The Opelousas courier., 1886-06-19
n1he stnktna of the .Ala1ama.,o

"The Sinking of the .ALGbama.'o
From the account, in the Century, by
John Mcintosh Kell, the second officer in
command of the Confederate cruiser Ala
bama, we take the following: "When
the firing ceased, Captain Semmes order
ed me to dispatch al officer to the Kear-
sarge to say that our ship was sinking,
and to ask that they send boats to saye
our wounded, as our boats were disabled.
The dingey, our smallest boat, had es-
capped damage. I dispatched Masters
mate Fullam with the request. No boats
appearing, I had n of our quarter boats
lowered, which was slightly injured, and
ordered the wounded placed in her. DR..
Gait, the surgeon who was in charge of
the magazine and shcll-room division,
came on deck at this moment and was at
once put in charge of the boat, with Or
ders to take the wounded to the Kear-
sarge They showed off just in time to
save the poor fellows from going down
in the ship.
81 now gave the order for every man
to jump overheard with a spar and save
himself from the sinking ship To en-
force the order, | walked forward and
urged the men overheard. AS soon as
the decks were cleared, save of the
bodies of the dead, l returned to the
stern-port, where stood Captain Semmes
with one or two of the men and his faith
full steward, who, poor fellow! was DOOM
ed to a watery grave, as he could not
swim. The Alabama's stern-port was
now almost to the waters edge. Partly
undressing, we plunged into the sea, and
made an otfing from the sinking ship,
Captain Semmes with a life preserver and
| on a grating.
"The Alabama settled stern foremost,
launching her bows high in the air.
Graceful even in her death-struggle, she
in a moment disappeared from the face
of the waters. The sea now presented a
mass of living heads, striving for their
lives. Many poor fellows sank for the
want of timely aid. Near me 1 saw a
float of empty shell-boxes, and called to
n of the men, a good swimmer, to ex-
anime it; he did so and replied, 1T is the
doctor, sir, dead Poor Lleweilyn! he
persisted almost in sight of his home.
The young Midshipman Mafit swan to
me and offered his life-preserver. My
grating was not proving a very buoyant
float, and the white caps breaking over
my head were distressingly uncomforta-
BILE, to say the least. Maffit said: Mr..
Kell, take my life-preserver, sir; you are
almost exhausted The gallant boy did
not consider his own condition, but his
pallid face told me that his heroism was
superior to his bodily suffering, and I re-
fused it. After twenty minutes or more
| heard near me some one call out,
There is our first lieutenant and the
next moment | was pulled into a boat, in
which was Captain Semmes, stretched
out in the stern-sheets, as pallid as death.
lie had received during the action a
slight confusion ON the hand, and the
struggle in the water had almost exhaust
ed him. There were also several of our
crew in the boat, and in a few minutes
we were alongside a little steam-yacht,
which had come among u floating men,
and by throwing them ropes saved many
lives. Upon reaching her deck, / ascer-
tanned for the first time that she was the
yacht Deerhound, owned by Mr.. John
Lancaster, of England. In looking
round | saw two French pilot-boats en-
boats from the Kearsarge."