Confederate States Steamer Alabama.

CRUISE AND CAPTURES
OF THE
ALABAMA

By Albert M. Goodrich

MINNEAPOLIS
THE H. W. WILSON CO.
1906

Copyright 1906, by Albert M. Goodrich.

Lumber Exchange Printing Co.

PREFACE.

The publication of the naval records of the Rebellion, both Union and Confederate, makes it possible to take a comprehensive view of the career of the famous cruiser. In addition to these, Captain Semmes kept a diary, which after the close of the war he expanded into a very full memoir. Various officers of the vessel also kept diaries, and wrote accounts of their adventures, The long report of the Geneva Tribunal of Arbitration, and various consular reports contain a great deal of information in regard to the Alabama’s inception and operations. All this voluminous material has been gone over with care in the preparation of this volume, and the facts are set forth in a trustworthy, and it is hoped also, in a readable form.

CONTENTS

CRUISE AND CAPTURES OF THE ALABAMA.

CHAPTER I.

ENGLAND AND THE BLOCKADE.

In the decade preceding the Civil War in America the carrying trade of the United States had grown into a vast industry. The hardy seamen of New England had flung out the stars and stripes to every breeze, and cast anchor in the most remote regions where a paying cargo might be found. Up to October, 1862, they hardly felt that they had more at stake in the war of the Rebellion than any other loyal citizens. But in that month the news swept along the seaboard that the Alabama lay within a few days’ sail of their harbors, dealing out swift vengeance upon all Northern vessels which came in her way.

Whether or not the decline of American shipping is principally due to unwise legislation, certain it is that its downfall dates from the appearance in the mid-Atlantic of this awful scourge of the seas. Northern newspapers called the craft a pirate, and no other word seemed to the New England sea captains adequate to describe the ruthless destroyer. Although regularly commissioned by the Confederate government, she never entered a Confederate port from the time she left the stocks until she tried conclusions with the Kearsarge off the coast of France; and this, together with the further fact that her crew was chiefly of European origin—largely English—was used as an argument that she could not be considered as a legitimate vessel of war. None of the great nations of the world adopted this view, however, and she was everywhere accorded the same treatment that was extended to war vessels of the United States.

Early in 1861 there sprang up in England a thriving trade in arms and munitions of war. While the cotton spinners of Lancashire were suffering from the loss of their usual supply of raw material, owing to the blockade of the ports of the Confederacy, the merchants of Liverpool were turning their attention to supplying the belligerants with the equipment necessary for the continuance of the conflict. Sales were made directly or indirectly to the Federal government, but the higher prices offered in the South tempted many to engage in the more hazardous traffic with the government at Richmond.

As the blockade gradually became more efficient, insurance companies refused longer to take the risk of loss on Southern commerce. But it still went on. The owners of a blockade runner were certain of enormous profits if they could succeed in getting through the lines, but, if captured, both vessel and cargo were confiscated by the Federal prize courts. The sleepy little village of Nassau in the Bahama islands awoke to find itself a great commercial emporium, and immense quantities of goods were soon collected there, awaiting transshipment within the Confederate lines.

According to the law of nations, vessels of neutral countries were not subject to seizure, unless actually attempting to run the blockade. Consequently, ocean steamers could land their cargoes at the English port of Nassau without danger, while smaller vessels, having less draught than the Federal war ships, could make the short run to the coast with better chances of escape. Liverpool was the principal European depot for this traffic, as Nassau was its principal depot on this side of the Atlantic.

In the spring of 1862 Confederate agents in England were still talking about the “paper blockade,” but English merchants whose goods were piled up at Nassau found the blockade much more real than it had been represented to be. Their anxiety was somewhat lessened by the circulation of rumors that the blockade was shortly to be raised. Confederate vessels of war were to make an opening in the encircling fleets, and the blockade was to become so lax that it would no longer be recognized by European governments. Eventually these prophecies became tangible enough to connect themselves with a certain mysterious vessel which was at that very time lying in the Mersey awaiting her masts and rigging.

Charles Francis Adams was the United States minister to England, residing at London. The suspected character of the vessel was communicated to him by Thomas H. Dudley, the United States consul at Liverpool, and a strict watch was kept upon her.

Any avowed agent of the United States government had great difficulty in acquiring information of a compromising character. Public opinion in England among the wealthy and influential was strongly in favor of the South. For this there were two reasons—one political, the other commercial. People of rank and those of considerable worldly possessions saw with growing apprehension the rising tide of democracy, not only in England but throughout the world. The feeling of disdain with which the idle rich had so long looked upon those who were “in trade” was beginning to lose its sting, and something like an answering scorn of those who never contributed anything toward the struggle for human subsistence began to be felt. The existence side by side of vast wealth and degrading poverty were more often referred to, and the innate perfection of institutions hoary with antiquity was more often called in question. The dread of an uprising of the “lower classes,” peaceful or otherwise, was strong. The success of Napoleon III. in overturning the second republic of France was greeted with delight and construed to mean the triumph of the privileged classes.

And at last had come that long-deferred failure of republican institutions, which aristocracy and aristocracy’s ancestors had been so confidently predicting—the breaking up of the American republic. The refusal of President Lincoln and the people of the North to acquiesce in the dismemberment of the Union was received at first with surprise and then with indignation. British commerce was seriously interfered with by the blockade. Spindles were idle all through the manufacturing districts in the west of England. And all because a blind and headstrong people persisted in an utterly hopeless war of conquest.

Abhorrence of chattel slavery was well nigh universal among the English people of all classes. Indeed, the existence of that institution in America was one of the principal indictments which aristocracy had been fond of bringing against her. The assertion that the North was waging a war for the extinguishment of slavery was laughed to scorn. Aristocracy pointed to the assertion of Lincoln in his inaugural address, that he had no intention or lawful right to interfere with slavery where it already existed and to similar statements of Republican leaders. The general opinion among the well-to-do classes was that the war was being fought on the part of the North for territory—for empire—or from motives of pride.

On the other hand, the mechanics and artizans were inclined to believe that the war was really a war against slavery, and that in the cause of the North was somehow bound up the cause of the poor and downtrodden generally. So it came about that associations of working men passed resolutions of sympathy with President Lincoln, and the craftsmen of Lancashire, who were the principal sufferers from the cotton famine, kept as their representative in parliament the free trade champion, Richard Cobden, an outspoken friend of the North.

CHAPTER II.

ESCAPE OF THE “290.”

In March, 1862, a steamer just in from an ocean voyage ran up the Mersey, and as she passed the suspected craft the flag of the latter was dipped to her. The new comer was the Annie Childs, and she had run the blockade. But there was more important freight on board than the cargo of cotton which she brought. Consul Dudley gained an interview with some of her crew, and learned that it was understood at Wilmington, South Carolina, whence they had come, that a number of war vessels for the use of the South were building in England, and that several officers for the Oreto, the name by which the suspected vessel was now known, had been passengers in the Annie Childs. These officers had come on board at Smithville, some twenty miles down the river from Wilmington. On the steamer they had talked of their future positions on the Oreto, of which Captain Bulloch was to have the command.

The information thus obtained was hastily transmitted to Mr. Adams, but on the same day, March 22, 1862, the Oreto sailed, bound, so her clearance papers certified, for Palermo and Jamaica. She was next heard from at Nassau, where she had been seized by the British authorities, but she was subsequently released. She afterward ran into the port of Mobile and reappeared as the Confederate war ship Florida.

The complications arising in the case of this vessel warned the Confederate agents to be more guarded in their operations. The British Foreign Enlistment Act provided a penalty of fine and imprisonment and forfeiture of ship and cargo for any person who should “equip, furnish, fit out or arm” any vessel to be employed by any persons or real or assumed government against any other government at peace with Great Britain. This prohibition was generally understood not to extend to the construction of the vessel, no matter for what purpose she might be intended; and the existing state of public opinion was such that it required strong evidence to induce officials to act in a given case and a very well fortified cause of action to induce a jury to convict an owner of breaking the law.

Scarcely was the Oreto beyond English jurisdiction before Mr. Dudley’s attention was occupied with another and more formidable vessel, which was suspected of being intended for the use of the Confederate government. She had been launched from the yard of Laird Brothers at Birkenhead, near Liverpool. The vessel had not yet even received a name, and was still known by her yard number, 290.

On June 29th, 1862, Mr. Adams called the attention of Lord John Russell, who was at the head of the British department of foreign affairs, to the suspicious character of the “290,” and an investigation was ordered. The report of the custom house officers, made July 1, was to the effect that the “290” was still lying at Birkenhead, that she had on board several canisters of powder, but as yet neither guns nor carriages, and added that there was no attempt to disguise the fact that she was intended for a ship of war, and built for a foreign government, but that Laird Brothers did “not appear disposed to reply to any questions respecting the destination of the vessel after she leaves Liverpool.” Having agreed to keep watch of the vessel, British officialdom concluded that it had done its entire duty in the premises, and the matter was dropped. Meanwhile Mr. Adams, who had all along been expecting exactly this result, had been in telegraphic communication with Cadiz, Spain, where the United States steamer Tuscarora had touched, and that war ship was now on her way to Southampton.

Raphael Semmes, Commander of the Alabama.

Mr. Adams had also caused a number of affidavits to be prepared, embodying as much evidence as to the character of the “290” as could be obtained. The affidavit of William Passmore was to the effect that he was a seaman and had served on board the English ship Terrible during the Crimean war. Hearing that hands were wanted for a fighting-vessel at Birkenhead, he applied to Captain Butcher for a berth in her.

“Captain Butcher asked me,” the affidavit continued, “if I knew where the vessel was going, in reply to which I told him I did not rightly understand about it. He then told me the vessel was going out to the government of the Confederate States of America. I asked him if there would be any fighting, to which he replied, yes, they were going to fight for the Southern government. I told him I had been used to fighting-vessels and showed him my papers.”

Captain Butcher then engaged him as an able seaman at £4 10s. per month, and it was arranged that he should go on board the following Monday, which he did, and worked there several weeks. During that time Captain Butcher and Captain Bulloch, both having the reputation of being Confederate agents, were on board almost every day.

