The Story of the Kearsarge and Alabama

by A. K. Browne

The Alabama's wounded were brought on board the Kearsarge for surgical attendance. Seventy persons, including five officers, were saved by the boats. The conduct of Dr. Llewellyn, native of Wales, Assistant Surgeon of the Alabama, deserves mention. He was unremitting in attention to the wounded during the battle, and after the surrender, superintended their removal to the Kearsarge, nobly refusing to leave the ship while one remained. This humane duty performed, with inability to swim, he caused two empty shell boxes to be attached to his waist, an improvised life-preserver, and thus prepared leaped overboard. In the hurried adjustment of the shell boxes, sufficient care was not taken to maintain the center of gravity, the unfortunate gentleman failed to keep his head above water, and before aid could be derived from his struggling comrades, he was dead.

At 3.10 P.M. the Kearsarge anchored in Cherbourg harbor; the wounded were transferred the same evening to the [Hôpital] la Marine, and all the prisoners, officers excepted, were paroled and set on shore before sunset. The crew of both vessels harmonized after the fight, the conquerors sharing their clothes, supper, and grog with the conquered.

The total casualties of the Alabama are not known, estimated at forty-seven—a striking contrast to the three of the Kearsarge. Two of these three recovered; one, the brave Gowin, died in hospital. The behavior of this gallant sailor during and after the battle, as described by the Executive Officer and Surgeon, is worthy of the highest commendation. Stationed at the after-pivot gun, by the explosion of a shell, he was seriously wounded in the left thigh and leg; in the agony of pain, and exhausted from the loss of blood, he dragged himself to the forward hatch, concealing the severity of injury, that his comrades might not leave their stations for his assistance: fainting, he was lowered to the care of the surgeon, whom poor Gowin, in acuteness of suffering, greeted with a smile, saying: "Doctor, I can fight no more and so come to you, but it is all right, I am satisfied, for we are whipping the Alabama;" and subsequently: "I will willingly lose my leg or my life if it is necessary." Lying upon his mattress he paid strict attention to the progress of the fight, as far as could be elicited by the sounds on deck—his face beaming with satisfaction whenever the cheers of his shipmates were heard; with difficulty he waved his hand over his head and joined in each exulting shout with a feeble voice. At times he would comfort the other wounded by an earnest assurance that "victory is ours!" Directly after the fight he desired the surgeon to render him no further attention, for he was "doing well," requesting that all his time should be devoted to the "poor fellows of the Alabama." In the hospital he was resigned, thankful for being the only victim, proud of his ship and shipmates, frequently asserting his willingness to die after so glorious a victory. "This man, so interesting by his courage and resignation," wrote the French surgeon-in-chief, with uniform patience and cheerfulness, enlisted general sympathy; all anxiously desired his recovery and sincerely regretted his decease. Certainly one of the most interesting events of the action is the heroic conduct of the brave Gowin.

An incident that ever occasions gratification in its relation, was the singular coincidence of the lowering of the rebel colors by an early shot from the Kearsarge, and the unfolding of the victorious flag by a shot from the last volley of the Alabama, prior to surrender. At the main peak of the Kearsarge the colors were stopped, that they might be displayed if the ensign was carried away, and to serve as the emblem of victory in case of a happy success. It will be remembered that the Alabama's colors were brought down by a shot from one of the first broadsides of the Kearsarge,—an auspicious omen for the sailor at the commencement of battle. A shot from the last broadside of the Alabama passed high over the Kearsarge, striking and carrying away the halyards of the colors at the main peak, and in so doing, pulled sufficiently to break the stop, and thereby unfurled the triumphant flag at the moment the rebel ensign was struck in token of submission.

The Alabama was destroyed—the Kearsarge being so little damaged, that if required, could have engaged another enemy. It is surprising that the Alabama's fire should have produced so moderate an injury, for, according to report, over three hundred shot and shell were discharged; of these, thirteen took effect in the hull, and fifteen in sails, rigging, boats, and smoke-stack. Luckily, a one hundred and ten-pounder rifle shell which lodged in the stern post, raising the transom frame, and a thirty-two-pounder shell that entered forward of forward-pivot port, crushing water-ways, did not explode.

