The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-02-25

| ter harrow escape at Martinique from
 the United States ship "Iroquois," pro-
 ceeded 10 cross the Atlantic, arriving at | cadiz on January 2, 1882. and a few days alterward anchoring at Gibralter Dur ing this cruise seventeen American mer-
 chantmen had been captured, of which | eight were burned, and the others having
 been sent into Spanish ports were after wards released to their owners. Being closely blockaded at Gibralter by the Tuscarora," 'Kearsarge" and "Ino ' ana unable to procure coal or to repair boilers, Semmes sold the Sumter, " ana With several of his officers went to England. and thence to the Bahama Is- | lands. At Nassau he was met bv pro-
 motion to the rank of captain. with or
 ders to return to England to assume
 command of new ship then building in
 the Mersey. known as Number 29o' She
 was the most famous of the English built
 Confederate cruisers She was both a steamer and sailing vessel of I.ol6 tons. carrying eight guns and a complement or l4s men, Her propellers could be de- tached so that she could make from ten to twelve knots with sails alone. and hf-
 teen knots with steam added In
 spite of the clearest evidence sub
 mitted by Minister Adams that
 she was fitting out at Liverpool
 for service against United States com
 merce. the English government allowed her to sail July g, 1862. Tn August Semmes joined this vessel at Terciera,
 one of the Azores, where she mad been
 sent to receive her armament stores and crew. and after commissioning her as the Confederate man-of-war Alabama" on
 the Ath began a series of daring and suc-
 cessful cruises. lasting nearly two years.
 Learning of the intended expedition of
 General Banks against Galveston, and
 with the hope of intercepting the Federal
 transports. he headed for that port, ar
 irving January Il. 1863. That night he
 fought and sank the United States steam
 CT 'Hatteras," of the blockading squad
 ron. commanded by Captain Blakes a ves-
 sel of greater tonnage but Inferior arma-
 ment The Alabama" had one man
 wounded, the 'Hatteras'' two killed and
 five wounded. The living were all saved
 by Semmes before the 'Hatteras" went
 down. The most important capture was
 the steamship Ariel" of the Aspinwall
 line. On June ls. 1884, the Alabama en-
 countered in the English Channel off
 Cherbourg. the United States steamer
 Kearsarge. commanded by Capt. John W.
 Winslow. to whom Semmes had previous
 ly, while in the harbor of Cherbourg,
 ~AANSoAbop d
 lenge, that he would fight. The vessels
 were nearly equal in size and strength.
 the broadsides of the Kearsarge being a
 little the heavier. Captain Winslow had
 caused tho vital parts of his ships hull
 to be protected by chain cables, which
 were tmpenetrable to the shot of the Ala
 bama- while an outward sheathing of
 wood concealed them from observation.
 The battle began about seven miles of
 shore and lasted over an hour The yes-
 sells made seven complete revolutions around common center. gradually draw
 ing nearer to each other until they were
 less than six hundred yards apart The
 Kearsarge fired 173 shots. nearly all of
 which took effect while the Alabama
 fired 370 shots, of which only twenty eight
 struck. About noon Semmes surrendered.
 and twenty minutes afterward the Alaba-
 ma sank. As the Alabama was going down Semmes plunged into the sea, and
 he, with about forty of his officers and
 men, was picked up by the English yacht Deerhound that had steamed out of Cher
 bourg to witness the conflict, and taken to Southampton. There has been much discussion with regard to this action and the escape of Semmes. In response to the demand of the United States that these men be given up. the British gov ernment declined to do so. claiming that 1t could not consistently with interna- tional law. handsome sword was soon afterwards presented to Semmes by of fcers of the British army and navy to re- place the one that went down with his ship few months later he returned home, was commissioned Rear Admiral (February, 1865) and assigned to the Con- federate fleet in the James River When Richmond was evacuated. April g. he blew up his ships and organized tho officers and men of his command into a brtRadA with which he joined the army of Gen. eral Johnston. Johnston surrendered near Greensborough. N. C.. April 2s, and semmes was pa-oled. He accordingly re- turned to his home in Mobile Ala, and | opened a law office. On December IS. 1865. | he was arrested and carried to Washing ton where he was confined in the marine | for nearly four months and | then released. No charges upon which | to try him were ever preferred, and no | official statement was made of the | grounds of his arrest. but John A. Boles, | solicitor of the United States Navy De- l partment. who was charged with the duty | of securing evidence upon which to try | Semmes, stated in The Atlantic Monhly, | lly. 1872, that 1t was decided to try him | Jefore e military commission if upon in- Iulry 1t was found that the law and |
 sages of war had been violated in the | n ngagement with the Kearsarge, or that 1
 ruelty and humanity toward prisoners 'Ad been exercised, or had any unlawful
 Xpedients and tricks been resorted to in
 he capture of vessels. All these were re- solved in Semmes's favor except that 1t was held to be "perfdy' for him to es- ,ape in a neutral vessel after the Ala pa ma was sunk, but 1t was decided that
 his was not sufficient in itself to warrant trial. MT. Bolles wrote Not only did 5emmess official conduct conform to this we'll known policy of the American navy, put 1t was directed by similar instructions
 rom the Secretary of the Confederate na- ". Do the enemy's commerce the great .st injury In the shortest time was MT significant order to Semmes in Tune, 1861. and never in naval history has
 uch an order been so signally obeyed lever has there occurred so striking an
 xample of the tremendous power of mis- hief possessed by a single cruiser acting lpon this destructive plan as that fur | lished by the Sumter and her successor he Alabama under the command of ;emmes. whose untlring activity. rest ess energy and fiery zeal found no voy-
 ge too long. no movement too prompt or % rapid, no danger too great, no labor co wearisome in the accomplishment of he Confederate purpose to ruin our com nerce by destroying our ships. I ad no sympathy with those persons. of-
 cial or unofficial, who denied courage
 nd gallantry to Semmes. because he.
 Ike our own Bainbridee. Morris Porter
 nd Stewart. had implicitly obeyed the or CTS under which he sailed.' A few weeks