This affidavit with five others was laid before the customs officers, but the evidence was adjudged to be insufficient to warrant the detention of the vessel. Determined not to neglect any possible chance of stopping the “290” from getting to sea, the energetic United States minister placed copies of the affidavits before an eminent English lawyer, Mr. R. P. Collier, who arrived at a very different conclusion in regard to them. He said:

“It appears difficult to make out a stronger case of infringement of the foreign enlistment act, which, if not enforced on this occasion, is little better than a dead letter.”

Armed with this opinion, Mr. Adams lost no time in laying it before Lord Russell, together with the affidavits upon which it was based. His success was an agreeable surprise. An official opinion was at last obtained to the effect that the “290” might lawfully be detained, and an order was issued in accordance therewith.

The Confederate agents were well aware of the efforts of Mr. Adams and his assistants, and suspected the nature of the errand of the Tuscarora. Friends of the builders and others were invited to participate in a trial trip of “No. 290” on July 29th. Her armament was not yet on board. The still unfinished deck was decorated with flags, and occupied by a gay party of pleasure seekers, including a number of ladies, and several British custom house officials. The vessel dropped down the Mersey, and the revellers partook of luncheon in the cabin. Then a tug steamed alongside, and the surprised guests were requested to step on board. Bunting and luncheon were hastily hustled out of the way, and holiday ease instantly gave way to the work of getting to sea. Anchor was dropped in Moelfre Bay on the coast of Wales, and preparations for a voyage were rapidly pushed forward. A tug brought out about twenty-five more men, and the crew signed shipping articles for Nassau.

At two o’clock on the morning of July 31st “No. 290” turned her prow toward the Irish sea. On the same morning came the British officials with the order for her detention. Information of the proposed seizure had leaked out through the medium of Confederate spies, and the bird had flown.

Meanwhile the Federal agents had discovered the location of “No. 290” at Moelfre Bay, and the Tuscarora proceeded to Queenstown and thence up St. George’s Channel in quest of her. Mr. Adams telegraphed Captain Craven:

At latest yesterday she was off Point Lynas; you must catch her if you can, and, if necessary, follow her across the Atlantic.

But the fleeing steamer passed through the North Channel, around the north coast of Ireland and vanished in the broad ocean. The Tuscarora at once abandoned the chase.

CHAPTER III.

ARMING AT THE AZORES.

Captain Bulloch had gone ashore with the pilot at the Giant’s Causeway, in the north of Ireland, and the vessel was under the command of Captain Butcher. During the next nine days the “290” struggled with strong head winds and a heavy sea, shaping her course toward the southwest. The speed at which she was driven was attended with some damage to the vessel and considerable discomfort to her crew, but immediate armament was a pressing necessity, and haste was made the first consideration.

On the 10th of August the welcome words “Land ho!” were wafted down from the foremasthead, and the “290” or “Enrica,” as she had been christened in the shipping articles, came to an anchor—not at Nassau, but in the secluded bay of Praya in the little-frequented island of Terceira, one of the Azores. As an excuse for anchoring in their bay Captain Butcher represented to the Portuguese authorities that his engines had broken down. This being accepted as sufficient, the crew set to work ostensibly to repair them, but really to prepare the vessel for the reception of her guns. Three days were spent in quarantine. The inhabitants treated the new comers very civilly, and they were regaled with fruits and vegetables. Water was scarce, and meat had to be brought from Angra, on the other side of the island. On the 13th a United States whaling schooner arrived, and one of the crew of the “Enrica” was indiscreet enough to make known the real character of his vessel, whereupon the whaler hastily departed.

At last, on the 18th of August, the anxiety of Captain Butcher was relieved by the arrival of the bark Agrippina from London, under command of Captain McQueen, with a cargo of ammunition, coal, stores of various kinds, and the necessary guns for the steamer’s armament. In response to the inquiries of the harbor officials her commander stated that she had sprung a leak, which would necessitate repairs before she could resume her voyage.

The next day Captain Butcher ran alongside the bark, and having erected a pair of large shears, proceeded to transfer her cargo to the deck of the “Enrica.” This brought off the Portuguese officials, furious that he should presume to communicate with a vessel which had two more days of quarantine to run. They were told that the Agrippina was in a sinking condition, and a removal of her cargo was absolutely necessary in order to repair the leak. Finally, Captain Butcher, feigning a passion in his turn, protested angrily that he was only performing a service of humanity, and was doing no more for the captain of the bark than any Englishman would do for another in distress.

The Portuguese withdrew, and the transshipment proceeded without further protest. Two days later (August 20th) when this work was nearly completed, the smoke of a steamer was discovered on the horizon. After a period of anxious suspense on board the two vessels, she was made out from signals to be the English steamer Bahama, from Liverpool, commanded by Captain Tessier. She had on board the future officers of the “Enrica,” about thirty more seamen, $50,000 in English sovereigns and $50,000 in bank bills, together with some less important stores. Captain Bulloch was also a passenger in her.

The Bahama took the Agrippina in tow, and the three vessels proceeded around to Angra. Here there was more trouble with the authorities. The latter could hardly help knowing the warlike character of the stores which were being transferred, and notwithstanding the fact that the British flag was flying from all three of the vessels, they suspected some connection between them and the war in America. In common with other European governments, Portugal had issued a proclamation of neutrality, and all her subjects had been warned to conform to the international law governing neutrals.

Captain Bulloch flitted from vessel to vessel, accompanied sometimes by a small man with a gray mustache and wearing citizen’s clothes, whom the officers of the “Enrica” greeted as Captain Semmes, late commander of the Confederate States steamer Sumter. Captain Butcher was still nominally in command, and communications from the shore came addressed to him. An English consul was stationed at Angra, and he sent word that the authorities insisted that the vessels should go to East Angra, as West Angra was not a port of entry. Captain Butcher replied that he wished to take in coal from the bark, and that he would go outside the marine league for that purpose. The three vessels stood along the coast. Gun carriages were hoisted out and as many guns mounted as possible. At night the “Enrica” and the bark returned to Angra. The Bahama kept outside. The next morning the English consul came on board with several custom house officials, and the ships having been regularly entered on the custom house books, Portuguese dignity was satisfied, and peace once more reigned supreme.

Late on Saturday evening, August 23d, the coaling was finished, and six of the eight guns on the “Enrica” were ready for use. The next day the vessels steered for the open sea, and the officers of the newly armed steamer, having made certain beyond the possibility of dispute that they were outside of Portuguese jurisdiction, the seamen were called aft, and Captain Semmes, in full Confederate uniform, stepped upon the quarter deck and read his commission from Jefferson Davis. A starboard gun emphasized the chameleon change, as the British flag dropped to the deck and was replaced by the stars and bars.

The new-made warship now had a commander, but she still had no crew. It was an anxious moment for Captain Semmes. The success of his enterprise lay in the hands of the motley group of sailors before him, representing nearly every country of western Europe, and gathered up in the sailors’ boarding houses of Liverpool. Under written instructions from Captain Bulloch, Clarence R. Yonge, who was to be paymaster, had fraternized with the crew on the outward voyage and done what was possible to impress them with the justice of the Southern cause, and what was probably more to the purpose, told them what might be looked for in the way of pay and prize money. Other emissaries had been equally active among the thirty men who came out in the Bahama. But none of these men had signed anything by which they could be bound, and who could say what notions might be in their heads?

The small band played “Dixie,” and as the last strains died away Captain Semmes began his speech to the crew. He briefly explained the causes of the war as viewed from the Southern standpoint, and said that he felt sure that Providence would bless their efforts to rid the South of the Yankees. The mission of the vessel, he said, was to cripple the commerce of the United States, but he should not refuse battle under proper conditions. There were only four or five Northern vessels which were more than a match for them, and in an English built heart of oak like this and surrounded as he saw himself by British hearts of oak, he would not strike his flag for any one of them.

“Let me once see you proficient in the use of your weapons,” he said, “and trust me for very soon giving you an opportunity to show the world of what metal you are made.”

The cruise would be one of excitement and adventure. They would visit many parts of the world, where they would have “liberty” given them on proper occasions. They would receive about double the ordinary wages, and payment would be made in gold. In addition to this, the Confederate government would vote them prize money for every vessel and cargo destroyed.

When the boatswain’s call announced the close of the meeting eighty men out of the two crews signed the new articles. Those who refused to sign were given free passage to England in the Bahama. Captain Bulloch took a fraternal leave of Captain Semmes, the Bahama and the Agrippina set sail for British waters, and the Confederate States sloop-of-war Alabama went forth on her mission of destruction.

CHAPTER IV.

SEMMES AND HIS OFFICERS.

Captain Raphael Semmes was a typical representative of Southern chivalry. He was an ardent admirer of the South and a firm believer in her peculiar “institution.” His memoirs, written after the war, breathe secession in every line. He was born in Charles county, Maryland, Sept. 27, 1809. At the age of seventeen he received an appointment as midshipman, but did not enter active service until six years later, meanwhile adding the study of law to his naval studies. In 1834, at the end of his first cruise, he was admitted to the bar. In 1837 he was made a lieutenant, and commanded the United States brig Somers, which assisted in blockading the Mexican coast during the war with that country. While in chase of another vessel a terrific gale arose. The Somers was foundered and most of her crew were drowned. A court martial acquitted Semmes of any fault in this matter, and in 1855 was promoted to the rank of commander. In February, 1861, he was a member of the Lighthouse Board, of which body he had been secretary for several years.

The provisional government of the Confederacy was not yet a fortnight old when he was summoned to Montgomery. Hastily resigning his Federal commission, he met Jefferson Davis in that city, and was soon speeding northward on an important mission. Mr. Davis had not yet fully made up his cabinet, had not even a private secretary apparently, for Semmes’ instructions were in Davis’ own handwriting. The funds for the trip were borrowed from a private banker. Semmes visited the arsenals at Richmond and Washington, and the principal workshops in New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts, in search of information and supplies. In New York he procured a large quantity of percussion caps, and shipped them to Montgomery. Thousands of pounds of gunpowder were also shipped southward by him before any hindrance was placed in the way of such operations.

Semmes entered the Confederate navy with the rank of commander, the same which he had held in the Federal service. He was promoted to captain about the time he took command of the Alabama, and near the close of the war was again promoted to rear admiral. April 18th, 1861, he was ordered to take command of the steamer Sumter, at New Orleans. More than a month was spent in converting the innocent packet steamer into a war vessel, and before he could get to sea the mouths of the Mississippi were blockaded by a Federal fleet. The propeller of the Sumter could not be raised, and when she was under sail alone, the propeller dragged through the water, greatly retarding her speed.

