Cruise and Captures of the Alabama

by Albert M. Goodrich

The astonishment and consternation of Captain Abraham Osborn when he realized that he was a prisoner and that his ship and cargo were subject to confiscation, can only be imagined. International law, which is so careful of property rights on land, affords no protection whatever at sea in the presence of a hostile force. The ship was the Ocmulgee, of Edgartown, Massachusetts. Captain and crew were removed to the deck of the Alabama and placed in irons. Some beef, pork and other stores were also transferred, and the ship left, anchored to the whale, as Captain Semmes did not wish to burn her during the night, for fear of alarming other whaling masters, who were probably not far away. Next morning the torch was applied, and the most of the Alabama’s crew saw for the first time a burning ship.

Sunday, September 7th, the Alabama approached the south shore of the island of Flores, one of the westernmost of the Azore group, and the crew of the Ocmulgee were permitted to pull ashore in their own whaleboats. At four o’clock p. m. the Alabama filled away to head off a schooner which appeared to be running in for the island, and hoisted the English flag. The schooner failed to respond, and a gun was fired, but she still held her course. A shot was fired across her bow, but even this failed to stop her. Then a shot whistled between her fore and main masts, and the futility of attempting to escape being apparent, she rounded to and hoisted the United States flag. Her master, a young man not over twenty-eight, was well aware of the fate which had befallen him. His vessel was the Starlight, from Boston, and he was homeward bound from the Azores, having on board a number of passengers to be landed at Flores, including several ladies. He also had dispatches from the American consul at Fayal to Secretary Seward, narrating the proceedings of the Alabama at Terceira. The captain and the six seamen who constituted his crew, were placed in irons. Next day the cruiser proceeded again to the island of Flores, and sent the prisoners on shore in a boat.

Captures near the Azores.

The obliging governor of the island paid the Alabama a visit, and offered her officers the hospitalities of the place. In the afternoon (Sept. 8th) the whaling bark Ocean Rover, of New Bedford, Massachusetts, was captured. She had been out over three years, had sent home one or two cargoes of oil, and now had about 1,100 barrels of oil on board. The captain and crew were permitted to pull ashore in their six whale boats, into which they had conveyed a considerable quantity of their personal effects.

Before daylight the next morning Captain Semmes was aroused and notified that a large bark was close by. She proved to be the Alert, of New London, Connecticut, sixteen days out. Her crew pulled ashore in their boats. During the day the three prizes (Starlight, Ocean Rover and Alert) were burned. While the hulks were still smoking the schooner Weathergauge, of Provincetown, Massachusetts, was captured. This vessel and the Alert brought plenty of Northern newspapers, and those on board the cruiser were thus informed of the progress of the war. The whaler Eschol, of New Bedford, came near enough to make out the burning vessels with a glass, but her master kept her close to the shore, determined to run her upon the beach rather than permit her to be captured, and she escaped without being seen.

On September 13th the brig Altamaha, of New Bedford, fell a prey to the spoiler, and during the night the Benjamin Tucker, of the same town met a like fate. The boarding officer on this occasion was Master’s Mate G. T. Fullam, an Englishman, whose home was at Hull. He wrote in his diary:

Darkness prevented us knowing who she was, so I went on board to examine her papers, which, if Yankee, I was to signal it and heave to until daylight. What I did on boarding this vessel was the course usually adopted in taking prizes. Pulling under the stern, I saw it was the whaling ship Benjamin Tucker, of and from New Bedford. Gaining the quarter deck, I was welcomed with outstretched hands.

The unsuspecting master answered all questions promptly touching the character of his ship and cargo, and was then told that the vessel was a prize to the Confederate States steamer Alabama. This ship had 340 barrels of oil and made a brilliant bonfire. One of the crew, a Hollander, shipped on the Alabama. Early the next morning (Sept. 16th) the whaling schooner Courser, of Provincetown, Massachusetts, was captured. The Alabama then ran in toward Flores, and to the rapidly increasing colony of shipless mariners on that island were added the sixty-eight seamen forming the crews of the last three prizes. The Courser was used as a target until dark and then burned.