The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1885-10-01

/
! French, she was turned back and passed be
/ hind the breallwateT beyond sight OF the
/ comhatants.
| Thus the Alabama became once more
! free rover of the seas-free to plumber and
/ destroy dcfcnscleSs fishermen and vessels
! of commerce. as was her want-Or to attack
/ an armed and eXpectant enemy OF nearly
| equal size and strength The rebel com
mandeT decided to make his first courageous
( attack
When the crew Of the " $50 had been mus
! tered on the spardecF Nh Semmes, in a far
mere formal manner than that assumed by
! Capt. WinSlOw, mounted gun-carTlage ana
/ HARANGUEn HIS MEN IN THESE WORDS:
Officers and men of the Alabama. You have Mt
length another o,,purirnifv Of meeting the enemy,
the first that has been presented to YOU since you
! sunk the HatteraS. Ia the meantime you have
been NIL the world, and II i not t"" much T."
say that Won have destroyed and driven for protcc-
! tOn under neutral fJ%~ one hall OF the enemy
commerce, which, at the beginning OF the var;
/ covered every sea. This j. achievement of
which you may well be proud aud grateful
! country will not he unmindful of it,
| The name of your ship has become household
! word wherever civilization extends. snail that
name he furnished 10y defeat? The thing l. ImpoS-
! slhie. Remember that you are i'll the English
Channel the tt!catcr of - much of the naval glory
! of our race, and that the eyes OF all Europe are
/ upon YOU.
The flag that floats over You Is that of Young;
! Rcpub,i" which bids defiance TO her enemies when
7 ever wherever found. Show the world that you
/ know how to uphol it.
Go TO your quarters.
This address, so evidently intended for
/ history in the event of victory, was published
/ by MIR Semmes in London soon after the
/ battle.
During the reading of this haranguc the
combatants drew nearer to each other, for
meantime Capt. Winslow had ordered the
| kearsarge about and headed directly for the
Alabama.
THE FIGHT BEGINS.
| As we approached the enemy i'll dread 81
lence, eagerly watching the movement of the
/ adversary every sense was crowded at the
| beart intense Suddenly the Alabama
| sheered, presented her starb0ard battery, and
| fred. The painful suspense was over. The
range was about 700 yards
The white bolts of fire and puff after puff
| of dense, blush smoke rolling out along the
side of the 900" told the eye of the attack
! before the booming of the guns and the
shells yelling like demons through the air
could he heard.
! Several broadsides followed in quick sue
cession, raking the kearsarge fore and aft.
| Apprehensive that another raking shot
might prove disastrous, Capt Winslow gave
the order Starboard your helm!" and as
board battery. he followed that order with
another, All the divisions! aim low for the
water line, Fire! Load and fire rapidly as
poss;ble!"
Sumner was at the 32-pounder5 aft, StOd
dard at the 1l-inch pivot gun aft, Wheeler
at the 11-inch pivot gan forward, and Dan
! forth at the forecastle rilie.t All these gums
! doomed forth quick and loud defiance, the
deep roar of the 11-inch pivOts, compared
with the reports Of lighter guns, sounding
! like bursts Of deep thunder A gentle breeze
| waited away the smoke of battle so that the
movements CT each ship could be distinctly
seen by the combatants and the spectators
On shore.
| Now and then, when the Alabama fired
! full broadside, the kearsarge crew fell fiat to
| the deck and the enemy's shot passed harm
! leS<ly over them.
Each vessel fought the starboard battery.
As consequence, each headed in an oppo-
site direction to the other, and each, to avoid
passing entirely ont OF range, vccred TO star
board and forced the other into Il circular
track Thus seven complete circuits were
made by each vessel.
| TWENTY EIGHT SHOTS STRUCK
the Kearsarge, the most effective being
hundred and twenty pound Blakely shell,
! winch. III tiit lnitSI Oh lilc lSllI SituCh INC
starboard quarter. The blow was terrific.
! 1t shook the ship from stem to stern, started
every man from his position, upset the cabin
stove, and created a very general and I'M
| pleasant disturbance.
| 1t proved afterward 10 be an imperfect
percussion shell, which, not exploding, took
| slantin- direction aft, scraped along under
! the sheer of the stern for 4 distance of six
| feet, and finally buried itself in the rudder-
post, where it remained until the termna-
ton of the cruise, when il was sent to Wash
ington as a relic OF the battle.
MI. Semmes2 in his account of this fight,
| persists in characterizing the stopping OF the
| cable chains over the midship section of the
Kearsarge az smart, cute Yankee trick
and asserts, with unaccOuntable assurance,
that his shot and shell re50unded from this
. shirt of mail, or were broken in fragments
| and fell into the sea"
H w easy to have eyes and see not
Thee chains had been worn as a sort of
armor for more than a year, partly for de-
! Tense, partly for convenience. They were
struck in three places only, by small shot
and shell, both of which cut through the
chain links as if they were pipestems, pene-
trated the side of the KeaTsarge, and lodged
| in the coal bunkers.
The projectiles which struck and rebound
ed from this coat Of mail were seen only in
the minds eye of the unsuccessful! hero Of
the Alabama.
II is most remarkable that the only cas-
ualties to the crew of the kealsarge during
the action was Occasioned by Biakely
shell, which crushed through the starboard
bulwarks below the main rigging, exploded
and wounded three men by flying splinters.
THE ENEMY LOST HEAVILY.
Early i'll the action an 1l-inch shell! struck
and passed through the upper works OF the
Alabama, nearly amidships, giving her the
appearance ofbeingnearly cut in two another
burst over her forward pivot gun putting
hOrS du c0mbat most OF its crew; another
shell exploded IN her coal bunkers, throwing
large quantities of coal into the furnace
room, sm0thering the fires and half burying
the fremen. One poor wretch, unnamed
by fear, is reported to have been shot by an
officer
Amid these and other distressing scenes of
havoc, Mr.. Semmes offered q reward to that
division of his crew which might silence the
destructive gun which operated with such
fatal effect.
The whole battery of the $3.50" was III
effectuaily turned upon the dreaded gun.
The eneny's shot came thick and fast, but
mostly fell short or passed overhead.
For q moment the rebel flag disappeared
from view, when the Kcarsarge ceased firing