On the 30th of June Semmes succeeded in running the blockade, and within a week he had captured eight merchant vessels, six of which he took into the port of Cienfuegos, Cuba. The captain general of Cuba ordered the prizes to be detained until the subject of their disposition could be referred to the Spanish government. Ultimately most governments refused to permit war vessels with prizes of either the United States or the Confederate States to enter their ports. The vessels which were taken into Cienfuegos were turned over to their former owners.

As it was impossible to get into a Confederate port with his prizes, Captain Semmes was forced either to destroy or to release those which he took. After capturing ten more vessels, most of which were burned, the boilers of the Sumter gave out, and she was blockaded by Federal cruisers in the port of Gibraltar. In March, 1862, further efforts to utilize her as a war vessel were abandoned, and her officers made their way to England, where many of them were subsequently assigned to positions in the Alabama. Captain Semmes proceeded to Nassau, where he found a communication from Stephen R. Mallory, the Confederate secretary of the navy, directing him to assume command of the Alabama. In reply he wrote a letter, of which the following is an extract:

Upon my arrival in London I found that the Oreto had been dispatched some weeks before to this place; and Commander Bulloch having informed me that he had your order assigning him to the command of the second ship he was building [the Alabama]. I had no alternative but to return to the Confederate States for orders. It is due to Commander Bulloch to say, however, that he offered to place himself entirely under my instructions, and even to relinquish to me the command of the new ship; but I did not feel at liberty to interfere with your orders.

While in London I ascertained that a number of steamers were being prepared to run the blockade, with arms and other supplies for the Confederate States, and, instead of dispatching my officers at once for these states, I left them to take charge of the ships mentioned, as they should be gotten ready for sea, and run them in to their several destinations—deeming this the best service they could render the government, under the circumstances. I came hither myself, accompanied by my first lieutenant and surgeon—Kell and Gait—a passenger in the British steamer Melita, whose cargo of arms and supplies is also destined for the Confederate States. It is fortunate that I made this arrangement, as many of my officers still remain in London, and I shall return thither in time to take most of them with me to the Alabama.

In obedience to your order assigning me to the command of this ship, I will return by the first conveyance to England, where the joint efforts of Commander Bulloch and myself will be directed to the preparation of the ship for sea. I will take with me Lieutenant Kell, Surgeon Gait and First Lieutenant of Marines Howell—Mr. Howell and Lieutenant Stribling [Stribling had been second lieutenant of the Sumter] having reached Nassau a few days before me, in the British steamer Bahama, laden with arms, clothing and stores for the Confederacy. At the earnest entreaty of Lieutenant-Commanding Maffit, I have consented to permit Lieutenant Stribling to remain with him, as his first lieutenant on board the Oreto (Florida),—the officers detailed for that vessel not yet having arrived. Mr. Stribling’s place on board the Alabama will be supplied by Midshipman Armstrong, promoted, whom I will recall from Gibralter, where I left him in charge of the Sumter. It will, doubtless, be a matter of some delicacy and tact to get the Alabama safely out of British waters without suspicion, as Mr. Adams, the Northern envoy, and his numerous satellites in the shape of consuls and paid agents, are exceedingly vigilant in their espionage.

We cannot, of course, think of arming her in a British port, this must be done at some concerted rendezvous, to which her battery, and a large portion of her crew must be sent in a neutral merchant vessel. The Alabama will be a fine ship, quite equal to encounter any of the enemy’s steam sloops, of the class of the Iroquois, Tuscarora and Dakotah, and I shall feel much more independent in her upon the high seas than I did in the little Sumter.

I think well of your suggestion of the East Indies as a cruising ground, and I hope to be in the track of the enemy’s commerce in those seas as early as October or November next: when I shall, doubtless, be able to lay other rich “burnt offerings” upon the altar of our country’s liberties.

John McIntosh Kell, the first lieutenant of the Alabama, had occupied the same position in the Sumter. He had served twenty years in the United States navy, had been in the war with Mexico, and had seen a great deal of active service. The second lieutenant, R. F. Armstrong, and the third lieutenant, Joseph D. Wilson, also came from the Sumter, and were fresh from the instructions of the United States naval academy at Annapolis. The fourth lieutenant was John Low, an Englishman, and a master of seamanship. The fifth lieutenant, Arthur Sinclair, came of a family which had furnished two captains to the United States navy. The acting master, I. D. Bulloch, was a younger brother of Commander Bulloch. Dr. E. L. Gait, from the Sumter, and the ill-fated Dr. D. H. Llewelyn, of Wiltshire, England, occupied the positions of surgeon and assistant surgeon respectively. Lieutenant of Marines B. K. Howell was a brother-in-law of Jefferson Davis, and Midshipman E. A. Maffit was a son of the commander of the Oreto, soon to be known as the Florida. Other officers were Chief Engineer Miles J. Freeman and three assistants, who were excellent machinists and able to make any repairs which could be made with the appliances on board, Midshipman E. M. Anderson and Master’s Mates G. T. Fullam and James Evans.

First Lieutenant J. McIntosh Kell.

The Alabama was 220 feet long, 32 feet in breadth of beam, and 18 feet from deck to keel. She carried two horizontal engines of 300 horse power each, and had bunkers for 350 tons of coal, sufficient for eighteen days’ continuous steaming. Captain Semmes was, however, very economical with his coal supply and only used the engines for emergencies. The Alabama proved to be a good sailor under canvas, and the greater number of her prizes were taken simply under sail. This enabled the vessel to keep at sea three or four months at a time, and to strike Northern commerce at the most unexpected places, while only once did a Federal war vessel succeed in getting a glimpse of her against the will of her commander.

The engines were provided with a condensing apparatus, which supplied the crew with water. The Alabama was barkentine rigged, her standing gear being entirely of wire rope. Her propeller was so built as to be readily detached from the shaft, and in fifteen minutes could be lifted out of the water in a well constructed for the purpose, and so would not impede the speed of the vessel when under sail. On the main deck the vessel was pierced for twelve guns, but carried only eight; one Blakely hundred-pounder rifled gun, pivoted forward, one eight-inch solid-shot gun, pivoted abaft the mainmast, and three thirty-two pounders on each side.

The semicircular cabin at the stern, with its horse-hair sofa and horse-shoe shaped table, was appropriated to the use of Captain Semmes, and became the center of attraction for hero-worshippers when the vessel was in port. A little forward of the mizzen mast was the steering apparatus, a double wheel inscribed with the French motto:

“Aide-toi et Dieu t’aidera.”[1]

CHAPTER V.

DESTRUCTION OF THE WHALERS.

The Confederate flag was first hoisted on the Alabama, Sunday, August 24th, 1862. When once the shipping articles had been signed coaxing and persuasion were at an end, and the man with the gray mustache had become a dictator, to disobey whom meant severe or even capital punishment. Semmes says:

The democratic part of the proceedings closed as soon as the articles were signed. The “public meeting” just described was the first and last ever held on board the Alabama, and no other stump speech was ever made to the crew. When I wanted a man to do anything after this, I did not talk to him about “nationalities” or “liberties” or “double wages,” but I gave him a rather sharp order, and if the order was not obeyed in “double-quick,” the delinquent found himself in limbo. Democracies may do very well for the land, but monarchies, and pretty absolute monarchies at that, are the only successful governments for the sea.

The hasty transfer of stores to the deck of the vessel, a large part of which had been accomplished in a rolling sea, had not been favorable to an orderly bestowal. A gale sprang up, and the boxes and chests on deck went tumbling about. The hot sun of the Azores had opened seams in the deck and upper works, and the clank of the pumps, so familiar to those who had been in the Sumter during the latter part of her cruise, once more disturbed their dreams.

It was the purpose of Captain Semmes to strike at the American whaling vessels which he knew would be at work in the vicinity of the Azores. The season would close about the first of October, after which time the whales would seek other feeding waters. The following week was spent in getting the pivot guns mounted and in putting the ship in order. The captain was not at once successful in locating the whaling fleet. On Friday, August 29th, a blank shot was fired at a brig which had been pursued all day, but the latter refused to heave to or show her colors, and not having the look of an American craft, the chase was abandoned. Another week was spent in the search, and several vessels were overhauled, but all showed neutral colors. September 5th the Alabama was in chase of a brig which showed very fast sailing qualities, and came unexpectedly upon a ship lying to in mid-ocean with her foretopsail to the mast. Excitement grew apace as a nearer approach justified the opinion that the motionless stranger was a Yankee whaler. The English flag was hoisted on the Alabama, and all doubt was set at rest when the ship responded with the stars and stripes. The chase of the brig was forthwith abandoned. The master of the whaler made no effort to get under way. He had struck a fine large sperm whale, which was now alongside and partly hoisted out of the water by the yard tackles, and his crew were hard at work, cutting it up and getting the blubber aboard. A boat was sent from the Alabama, and as the boarding officer gained the whaler’s deck, the cruiser dropped her false colors, and ran up the Confederate flag.

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.

The forenoon of the next day was taken up with the chase of another whaler, the Virginia, of New Bedford. She was overhauled at noon and burned. The next day (Sept. 18th), with the wind blowing half a gale, the Alabama chased the Elisha Dunbar, also a New Bedford whaler. Both vessels carried their topgallant sails, although the masts bent and threatened to go over the side. In three hours the Alabama had drawn within gunshot, and her master judged it best to obey the summons conveyed by a blank cartridge. Sails were hastily taken in on both vessels. Captain Semmes hesitated somewhat about launching boats in so rough a sea, but he was fearful that the gale would increase and that the prize would escape during the night. The Alabama reached a position to windward of her victim, so that the boats’ crews might pull with the wind and waves, and two of the best boats were launched, gaining the Dunbar’s deck in safety. The Alabama then dropped round to the leeward of the prize, so that the boats might return in the same manner, with the wind. The Dunbar’s master and crew were ordered into the boats, and hastily applying the torch, the boarding officer gained the lee of the Alabama where a rope was thrown to him, and the boats’ crews with their prisoners got on board the cruiser without accident. The fire quickly gathered volume, and the flames streamed heavenward as the doomed ship drove before the blast. The storm burst and thunder and lightning added their magnificence to the sublime scene. The fire was blazing too fiercely to be affected by the rain. Now and then a flaming sail would tear loose from its fastenings and go flying far out over the sea. At last the masts crashed overboard, and only the hull was left to rock to and fro until nearly full of water, and then dive deep into the ocean. This was the only ship burned by Captain Semmes without examining her papers, but as the Elisha Dunbar was a whaler there was little danger of burning any goods belonging to a neutral owner.

