Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1864-07-14
THE SINKING OF THE ALABAMA.
Letter from the Owner OF tho Deer
hOuud-He Denies any COInphclfy
with the Alabama.


The owner of the Deerhound attempt
to Justify his course, in letter to the Lon
don Daily News, on this wise: raaf s
The fact is, that when we passed the
Kearsarge the captain cried out, "For God'i
sake do what YOU can to save them" and
that was my warrant for interfering in any
way for the aid and suecor of his enemies.
1t may be a question with some whether,
without that warrapt Ishould have been
justified in endeavoring to rescue any ofths
crew Of the Alabama abptmy own opinion
is that q man drowning in the open sea
cannot, be, regarded as an open enemy
the time to anybody, and is therefore en-
titled to the assistance of any pisser-by
Be this as it may, l had the earnest request
of captain, WinsloW to rescue as many of
the men who were in the water as 1 could
lay hold Of, but thAtrequest was not coup
led with any stipulation to the effect that l
should deliver up the rescued men to him
as his prisoners If it had been / should
have declined the task, because / should
have deemed it dishOnOrable-that is, in
CONSTANT with my notions of honor-to
lend my yacht and crew for the purpose of
rescuing those brave men from drowning
only to hand them over to their enemies
for imprisonment, ill-treatment, and per-
haps execution. One of our correspondents
opens his letter by expressing a desire to
bring to the notice of the yacht clubs of
England, the .condact of the commander
of the Deerhonnd, which followed the en-
gagement of the Alabama and 5KearSarge.
Now that my conduct has been iupugned
I am equally wishful that it should come
under the notice of the yacht clubs of
England and l am quite willing to leave
the point of ':honor" to my brotheryachts-
men, and, indeed, to any tribunal iof gen. |
tlemen. As to my legal right to take |
away Captain Semmes and bis friends,e / |
have been educated in the belief that an |
English ship is English territory, and [ |
am, therefore, unable even now to discover |
why l was more bound to surren }ar ia
Danplo- II -Al,rbEr1a whom L bad on
board my yacht than the owner ofa gard
en- on tho south coast of England would
have been if they had swan to such
place and landed there, or than the mayor
of southampton was when they were lodg-
ing in that city, or than the British govern
ment is now that it Is known that they are
in England.
Your other correspondent says that
Captain Winslow declares that "the roa-
son he did not pursue the Deerhound or
fire into her was that he could not believe
at tho time th"t any nna carrying the flag
of the Royal Yacht Squadron could act so
part as to carry off the pris-
oners whom he had requested him to saVo
from feelings of humanity" 1 was not
aware then, and L am not aware now, that
the men whom 1 saved were, or ever had
been, his prisoners. Whether any of the
which had preceded the
sinking of the Alabama constituted them
prisoners was question that never came |
under my consideration, and one which |
am not disposed to discuss even now. 1
can only, say that it is new doctrine to me,
that when one ship sinks another in wa
ter the of the Eunken ship are de-
barred from swimming for their lives and
seeking refuge wherever they can find it,
and it is a doctrine which l shall not ac-
cept unless backed by better authority
than that of the master of the Kearsarge,
What Captain Winslows notion of hu-
manity may be is point beyond my
knowledge, but have good reasons for
believing that not many members of the
Royal Yacht Squadron would, from "mo-
ti1es of humanity have taken Captain
Semmes from the water in order to give
him up to the tender mercies of Captain
Winslow and his compatriots. Another
reason than that assigned by your corre-
spondent for that hsroS forbearanee NAV
be imagined in the reflection that lueh a
performance As that of Captain. Wilkes,
who dragged two +snemiss, ? or @rebels,n
from an English ship, would not bear rep
etition. Your anonymous correspondent |
further says that captain Winslow would |
now have all tho offioors and men OF the /
Alabama as prisoners had he not placed |
too much confidence in the honor of an I
Englishman who carries the flag of the
Royal Yacht Squadron" This is 8 very |
questionable assertion, for why did Cap |
tain EVinsloW confde in that Edglishma |
Why didhe implore his interference, call
ing out ''For Gods sake do what yomean1
to save them 2" I presume itwas because
he could not or would not save them him
self Fhe fact is that if the Captain and |
crew of the Alabama had depended for
safety altogether upon Captain AW inslow, |
not one half Of them wenn have been saw
ed. He got qnite as many Of them as he
could lay hold of time enough 10 deliver
them from drowning. ~