Captain Semmes, in his official report, says: "At the end of the engagement it was discovered by those of our officers who went alongside the enemy's ship with the wounded, that her midship section on both sides was thoroughly iron-coated. This planking had been ripped off in every direction by our shot and shell, the chain broken and indented in many places, and forced partly into the ship's side. The enemy was heavier than myself, both in ship, battery, and crew; but I did not know until the action was over that she was also iron-clad." The chain-plating of the Kearsarge, the "iron-clad" of Captain Semmes, consisted of one hundred and twenty fathoms of sheet chains covering a space amid-ships of forty-nine and one-half feet in length by sixteen feet two inches in depth, stopped up and down to eyebolts with marlines, secured by iron-dogs and employed for the purpose of protecting the engines when the upper part of the coal bunkers was empty, as happened during the action. The chains were concealed by inch deal boards as a finish. The chain-plating was struck twice, by a thirty-two pound shot in starboard gangway, which cut the chain and bruised planking, and by a thirty-two-pounder shell, [which] broke a link of the chain, exploded, and tore away a portion of the deal covering. Had the shot been from the one hundred and ten-pounder rifle, the result would have been different, though without serious damage, because the shot struck five feet above the water line, and if sent through the side would have cleared the machinery and boilers. It is proper therefore to assert that in the absence of the chain-armor the result would have remained the same, notwithstanding the common impression at the time, of an "iron clad" contending with a wooden vessel. The chains were attached to the ship's side more than a year previous to the fight, while at the Azores; in subsequent visits to European ports they had attracted notice and caused repeated comment. Strange that Captain Semmes did not know of the chain-armor before the fight; supposed rebel spies had been on board, there was no attempt at concealment; the same pilot was employed by both vessels and visited each during the preparation for battle.

One hundred and sixty-three was the number of the crew of the Kearsarge, including officers; that of the Alabama not definitely known, but from the most reliable information estimated at nearly the same. The tonnage of the former 1031, of the latter 1044. The battery of the Kearsarge consisted of seven guns, two eleven-inch pivots, smooth bore, one twenty-eight-pounder rifle, and four light thirty-two pounders; that of the Alabama of eight guns, one sixty-eight-pounder pivot, smooth bore, one one hundred and ten-pounder rifle pivot, and six heavy thirty-two pounders. Five guns were fought by the Kearsarge, seven by the Alabama, both with the starboard batteries. The Kearsarge had made thirteen and one-half knots an hour under steam, the Alabama never exceeded thirteen, and at the time of the action was only equal to ten. The vessels were not unequally matched in size, speed, crew, and armament, displaying a similarity not often witnessed in naval battles. The contest was decided by the superiority of the eleven-inch Dahlgrens over the Blakely rifle and smooth bore, in connection with the greater coolness and accuracy in aim of the gunners of the Kearsarge.

"So ends the story of the Alabama," quoting again from the Liverpool Courrier, "whose journal would be the most interesting volume of ocean literature; whose ubiquity scared the commerce of America from the seas; whose destructive powers have ruined property belonging to the northerns valued at upwards of three millions of money; whose actions very nearly involved these countries in war with the United States. The Americans are indignant that the ship was built by British hands, of British oak, armed with British guns, and manned by British sailors."

Numerous inaccuracies, suppressions, exaggerations, and discrepancies exist in most of the accounts of this renowned naval engagement. The first reports published in Europe were characterized by contradictions sufficient to confuse any reader. This variance was noted by the London Daily News in the following manner: "The sceptic who called history a matter-of-fact romance, should have lived in our day, when a naval action is fought off Cherbourg on a Sunday, and reported to the London and Paris newspapers on the Monday morning, no two reports agreeing in any single fact, except in the result. In our enlightened epoch of incessant, instantaneous, and universal inter-communication, the difficulty of getting at the simple facts of any passing incident, in which conflicting sympathies are concerned, increases in proportion to the increasing celerity and certainty with which the materials of history are gathered. Some allowance, no doubt, may be made for eyewitnesses on shore of a naval engagement seven miles out at sea. Their 'powerful glasses' are liable to that peculiar inaccuracy of sight which distance, excitement, and smoke produce. A French gentleman, for instance, who from Cherbourg Breakwater looked on at the American duel on Sunday last, wrote a graphic letter to the Debats, with a [postscript] to the effect that he had just discovered that the account in his letter was entirely wrong."

Here ends the present story of the Kearsarge and Alabama. It is the truth told honestly.