In thirteen days the Alabama had destroyed property to the amount of $230,000. Captain Tilton, of the Virginia, had remonstrated with his captor and asked to be released, and Captain Semmes had replied:

“You Northerners are destroying our property, and sending stone fleets to block up our harbors. New Bedford people are holding war meetings and offering $200 bounty for volunteers, and now we are going to retaliate.”

Captain Tilton resented the indignity of being put in irons and was told that this was a measure of retaliation for the treatment which had been meted out to the paymaster of the Sumter, Henry Myers, who was arrested in Morocco by order of the United States consul, put in irons, and sent to New York. During the time Captain Tilton remained on the Alabama (nearly three weeks) he was never permitted to have more than one of his irons off at a time. Captain Gifford and crew, of the Elisha Dunbar, were treated in like manner.

CHAPTER VI.

BURNING THE GRAIN FLEET.

A week of tempestuous weather followed. The prisoners from the last two prizes occupied the open deck, with no other shelter than an improvised tent made from a sail. They were frequently drenched by driving rain or by the waves which washed over the deck, and often awoke at night with their bodies half under water. The seamen of the Alabama, who bunked below, were not much better off, for the main deck above them leaked like a sieve. A few days of pleasant weather were occupied in calking the decks.

The ship was now far to the westward of Flores and at no great distance from the banks of Newfoundland. On the morning of October 3d two sails were seen. The wind was light; both the strangers approached with all sails set, and apparently without the slightest suspicion of any danger. When within a few hundred yards the Alabama fired a gun and ran up the Confederate flag. There was nothing to be done but to surrender. The prizes proved to be the Brilliant and the Emily Farnum, both conveying cargoes of grain and flour from New York to England. The boarding officer clambered up the side of the Brilliant and ordered Captain Hagar to go on board the Alabama with his ship’s papers. Having been shown into the cabin of the cruiser, the master was subjected to a sharp cross-examination, in the course of which he said that part of his cargo was on English account.

“Do you take me for a d—d fool?” demanded Captain Semmes. “Where are the proofs that part of your cargo is on English account?”

The papers not having any consular certificates attached, were not accepted as proof of foreign ownership. The beautiful vessel, containing all the worldly wealth of her captain, who owned a one-third interest in her, was doomed to destruction.

The master of the Emily Farnum was more fortunate. His ship’s papers showed conclusively that the cargo was owned in England, and was therefore not subject to seizure. He was ordered to take on board his vessel the crew of the Brilliant and also the suffering prisoners on the Alabama and proceed on his voyage. The Brilliant was then set on fire. Fullam wrote in his diary:

It seemed a fearful thing to burn such a cargo as the Brilliant had, when I thought how the Lancashire operatives would have danced for joy had they it shared among them. I never saw a vessel burn with such brilliancy, the flames completely enveloping the masts, hull and rigging in a few minutes, making a sight as grand as it was appalling.

The Alabama was now in the principal highway of commerce between America and Europe. English, French, Prussian, Hamburg and other flags were displayed at her summons upon the passing merchant vessels. If any doubt arose as to the nationality of any vessel, she was boarded and her master compelled to produce his papers. Masters’ Mate Evans was an adept in determining the nationality of merchant ships. Captain Semmes soon learned that if Evans reported after a look through the glass, “She’s Yankee, sir,” he was absolutely sure of a prize if he could get within gunshot; and conversely, when Evans said, “Not Yankee, sir; think she’s English, sir,” (or French or Spanish as the case might be), it was a waste of time to continue in pursuit, for to whatever nation she might prove to belong, she was invariably a neutral of some kind.

Master’s Mate G. T. Fullam.

On October 7th the bark Wave Crest, with grain for Cardiff, Wales, ran into the Alabama’s net. She was used as a target, and in the evening was burned. The deceptive glare proved a decoy for the brigantine Dunkirk, also grain laden, bound for Lisbon, and she, too, was fired. One of the crew of the Dunkirk was recognized as George Forest, who had deserted from the Sumter when she lay at Cadiz some ten months previously. He was duly tried by court-martial and sentenced to serve without pay. This was found later to be a grievous mistake. Forest was a born mutineer, was a glib talker, and acquired great influence among the crew. Had he possessed the added qualification of being able to hold his tongue, the career of the Alabama might some day have been suddenly cut short. But having already had his pay sacrificed, and so, as he said, having nothing to lose, he was often openly defiant, and was constantly undergoing punishment of one sort or another.

The next capture was that of the fine packet ship Tonawanda, bound from Philadelphia to Liverpool with a large cargo of grain and about seventy-five passengers, nearly half of whom were women and children. Captain Semmes was in a dilemma. The Alabama was already crowded with prisoners. But he was reluctant to release so valuable a vessel. A prize crew was put on board, in the hope that the passengers and crew might be transferred to some ship having a neutral cargo, or one of less value than the Tonawanda. Her captain was sent aboard the Alabama as a precautionary measure, and the prisoners of the Wave Crest and Dunkirk transferred to the prize.

The next victim was the fine large ship Manchester. A bond for $80,000 was now exacted from the captain of the Tonawanda, and having added the crew of the Manchester to the crowds on his ship, he was suffered to proceed on his way, much to the delight of his passengers. The Manchester was given to the flames. October 15th the Lamplighter, with tobacco for Gibraltar, was captured and burned. The weather was rough and boarding somewhat dangerous, but the capture and burning were effected without accident.

The newspapers found on the prizes kept Captain Semmes informed in regard to the events of the war and often gave the whereabouts of the Northern cruisers which he wished to avoid. The escape of the “290” was known in New York, but that she would develop in so short a time into the pest of the Atlantic was not thought of. The tactics of Captain Semmes were always the same. A false flag was invariably used until the victim got within striking distance, and then hauled down, to be replaced by the stars and bars. For this purpose flags of various nations were used—French, Spanish, Portuguese and the like, and often that of the United States; but the one most frequently employed was that of Great Britain.

The crew of the Alabama taken as a whole were a turbulent lot. Boarding officers had little or no control over their boats’ crews. Knowing that the guns of the Alabama would answer for their safety, they would rush below like a gang of pirates, staving open chests and boxes and carrying off anything that took their fancy. The clothing and personal effects of sailors were often heartlessly destroyed After being transferred to the Alabama, however, the prisoners were comparatively free from this sort of persecution; and with the exception of being placed in irons, their treatment seems to have been as good as circumstances permitted. As all private looting was contrary to the captain’s orders, the sailors belonging to the boarding crews did not often venture to carry anything on board their own ship which could not readily be concealed. Whisky they frequently did find, and occasionally one of them had to be hoisted over the Alabama’s side, very much the worse for his explorations among the liquid refreshments.

Although directly in the path of American commerce and only a few hundred miles from New York, the United States flag now began to be a rarity. From the 16th to the 20th of October nine vessels were chased and boarded and their papers examined, but all of them were neutrals. The reason is not far to seek. The captain of the Emily Farnum had promised Captain Semmes as one of the conditions of his release, that he would continue his voyage to Liverpool; but the moment he was out of sight, he put his ship about and ran into Boston and gave the alarm. The American shipping interests throughout the seaboard were thrown into an uproar of terror. The experience of Captain Tilton in trying to escape in the Virginia had led him to believe that the Alabama was considerably swifter than she really was, and extravagant estimates of her speed were accepted as true.

Secretary Welles hastily dispatched all the available warships in search of the Alabama, but he put too much trust in the report of her probable future movements, which had been brought in innocently enough by Captain Hagar, and much valuable time was lost beating up and down the banks of Newfoundland and the coast of Nova Scotia, while the Alabama had shifted her position to a point much nearer New York, and thence southward. The sober second thought of the navy department, that with the advent of cold weather the Alabama would seek a field of operations farther south—probably in the West Indies—proved to be correct. But the West Indies was a very large haystack and the Alabama, comparatively, a very small needle.

The Northern newspapers found on the prizes were carefully scanned by the captain and his secretary for valuable information, after which they were passed on to the other officers in the ward room and steerage and thence into the hands of the crew. These teemed with denunciation of the “pirates,” and the members of the crew were described as consisting of “the scum of England,” an expression which rankled in the sailor’s heart and for which he took ample vengeance when his opportunity came.

The name of Captain Semmes became a synonym of heartless cruelty. Captain Tilton said he treated his prisoners and crew like dogs, and Captain Hagar said that it was his custom to burn his prizes at night, so that he might gather round him fresh victims among those who sailed toward the burning ships in order to save human life. The British premier, Lord Palmerston, and his minister of foreign affairs, Lord John Russell, were denounced for letting loose such a fire-brand.

The officers and crew were almost universally referred to as pirates. Indeed, the newspapers had some official warrant for this appellation. In his proclamation calling for 75,000 volunteers after the capture of Fort Sumter, President Lincoln had declared “that if any person, under the pretended authority of said states or under any other pretence shall molest a vessel of the United States, or the persons or cargo on board of her, such persons will be held amenable to the laws of the United States for the prevention and punishment of piracy.”

This proclamation may have served the purpose of frightening off a horde of privateers until the blockading fleets could get into place, but the position taken was clearly untenable when the Confederacy was recognized as a beligerant.

Few United States vessels could get cargoes after the presence of the Alabama off the coast became known. This was true on both sides of the Atlantic. Ship captains on the coast of Portugal offered in vain to transport salt free of charge as ballast. American craft which ventured out took care to have their cargoes well covered with consular certificates of foreign ownership.

On October 16th several days of bad weather culminated in a cyclone, and the Alabama was probably saved from foundering by the prompt action of Lieutenant Low, who was in charge of the deck, and who took the responsibility of wearing ship without waiting to call the captain. The main yard was broken and the main topsail torn to shreds.

CHAPTER VII.

SETTLING A “YANKEE HASH.”

