Greenbrier independent. [volume] (Lewisburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1980, 1897-06-17
MISCELLANEOUS
Fights With Priyateers.
hN'lIlNG CHAPTERS IN TIE Ma
VAL HISTORY OF THE RE-
BELLION.

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BELLION.
Those persons who were old
enough at the close Of the war OF
the rebellion to be interested in the
undertakings of the rebellious States
upon the sea, will recall easily the
constant alarm that was felt in the
North, and especially in the Eastern
States, for the safety of merchant
vessels of the United States exposed
to the piratical steamers provided
by Great Britain to prey upon our
commerce and to give encourage
ment to the struggling Confederacy
me whereabouts of the Alabama, \,
the Florida, the Shenandoah, had
been at different periods the subject
OF profound concern both to shin
owners and to the Navy Department
which was obliged to maintain the
blockade and also detail fast cruisers
to seek and destroy the privateers
that were overhauling and Destroy
ing vessels in every sea.
Much of the history of this sub
ject has been told over and over
again, and good deal of it is very
familiar to the student of the war of
the rebellion. But for the detailed
story, as told in the orders and re-
ports of the United States vessels
employed in hunting for privateers,
and in the Confederate reports of the
operations of the privateers, the of
ficial records of the Union and Con-
federate navies in the war of the re-
bellion must always be the best au-
thority. Two very interesting vol
umes of this work have been pre-
pared and printed under the super
intendence of Lieutenant Com
mander Richard Rush. Volumes 1
and III give the documentary history
of the operations of United States
and Confederate cruisers from Janu-
ary 10Th, 1861, to March 31st, 1864.
Volume III, now issuing from the
Navy Department, completes the re-
ports of the operations of the cruis-
ers to the close of the war.
The Confederate privateer Ala
bama had destroyed or ransomed
vessels valued at So, JIG, 164 in little
less than two years, when, on June
18th, 1864, the Kearsarge, COM
manded by Captain John A. Wins.
low, lying at Cherbourg, received a
challenge from Captain Semmes of
the Confederate privateer, then in
that port, for contest. According
to the statements Of both command
ers before the fight, the vessels were
about equally matched. Their tom
mage was the same. The Alabama
carried one one.hundred-p pound rifle,
one heavy sixty-eight-pounder and
six broadside thirty.two- Founders.
The Kearsage carried four broadside
thirty-twO Founders, two eleven-inch
aud one twenty-eight-pound rifle
one gun less than the Alabama. The
Alabama's crew was exclusively pre-.
pared In Great Britain, and the off.
GERS were principally deserters from
the navy of the United States. AT
ter an engagement of sixty.five min.
utes, the Alabama sank, riddled with
shot and shell. Twenty-siX men OF
her crew were killed or drowned and
three of the crew Of the Kearsarge
were wounded. After the formal
surrender of the Alabama, Captain
Semmes, her commander, and sew.
eral members Of her crew, escaped
to the English yacht Deerhound, the
owner of that vessel having been re
quested by Captain Winslow to assist
in the rescue of the drowning men
The Kearsarge had but one hundred
and twenty tons of coal aboard, anC
to protect the vitals Of the ship Cap
tain Winslow slowed the ship!
chains outside the vessel to AFFORD
that resistance which was i'm a meas
ure afforded to the Alabama i'm hav
ing three hundred and twenty ton
of coal slowed in her bunkers.
After the fight and the loss of tn,
Alabama, Captain Semmes revised
the opinion he expressed before tn
fight as to the equality of the vessels
Captain Winslow made little of tn
protection secured by asing the shee
chains. Withoutsaying so, he plainl,
thought that he had outmaneuvere,
the Alabama, and that his men wer
more efficient at the guns. Tn
Kearsarge held her fire until afte
the Alabama had fired two broad
sides. "The firing of the Alabama,
said Captain Winslow, from tn
first was rapid and wild. Towar
the close of the action her firing be
came better. Our men, who ha
been cautioned against rapid firin
without direct aim, were much NOR
deliberate, and the instructions give
to point the heavy guns below rathe
than above the water line and cles
the decks with the lighter ones, wer
fully observed. The effe,
ofthe training ofour men was eviden
The fire Of the Alaba no;
although it is stated she discharge
three hundred and seventy or MOI