Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-10-29
SHOT AND SHELL.
Old Veterans "reminiscences Of
the War of the Re.
beIlion.
Embracing Anecdotes Of Actual Expe.
rience and Colloquial Ac-
QUESTION.
The Career of the Alabama.

4u1SlIlOUs
The Career of the Alabama.
IN recent conversation with Captain
tu.son obtains the following:
when the civil war began Captain Kel]
resigned lieutenancy in the United States
navy and entered the Confederate service,
he was the executive officer of the Sumter.
the first ship that bore the Confederate
colors on the seas. Admiral Semmes wos
IN command. The Sumter, little bit of q
ship, was put out to prey on Northern COM
merce in the Gulf of Mexico and the Carib-
bean Sea and did considerable damage.
The bold little cruiser came near being
caught by Il Federal man. Of war at Mar
Unique one night, and was so closely pur
sued that she was compelled to cross the
ocean to escape. The voyage to Gibraltar
was made in that little vessel, which was
not intended when built to be out more
tnan day OF two at time. At Gibraltar
semmes and Kell took passage for
home IN an East Indiaman. They
were met at Nassau with instruc.-
lions to return to England and take
command of the Alabama, which was then
being fitted up for the Confederate service
under the direction of Captain James D.
Bulloch, Of Georgia, agent of the Con-
1ederacy at liverpool. How that shir
started on her great cruise under pretext OF
carrying out on trial trip pleasure party;
now she received her crew from another
ship outside, and then proceeded to the
Azore Islands, whore Admiral Semmes as
sumed command, where her armament was
perfected, and whence she sailed on he,
career of destruction, are well-known his
toric facts. The Alabama made direct 70,
the highways of marine commerce and was
soon devastating Yankee shipping.
What was your method of taking q
prize?" asked Captain Kell.
when we got into the commercial seas
We soon began to find merchantmen. AS
soon as we sighted ship we would hail
her. If she didn't stop we would fire 6
blank cartridge across her bow. If she
still refused to respond we would send q
shot in front of her, and that would bring
her TO-. Our long-range guns were of in
valuable service in this business. Wher
we hailed ship we generally had the
United States flag flying, and kept it ut
until We were alongside. Then we would
lower boat and send an Officer
on board; but just before he board
ed her the United States flag would
come down and up would 20 the
Confederate flag. Our officer would 90 tc
the Captain of the ship we had caught, de.
mand his papers, order him into the boat
and bring him on board the Alabama. Ad-
miral Semmes always remained in his
cabin when o capture was made, and the
Captains of our prizes We're taken before
him there. He examined their papers and
questioned them closely. If the ship was
found to belong to a citizen of neutral
country-a fact which the Captains papers
would always reveal-she was at once re-
leased. When We discovered that we had
the property of citizen of the United
States, we took her officers, crew, and pas.
sengers (if she had any, Oh board. We Their
went through her cargo and appropriated
what we needed-for you know we lived
almost entirely on our prizes. When We
had all we wanted we set fire to the cap.
tured ship, and sailed away to look out fo7
another"
what did you do with your prisoners?'
"The prisoners from the first half doze1
the brutal treatment OF the purser of the
Sumter by United States agents. They
caught him as he stepped on shore from o
French passenger ship, and threw him into
dungeon heavily manacled. After this
retaliation all prisoners received kind
treatment on the Alabama. We replenished
our crew, as we'll as our larder, from
prizes"
"Were you not afraid to trust men whom
you had captured?"
20, no. A sailor is sailor. He has
few attachments and MS general thing
don't care what flag he is under. Besides
the fame of the Alabama soon made hel
attractive to sailors. The pay was good,
and there were plenty of rich prizes in pros
pect. Some Of our best men were taken
from prizes"
elbow did you get rid of the prisoners
you could not use?"
Sometimes we would leave them in
port, as we did the officers and most of the
crew of the Hatteras &C Jamaica. Some
times we would take a prize which we
would not burn. We would bond her >
that is, we would assess her value and
take bond which obligated her owners to
pay us that amount at the end Of the war.
When we released ship on these condi-
tions we made her relieve us of all our
prisoners. Once we had several ladies and
two little girls on board the Alabama for a
week."
"Were you ever resisted by captured
ship?"
"None of them tried to escape us by
force. That would have been folly. Some
times they tried to outrun us, but only one
did that. Many of them tried to deceive
us. I remember, especially, one Yankee
skipper whom We caught in the Straits OF
Malacca. He had the English flag flying,
but I knew it was Yankee ship the mo-
ment saw it. We could tell them as in
fallibly by the 'cut Of their jib' as we could
detect by their sharp brogue the national
ity of their Captains. But this fellow stood
to it that he was an Englishman. He was
the only man who ever made Admiral
Semmes come to him. When he fatty re-
fused to go on board the Alabama, and
appealed to his British flag for protection
Admiral Semmes went on board his ship
As soon as he saw the alleged Englishman's
papers he pronounced them forgeries and
ordered the ship to be burned. When the
skipper was brought on board the Alabama,
Semmes put him under oath, and he con-
fessed that he had tried game Of bluff.
"How did you fare on board?"
"NIost OF the time sumptuously. Ou1
prizes. particularly those going out of
Northern ports, were nearly all laden with
luxuries, and we generally lived in style.
Did not life of twenty-five months,
almost entirely on the sea, become very
monotonous?"
"Not at all. The sixty-six captures We
made, besides the neutral vessels we hailed
and examined, left Is no great lnterya: OF
leisure. Every day, whether it brought us