Cruise and Captures of the Alabama

by Albert M. Goodrich

Captain Semmes seems to have borne his honors with a becoming grace, and to have made a good impression upon his army of visitors. Bartelli, the captain’s steward, acted as master of ceremonies, and refused to admit any one until his or her card had first been sent in, and he had very diplomatic ways of getting rid of people who did not impress him as being of the proper social standing. Invitations to make visits on shore were showered upon the officers and some of them were accepted. Quires of paper were consumed in autographs, and the officers posed for their photographs on deck.

The Alabama remained here and at Simons Bay until August 15th under various pretexts of needed repairs. The United States consul made the claim that the Sea Bride had been captured within the marine league, and also that while in charge of the prize crew she had approached within a mile and a half of the shore. On the 8th the Tuscaloosa came into Simons Bay, and the consul protested that her proper name was the Conrad, that she had never been condemned in an admiralty court, that her original cargo of wool was still on board, and that the mere fact that two brass guns and a dozen men had been transferred to her decks could not deprive her of the character of a prize, which it would be unlawful to bring into a British port. Governor Wodehouse decided both of these cases in favor of the Confederates, but having reported the facts to the British government, his action in the case of the Tuscaloosa was disapproved. Accordingly, when that vessel again appeared in port he caused her to be seized. This proceeding was also disapproved at London, on the ground that having once found an asylum in a British port, she had a right to expect similar treatment in the future. This diplomatic controversy was many months in progress, and before a final decision was arrived at there were no Confederate officers at the Cape to whom she could be delivered. After the war she was transferred to her original owners.

August 9th the Alabama steamed out from Cape Town, bound for Simons Bay. As she passed out of the harbor two American ships were sighted by the signalman on shore. But they were warned of their danger by some boats, and, the weather being foggy, they got inside the marine league without being seen by the Confederates. The same day the Alabama captured the bark Martha Wenzel near the entrance to False Bay, but, having taken his bearings, Captain Semmes decided that the capture had been made in British waters, and accordingly released her, much to the joy of her commander, who had expected to witness her destruction.

August 28th the Alabama arrived at Angra Pequeña Bay, on the west coast of Africa, more than a hundred miles north of the northern boundary of the Cape Colony, whither the Tuscaloosa and Sea Bride had preceded her. The harbor was good, but the country was a rainless, sandy, rock-bound desert, without so much as a shrub or a blade of grass; and no nation had as yet set up any claim to it.

At last Captain Semmes had found a port into which he could take a prize. The few naked and half starved Hottentots who appeared made no remonstrance against the violation of neutrality.

The Sea Bride and her cargo were sold to a Cape Town merchant for about one-third of their value, he to take the risk arising from the fact that she had never been condemned in a prize court, and the money was paid and possession given him at this secluded place. Here also was deposited the wool from the Tuscaloosa, to be picked up by another speculator, who was to ship it to Europe and credit the Confederate government with two-thirds of the proceeds. Two months later the Vanderbilt visited Angra Pequeña and captured there the British bark Saxon, having a large part of the wool on board, and sent her to a prize court in the United States.

The United States consul at Cape Town, having heard of the Alabama’s little mark down sales, protested against the vending of any of the goods within the colony by the purchasers. After much delay and difficulty the cargo of the Sea Bride was peddled out in Madagascar and elsewhere, and the vessel herself turned adrift—for a consideration—with the understanding that certain persons should pick her up as a derelict.

When the Alabama returned to Simons Town, she found the Vanderbilt had been there, and had, moreover, taken in all the coal which was to be had in the place. The Vanderbilt was an enormous consumer of coal, a fact which interfered considerably with her movements in a quarter of the world where coal was so high in price and so uncertain in supply. Lieutenant Baldwin had fairly turned the tide of popular opinion in his favor by his magnanimous conduct in the case of a Dutch bark, which the Vanderbilt found in a disabled state a hundred miles from the shore, and which she towed safely into a harbor. Lieutenant Baldwin declined to accept any part of the salvage which he might have claimed, and although he was delayed some twenty-four hours in his chase of Confederate cruisers by the incident, the improved feeling toward the United States government in South Africa was of much greater value. The three months rule was so far relaxed that the Vanderbilt coaled three times in British ports within three months, instead of only once, as the rule prescribed. Permission to coal a fourth time was, however, denied.

Not being able to procure any coal at Simons Bay, Captain Semmes had a supply sent around from Cape Town in a merchant vessel. Meanwhile the crew were permitted to have shore liberty, and nearly the entire number, including the petty officers, proceeded to get as drunk as possible. A week was spent in getting the unruly fellows on board and coaling ship. On September 24th, finding himself still fourteen hands short, Captain Semmes shipped eleven new ones at Simons Bay, although this was in direct violation of the British neutrality act. The Vanderbilt was reported not far outside the bay, but the Alabama succeeded in avoiding her, and steamed out to sea the same night in the teeth of a southeast gale.