The National tribune., 1910-11-17
SINKING TIE
| ALABAMA
A New Study of the Famous Bat
tie Which Ended the Corsair's
Career. nj Ga
Career.

a most important. contribution to the
history of ths, civil war is given in Har-
per's Magazine for November by II.
I Parmalee Prentice, who studies the
fight between the Kearsarge and the
Alabama from the contemporary French
sources. He begins this with the state
ment that for two years the Alabama
had roved the seas, playing havoc with
our unarmed merchant vessels, of which
she captured and destroyed 30. These
captures were attended by the most
unheroic and treacherous policy She
would hoist the British flag and thus
decoy within her reach an unsuspect-
ing merchant vessel and then, hoistinS
the Confederate colorS, capture and de-
stroy her prize Frequently these burn
ing vessels were the decoys TO bring
other prey within her reach. Seeing a
vessel on fire every other within sight
would at once steer for her to rescue
her crew. This was particularly re-
pulsive to all feeling of helpfulness
among sailors who were learning to
steer clear of any burning vessel for
fear of their own safety. Only once
before she met the KearSarge did the
| Alabama venture into n conflict with
an armed vessel. Then she cruised off
Galveston under British colors and de-
coyed out to sea the Hatteras, an old
| Delaware River excursion boat lightly
armed for blockade purposes. The Hat
teras, seeing the suspicious sail in the
offing, ran out to inspect her and was
| decoyed out of reach of the rest of the
fleet. when the Alabama's superior arma-
ment made quick work of her
The admirers OF Capt. Semmes try
hard to make out that he was another
Commodore Paul Jones, but no COM
| parison fails SO completely in points
OF likeness. Commodore Paul Jones
sailed boldly into the midst of the Brit
| ich in no cha N
mel and challenged to battle ships that
were his superior in crew and arma-
ment.
On Tuesday, June IA, 1864, the
French maritime papers mention the
arrival in the rOadstead at CherbOurg
| Of the Ala ma, with eight guns and a
| crew of 147 men. She had been at
| sea SO long that it was desirable to seek
| a friendly port to rcplenish her stores
| and to make some necessary repairs
Immediately after the entrance of the
Alabama our Minister to France tele-
graphed Capt Winslow, in command
| OF the Sloop-of-war Kearsarge, then
lying at Flushing, Holland. Capt
Winslow hastily recalled large por-
ton of his crew which had gone ashore
| for Sunday liberty, and on Tuesday,
June IA, appeared off Cherbourg, where
the Confederate flag which he had long
| been in search of could be seen across
| iit hJiiS IlOJii Tic hiusthCou Va
the Alabama. Capt. Winslow did not
enter the port. as this would have sub
jected him to the rule then in force re-
quiring him to remain for "a hours
after the Alabama left. Instead he
cruised up and down. just outside OF the
three-mile limit, keeping a close watch
upon his enemy The admirers of
Capt. Semmes try hard to make out
thet he was seeking "a fight and desired
to have a battle TO redeem his character
as mere bandit of the seas. Mr..
Prentice shows him in a different light.
1t was not. until he found that the
Kearsarge was not going to allow him
to escape and he was stung by the talk
of the French and British officers and
citizens that Semmes finally resolved
to go out and fight. As late as Tues
day, June IL, his letters speak about the
Alabama needing repairs which would
keep her at least two months in Cher
bourg. Against this the American
Minister, Mr. Dayton, protested, and
our relations with France were then so
strained that this protest was effective,
and Capt. SemmeS was not allowed to
repeat the performance OF two years
before at Gibraltar. He had been in
command of the Privateer Sumter,
which had been destroying our mer-
chant ships and had gone into Gibral-
tar for stores and repairs. which were
gladly furnished by the English author
tiles Two American ships had fol-
lowed him and taken anchorage at AL
geciras, a Spanish port just across the
bay, where they would not be subjected
to the 24-hour rule After some months
of watching and waiting Semmes saw
that he could not escape and sold his
vessel taking his officers and some of
his crew to the Alabama, which had
been built for him in an English
shipyard.
distinct challenge to Semmes to come
out and fight. a challenge which he was
at last forced to accept, owing TO the
pressure of public opinion. In fact, this
public opinion grew so strong that
Semmes could not avoid fight without
distinct dishonor The prestige of the
entire Southern Confederacy was very
much in evidence before the eyes OF
Europe. 1t was known that the arma-
ment and crew of the two vessels were
singularly nearly equal. and unless this
rover of the seas accepted the battle Of
fered her it would be impossible to
maintain the high front before Europe
that the Confederate emissaries had
maintained as to the superior courage
and resolution Of their armies. Mr..
Slidell, the representative In France of
the Confederacy, says that Capt.
Semmes fought on point of honor"
This point Of honor was not raised by
him, Dut was OVeFWnClmlnSly pressed
upon him by those around him. Semmcs
had been wined, dined and feted by
British officers in every port he visited.
and was received with almost as much
enthusiasm by the French. He could
not maintain this position by avoiding
a fight. Mr. Slidell admits this in his
communication. in which he says that
when going to meet the Emperor on
Sunday morning at the race course at
Fontainebleau he distinctly informed
the high officers of state whom he
met that the fight which he believed
was then going on had been forced
upon Capt. Semmes 1t was not until
Saturday morning. according to all the
evidence that can be collected, that
Capt Semmes finally decided to go out
and fight. He prepared for this in a
way that has excited much derisive
comment The chfonome:er s the
most expensive article of any one of
a merchant ships equipment. and Capt
Semmes had taken the chronometer
from every vessel which he had de-
stroyed. and had 45 of these arranged
in a row in his cabin, which he proudly
displayed as trophies. like an Indian
chief showing his seslps. His fret step
was to send all these chronometers
ashore for safe keeping, together with
a large amount of money that he had