The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-09-28

| the South Pass. and escaped the pur- | suit of the steamer Brooklyn, then | considered the fastest ship In the Uni- \ ted States navy. Of the brilliaucy of I this exploit, cannot pause to speak. It aroused the courage and thrilled the
 imagination of all our people and pre- pared them to expect wonderful re- | suits from the cruise of the Sumter.
 Those expectations were more than l realized.
 | You will pardon me for reminding l you of a strange rumor that was prev Lalent along the Southern coast soon af-
 ter this event. It was told that many l people in a village on Mississippi Sound l on the very day and hour of the Sum
 ter's escape. saw her and the vengefui Brooklyn in pursuit, miraged upon the sky, more than 100 miles to the south
 that the chase continued for several | hours to the southeast, when at last
 the Sumter's image faded away in the l blue empyrean and the Brooklyn's pie I ture turned to the north and sullenly | regained her anchorage on the Delta | Whether this was a fact or war tale" I have never learned. but 1t is | sure that the event itself was en-
 blazoned on the sky of history in .un- | fading coiors and will there bs seen as | long as men admire skill and women l worship courage.
 | l ter, which extended from June. 1881. to
 January. 1862. he capt. ared and destroy | ed three ships, i've briSs six barks and l three schooners, and thus served . | temporary injunction on all other sea- | going craft of the enemy. commanding them to remain in port and restraining | them, under heavy penalties, from sail- | ing the high seas under the flag of the | United States.
 | Tt is proper to explain that 1t was | not to the interest of Semmes or his l government, or agreeable to the incli- | nation of either. to destroy the cap | tured vessels; but our every port was l blockaded and the neutral powers re- fused to permit him to place his prizes | in their harbors until 6 court could | hear and determine their cases: there- | fore, no alternative was left him but | to apply the torch as soon as his own | investigation satisfied him that the | captured vessel was lawful prize of | war.
 | .aThe Sumter was worn out by this | cruise and was sold at Gibraltar In | January, 1882. Not long afterwards | she was wrecked near the spot where | the Alabama went down, as will be | presently told. In the summer of 1882, ship called the 29o sailed from Liver | pool to Terciera, in the Azores. Here | she was joined by Semmes and the of- l ficers assigned to duty with him. Here | her stores and armament were trans | fered to her, and on Sunday. August 24, 1862, on the high seas and beyond ju-
 risdiction of any and all nations. she | was christened Alabama and duly and | lawfully commissioned as a. man-of- war in the Confederate States navy. l "All the senseless and virulent abuse
 of enemies. to the effect that she was
 "uiratical craft" has been so fully | refuted by the logic of law and his- | tory that 1t is useless now to notice | the insolent islander. The Confederacy
 was recognized as bellfgerent | mower by every civilized nation of earth including her enemy. the United
 States, and, as such, she had the right
 to maintain a navy at sea as well as | an army on land. It made no differ ence how or where her ships of war were procured or her seamen enlisted; | the flag of the belligerent nation and | the commission and orders of their | commanders differentiated her naval ships from vessels of marque or priva- teers. and fixed their legal status as | men-of-war.
 The Cruise.
 | During her cruise. the Alabama crossed the Atlantic to within short
 distance of New York. ran down to the | West Indies. then across the caribbean | Sea and Gulf of Mexico to Galveston. where she fought and sank the ene- my's gunboat Hatteras. Although this
 action was fought at night. Semmes took pains to save all his enemys 1 crew from drowning, courtesy that
 was not shown him at a later period. | Sailing to Jamaica, he there landed the prisoners; and thence to the famous
 crossing of the twentieth parallel and | down to Brazil. Tarrying a short time | on this coast, he sailed to Cape Town | then across the Indian Ocean before the Brave west Winds" through the
 old strait of Sunda to Singapore; up | the China Sea, famed by the spicy | breezes that blow soft OCT Ceylon's
 Isle; under the shadow of the Himi- Iayas and almost within touch of our | new possessions, the Philippines. Re- turning, she came by way of the Mo- zambioue Channels. around the Cape of Good Hope, then northward by St. Helena, Napoleon's prison and tomb; across the equator for the last time. | and finally cast anchor in the French port of Cherbourg.
 "It was her mission to cripple and destroy the enemy'B commerce.. and she was built for speed rather than for battle. In the execution of her orders. she captured and burned stxty-three yessels. one of them an armed cruiser | of the enemy's fleet-released nine others under ransom bond. and cap tured and paroled over 2,000 of the enemy's seamen and soldiers. All of this was accomplished within period of twenty-two months. And thus did
 she make the temporary injunction is- sued by the Sumter wel-nigh per- petual.
 "The condition of the Alabama when she reached Cherbourg is best de- scribed in the language of her com mander. He says, The poor old Ala bama was not now what she had been. She was like the wearied fox-hound. limping back after long chase. foot sore. and longing for quiet and re- pose :" There Is a note of sadness In this description, prophetic of her im- bending fate. An effort was made to have her docked and repaired. but be- fore an answer could be received to inc application from the French Gov ernment, the United States steamer KearsarRe, Captain winslow command ing. appeared off the harbor and es- tabiished a blockade. She was larger, faster, more heavily armed than the Alabama, and. by a cunning device. had heen practically converted into an iron
 clad.
 "It is not unreasonable to believe
 that the Alabama could have run the
 hIockade of this single ship, and it Is
 srre that 1t was not within the letter or spirit of his orders that Semmes
 should give battle to a superior force. unless compelled to do so. But his
 enemy's presence was @ challenge in