On October 21st, 1862, a large ship was seen carrying a cloud of canvas, and running with great speed before the wind. The reefs of the Alabama’s topsails were shaken out and preparations made to set the topgallant sails in case it should be necessary, and the cruiser ran down diagonally toward the stranger’s path. She was pronounced “Yankee” long before she came within gunshot, and as she drew near a blank cartridge brought her to the wind. The admirable seamanship displayed in bringing her to a speedy halt called forth the praise of even the Alabama’s captain, and one can only wonder that some of her master’s skill was not expended in avoiding this suspicious steamer idling in mid-ocean. The British flag she wore could hardly deceive anybody, after the tales which were told by the captains who were taken into Boston on the Emily Farnum. But doubtless Captain Saunders relied upon the fact that his cargo was well covered with consular certificates, remembering that the Farnum had escaped by having a cargo which was owned abroad.

The prize proved to be the Lafayette, from New York, laden with grain for Belfast, Ireland. Captain Saunders readily obeyed the order of the boarding officer to go on board the Alabama with his ship’s papers. He was shown into the presence of Captain Semmes, and produced his British consular certificate, with the remark that he supposed that was sufficient protection. After a hasty examination, Semmes said:

“New Yorkers are getting smart, but it won’t save it. It’s a d—d hatched up mess.”

The Lafayette was burned.

The decree of the “Confederate Prize Court,” which seems to have comprehended neither more nor less than the Alabama’s commander, was in this case as follows:

CASE OF THE LAFAYETTE.

The ship being under the enemy’s flag and register, is condemned. With reference to the cargo, there are certificates, prepared in due form and sworn to before the British consul, that it was purchased, and shipped on neutral account. These ex parte statements are precisely such as every unscrupulous merchant would prepare, to deceive his enemy and save his property from capture. There are two shipping houses in the case; that of Craig & Nicoll and that of Montgomery Bros. Messrs. Craig & Nicoll say that the grain shipped by them belongs to Messrs. Shaw & Finlay and to Messrs. Hamilton, Megault & Thompson, all of Belfast, in Ireland, to which port the ship is bound, but the grain is not consigned to them, and they could not demand possession of it under the bill of lading. It is, on the contrary, consigned to the order of the shippers; thus leaving the possession and control of the property in the hands of the shippers. Farther: The shippers, instead of sending this grain to the pretended owners in a general ship consigned to them, they paying freight as usual, have chartered the whole ship, and stipulated themselves for the payment of all the freights. If this property had been, bona fide, the property of the parties in Belfast, named in the depositions, it would undoubtedly have gone consigned to them in a bill of lading authorizing them to demand possession of it; and the agreement with the ship would have been that the consignees and owners of the property should pay the freight upon delivery. But even if this property were purchased, as pretended, by Messrs. Craig & Nicoll for the parties named, still, their not consigning it to them and delivering them the proper bill of lading, passing the possession, left the property in the possession and under the dominion of Craig & Nicoll, and as such liable to capture. See 3 Phillimore on International Law, 610, 612, to the effect that if the goods are going on account of the shipper or subject to his order or control, they are good prize. They cannot even be sold and transferred to a neutral in transitu. They must abide by their condition at the time of the sailing of the ship.

The property attempted to be covered by the Messrs. Montgomery Bros, is shipped by Montgomery Bros., of New York, and consigned to Montgomery Bros., in Belfast. Here the consignment is all right. The possession of the property has legally passed to the Belfast house. But when there are two houses of trade doing business as partners, and one of them resides in the enemy’s country, the other house, though resident in a neutral country, becomes also enemy, quoad the trade of the house in the enemy’s country, and its share in any property belonging to the joint concern is subject to capture, equally with the share of the house in the enemy’s country. To this point see 3 Phillimore, 605. Cargo condemned.

The next batch of prizes consisted of the Crenshaw, captured on the 26th of October, the Lauretta captured on the 28th, and the Baron de Castine on the 29th. The Crenshaw brought New York papers containing resolutions denouncing the “pirates,” which had been introduced in the New York Chamber of Commerce by a Mr. Low, who was a member of that body, and had lost considerable property on account of the depredations of the Alabama. The cargoes of the Crenshaw and Lauretta were covered by certificates of foreign ownership, but these were bunglingly gotten up, and evidently made only for the purpose of avoiding condemnation, and Captain Semmes, being well versed in international law, was able to pick flaws in all of them. The Baron de Castine was an old and not very valuable vessel, bound with lumber from the coast of Maine to Cuba. She was released on a ransom bond, and carried the crews of the Lafayette, Crenshaw, and Lauretta, together with the derisive compliments of Captain Semmes to Mr. Low, into the port of New York, then distant only two hundred miles. The other prizes were burned.

The advent of the Baron de Castine carried fresh dismay to the shipping interests along the Atlantic coast. The news that a foreign consular certificate could not be relied upon to furnish protection seemed to sound the death knell of trade carried on in American ships. The representatives of the foreign governments whose seals had been defied were appealed to for assistance in putting an end to the career of the “pirate.” The New York Commercial Advertiser published the following article:

Some important facts have just been developed in relation to the operations of the rebel privateer Alabama, and the present and prospective action of the British and other foreign governments, whose citizens have lost property by the piracies of her commander. The depredations of the vessel involve the rights of no less than three European governments—England, Italy and Portugal—and are likely to become a subject of special interest to all maritime nations.

Destroying the Grain Fleet.

Already the capture and burning of the ship Lafayette, which contained an English cargo, has been the occasion of a correspondence between the British consul at this port, Mr. Archibald, and Rear Admiral Milne, commanding the British squadron on the American coast; and it is stated (but we cannot vouch for the truth of the statement) that the admiral has dispatched three war vessels in pursuit of the pirate. The consul has also, we understand, communicated the facts of the case to the British government and Her Majesty’s minister at Washington. What action will be taken by the British government remains to be seen.

The Lafayette sailed from this port with a cargo of grain for Belfast, Ireland. The grain was owned by two English firms of this city, and the facts were properly certified on the bills of lading under the British seal. * * *

But another case (that of the bark Lauretta) is about to be submitted for the consideration of the British authorities, as well as those of Italy and Portugal. The facts establish a clear case of piracy. The Lauretta, which had on board a cargo consisting principally of flour and staves, was burned by Semmes on the 28th of October. She was bound from this port for the island of Madeira and the port of Messina, Italy. Nearly a thousand barrels of flour and also a large number of staves were shipped by Mr. H. J. Burden, a British subject residing in this city, to a relative in Funchal, Madeira. The bill of lading bore the British seal affixed by the consul, to whom the shipper was personally known. The other part of the cargo was shipped by Chamberlain, Phelps & Co. to the order of parties in Messina, and this property was also covered by the Italian consular certificates.

The Portuguese consul at this port also sent a package under seal to the authorities at Maderia, besides giving a right to enter the port and sending an open bill of lading.

Captain Wells’ account of the manner in which Semmes disposed of these documents, and which he has verified under oath, is not only interesting, but gives an excellent idea of the piratical intentions of the commander of the Alabama.

The papers of the bark were, at the command of Semmes, taken by Captain Wells on board the Alabama. There was no American cargo and therefore no American papers, except those of the vessel. These, of course, were not inquired into. Semmes took first the packet which bore the Portuguese seal, and with an air which showed that he did not regard it as of the slightest consequence, ripped it open, and threw it upon the floor, with the remark that he “did not care a d—n for the Portuguese.” The Italian bill of lading was treated in a similar manner, except that he considered it unworthy even of a remark.

Taking up the British bill of lading and looking at the seal, Semmes called upon Captain Wells, with an oath, to explain. It was evidently the only one of the three he thought it worth his while to respect.

“Who is this Burden?” he inquired sneeringly. “Have you ever seen him?”

“I am not acquainted with him, but I have seen him once, when he came on board my vessel,” replied Captain Wells.

“Is he an Englishman—does he look like an Englishman?”

“Yes,” rejoined the captain.

“I’ll tell you what,” exclaimed the pirate, “this is a d—d pretty business—it’s a d—d Yankee hash, and I’ll settle it,”—whereupon he proceeded to rob the vessel of whatever he wanted, including Captain Wells’ property to a considerable amount; put the crew in irons; removed them to the Alabama; and concluded by burning the vessel.

These facts will at once be brought before the British consul. The preliminary steps have been taken. The facts will also be furnished the Portuguese consul, who announces his intention of placing them before his government; and besides whatever action the Italian consul here may choose to take, the parties in Messina, to whom the property lost on the Lauretta was consigned, will of course do what they can to maintain their own rights. The case is likely to attract more attention than all the previous outrages of the Alabama, inasmuch as property rights of the subjects of other nations are involved, and the real character of Semmes and his crew becomes manifest.

Captain Semmes makes this sarcastic comment upon the foregoing article:

I was not quite sure when I burned the Lafayette that her cargo belonged to the shippers, British merchants resident in New York. The shippers swore that it did not belong to them, but to other parties resident in Ireland, on whose account they had shipped it. I thought they swore falsely, but, as I have said, I was not quite certain. The Advertiser sets the matter at rest. It says that I was right. And it claims, with the most charming simplicity, that I was guilty of an act of piracy, in capturing and destroying the property of neutral merchants, domiciled in the enemy’s country, and assisting him to conduct his trade!

The alleged destruction of British property on board American ships attracted much less attention in England than in the United States. The Liverpool Chamber of Commerce caused a letter to be addressed to the British foreign office asking for information in regard to the matter, to which the following reply was made:

Sir; I am directed by Earl Russell to reply to your letters of the 6th inst., respecting the destruction by the Confederate steamer Alabama of British property embarked in American vessels and burned by that steamer. Earl Russell desires me to state to you that British property on board a vessel belonging to one of the belligerants must be subject to all the risks and contingencies of war, so far as the capture of the vessel is concerned. The owners of any British property, not being contraband of war, on board a Federal vessel captured and destroyed by a Confederate vessel of war, may claim in a Confederate Prize Court compensation for the destruction of such property.

As the “Confederate prize court” which condemned the Alabama’s prizes habitually walked about under her commander’s hat, and as there was considerable doubt as to where a court competent and willing to review the decisions made, might be located, there was not much comfort in this letter for American ship owners or their prospective customers.

