In 1861, Irvine Bulloch became a midshipman on the CSS "Alabama", its construction having been arranged by James D. Bulloch and a secret purchase made by the Confederacy, to use the ship as a raider to prey upon Union shipping. Irvine fought against the U.S. government long after the surrender of General Lee. He fired the last gun on the cruiser CSS "Alabama" before it went down in the harbor of Cherbourg, France.