The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1921-10-28

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but interesting group among the sur
vivors Of the Confederacy in attend
ence on the reunion were the naval
contingent and no body of veterans
1t the gathering are more deserving
0f the cheers Of Dixieland than those
representatives of men who sailed the
seven seas with Semmes. with Maffitt
and Waddell, served the guns aboard
the Merrimac, the Arkansas, and the
Tonnessee; cut out the enemy's ships
under John Taylor Woods leadership
|. or led by Hunter Davidson, blew the
enemy up.
The Confederate army in size and
IN accomplishments completely over
shadowed the little naval establish
ment, and the feats Of the seaman
have received tardy recognition at the
home and elsewhere, except perhaps
at the hands of the Geneva Tribunal
which awarded damages Of SIS. 5.6OO,O 900
against Great Britain In connection
with the depredations of Confederate
cruisers upon United States commerce.
A former superintendent of the IT,
8. Naval records has given the Con-
.federatc Navy credit for developing
and fighting ironclads. creating the
ironclad ram, creating the best and
most effective gun Of the war the
Brooke rifle, creating and extending
the torpedo service, and operating the
first successful submarine torpedo
boat. 1t was an army officer, George
II. Dixon of the 2lst Alabama, though
IaI lao OF Qtth-
marine when she finally achieved her
illfated victory by sinking the u. S. s.
Housatonic and going 10 q water grave
beside her.
knights Errant Of War
Shut off from home ports by a
vigilant blockade, without adequate
means OF communicating with Rich
| mond. and thrown constantly on! their
own resources. the officers of the Con-
federate Navy upon the high sens were
the knights errant of the was. and
worthy representatives Of the academy,
which claimed as its first head Frank
lin Buchanan. the fighting admi.ul Of
the Cotfedoracy.
Raphael Semmes, who received the
rank of rear admiral in the Confed'
crate Navy in recognition Of his serv'
ices aboard the Alabama. captured 90
odd United States vessels and sank
one. the Hatteras, In action, in the
| >ccurse of his cruising on the Alabama
Ind captured IS others while command
| ing the Sumter, a converted packet
boat Though commonly referred to
about Washington in the Sixties as q
''pirate" he has come to be recognized
| as one of the most exact exponents OF
law that the seas has ever known
"He had the most extensive practice
IN conducting naval warfare that has
ever fallen TO the lot of any naviga
tor" and in the language of a recent
assistant attorney general of the
k,United States Critts, 1919. was the
most accurate Of all seamen in the ap
Yalication' OF the law to the facts"
ROosevelts Tribute
He never, even in the bitterest time
of the Civil War, sank ship without
providng for the safety of its pas
sengers," the late Theodore Roosevelt
said in 1918 in speech at St. Paul
rosevelt's uncle, Commander Jane.
D. Rulloch, c. s. n, by the way, was
highly interested witness at the
christening of the Alabama off the
Azores.
But Semmes was more by goot
IDEAL than a sea lawyer" He was NJ
acxtraordinary seaman. eludng captur,
by the countless United States vessels
cent in search of him for three years
twicc escaping from the island Of Mar
Unique. once in the Sumter and latel
In the Alabama. while superior u. $
vessels lay outside prepared TO sinl
him when he came out. He was ais,
q wonderful commander. From th'
day he hoisted the flag Of the Sumter
to the breezes of the Gulf, June 80
1861, TIL the flag of the sinking Ala
Sama was hauled down off Cherbourg
'une 10. 1864. he never lost maj
.om disease on either ship.
The "FlOrida's" Career Picturesque
The only Confederate flag to re
eive the salute of q foreign power