The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-09-26

l try, on Sept. 27. 1909. he made that State his home until 1s42, when he re- moved to Mobile. where he lived until his death in August, 1877, and there his mortal remains were laid with the honors due a man whose great services | to the South endeared him to all her sons and daughters, and whose mem- ory will be cherished as long as man. | hood and patriotism and valor are honored and revered among us.
 Young Semmes seems to have na- turally taken to naval life. and at the early age of IT he was appointed midshipman on one of the United l States sloops of war. Returning from l his first cruise, and before reaching | home. he studied law and was admit ] ted to the bar after passing the neces- sary examination. But law was too he wanted action, and so. in 1887, we find him on the quarter deck of one of Uncle Sam's war vessels with the rank of Lieutenant in the Navy. His 1 life was uneventful until the war was declared between the United States and Mexico. when he was promoted to the rank of flag lieutenant of one of the warships and served until the war ended. For some years after that war he served as inspector of light houses and Secretary of the Light House Board. and so remained in the service of the Government until the Southern Confederacy called him, as 1t called all I true sons of the South, to the section that gave him birth and claimed the love and devotion of his ardent and stirring nature.
 Coming from Washington. where he was on duty, to Alabama in April 1861. he was commissioned Commander of the Confederate Navy, and placed in charge of the Light House Bureau, which was then being organized. But that life was too tame for Raphael oCIuIllCSf HC SOOh IS6l6hCu anu went to New Orleans. where he fitted out the famous Sumter" and started on his real career. The life of that vessel was short one.~ but during her brief existence. she captured no | less than eighteen Federal merchant men, and he made himself and his lit- tie vessel the terror of the seas. Be- fore the year ended. while in the Bay of Tangiers, he was bottl, l up by two ing no hope of escape or successful resistance he sold his ship and made his way to England.
 And now the real active and hero- life of Semmes actually began. He was commissioned a captain in the Confederate Navy while in England, and about this time fine warship was finished in Glasgow. She was pur- chased by the Confederate Government and Semmes given command of her. In honor of the State he loved, and which was now his home. he christen- ed his new ship the Alabama" and started on the career which made him feared and respected by his enemies, and the glory and pride of the Confed- eracy; a career which has rarely, if naval warfare. From an article pre- pared by J. G. Flournoy of Mobile, we take this extract:
 The twenty months' life of Semmes's Alabama was probably the most stren- 1 uous of any vessel that ever plowed the seas. Towering near Federal fleet In one sea. week From them the Alabama is found watching Union man-of-war one thousand miles dis tant. Her propellers beating the waters of both hemispheres within the period of month. the Alabama under Semmes where she would be found at any time | was problematical: and al all she was a terror to Federal shipping In every quarter of the globe. Within the space tured sixty-two Federal merchantmen. the majority of which vessels were 1 burned at sea, because so few ports of the world were opened to his entrance. Semmes, with the Alabama. captured a l vessel on an average every ten days for twenty months of actual war fare.
 It Is not necessary to enter into a detailed account of the exploits of the Alabama during her twenty months existence, for they are matters of history, open to all and known to all. Entering the Harbor of Cher bourg. in the Bay of Biscay. in June, 1864, for the purpose of coaling, she was again bottled up, this time by the powerful Federal Kearsarge. Semmes could have escaped, because, according to the rules of all neutral ports. the Kearsarge would not have been allow ed to leave the port until twelve hours after the Alabama had sailed out, and that delay would have given Semmes ample time to escape, but running was not in his line, so he sailed out and one of the hardest of naval fights ensued. The Alabama was sunk after a gallant resistance but Selnmes and his crew escaped to an English vessel A few months later he made his way back to Rich mond and was created an admiral and placed in command of the fleet of gun boats in James River. When the wal was over, he returned to Mobile and