The Sun.
London, England, 1863-01-07 00:00:00

THE CAREER OF THE ALABAMA.

The Scotsman gtves ttie following account of the
proceedings of this vessel in a letter from Sr.
Thomas, West Indies :
While the deeds of the Confederate war steamer Ala-
bama—or, as she is more commonly called, the 290—have
so lately been the theme of every tongue, and while the
consternation and loss amongst American merchants and
shipowners, caused by her wholesale destruction of their
property on the ocean is so recent, it may not be unin-
teresting to your readers that there should be laid before
them a description of the vessel herself, with a short
narrative of her departure from England, the successful
manner in which she eluded the Federal men-of-war sent
to capture her or compass her destruction, and a
few of the ruses by means of which she was manned, armed,
and commissioned. The account lam about to submit is
taken down from the late boatswain of the 209, who is
now second officer of the British steamer Thistle ; and as
he sits beside me as I write, the authenticity of the state-
ment will not be questioned.
The 290 was built by Mr. Laird, the eminent ship-
builder, of Birkenhead, under contract with a Mr. Butcher.
She was regularly contracted and paid for; and as nothing
transpired during her construction to warrant the supposi-
tion that she was destined to hoist the ensign .of the
Southern Confederacy, no laws of neutrality were in-
fringed (indeed, it was hinted that the vessel was intended
for the service of the Emperor of China). Her keel was
laid in the beginning of 1862, and she was launched
in April thereafter, though she was not ready for sea for
the succeeding three months. The 290 is not, as is com-
monly supposed, an armour-plated vessel. She is simply's,
large wooden screw gunboat; such a vessel as is in Euro-
pean navies styled a corvette. She is very strongly built of
the best materials, and is constructed to carry ten guns—
viz., one rifled 100-pounder, one 68-pounder, and eight 32-
pounders—i.e., four 32-pounders on each broadside, throw-
ing collectively 1281bs, solid shot at each discharge—and two
pivot guns. She is barque-rigged, and fitted with a pair
of very powerful engines, by Penn, of London. At her
launch, her owners not having finally decided on the
name she should bear, she was then, and for some time
subsequently, distinguished as the 290. She left
Birkenhead at the end of July, ostensibly on a trial trip,
having on board a large party of ladies and gentlemen. On
getting out of the Mersey, this party was sent back in a tug-
boat, and the 290, as had been previously arranged, neg-
lected to return to Birkenhead, but steamed direct for the
island in the Atlantic where she was to take in her guns,
ammunition, &c. On leaving England, the 290 had a csrew
of 93 men, for the most part belonging to tha
English
Naval Reserve, all being trained gunners, and the majority
old men- of-war's men. She was temporarily commanded
by Capt. Bullock (a strange coincidence), who had under
him the proper complement of commissioned and petty offi-
cers. Capt. Bullock having learned that a Federal man-
of-war (the Tuscarora) lay in wait for him in St. George's
Channel, took his departure by what is known as the
North Channel, thus eluding his Federal enemy; though
even had he been intercepted, the Northerner would have
found himself in a dilemma, as the 290 had a set of Eng-
lish papers and other presumptive proofs of her neutrality,
in the face of which it might have been difficult for her cap-
tor to have acted. The 290 at this time carried no guns or
other warlike stores, but consisted merely of the hull, spars,
and engines, excepting, of course, coal and other requisites
to enable her to reach her destination, which was Tarissa,
one of the Azores or 'Western Islands, belonging to Portu-
gal. This destination the 290 duly reached, after a fine run
of eight days, and came to an anchor in Tarissa Roads,
nothing of any moment having occurred to break the usual
monotony of a sea voyage. Some time before the departure
of the 290 from the Mersey, a large barque left the
Thames (cleared for Demerara, West Indies), to meet the
290 at Tarissa, and there transfer to the latter vessel the
guns and stores destined for her, and which formed the
cargo of the barque. Some reason required to be assigned
to the Portuguese authorities for the 290 having anchored
in their bay, and accordingly the excuse furnished to them
was, that her engines had broken down. This plea was
accepted as a valid one, and during the week that inter-
vened between the arrival at Tarissa of the 290 and the
barque the crew of the former vessel were engaged, osten-
sibly in repairing her engines, bat really in preparing her to
receive her guns, warlike stores, &c. During this interval
large parties of the inhabitants of Tarissa made daily visits
to the 290, their curiosity evidently excited by the warlike ap-
pearance of what laid claim to be an English merchant vessel.
Many pertinent questions were asked by the Portuguese and
were as ingeniously evaded or met by the officers of the
290. Amongst other things, the Portuguese wanted to
know why the vessel had so many ports ; and were told
that, as she was bound to a warm climate, they were
necessary for ventilation ; and when they asked why there
was such a numerous crew, the reply was, that as she was
going on a surveying expedition she required to be well
manned. Many Similar questions were put, and in like
manner answered; but it was all in vain to attempt to
undeceive the Portuguese, and they would persist in
calling her a "Frigate Inglesi." About the lapse of a
week front the arrival of the 290, the barque above-
mentioned sailed in and anchored, her captain alleging as
a reason to the Portuguese officials that his vessel had
sprung a leak, which would require to be repaired ere
