised to find an American whaling schooner. Some boilers had been set up on the island, and her crew were busily engaged in trying out oil from the carcass of a whale which had recently been captured. As the Alabama floated the United States flag, the captain of the whaler rowed out to her and vo
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RECREATION AT ARCAS KEYS.
RECREATION AT ARCAS KEYS.
The Alabama coasted along the secluded north shore of Jamaica for the next forty-eight hours, while the engine was undergoing repair. It was now the 12th day of December, and Captain Semmes proceeded to carry out his plan of getting into the Gulf of Mexico without being seen. On the 13th he writes in his journal: Weather fine. Passed the west end of Jamaica about noon. Ship-cleaning day. Nothing in sight, and I desire to see nothing (unless it be a homeward bound California Steamer) at present,
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FIGHT WITH THE HATTERAS.
FIGHT WITH THE HATTERAS.
On the 5th of January, 1863, the Alabama left the Arcas Keys for her cruise to the northward. Full descriptions of the Banks expedition and its destination had appeared in the northern newspapers, and Captain Semmes was well supplied with information as to the character of the transport fleet and the time when it might be expected to arrive off Galveston. It was not likely that the transports would be accompanied by a great number of war vessels, as the Confederacy had no fleet in the gulf, and
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ESCAPE FROM THE GULF OF MEXICO.
ESCAPE FROM THE GULF OF MEXICO.
To get out of the gulf before the exits could be guarded was now the all-important thing for the Alabama. Had Captain Semmes known that the Sonoma was off the north shore of Yucatan, that the Wachusett was at Mugeres Island still keeping watch over the Virginia, and that the Santiago de Cuba, another steamer of Admiral Wilkes’ fleet, was cruising off the west end of Cuba, he might have had some hesitation in steering for the Yucatan Channel. But, luckily for the Alabama, Admiral Wilkes and his c
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IN AMBUSH ON THE HIGHWAY.
IN AMBUSH ON THE HIGHWAY.
The next field of the Alabama’s operations was to be the great highway of commerce off the coast of Brazil, and the mid-Atlantic to the northward. Hardly a day out from Port Royal she fell in with the Golden Rule, and made a bonfire of her. This vessel had on board an outfit of masts and rigging for a United States gun boat, which had been dismantled in a gale. The flames from the bark were distinctly visible on the islands of Jamaica and San Domingo. The next night the torch was applied to the
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ADMIRAL WILKES IS MISTAKEN.
ADMIRAL WILKES IS MISTAKEN.
As the Alabama left the anchorage of Fernando de Noronha four whale boats were successively cast adrift, and the islanders made a grand scramble for the possession of them. The successful ones became capitalists in the eyes of their fellows, as the boats were better than any others about the place. The second night at sea, about two hours after midnight a whaling bark was sighted, and after an hour’s chase succumbed to a blank cartridge. She was the Nye, of New Bedford, and had spent thirty-one
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STREWING THE SEA WITH VALUABLES.
STREWING THE SEA WITH VALUABLES.
The Alabama had now made some fifty captures, and American vessels were taking circuitous routes in order to avoid her. In some cases they had been sold to British owners, and doubtless there were many pretended sales for the purpose of obtaining the protection of the neutral flag. Several vessels were overhauled off the Brazilian coast by the Alabama, where a real or pretended transfer to neutral owners had been made. The papers being regular in each case, Captain Semmes had no alternative but
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HIDE AND SEEK WITH THE VANDERBILT.
HIDE AND SEEK WITH THE VANDERBILT.
The fame of the Alabama had preceded her, and her reception at the capital of the colony was an ovation. One of the Cape Town newspapers thus describes her arrival: On the 27th of July no little excitement was caused in Cape Town on the arrival of the coasting schooner Rover from Walwich Bay, with the news that the Confederate steamer Alabama had actually made her appearance about twenty-five miles off Green Point. * * * Nothing further was heard, and it was thought by some that she had proceede
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PALSIED COMMERCE IN THE FAR EAST.
PALSIED COMMERCE IN THE FAR EAST.
Running southward to the fortieth parallel, the Alabama availed herself of both a trade wind and a current setting eastward. The following month was spent in the eastward trip, which, aside from storms and bad weather, was uneventful. In the latter part of October she approached the East Indies. Passing vessels reported the United States war sloop Wyoming, a vessel of about the same grade as the Alabama, as guarding the Strait of Sunda. The Confederate cruiser hung round the entrance of the stra
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A NEW ADVERSARY.
A NEW ADVERSARY.
June 11th, 1864, the Alabama entered the port of Cherbourg, France, and Captain Semmes made application for leave to place his vessel in a dock for the purpose of replacing the copper sheathing, which was working loose and retarding the speed of the vessel. The boilers also required to be replaced or repaired. But the only docks at Cherbourg were those belonging to the government, and as the port admiral felt some reluctance in regard to admitting a belligerant vessel to a government dock, the m
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BATTLE WITH THE KEARSARGE.
BATTLE WITH THE KEARSARGE.
On board the Kearsarge the long wait had bred doubts of the martial temper of Captain Semmes, and aside from the preparations already made affairs had largely dropped back into the ordinary routine. Soon after ten o’clock the officer of the deck reported a steamer approaching from the city, but this was a frequent occurrence, and no attention was paid to the announcement. The bell was tolling for religious services when loud shouts apprised the crew that the long-looked-for Alabama was in sight.
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CONCLUSION.
CONCLUSION.
Although the deal covering of the chain armor on the Kearsarge was ripped off in many places and some of the links themselves broken, a close inspection showed that no shot which struck them would have been likely to reach a vital part, had they been absent. The only really dangerous shot which reached the Kearsarge was the shell in the stern-post. Captain Semmes rails at his opponent for adopting unusual methods for the safety of his vessel. He says: Notwithstanding my enemy went out chivalrous
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