The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1909-10-01
GnIIHBII DAUGHTERS
CELEBRATE CENTENARY
ICON lpued trom FIRST Pagel

- - Inc battle OF Vera Cruz, and
rr-t occasion was himself given
o.. sutv. and placed in charge OF an
.-.,-.srr command For services In
.r.. ,rar be was promoted to the rank
- commander. In the meantime he
- made his home in Alabama, where
Lt- wife and children were then liv-
s.r Al the breaking out of the Civil
M the war between the States, he
.-,mntly resigned his command and
.eared his services to the President
81 the Confederacy Mr.. Davis sent
n.,. ON some important duty in the
,,.Dv.s country and he did valua-
t1s service in purchasing arms and
T. r,rnition of war and having them sent
t,ropah the lines of the enemy to the
south Commanded to do so, he pur-
chased Ian &c sloop in the harbor OF
v.o. orleans and arming and man
MING il it became the famous privateer
sumter. l remember seeing in my
f.-ber's library large book with the
,ida Service Afloat" and this was
Admirable Semmes own record of the
ocbievements of the Sumter and its
GREAT successor, the Alabama.
Later on in the war the Sumter was
backaded at Gibraltar, and Semmes
being unable to escape sold the ship
ord disbanded the crew, while he him
eeIf remained abroad until 1862, when
he took command of the most famous
If all battleships, the Alabama. A
historian telling the story of the war
TINS describes the work of Semmes
ard his famous warships:
"The career of the Alabama was OF
so much sameness and its work OF
destruction was so uniform, that a de-
tailed account would be monotonous;
suffice it to say, that here and there
the heavens were almost continually
aaame with the burning of Merchant
men, SO much so that it seemed as If
the commerce of the United States
would be destroyed by this wonderful
shin of war and its wonderful COM
mander. The Alabama destroyed In
its career of two years, rs vessels and
nronertv estimated to be worth $15,-
100000 In command of the Alabama,
Semmes went from success to success,
destroyed the shipping and commerce
of the enemy wherever he found 1t,
assisted blackade running, and
achieved wonders in keeping partially
oren the ports of the Confederacy 10
the outside world.
However, in June, 1854, he very
rccklessly and without good reason
challenged the battleship Kersarge, on
the coast of France. This is one OF
the great naval conflicts of history;
the Kersarge was practically steel
plated man-of-war, commanded Dy
Can't Winslow, an able and skilled OIL
GER. The result of the engagement
was that the Alabama was sunk rms
was an irretrievable loss to the Con
federacy. Semmes made his escape
on a passing English ship, the Deer
hound. Afterwards he returned to
America and was put in charge OF the
squadron in James River After the
fall of Richmond he mustered a regl-
ment of men, joined Gen. Johnston
and was surrendered with that army
in North Carolina in '65.
After the close of the war he re-
paired to Mobile and the remainder
of his life was spent in the practice
of law and in the preparation OF liter
airy papers and the writing OF MS
books, Service Afioat," etc.
He was a great, brave and pa
triotic man, a man of genius and was
true to his ancestral instincts for I'D
erty, that have at all times charac-
terised the Welshmen.
In concluding this address | wish TO
say a few words in regard to the re-
spective navies of the United ana the
Confederate States. In his MASTER
full work THE rise and fall of the Con
federacy" Jefferson Davis calls atten-
ton to the high sense OF honor as
played by the Southern men IN the
navy at the time of the outbreak OF
the war, in taking their ships into the
Northern norts turning them over TO
the government and rendering tneir
designations, Fastening South TO loen-
tify themselves with their states anu
people But as Mr. Davis points OUT
this was an unwise and uncalled TOT
Interpretation of Honor, for the South
ern states as well as the Northern
states had been taxed to build the
navy, and so in the civil STRIFE we
were clearly entitled to those oattie-
Sims and vessels commanded by our