But the shippers of merchandise were not the only persons to whom the Baron de Castine’s news brought fear and anxiety. The inhabitants of unprotected or but slightly protected towns along the coast already saw in imagination the Alabama steaming in upon them, demanding ransom, and leaving their homes in ashes. Captain Semmes loved to threaten New York, and one of the masters last released seems to have gone ashore with the belief that the Alabama’s next move would be to throw a few shells into that city. But a descent upon the coast would have put Secretary Welles in possession of a knowledge of her whereabouts, whereas at sea her commander could usually calculate the time when the news of her movements would reach the nearest telegraph office, and shift her position just before the time when a powerful enemy would be likely to arrive.

CHAPTER VIII.

OFF DUTY AMUSEMENTS.

When off duty the sailors amused themselves by spinning yarns and singing songs. Sometimes they got up a sparring match, and occasionally hazing of the duller or less active of the crew was indulged in. It is related that one sailor was nicknamed “Top-robbin” because he usually began his stories with the introduction, “When I sailed in the Taprobane, East Ingyman.” Once he was induced to attempt a song, and began in a voice in which a hoarse bass struggled with a squeaky treble:

Jerry Lee was hung at sea
For stabbing of his messmate true.
And his body did swing, a horrible thing,
At the sport of the wild sea mew!

The whole watch shouted for him to stop, and he was warned:

“If you ever sing again in this ’ere watch while we’re off soundings, we’ll fire you through a lee port. Such a voice as that would raise a harrycane.”

“Top-robbin’s” yarns, however, were treated with more tolerance. He had a lively imagination and a very impressive delivery. His themes were of the ghostly sort—of phantom ships sailing against wind and tide, and women in white gliding on board in the midst of storms.

Curiously enough, Captain Semmes, who was constantly called a pirate and whose name was associated in the minds of New England people with that of Captain Kidd, had gained the reputation in the forecastle of his own ship of being a sort of preacher, the impression doubtless dating from that introductory speech of his off Terceira, in which he predicted the blessings of Providence upon the Alabama’s efforts to rid the South of the Yankees. One of the forecastle songs is said to have run thus:

Oh, our captain said, “When my fortune’s made,
I’ll buy a church to preach in,
And fill it full of toots and horns,
And have a jolly Methodee screechin’.
“And I’ll pray the Lord both night and morn
To weather old Yankee Doodle—
And I’ll run a hinfant Sunday School
With some of the Yankee’s boodle.”

One sailor who claimed to have been an officer in the British navy had an excellent tenor voice, and delighted not only his messmates, but frequently the officers as well, with his rendering of popular songs. Even the captain used occasionally to stroll out on the bridge and listen with pleasure to the entertainment furnished with voice or violin. The following song, said to have been improvised by one of the crew, was sung on the night before the fight with the Kearsarge:

We’re homeward bound, we’re homeward bound,
We soon shall stand on English ground;
But ere that English land we see,
We first must lick the Kersar-gee.

At the Cape of Good Hope fourteen of the Alabama’s crew deserted. Captain Semmes records in his journal the fact that the Irish fiddler was one of the number, and calls this “one of our greatest losses.” When the desirability of keeping the crew in a state of subordination and contentment was taken into consideration, there is no doubt that a petty officer or two could have been better spared.

The engineer now reported only four days’ coal in the bunkers, and Captain Semmes determined to shape his course for Martinique, in the West Indies, to which point Captain Bulloch had arranged to dispatch a fresh supply in a sailing vessel.

Early on the morning of Nov. 2d, a sail was discovered and the Alabama immediately gave chase. The master of the fleeing stranger was not even reassured by the United States flag which flew from his pursuers’ mast head, and made all haste to get out of the dangerous vicinity. He was overhauled about noon and a hint from the “Persuader,” as the Blakely rifle had come to be called, induced him to heave to. The boarding officer found himself on the deck of the Levi Starbuck, a whaler expecting to spend two and a half years in the Pacific, and consequently supplied with an abundance of provisions, considerable quantities of which were transferred to the Alabama. New Bedford papers on board were only four days old, and contained the latest war news.

On the morning of November 8th two sails were in sight, one of them a very large vessel. Master’s Mate Evans, the oracle of the ship in the matter of the nationality of vessels, pronounced both of them Yankee. In this dilemma the chase of the smaller vessel, which had gone on during the greater part of the night, was abandoned, and attention concentrated upon the big ship. She made no effort to escape, evidently placing all faith in the lying United States flag which the Alabama showed her. Her master was dumbfounded when on nearer approach the stars and stripes dropped to the deck and were replaced by the colors of the Confederacy.

The prize was an East India trader, the T. B. Wales, of Boston, homeward bound from Calcutta, with a cargo consisting principally of jute, linseed and 1,700 bags of saltpetre, the latter destined for the Northern powder mills. The ship had been five months on her voyage and her master had never heard of the Alabama. He had his wife on board and also an ex-United States consul returning homeward with his family consisting of his wife and three little daughters.

The Wales was one of the most useful of the Alabama’s captures. She yielded spars and rigging of the best quality. Her main yard proved to be of almost the exact length of the one which the cruiser had broken in the cyclone, and was taken aboard and afterward transferred to the place of the old one, which had been temporarily repaired. Eight able seamen were secured from her for the Alabama’s crew, bringing the number up to 110 within half a score of a full complement.

Semmes was on his good behavior, and evidently anxious to disprove the appellation of “pirate” which had been so constantly flung at him of late. Southern chivalry was at its best in the polite consideration with which he treated the ladies. Several of the officers were turned out of their staterooms to make room for them, a proceeding to which they submitted with apparent good grace. The Wales was burned.

The Alabama now entered the calm belt about the tropic of Cancer, across which she proceeded by slow stages and dropped anchor in the harbor of Fort de France, in the French island of Martinique, on November 18th, 1862.

CHAPTER IX.

DODGING THE SAN JACINTO.

To his surprise Captain Semmes found the whole town expecting him, although this was the first port he had entered since leaving Terceira two months previous. The Agrippina had been in this port a week, and her master, Captain McQueen, had not been able to resist the temptation to boast of his connection with the Alabama, and aver that his cargo of coal was intended for her bunkers. It had, moreover, been whispered about that the Agrippina had guns and ammunition under the coal, which were intended for the Confederate cruiser, and also that Captain McQueen had stated that he expected to receive some further instructions as to his movements from the British consul, Mr. Lawless. Diplomatic relations between Great Britain and the United States were very much strained at this time, and the consul was much incensed because his name had been connected with the Alabama in this public manner. When cross-questioned by the consul, McQueen became frightened and denied that his cargo was for the Alabama, but admitted that he had said that he took a cargo to Terceira for her, and also that he expected to receive a letter from the owners of the Agrippina in care of the consul. Mr. Lawless warned him against engaging in such illegal traffic under the British flag, and having satisfied himself that the Agrippina’s cargo was really intended for the Confederate cruiser and that the Alabama might soon be expected in port, he laid the whole matter before the governor of the island. That official did not seem at all surprised, took the matter very coolly, and stated that if the Alabama came in she would receive the ordinary courtesies accorded to belligerent cruisers in French ports.

When the Alabama did come in and Captain Semmes became acquainted with the real state of affairs, Captain McQueen spent a bad quarter of an hour in his presence, and the same day the Agrippina hastily got up her anchor and went to sea. Seven days was long enough for McQueen’s chatter to be wafted many a league even without the aid of the telegraph, and the United States consul, Mr. John Campbell, had not been idle.

Captain Semmes applied to the governor for permission to land his prisoners, consisting of Captain Lincoln and family, of the T. B. Wales, ex-Consul Fairfield and family, Captain Mellen, of the Levi Starbuck, and forty-three seamen belonging to the two vessels. No objection being offered, the prisoners went ashore and sought the friendly offices of the United States consul to assist them in reaching their own country.

It was just a year since Captain Semmes, then in command of the Sumter, had been blockaded in this very port by the United States gunboat Iroquois, and had adroitly given the latter the slip. Now, in a much better vessel than the Sumter, he felt able to defy foes like the Iroquois.

But a surprise was brewing for him between decks.

After dark George Forrest swam ashore and bribed a boatman to put him aboard his vessel again with five gallons of a vile brand of whisky. His fellow conspirators pulled him and his purchase in through a berth deck port, and the crew proceeded to hold high carnival. When the watch below was called the boatswain was knocked down with a belaying pin and an officer who tried to quell the disturbance was saluted with oaths and every kind of missile within reach.

The captain was immediately notified, and ordered a beat to quarters. The officers appeared armed and charged forward, assisted by the sober portion of the crew, and after a sharp fight succeeded in securing the worst of the mutineers. Captain Semmes had the drunken sailors drenched with buckets of cold water until they begged for mercy. Forrest was identified by a guard from the shore as the man who bought the liquor, and he was placed in double irons and under guard.

Captain Semmes had said to people on shore that the Alabama would go to sea during the night. But she did not go, and early the next morning the stars and stripes were floating outside the harbor at the masthead of the steam sloop San Jacinto, mounting fourteen guns.

“We paid no sort of attention to the arrival of this old wagon of a ship,” writes Semmes in his memoirs. Nevertheless, it must be recorded that he beat to quarters and kept the Alabama close under the guns of the French fort in the harbor.[2] He might be able to outsail the San Jacinto, but he knew very well that one or two of her broadsides would be very apt to send the Alabama to the bottom, in case Captain Ronckendorff should take it into his head to violate the neutrality of a French port. Moreover, his crew were hardly in a condition either of mind or body to meet a determined enemy.

The captain of the San Jacinto refused to receive a pilot or come to an anchor, because his vessel would then come within the twenty-four hour rule, and the Alabama would be permitted that length of time to get out of reach when she chose to depart, before the San Jacinto, according to international law governing neutral ports, would be permitted to follow her. During the day Governor Candé sent a letter to Captain Ronckendorff warning him that he must either come to anchor and submit to the twenty-four hour rule, or keep three miles outside the points which formed the entrance to the harbor. Being well aware that the governor had correctly stated the law governing the case, Captain Ronckendorff readily promised acquiescence.