she could resume her voyage ; and on this understand-
ing the Portuguese at once placed her in quarantine (which
in the Azores lasts three days). On the day after the barque's
arrival, Captain Bullock, being anxious to get his guns on. beard, hauled alongside the barque, and erected a pair of
large shears to effect the transfer of her cargo from the
barque's hold to the 290's. This brought off the Portuguese
in a fury that their rules should have been broken by the
290 having dared to communicate with a vessel that had
still two days' quarantine to run, and they angrily demanded
to know the reason why their regulations had been infringed.
They were told that the barque was in a sinking state, and
the erection of the shears was accounted for by urging
the necessity for an immediate temporary transfer of her
cargo that the leak might be reached and stopped ; and
Captain Bullock finally succeeded in bearing down all oppo-
sition by feigning to get into a passion, saying he was doing
no more for the barque than any Englishman would do for a
countryman in distress. The Portuguese left the vessel, and
the transhipment proceeded without further hindrance from
those on shore. About the afternoon of the second day,
and when the transfer was nearly complete, the British
screw steamer Bahama came in, having on board Captain
Semmes and the other late officers of the Sumter, besides
the remainder of the 290's armament, and an addition
of 20 odd men to her clew. On the Bahama's arrival and
anchorage on a somewhat similar pretext to those given by
her two predecessors, the Portuguese fairly lost all pa-
tience, and peremptorily insisted on the instant departure
of all three vessels. The Bahama at once communicated
with the 290, and having handed over to the latter vessel
everything destined for her, got up steam and left, followed
by the 290, towing the now empty barque. All three went
not to sea, as they had been ordered to do, but to Angra
Bay (a bay in the same island, and only a few leagues dis-
tant from Tarissa Roads), Here they remained unmolested
until noon the following day (a Sunday), when, for the
second time, all three vessels were ordered out of the Portu-
guese waters. All the 290's guns being now mounted,
and the vessel otherwise ready for a cruise, the order was
obeyed, and all took their departure, the barque, as before,
in tow of the 290, which having convoyed her well out
to sea, cast her off, and with a favouring breeze she steered
for Cardiff to bring out a further supply of coal for the
I 290's future use. The 290 and the Bahama now
steamed round the island, and Capt. Semmes, comi. g out of
his cabin, ordered his first lieutenant to muster the crew
aft. This having been done, and all the officers assembled on
the poop in their full uniform—i.e., Confederate grey frock-
coat and trousers—Capt. Semmes enjoined silence, and read
his commission as post-captain in the Confederate navy.
It was a document duly attested at Richmond, and bore the
signature of "Jeff. Davis, President, Confederate States of
America." He then opened and read his sealed orders from
the President, directing him to assume command of the
Confederate sloop-of-war Alabama, hitherto known as the
290, in which (having been commissioned) he was to hoist
the Confederate ensign and pendant, and "sink, burn, and
destroy everything which flew the ensign of the se-called
I United States of America." Capt. Semmes then ordered
the first lieutenant to fire a gun and run up the Confederate
flag. The gun was fired by the second lieutenant (Arm-
strong, a relation of the famous inventor), and ere its smoke
had cleared away, the stars and bars of the young Confede-
racy were floating on the breeze, and the ceremony was
complete, Captain Semmes declaring the vessel henceforth
to be known as the Alabama to have been dul3 commis-
sioned. The next step was formally to engage the crew to
I serve and fight under the e outhern flag, which having
I been done, the men were addressed by their captain in an. eloquent and stirring speech, in the course of which he
said there were only four vessels in the United States navy
that were more than a match for the Alabama ; but he said
that in an English-built heart of oak as she was, and sur-
rounded as he then saw himself by British hearts of oak,
he would not strike his newly-hoisted flag for any one of the
four. Of course this elicited a hearty burst of cheering for Pre-
I sident, States, and captain, and when it had subsided, Cap-
fain Semmes said that the Bahama was on the point of
leaving for England, and intimated that if any of his crew
repented of the step they had taken, they were free to re-
turn in her. This alternative none would accept, and Capt.
Bullock and a few of the other officers who had taken the
290 frcm England to the Azores, finding their occupation gone, through the arrival of those who had held similar ap-
pointments in the Sumter, having gone on board the Bahama,
that vessel and the Alabama, amidst hearty cheering from the
crews of both, parted, the former pursuing her course back
to England, the latter in chase of a Yankee whaler, which
she captured and burned. This was her first prize, and her
subsequent career is now so famous as to render a single
remark thereon superfluous. The Alabama's crew receive •
from the Confederate Government half the value of eveerY
American ship and cargo they destroy, and each of her
crew is now worth several hundred pounds. All obliga-
tions to them have hitherto been faithfully discharged in
gold. The Alabama is supplied with coal from Wales by
ihree sailing vessels thus constantly employed. The boat=
swain of the 290, to whom I referred above, having been
superseded by the late boatswain of the Sumter, returned
to England in the Bahama,

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