Daily national Republican. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1862-1866, 1864-07-06
THE GREAT NAVAL VICTORY.

Tho Paris correspondent Of the New York |
Commercial advertiser writes, under date Of
June 81, as follows;
The present steamer will carry out 10 you the |
ietails Of q naval combat, which has thrown |
IL here into q great state Of excitement. 30 |
Ier a. have seen, with the exception Of the /
account Of the London Star, the accounn |
given Of this combat have been singularly wide |
If the truth, for It is TO the American Legation
1t Paris, and to that alone, thstth ofneial re-
ports are made.
For example, II 10 not true, as stated In the |
secession press, that Captain semmes, Of the /
went out voluntarily 10 fight the
Kesrsarge; he was ordered out by the French
on the demand Of Mr.. Dayton,
who based bis demand on the fact that the YES.
sci did not come into Cherbourg from stress OF
weather, nor from any particular accident, but
because the whole vessel required an oyerhaul- /
ing, which would require months, and because |
he thought It . violation Of the spirit.of the |
law to allow the confederate vossela thus 10 |
use French ports In lieu Of their own, and a.
II they were their own. 30 that, after eoallng |
20 to sea.
The Captain Of the Kesrsarge knew this, and
was waiting for him. Capt. Semmes also
knew there was no escape, and adopting the
rule that what man was obliged 10 do he had
best do gracefully, he sent challenge TO Capt.
Winslow, which, of course, was gladly &C.
cepted.
Contrary to the assertion OF the secession
press here and at London, there was not at any
time in the fight the ghost Of . hope for the
piratIcal craft. Men engaged in priyatesring
are not apt to stand up well before trained ma
rines in deadly fight.
The Alabama, after being disabled by . shot
In her machinery, was sunk by . broadsido,
which tore through her water-line. Tho Kcar-
sarge received no serious damage, though Sow
eral times struck, and she had only three men
wounded. The Kearsarge's boats gathered up
sixty-eight Of the crew Of the sinking ship,
while the rest were gathered up and carried
away by an English gentleman's steam yacht.
Capt. semmes and the other officers Of the boat
were thus rescued, but demand will be made
upon the English Government for their rendi-
ton.
The English yacht was present at the hght,
by, It is supposed, an understanding with Capt.
semmes, and II this be true, 1t appears to be
clear case Of unIustifable Intervention. Tho
crew Of the Alabama escaped nearly all In
boats, and the Kearsarge was quite capable Of
gathering them all up, so that there Il no room
for question Of humanity. At any rate, II was
the duty Of the English boat 70 deliver her REQ
cued men to Capt. winslow, instead Of rushing
of In all haste TO England with them.
The prisoners brought back into the French
port, oil which the nght took place, will be
sent home, In order that the Government may
decide what disposition TO make Of them. The
American Minister here did not like to take
that responsibility. The crew is composed Of
men Of all nations, but the majority Of them
are English and French.
| The effect of this combat on the Southern
people here, and on the secession sympathlsers,
has been most painful. Nothing since the
commencement Of the war has appeared to cast
| them down so much. ANHRIoUs.
1t seems, from the accounts given In the
London 7fmsS, that Mr.. Lancaster, OF the
Deerhound, must have had previous under.
standing with semmes. The Hnss correspond.
ont Gays;
"On arriving al Cherbourg at ts,g o'clock o.,
Saturday night, by railway from Caen, Mr..
Lancaster was Informed by the captain Of his
yacht, which was lying In harbor awaiting his
arrival, that 1t was reported that the Alabama
and the Kearsarge were going out 10 nght
each other In the morning"
No doubt Mr.. Lancaster was telegraphed to
come on, and arrived just in time 70 act a.
"bottle holder" in the fight and get bis mar
away from the blues."
No doubt the steam yacht Deerhound hst
the best opportunity ever enjoyed for witness
ing this interesting naval engagement, as sh,
kept conveniently to the windward. Thus tn,
smoke of the battle did not obstruct hor view
while the smoke OF the two steamers furnaces
being quite unlike on account Of their burning
Goals Of a totally dlssimilar quality, enable
them to be readily distinguished, one nom tn
, other, In all their changes Of position.
We shall await with considerable impatlenc
, the description Of the conflict by Capt. Wins
low and his officers, the heroes Of the day
Until the arrival Of another steamer we mus
rely mainly on the accounts Of parties on boar
the Deerhound.
Their statement was given briefly In ou
paper yesterday afternoon. Ono OF their le.
ters to the Times says;
at Is certain that the Alabama commenced n
firing, and as 1t is known that her guns wer
Q pointed for range Of two thousand yards, an
that the second shot she fred, In about half
| minute after the fret, went right into the KeAI
sarge, that may be taken as the real distanc
Q between the two ships. Tho firing became gen
l. eral from both vessels at the distance Of ilttl
Il under mile, and was well sustained on bot
= :, sides, Mr.. Lancaster's impression being that Z
u no time during the action were they less thA
II q quarter Of mile from each other. Beye
IA complete circles were made In the period owe
which the fight lasted.
10 at was estimated ON board the Deerhoun
n that the Alabama fired In all about $50 roundi
some single guns, and some in broadsides {
l. three or four, and the Kearsarge about 100, Ii
majority Of which were ll-inch shells. tt
u Alabama's were principally Blakeley's pivC
ID guns. In the early part Of the action the reli
I tive firing was about three from the Alabam
to one from the Kearsarge, but as 1t progresse
ie the latter gained the advantage, having app
10 rently a much greater power OF steam. 81
IN appeared to have an advantage over tho AL
a. bama of about three knots an hour, and steA
was seen rushing out Of her blowpipe q
II through the action, while the Alabama seemt
Il 10 have very little steam on.
"At length the Alabamas rudder was dl
abled by one Of her opponenps heavy shell
y and they hoisted sailsi but 1t was soon report,
of TO Capt. Semmes by ono Of his officers that h
g. chip was sinking. With great bravery Il
ne guns were kept ported till the muEzles we
actually under water, and the last shot fro
;" the doomed ship was fired as she was settlir
he down. When her stern was completely und
IN water Capt. semmes gave orders for the mt
ne to save themselves as best they could, Al
-. every one jumped into the sea and swan
VI the boats which had put OF to their Tescu
he Those OF them whowere wounded were order,
or by Capt. Semmes TO be placed In the Alabama
"A boats and taken on board the KeArsarRe, whit
~ was, as far as possible, obeyed."
III ---------y
i'd Gen. Pillow threatened Lafayette with Il
ko "torch" the other day, but he soon demo
strated to Col. Watkins that he (PllloW) III
Ill the freely, carried his "torch" In his rear,
| rbaItano00d Hdseffs,