Public sentiment in Martinique among the white population was almost unanimously favorable to the South, and while the law was thus enforced to the letter as against the Federals, practically every white person in the port stood ready to give Captain Semmes any assistance which might enable him to escape from his ponderous adversary. The crew of the Alabama spent the 19th of November in various stages of recovery from the debauch and fight of the previous night, and repairing and painting occupied the time of some of them. In the afternoon a French naval officer went on board and furnished Captain Semmes with an accurate chart of the harbor. Towards night the captain of the Hampden, an American merchant ship lying in the harbor near the Alabama, in company with Captain Mellen, were rowed out to the San Jacinto, bearing a letter from the United States consul to Captain Ronckendorff, informing him in regard to the situation ashore. The news of their departure was not long in reaching the Alabama. Suspecting that some code of signals was being arranged, Captain Semmes determined to take time by the forelock. He asked for a government pilot, who was promptly furnished, and just at dusk the Alabama hoisted anchor and steamed toward the inner harbor. The evening was cloudy. Darkness came on early, and rain began to fall. All lights on board were extinguished or covered, and having passed out of sight of the Hampden, the course was altered and the Alabama ran out through the most southerly channel.

When the captain of the Hampden returned to his vessel a little after eight o’clock he immediately sent up three rockets in the direction in which the Alabama was supposed to have gone. The San Jacinto at once ran under a full head of steam to the south side of the harbor, and searched up and down with her crew at quarters until after midnight. At daybreak two of her boats were taken on board, one of which had spent the night in the southern side of the harbor and the other in the northern side. Nobody had seen anything of the Alabama.

People on shore solemnly assured the San Jacinto’s officers that the Alabama had not escaped, but was hiding in some obscure part of the bay, to await the departure of her enemy. The whole harbor was therefore explored by the San Jacinto’s boats, establishing the fact that beyond a doubt the Alabama was gone.

In a postscript to his report to the navy department Captain Ronckendorff says: “I could find out nothing of the future movements of the Alabama.” Nor could anybody else. That was a secret which was kept locked in the breast of her commander. It was very rarely that the lieutenants in her own ward room knew where the vessel would be twenty-four hours ahead.

CHAPTER X.

CAPTURE OF THE ARIEL.

The next afternoon the Alabama ran down to the solitary little island of Blanquilla, near the coast of Venezuela, whither the Agrippina had preceded her. At the anchorage Captain Semmes was somewhat surprised to find an American whaling schooner. Some boilers had been set up on the island, and her crew were busily engaged in trying out oil from the carcass of a whale which had recently been captured. As the Alabama floated the United States flag, the captain of the whaler rowed out to her and volunteered to pilot the new comer in, and expressed much satisfaction that the United States navy department had shown such a commendable determination to protect commerce in the Carribean Sea. After an inspection of the Alabama’s armament, he expressed the opinion that she was “just the ship to give the pirate Semmes fits.” When he was finally informed into whose hands he had fallen, his consternation was really pitiable. Semmes, however, was not disposed to stir up a quarrel with even so weak a government as that of Venezuela, and magnanimously informed the young skipper that he should consider the island as a Venezuelan possession, notwithstanding the slight evidences of occupation, and that the marine league surrounding the island would be respected as Venezuelan waters. The Yankee master was detained on board the Alabama during her stay as a precautionary measure. Some of the junior officers took delight in tantalizing the enforced guest in the interim. A midshipman asked him with great earnestness if “the old man” told him that he would not burn his ship.

“Why to be sure he did,” was the response.

And then followed doleful waggings of the head and the comforting remark that it all looked very much like one of Semmes’ grim jokes.

In the end the whaler was released and her master warned to get into a Federal port at the earliest opportunity, and not permit himself to be caught on the high seas, as he might not fare so well a second time.

The Alabama spent five days here coaling from the Agrippina. The crew were allowed shore liberty in quarter watches, but as there were no rum shops or dance houses on the island, the privilege was not greatly appreciated by a large part of the rough sailors. Several of the boats were rigged with sails and the officers went fishing. Gunning for pelicans, plovers, gulls and sand-snipes was also a favorite pastime. Flocks of flamingoes waded in the lagoons around the island in search of food, or stood in line like soldiers on the beach.

A few settlers from the main land had taken up their residence on the island, and were cultivating bananas. The sailors helped themselves bountifully to this fruit, and complaint having been made to Captain Semmes, he squared the account with ship’s rations.

A court martial was appointed to consider the case of the incorrigible George Forrest, and he was condemned to be put ashore and left on this island.

November 26th the Alabama left her anchorage at Blanquilla, and on the 29th was coasting along the shore of Porto Rico. It was the hope of Captain Semmes that he might capture a treasure steamer on her way north with gold from California. In the Mona passage a Spanish schooner was boarded, which contained late Boston papers giving long accounts of the extensive preparations which were being made for a campaign in Texas, the conduct of which was to be placed in the hands of General Banks. Captain Semmes had already heard of this proposed transfer of a northern army to the Texan coast, and had laid his plans to be in the Gulf of Mexico about the time it should arrive, which it was expected would be early in January. In the meantime he had something over a month to devote to other matters. The Spaniards were told that the Alabama was the United States steamer Iroquois. A few hours later another sail was sighted, and the Alabama having drawn nearer, it needed not the skill of Evans to pronounce her “Yankee.” The stamp of New England was in her tapering royal and sky-sail masts and her snowy canvas. Newspapers were hastily put aside and attention concentrated on the chase. Almost within sight of her destination the bark was overhauled and proved to be the Parker Cooke, of Boston, bound for San Domingo with provisions. Large quantities of butter, salt meats, crackers and dried fruits were transferred to the Alabama, and at dusk the torch was applied to the prize.

That night the Alabama’s officers had a bad scare, and the men were ordered to their guns. A large ship of war came suddenly upon them, and as the cruiser had her propeller up and no steam in her boilers, she would have been completely at the mercy of so powerful an adversary. The stranger, however, was evidently not Federal, and passed quickly by without paying the slightest attention to the Alabama, which was in plain view. Next day three vessels were boarded, but one showed Dutch papers and the others Spanish.

December 2d the Alabama chased and overhauled a French bark, and her master’s ignorance of international law came near costing him dearly. He paid no attention to a blank cartridge, and it was not until a solid shot was thrown between his masts and at no great distance above his people’s heads, that he consented to round to. When asked by the boarding officer why he had not stopped at the first summons, he replied that he was a Frenchman, and that France was not at war with anybody!

On the 5th the Union, of Baltimore, was captured, but she had a neutral cargo, and her captain having given a ransom bond and consented to receive on board the prisoners from the Parker Cooke, she was suffered to proceed on her voyage.

A sharp lookout was now kept for a steamer which it was expected would be on her way from the Isthmus of Panama to New York with a million dollars or upward of California gold. This money, if captured, would be lawful prize, and the portion of it which would go to officers and crew would be a welcome addition to the pay received from the Confederate government. The Alabama held her post in the passage between Cuba and San Domingo from December 3d to December 7th, but no steamer approached from the south. Many vessels were overhauled, but all were neutrals except the Union, which ran into the Alabama’s arms without the necessity of a chase. The 7th was Sunday, and while the Captain was at breakfast and the crew preparing for the usual Sunday muster, the lookout raised his shout of “Sail-ho!”

“Where-away?” demanded the officer of the deck.

“Broad on the port bow, sir!” was the reply.

“What does she look like?”

“She is a large steamer, brig-rigged, sir.”

Here was a steamer at last, but not in the expected quarter. This one was south bound, and visions of California gold vanished into air. Nevertheless, she might prove a good prize.

“All hands work ship,” called the boatswain, and Lieutenant Kell, seizing his trumpet, directed the furling of sails and the lowering of the propeller. The firemen worked like beavers, and in twenty minutes a sailing vessel had been transformed into a steamer. At a distance of three or four miles the United States flag was run up, and the stranger responded with the same ensign. The rapidity with which the latter approached showed that she was swift, but it was soon ascertained that she carried no guns. The Alabama ran down across her path as if to speak her, but the stranger kept away a little and swept by within a stone’s throw. The great packet-steamer had all her awnings set, and under these was a crowd of passengers of both sexes. Groups of soldiers were also seen and several officers in uniform. Many passengers with opera glasses could be seen curiously studying the construction and appointments of the false Union war ship. As the Alabama passed the wake of the packet, she wheeled in pursuit, ran up the Confederate flag, and fired a blank cartridge. Instantly the state of amused curiosity on the stranger’s deck gave way to panic. Ladies ran screaming below, and male passengers were by no means slow in keeping them company. Great clouds of black smoke poured from the smoke stacks of the fleeing monster, and her huge walking beam responded still more rapidly to the strain of her engines. A run of less than a mile convinced Captain Semmes that the stranger had the speed of him, and that if he wished to capture her he must resort to heroic measures. The “Persuader,” was cleared away. The Alabama was yawed a little to enable the gunner to take accurate aim, and a hundred-pound shell splintered the foremast of the fugitive ten feet above the deck. Her master declined to expose his passengers to a second shot, and the stranger’s engines were stopped, and she soon lay motionless awaiting the approach of her captor.

The prize proved to be the California mail-steamer Ariel, Captain Jones, bound to the Isthmus of Panama with five hundred and thirty-two passengers, mostly women and children, on board, a battallion of one hundred and forty-five United States marines, and a number of naval officers, including Commander Sartori, who was on his way to the Pacific to take command of the United States sailing sloop St. Marys. The boarding officer reported great consternation among the passengers. Many of them were hastily secreting articles of value, and the ladies were inclined to hysterics, not knowing to what indignities they might be subjected by the “pirates.” At this juncture Lieutenant Armstrong was ordered to take the captain’s gig and a boat’s crew rigged out in white duck, and proceed on board arrayed in his best uniform and brightest smile, and endeavor to restore a feeling of security. The young lieutenant found the most serious obstacle to the success of his mission in the person of the commander of the marines, who strenuously objected to having his men considered as prisoners of war and put on parole. But the lieutenant had a clinching argument in the muzzles of the Alabama’s guns, then distant but a few yards, and the marines finally stacked their arms and took the oath not to bear arms against the Confederacy until exchanged. $8,000 in United States treasury notes and $1,500 in silver were found in the safe, which Captain Jones admitted to be the property of the vessel’s owner, and this was turned over to Captain Semmes. The boats’ crews behaved very well, and none of the personal effects of the prisoners were seized.

