The Portland daily press., 1864-07-08

biowpipe all through the action, while the Al.
ALBANIA seemed to have very little steam on.
. At length the Alabama's rudder was dis
abled by one OF her opponents heavy shells,
aud they hoisted sails; but it was soon re-
| ported TO CAPTAIN Semmes by one OF his ofii-
GERS, that his ship was sinking. With great
bravery the guns were kept ported III the
muZZies were actually under water, and the
last shot from the doomed ship was Tired as
she was settling down. When her stern was
/ completely under water, Capt. Semmes gave
1 orders for the men TO save themselves as best
they could, and every one jumped into the
sea and swan TO the boats which had put OIL
/ TO their rescue. Those OF them who were
wounded were ordered by Capt. Semmes to be
/ placed in the Alabama's boats and taken on
board the kearsarge, which was. as far as pos
| sible, obeyed.
Capt. Semmes aud those aforementioned
\ were saved in the Deerhounds boats; and
when il was ascertai.ed that the water was
I clear OF every one that had hfe left, and that
/ no more help could be rendered, the yacht
steamed away for Cowes, and thence TO this
| port.
"'fhe Kearsarge, il is known, has for some
| time past been III hot pursuit OF the Alabama,
which vessel Capt. Winslow was determined
to follow everywhere till he overlook his enc
my. Very recently she chased and came up
with one OF the vessels OF the Chinese expe-
ditionary force returning to England, and ran
alongside with her guns pointed and crew at
quarters before she could be convinced oil her
mistake, for the expeditioDary vessel was very
much like the celebrated Confederate cruiser.
The kearsarge was then described as likely
to prove a formidable oyermatch for the Ala
bsIna, having higher steam power and rate OF
speed, crew "nearly double" that under Capt
Semmes aud. unlike her sister ship the Tusca
rora, carrying ten, instead ofeight, very heavy
eleven. inch guns-,he socalled Columbads
OF the American navy. The Alabama, on the
contrary, is stated 10 have had only TWO heavy
! riied guns and six broadside thirty TWO poun-
! ders.
The crew of the Alabama comprised in all
about one hundred and fifty when she left
Cherbourg. OF these ten or twelve were kill
ed during the action, and number were
known to be drowned, the difference bstween
these and the number brought home by the
DeeThound being. il is hoped, saved by the
boats OF the kearsage, or some French pilot
boats which were inlhe vicinity The French
war vessel Couronne did not come out beyond
three miles. The surgeon Of the Alabama
was an Engiishman, and as nothing has been
heard Of him since he went below TO dress the
wounds OF some OF the sufferers, il is feared
that he went down with the ship.
The wounded men on board the Deerhound
were carefully attended to until her arrival
here, when they were taken TO the Sailors
Home, in the Canute road. Several OF the
men are more or less SCARED, and the only
noticeable case is that of a man who was
wounded in the groin and that but slightly.
Captain Semmes and his first lieutenant,
Mr.. J. NJ. Kill, are staying at Kelway's Hotel,
in Queens terrace, where the gallant COM
mander is under the care of DIR. Ware, med
ical gentleman of this town, his right hand be-
ing slightly spliDtered by she'll
when the men came on board the Deer
hound they had nothing on but their drawers
and shirts, having been stripped to fight and
one of the men, with sailors devotedness,
insisted on seeing his captain, who was then
lying in Mr.. Lancaster's cabin n a very ex-
hausted state, as he had been entrusted by
Capt Semmes with the ships papers, aud 10
no one else would he give them up. The men
were all very anxious about their captain, and
were rejoiced TO lind that be had been saved.
They appeared to be a set OF iirstrate fellows,
and TO act well together in perfect union un-
der the most trying circumstances.
The captain OF the forecastle on board the
Alabama, Norwegian, says that when he
: was in the water he was hailed by boat from
the Kearsarge, Come here, old man, aud we'll
save you;' 10 which he replied, Never mind
me, can keep up half an hour yet; look az
Ter some who are nearer drowning than am
He then made away for the Deerhound,
thanking God that he was under English
colors.
Throughout the action the Deerhound
kept about a mile TO windward of the combat
ants, and was enabled 10 witness the whole of
it. The kearsarge was burning Newcastle
Goals, and the Alabama Welsh Goals, the diff
terence in the smoke 1.-THE north country coal
yielding so much more) enabling the move
ments of each ship TO be distinctly traced.
ESCAPE OF sEMMEs.
The Daily Ne,os' Southampton correspon-
dent says:
Captain Semmes is at Ketway's Hotel in
Southampton, and the other officers aud men
are about town getting clothes aud necessaries
they are taken charge OF at the Sailors Home
here. Capt. Semmes and Chief Officer Lee
went this afternoon TO Emanuelis, the tailor in
the High street, to make purchases. The
captains hand was bandaged, owing to a
wound he received in action. The shop was
crowded with people, endeavoring 10 catch a
glimpse OF The Confederate commander.
Messrs. Emmanuel tapped several bottles
of port, aud treated their customer, his leu-
tenant, aud those who came 10 see them. with
much hospitality. Capt. SenLes anxiously
asks what the people OF England thought OF
the South, said slavery there existed but in
name, and that the North and South would
never again be united. He said, moreover,
( that he had endeasored TO do his duty TO his
country. When he left the shop crowd had
collected round the door, who made way for
him and treated him with much respect. He
seemed TO be laboring under mental anguish,
and to feel most acutely the complete defeat
he had experienced, aud the death and su1er-
I ings which that defeat had caused.
captain Semmes is thin, wiry-built man,
/ with "A Al 81 nd dafarnfnpt air Ia is ahnuf
! fifty years of age, with small red pointed
1 face, aud a beard and moustache in the Amer
ican style. He had on very old naval Off
GERS cap, and an English naval lieutenant's
jacket. He declined TO see any strangers at
his hotel. His first lieutenant is fine-looking
young man. In answer 10 questions Captain
Semaes said that he left all the property he
possessed, and upwards OF sixty chrononeters
which he had taken from captured Federal
merchantmen. in Cherbourg, previous to going
out TO light the Kearsarge.
"Ife says that he tcas completely deceiced as
7 10 The strength and armament of the Federal
1 ship. What he recollected of the Kearsarge
/ was, that she was an ordinary sloop OF war. Ii
4 he had known that she was an iron-clad, and
/ much more heavily armed than the Alabama,
he would not have fought as it was madness
TO do so. He said that the fight between the
4 Alabama and Kearsarge has taught another
lesson In naval warfare, that OF the uselessness
of ordinary ships of war like the Alabama en-
I countering an iron-elsd and heavily armed
! ship like the kearsarge. He does not know
/ the extent OF damage he did to the enemy's
I ship; all he knows is that he has lost his own.
1t appears that Semmes and a number OF
/ his officers aud crew escaped from the Alaba-
ma just as she was going down, and that Mr..
Lancaster, the owner of the steam yacht Deer
hound, was desired by the commander of the
Tn fsf ,f1ft mi
crew Of the Confederate vessel as possible.
Captain Semmes was in the water half an hour,
and was nearly exhausted when picked up. 1t
! appears he begged Mr., Lancaster to get away
as last as possible to prevent him and those
who were with him from being taken prison.
ers, and the Deerhound being fast yacht, was
enabled to get out of the reach of the Federal
Of Mr. Iannasinr II hasrrihns- a