The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1866-01-25
5@a5hrille 9Aniua.
WIN. GAMEROS a CO., Publishers.
THURSDAY. JANUARY 3 isss.

1nI hsuA . JAAlAkA p 1900.
From ths Army suJ Navy urnaf
AdmiTal semmes.
From being the chief hero (in Trans
atlantic eyes, of the fight between the
Kearsage and the Alabama, the terror
ef American merchants, the pride oi
r British shipoWners and freighters, the
glory of the Confederate Navy, and
the bright particular star among Anglo
rebel eorsairs, Captain or Admiral
Semmes has been brought under guard
to Washington, where he awaits trial
" on ignonimOus charges. His destruc-
, ton of merchant vessels thrilled Great
Britain with admiration, while his con
duct in the fight of CherbOurg was so
glorious that poor WinslOw was put
quite under cloud for the time Be
lore the keATsage sent her ll-inch shot
through the Alabama, Semmes had
only been lauded as the pirate of the
Pelrel and the hero Of the Hatteras;
but the channel engagement over
Whelmed him with fresh honors. lie
was fstsd by the authorities at South
ampton; professions honored him, flags
waved for him, dinners were eaten and
wine drunk for him; he received the
homage of men in high official posi-
ton; he was toasted in compliments
which Nelson in his grave might have
envied; he had the run of the best
London clubs and the friendship of
the aristocracy; the drama celebrated
his praises and lampooned modest
Winslow, who had blown him and his
accursed pirate-ship out of water; he
was the pride of British dockyards and
the pet Of British drawing-rooms
And all fer what? Why-so swift are
Times revenges all, TO see the
Confederacy, not many months later,
sunk deeper than the Alabama, and to
| be himself arrested-far in the interior
of the Confederacy, where he was lying
on the stocks, so to speak-snd 10 be
overhauled by another opponent as re
lentless as Winslow This time there |
was no friendly Greyhound at hand, !
and accordingly Semmes could not es-
cape after surrender. Surely, if "a sor- |
rows crown of sorrow be remembering |
happier things, visions of Southamp- |
ton and London must add pangs to /
OADNdlu kC6lAAAS5 HACoCAb COAlANAOAA ~ i
Washington. For the descent is great /
er from the very nature CT the charges
now brought against him. Had he
been accused of rebellion, insuFrectiOn,
or treason itself, he might have folded
his arms placidly, and relied upon the
fact that he shared that imputation
with Lee, Davis, Johnston, and other
distinguished officers who have so pro-
voked the sympathy of foreign ma
tions. and with several millions of their
followers But he is charged with vio-
lation of the laws of war. Should this
charge be established against him, it
NAV pluck him of much of fine plu-
mage, and the waters viii roll over his
naval reputation, as they do over his
Alabama, with her British guns and her
gunrers from the training ship Excel>
lent
OF course, the arrest of Semmes will
be received with great indignation by
any remaining Coufederates on either
side of the water The Times of No
bile (the city where the National airs
were lately Kissed in the thestre) says
that it is with a profound feeling Of
shame that it narrates the "sad intel
ligence" of the unexpected arrest and
immediate "transfer to Northern Jail,
(why not yankee dungeon } OF the
brave chiyalric Raphael Semmes, for
merly the commander OF the Confed-
crate man-ofWar Alabama on the
ground of having, during his most
unequal fight with the Kearsage,
raised a white flag and then having
escaped under cover OF the cessation Of
hOstilities As a similar feeling of
shame may be reused in other friends
Of the brave, good, and chiValric
Semmes, it may be well to look little
more closely at the accusation.
The charge, which, it should be ad-
mitted, has come rather tardily oil, is
preferrediby the Secretary of the Navy
Ii is one Of violating tie usages of
war The specification contains par
ticular reference, of course, to the fight
off the entrance TO port of Cherbourg
And il says that Semmes ordered OF
permitted white flag TO be hoisted
on board the Alabama, and took
the opportunity of the cessation there
by caused in the engagement, and Of
the trust reposed in him, to make his
escape for the purpose Of avoid
ing the actual surrender of his person
as q prisoner of war and the RESPONSE
bilities thereby incurred, and did sub
sequently, without having been ex-
changed as a prisoner, engage in hos
tilities against the United States. Un-
der this charge, the commander of the
Alabama was arrested, more than a
month ago, and will shortly be tried by
court-martial in Washington.
OF course, the facts alleged in the
specification can very easily be proved
true They are matters OF com.
mon knowledge Indeed, Semmes has
proved every thing himself He not
only hoisted the white flag, but made
that fact the basis of a totally unjust
complaint against his gallant opponent
of having fred four or FIVE shots into
him after urrender-whereas it was
several minutes before the white flag
could be discovered. 1t is equally clear
that he took advantageo of the cessation
of fire 10 escape, and that he did not
subsequently yield himself up. And,
finally, the capitulation rolls signed
April %, 1865, near Raleigh, themselves
substantiate the latter part of the spec
ifcation, since upon them, Semme's
name like Ben Athens 81 leads all the
rest. We believe he there appears both
as "Rear-Admirsl, c. s. n, and Brig
adler General, C. S. A He command
ed a naval brigade which was doing
duty ND toward the Blue Ridge, in John
ston's army, and, appears not only
to have accepted a promotion and
fresh commission in the Confederate
Naval service. but to have also under
taken military duty in the army. What
reply does Admiral Semmss make
to this charge He does not deny the
facts. lie pleads parole. He immedi-
atelv wrote formal protest to Secreta-
ry Welles, the point of which Is thst he
was included in the terms Of capitula-
ton between Generals Sherman and
Johnston, that those terms stipulated
that the officers and men OF Johnston 8
srny should return to their homes and
there remain unmolested by the United
States authorities, so long IS they OBJ
served the obligation they had entered |
into and obeyed the laws in force where
they resided and, finally, that the
charge brought against him, il pTedica-
ted upon facts which took place anterior
10 this eapitulstion, and, accordingly,
the arrest was violation of the terms 1
Of surrender Let US, accordingly, ex-
anime this plea II may be admitted,
st the start, that the language of this
convention, which was copied from that
Of the prior agreement st AppomattoT ,
Court house, is exceedingly broad and
general, not TO say loose. Il msy be /
admitted that its effect in thus securing
immunity 70 sn the armed forces Of re
bellion has operated land perhaps very
fortunately ITO prevent some attempts at
trials for the offence Of breaking the
oath Of allegiance, which would other
wise bava basn male Nor il IL to be /