One of the many United States vessels that was engaged in a hunt for the Alabama was the Kearsarge, Captain John Ancrum Winslow. She was of 1,030 tons, carried 7 guns, and had a crew of 163 men, nearly all of whom were Americans. On Sunday, July 12, 1864, while lying off the town of Flushing, Holland, Captain Winslow received a dispatch from Minister W.L. Dayton, at Paris, notifying him that the Alabama had arrived at Cherbourg, France. Winslow lost no time in steaming thither, and reached Cherbourg on Tuesday, where he saw the cruiser across the breakwater with the Confederate flag defiantly flying.
Winslow did not dare enter the harbor, for, had he done so, he would have been obliged, according to international law, to remain twenty-four hours after the departure of the Alabama, which would thereby gain all the opportunity she needed for escape. He, therefore, took station off the port, intending to wait until the cruiser came out.
This precaution, however, was unnecessary, for Semmes, grown bold by his long career of destroying unarmed merchantmen, had resolved to offer the Kearsarge battle. He sent a challenge to Captain Winslow, couched in insulting language, and the Union officer promptly accepted it.
The news of the impending battle was telegraphed far and wide, and excursion trains were run from Paris and other points to Cherbourg. On Sunday, June 19th, fully 15,000 people lined the shores and wharves, and among them all it may be doubted whether there were more than a hundred whose sympathies were not keenly on the side of the Alabama. France was intensely in favor of the Southern Confederacy, and nothing would have pleased Louis Napoleon, the emperor, better than to see our country torn apart. He did his utmost to persuade England to join him in intervening against us.
With a faint haze resting on the town and sea, the Alabama steamed slowly out of the harbor on Sunday morning, June 19th, and headed toward the waiting Kearsarge. The latter began moving seaward, as if afraid to meet her antagonist. The object of Captain Winslow, however, was to draw the Alabama so far that no question about neutral waters could arise, and in case the Alabama should be disabled, he did not intend to give her the chance to take refuge in Cherbourg.
THE SINKING OF THE "ALABAMA," THE MOST FAMOUS OF ALL CONFEDERATE CRUISERS.
The battle between the Kearsarge and the Alabama took place off the coast of Holland, June, 1864. "The famous cruiser was going down, and the boats of the Kearsarge were hurriedly sent to help the drowning men. The stern settled, the bow rose high in the air, the immense ship plunged out of sight, and the career of the Alabama was ended forever."
Three miles was the neutral limit, but Captain Winslow continued to steam out to sea until he had gone nearly seven miles from shore. Then he swung around and made for the Alabama. As he did so, Captain Semmes delivered three broadsides, with little effect. Then fearing a raking fire, Captain Winslow sheered and fired a broadside at a distance of little more than half a mile, and strove to pass under the Alabama's stern, but Semmes also veered and prevented it.
Since each vessel kept its starboard broadside toward the other, they began moving in a circular direction, the current gradually carrying both westward, while the circle narrowed until its diameter was about a fourth of a mile.