The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1898-05-08

son Davis for duty in the cause OF the
south.
Semmes' first service to the eonfederacy
was to return to the north and procure
mechanics skilled in the manufacture OF
ordnance and rifle machinery, as well as TO
buy other war material. He went direct to
Washington and examined arsenals and
hired men. He made a trip through new
York, Connecticut and Massachusetts ana
found manufacturers ready to sell him any
thing in the line of weapons and ammuni-
ton that the south asked for. He shipped
thousands of pounds of powder to the
south, and tons of other war supplies, to-
gether with light batteries and other nu-
nitions. Semmes always refused to betray
the names of the merchants who entered
into these bargains.
When the Semmes returned to the south
he found that he had been commissioned
commander In the navy. He went TO new
Orleans and fitted out the Sumter for sea.
At Gibraltar the Sumter was blocke@ed by
two men-of-war and he sold her and went
to England. Thence he went to the Azores
and took command of the Alabama, the
career of which is also the naval career OF
Semmes and Is one of the most thrilling
and romantic in the history of maritime adj
venture. And this career of Semmes and
the Alabama cost the British government
S15000,000. Here was a small ship of 1000
tons, which for period of two years
burned and plundered vessels in all quarters
of the globe, when the ships of the United
States were looking for her and every port
was closed to her save those of England.
Her story is that of modern piracy which
for daredevil reclxlessness and destruction
of life and property eclipses anything in
the history of nautical marauders. The
Alabama was a British piraet masquerade
ing as a confederate cruiser. Her cruise
resolved itself into. a money making en-
terprise in which all the prizes were to be
sold and the profits divided between the
officers and men; an up-to-daet piracy con-
Quoted with legal formality that makes
the efforts of Captain Kidd in the same
enterprise ludicrousy simple.
The Alabama was built in Birkenhead,
England. with English money furnished by
member of parliament, and was sent t
member of parliament, and was sent to
sea with British crew agaiif&s the pro-
tests of the United States minister. When
at sea the crew went through hte form of
swearing allegiance to the confederate
states. A lieutenant of the Alabama said
of this crew: "Eighty-five men alternately
signed articles and renowned allegiance
to Gerat Britain, and the Aabama's crew
was thus made up entirely of Englishmen."
A few Americans trod the quarter deck to
give the boat some pretense of being a con-
federate Ship but the bulk of them had
never seen America.
The Alabama was screw steamer, with
full sail power, at the same time a perfect
steamer and sailing vessel, each being en-
tirely independent of the other Her screw
could be hoisted out of the water when she
desired to sail. Her speed was thirteen
knots an hour. Her armament consisted of
one S-inch solid shot or shell gun aft one
Finch 100 FOUNDER rifle forward, and six
S2-pounders weighing $500 pounds each. She
cost one-quarter of a million dollars.
On September 5, 1862, the Alabama fell in
with her first victim, the whaler Ocmulgee.
The stars and stripes were hauled down
and she was burned. While still off the
Azores a fleet of whalers was met and
many of the ships burned. But before they
were burned they were stripped of their
stores, which were divided among the crew.
The Alabama ran up to New York and
secured newspapers from prizes which she
captured. From them she got the news
of departing vessels and their value, then
proceeded to destroy them, also news OF
their pursuers, by means of which they
were able to elude them.
A set of books were kept on board the
Alabama as a memorandum for the the
Confederate government. In these books
were set the value of the manifest of each
| prize, as the Confederate government had
| voted to give the officers and crew a sum
equal to one-half the value of the vessels
and of the enemy Destroyed or bonded The
division was to be on a sliding scale pro-
portional TO rank. AS each vessel was
bonded or burned an entry was made in the
ledger with the amount due each officer and
sailor set opposite his name. Only one of
the Alabama's officers ever realized any
thing. He had transferred his interest to
London Spectator for about per cent. of
its face just before the sinking of the Ala
bama in 1864
After cruising the waters for about q
year Captain Semmes was approached by a
syndicate of English spectators who
agreed to buy and dispose of the ships
tattzo Thn 1a1.a - l.
prizes into any civilized port without be-
ing seized, and 1t was designed to employ
the coast of the Hottentots for the ex-
change, The purchasers were buying an
adventure, and the crew of the Alabama
looked upon the arrangement as highly
romantic. In the cabin of the Alabama
the Englishmen paid over good shining yell
low sovereigns surety, but they never
got any prizes.
June IL, 1864, the Alabama arrived In the
harbor of Cherbourg, France, after cruise
of 5000 miles. The news was telegraphed
far and wide, and the United States steam
ship Kearsarge steamed from Flushing,
England, to give her battle. Captain
Semmes, adventurous sea dog, decided to
fight her, in spite of the fact that his ves-
sci was disabled and his powder and shot
damaged by age and climate. His gallant
ry was unquestioned, however, and his
crew was a band of handy fighters who
never turned feather to the foe. He had
two guns capable of sinking any wooden
g,1nboat afoat and did not know that his
powder was almost worthless and that his
shells would not explode.
When the Alabama sailed out of Cher
bourg to engage the kearsarge great con-
course of people were on the hills about
to witness the duel.e
The Alabama opened fight with her en-
tire starboard battery. The Kearsage piv-
oted to starboard and both ships circled
around a common center, gradually ap-
ually approaching each Ather. Semmes
tried to close, relying on the superior
physique and daring of his crew. But the
Kearsage shot so well and so often that
first the bulwarks of the Alabama were
torn away. Then the pivot gun was disa-
bled. The spar deck was torn up by shell
and the compartments below knocked into
one. The Alabama was making water fast
and showed severe punishment. She was
dull in response to her helm. Everyone
aboard was making a desperate but for
lorn resistance. Then came the death
blow An 11-inch shell penetrated the wa
ter line and exploded in the engine room.
rrba Ala hor ma frenbled from stem to stern.