“It’s impossible,” said he. “She’s simply coming around!”
Another officer approached the commander of the Kearsarge.
“That beastly yacht is carrying off our men,” said he. “Better bring her to, Captain!”
“No Englishman who carries the flag of the Royal Yacht Squadron can so act!” Winslow replied,—somewhat pettishly. “She’s simply coming around.”
But she never “came around,” and Captain Raphael Semmes was soon safe upon British soil. He had fought a game fight. The superior gunnery of the sailors of the Kearsarge had been too much for him. Nine of his crew were dead and twenty-one wounded, while the Kearsarge had no one killed and but three wounded; one of whom died shortly afterwards.
Thus,—the lesson is:
If you want to win: Learn how to shoot straight!
Captain Raphael Semmes died quietly at Mobile, Alabama, August 30th, 1877. His ill-fated Alabama had inflicted a loss of over seven million dollars upon the commerce of the United States.