The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-06-10

Orleans, on a special detail. Be it known also that he superintended the constfuc- tion of that gallant ship, known to com merce as the Bienville. When the war came, he was among the first to resign and place his sword at the command or the Confederate navy.
 Whe the powers of the earth con ceded beligerent rights to the Confeder- ate States government at the beginning of the civil war, they declared in effect by that act that every man-of-war sent forth by that government for the de- struction of it's cncmy's commerce, whether fitted out in its home ports or abroad, even though it be at sea, if com manded by it's officers. was entitled to every belligerent right then possessed by the federal government. And the law of nations was strictly enforced in that par ticular. The federal cruisers enjoyed no privilege in any foreign port during the war not accorded to the confederate cruisers. The same restrictions prevailed against both alike This being the case, all the twaddle about the pirate Semmes and others is an insult to the world, and an injustice to the truth of history.
 Branded as Dcsertcrs.
 Did you know, my comrades, that a number of officers who resigned from the federal navy to join ours, are yet brand ed as deserters? Just think of it. The highest act of patriotism that a man can display is to give up all for duty. These men regarded. their first duty as being due to their own sovereign. states. De- serters indeed I call upon you, com rades of the U. c. ", to aid us of the navy, and help us to have the records corrected.
 Commodore 1ioiiins stood near the head of the United States navy when the Jfr.ln had won for him splendid record in the annals of that service. He gave up all. and entered the Confederate navy and served with distinction through the war After it's close his friends secured him position in one of the petty courts of Baltimore. and this man who had re- oeived distinguished honors at the hands of kings and princes, ended his days as the crier of that court on a bare $40 a month.
 During the entire war our navy and muster roll and roster never were over 400 men, hardly decent brigade, and they were scattered all over creation, and many of them so situated that they were powerless to render satisfactory service .o the cause.
 What they did at home, let our rivers and harbors answer Time will not permit a nasty glance even at these, and I must confine myself to bare mention of few. Take the work In Hampton Roads of Buchanan and Catesby Jones, where the Merrimac changed the naval war meth- ods of the world; take the splendid work of Tucker and others in James river; the dash of the ram Arkansas under Brown from the Yazoo to the Mississippi, through the ironclads of Porter and then through the frigates of Farragut, carry ing death and destruction in her wake; and Buchanan again at Mobile. where all most single handed the Tennessee fought the entire federal fleet without sufficient sreed to maintain steeringway.
 Had she the engines of the Hartford, and had her steering gear not been shot away, Farragut's famous victory in Mo- bile Bay might have had different end ing Take TatnaIrs two little tugs; I was on board of one of them, that at tackled the whole fleet juGt before the bat tie of Port Royal; take the attack of Glas- sell and Tomb in the submarine boat Da- yid, which torpedoed the New Ironsides. off Charleston harbor, where the explosion put out the fires and all hands had to take the desperate assault made by John Taylor Wood and his brave men in small boats upon the Underwriter at Newborn, where it was death to fly and death to re- main on the vessel they had captured, ow- ing to the deadly fire from the other yes sells and from shore, where they held her until she had burned almost to the waters tdge; take the attack by Rollins at the ;nouth of the Mississippi where, with three insignificant boats he drove four of the leading ships from the river, including the Richmond; and this same Hollins' brilliant capture of the St. Nicholas on the Potomac earlier in the war; take Mtchells brilliant though intellectual de- fense of New Orleans, where Kennon's steamboat sunk the yanna Worley's ram in. e.fz hut fad into everything she could reach. and after ramming three vessels, was fired by the enemys shell and scutted to keep her
 from being captured her crew jumping overheard: where Huger and Read fought ;he McRea until every gun was dis mounted, and in the break of day, her decl-s covered with dead and dying, she was still flying the Confederate flag The 1 list could be swelled to a volume. Such was the proud record of our navy at I home.
 Did Not Bring on War. "The south did not bring on the war ! We simply defended ourselves when at I tackled And since the chief aim of war l Is to do the enemy the greatest damage 1 with least harm to ourselves, our small I navy did more harm to the federal gov l ernment in proportion to the numbers en- gagged, aye, very much more, than did I the Confederate aNmy It was therefore I at sea where the great damage was done | the enemy There we swept his com- merce from the face of the ocean, and al- though 43 years have elapsed since the war ended, even his own commerce is for the most part carried in foreign bottoms. whereas, 43 years ago he carried over ] one-half the commerce of the world. Per init me to pause here to say that in as- serting this I am not exulting. I am an American citizen, and am proud of my country. I am simply enumerating some of the things done by the Confederate navy, at time when you and l were not members of the American family in good standing"