Second Lieutenant R. F. Armstrong

The captain and engineers of the Ariel were sent on board the Alabama, and a number of the Alabama’s engineers took possession of the Ariel’s engines. Lieutenant Armstrong and Midshipman Sinclair, who acted as his executive officer, were not long in ingratiating themselves with the ladies, and when they finally left the prize two days later, nearly all the buttons on their coats had been given away as mementoes. They occupied respectively the head and foot of the long dining table. When champagne was brought in they proposed the health of Jefferson Davis, which they requested should be drunk standing. Their request was complied with amid considerable merriment, and then the Yankee girls retaliated by proposing the health of President Lincoln, which was drunk with a storm of hurrahs.

The next day after the capture of the Ariel the prize crew was hastily withdrawn from her, bringing away certain small fixtures from the engines, which rendered them temporarily useless. The reason for this move was the appearance of another steamer on the horizon, which it was hoped would prove to be the treasure steamer for which the Alabama had been waiting for a week past. Captain Semmes was doomed to another disappointment, however, for she was neutral. About eight o’clock the next evening, while in chase of a brig, which was afterward found to be from one of the German states, a valve casting broke in one of the Alabama’s engines, and the chief engineer reported that it would take at least twenty-four hours to repair the damage. Captain Semmes had been extremely loth to release the Ariel. To get her into a Confederate port was, of course, impossible, and the Alabama could not possibly accommodate such an immense number of passengers, even for the short time necessary to run into the nearest neutral port. He was debating in his own mind whether it might not be possible to get his prize into Kingston, Jamaica, long enough to get his prisoners ashore, when the accident happened to the engine, and a boat sent to board the German brig brought back the information that there was yellow fever at Kingston. A bond for the value of the prize and her cargo was therefore exacted from Captain Jones, and the Ariel was suffered to proceed on her voyage.

CHAPTER XI.

RECREATION AT ARCAS KEYS.

The Alabama coasted along the secluded north shore of Jamaica for the next forty-eight hours, while the engine was undergoing repair. It was now the 12th day of December, and Captain Semmes proceeded to carry out his plan of getting into the Gulf of Mexico without being seen. On the 13th he writes in his journal:

Weather fine. Passed the west end of Jamaica about noon. Ship-cleaning day. Nothing in sight, and I desire to see nothing (unless it be a homeward bound California Steamer) at present, as it is important I should make the run I contemplate without being traced. I should like to touch at the Caymans for fruits and vegetables for the crew, but forbear on this account.

And on the 15th he makes this entry:

Fresh trade; ship running along under topsails. This running down, down, before the ever constant trade wind, to run up against it by and by under steam is not pleasant. Still, God willing, I hope to strike a blow of some importance and make my retreat safely out of the gulf.

U. S. STEAMSHIP WACHUSETT.

Have a care, Captain Semmes! Rear Admiral Wilkes, with the Wachusett and the Sonoma, is hot on your trail, and his scent is improving. He is only three days behind the Agrippina at the Grand Cayman, where thrifty Captain McQueen has touched to do a little trading on his own account.

December 17th to 19th the Alabama struggled with a three days’ gale about midway between the westerly end of Cuba and the coast of Honduras. In this gale the Wachusett burst her boiler tubes and the Sonoma rolled away her smokestack, but this fortunately did not go overboard, and when the weather cleared it was put in place again. On the 20th the Alabama’s lookout sighted the islands near the north-east point of Yucatan, and the same night Captain Semmes groped his way through the Yucatan Channel by means of the lead, finding himself next morning in the Gulf of Mexico, without having seen a human being by whom the whereabouts of his vessel could be reported. On the 23d the Agrippina was overhauled, and the two vessels ran together to the Arcas Keys.

These little islands are of coral formation, and are three in number, forming a triangle. The Alabama and her consort found very good anchorage inside the triangle, with no danger from gales unless they should blow from the southeast, which Captain Semmes decided would be unlikely at this time of the year. Here he made his preparations to pounce upon the Banks transport fleet. The remainder of the coal which had been left in the Agrippina’s hold at Blanquilla, was now transferred to the Alabama’s bunkers, and Captain McQueen was directed to proceed to England for another supply. The next rendezvous was never reached by the Agrippina, however, and from this time forward Captain Semmes had to supply himself with coal as best he could. The Alabama was careened and her bottom scrubbed as well as possible under the circumstances, and various repairs were made to the sails and about decks.

The water was very transparent, and the anchor could be plainly seen at seven fathoms depth. Fish and turtles were observed swimming about, and all the wonders of coral architecture were visible below. There was no vegetation on the islands except sea kale and a few stunted bushes and cactus. Birds were in abundance, and the whole surface of the island was covered with their nests, containing eggs and young birds in all stages of growth. The older birds were very tame and usually refused to leave the nests until pushed off.

Two days after the arrival of the Alabama was Christmas day, and the crew were given shore liberty. Captain Semmes makes this entry in his journal:

Christmas day, the second Christmas since we left our homes in the Sumter. Last year we were buffetting the storms of the North Atlantic near the Azores. Now we are snugly anchored in the Arcas; and how many eventful periods have passed in the interval. Our poor people have been terribly pressed in this wicked and ruthless war, and they have borne privations and sufferings which nothing but an intense patriotism could have sustained. They will live in history as a people worthy to be free, and future generations will be astonished at the folly and fanaticism, want of principle and wickedness, developed by this war among the Puritan population of the North; and in this class nine-tenths of the native population of the northern states may be placed, to such an extent has the “Plymouth Rock” leaven “leavened the whole loaf.” A people so devoid of Christian charity, and wanting in so many of the essentials of honesty, cannot but be abandoned to their own folly by a just and benevolent God. Our crew is keeping Christmas by a run on shore, which they all seem to enjoy exceedingly. It is indeed very grateful to the senses to ramble about over even so confined a space as the Arcas, after tossing about at sea in a continual state of excitement for months. Yesterday was the first time I touched the shore since I left Liverpool on the 13th of August last, and I was only one week in Liverpool after a voyage of three weeks from the Bahamas, so that I have in fact been but one week on shore in five months. My thoughts naturally turn on this quiet Christmas day, in this lonely island, to my dear family. I can only hope, and trust them to the protection of a merciful Providence. The only sign of a holiday on board tonight is the usual “splicing of the main brace,” anglice, giving Jack an extra allowance of grog.

Meanwhile “Jack’s” thoughts were taking quite a different turn, if reports are to be trusted. Shore leave with no opportunity for a drunken carousal, was to him like the play of Hamlet with the principal character altogether omitted.

“Liberty on Christmas, the old pirate!” cried one of the crew, kicking up the carpet of sea kale. “Well, here goes for a quiet life. I can lick any man in the starboard watch.”

His challenge was immediately accepted, and the net result was a number of broken heads and several men nearly incapacitated for duty.

The largest island contained a salt water lake, which was connected by an outlet with the sea at high tide, and at other times had a depth of about two and one-half feet of water. This pond was alive with fish, and on one occasion a group of junior and petty officers were fishing here in one of the small boats, when a shark was discovered swimming leisurely along with a fin exposed and evidently gorged with fish. The chief engineer, Miles J. Freeman, was bathing, and had waded about a hundred yards from the shore, when his attention was called to the man eater by the party in the boat. The shark had no intention of attacking him, but the engineer did not stop to investigate the state of his sharkship’s appetite, and struck out lustily for the shore. Not feeling that he was making satisfactory progress, he got on his feet and tried to wade. The water was just at that depth where no method of locomotion seems best, and so he floundered along, sometimes swimming, sometimes trying to run, until he finally reached the shore and threw himself on the sand utterly exhausted, while the party in the boat held their sides and screamed with laughter.

An Irishman named Michael Mars pushed the boat toward the shark, and jumping into the water, plunged his sheath knife into the belly of the big fish. The shark snapped his great jaws and slapped the water with his tail, but, disregarding all orders to get into the boat and let the shark alone, Mars kept up the fight until his enemy was vanquished, and the body was towed ashore in triumph.

After some days the sojourners discovered that by driving off the birds from a certain area and breaking all the stale eggs, the nests were soon supplied with fresh ones by these prolific layers, and a palatable addition to ship fare was the result.

Meanwhile Admiral Wilkes was cruising off the westerly end of Cuba, thinking the Alabama would probably be there, trying to intercept the homeward bound California steamer. Doubtless she would have been there, had it not seemed to her commander that a more important duty called him to the gulf. Admiral Wilkes reasoned that the Agrippina could never have reached an easterly port against the heavy gale, and decided to look into the harbor of Mugeres Island in the narrowest part of Yucatan Channel, in the hope of finding her. Here he discovered a vessel which was at first thought to be the Alabama, but which proved to be the Virginia, formerly the Noe-Daquy, which was being fitted up to run the blockade. A Mexican officer had seized her, on the ground that she was engaged in the slave trade, and was not disposed to permit her being sent before a prize court at Key West. The complications arising in the case of this vessel kept Admiral Wilkes at Mugeres Island until January 18th, except that he made one trip to Havana for coal. Two days’ sail to the westward would have brought him to the Arcas Keys, but he had no means of knowing that the Alabama had passed into the gulf.

CHAPTER XII.

FIGHT WITH THE HATTERAS.

On the 5th of January, 1863, the Alabama left the Arcas Keys for her cruise to the northward. Full descriptions of the Banks expedition and its destination had appeared in the northern newspapers, and Captain Semmes was well supplied with information as to the character of the transport fleet and the time when it might be expected to arrive off Galveston. It was not likely that the transports would be accompanied by a great number of war vessels, as the Confederacy had no fleet in the gulf, and the northern papers had reported the Alabama as well on her way to the coast of Brazil. As there was only twelve feet of water on the bar, most of the transports would be obliged to anchor outside. A night attack—a quick dash—firebrands flung from deck to deck—and the fleet might be half destroyed before the gunboats could get up steam to pursue.

Semmes determined to run in by daylight far enough to get the bearings of the fleet, and then draw off and wait for darkness. He had permitted enough of his plan to leak through the ward room to the forecastle to put his people on their mettle, and the entire crew were eager for the fray. On January 11th the man at the masthead was instructed to keep a lookout for a large fleet anchored near a lighthouse. His “sail ho! land ho!” came almost simultaneously, and the captain began to feel certain of his game. But later questioning brought the answer that there was no fleet of transports—only five steamers, which looked like vessels of war. Soon after a shell thrown by one of the steamers was distinctly seen to burst over the city. It could not be that the Federals would be firing upon a city which was in their own possession, and Semmes immediately came to the correct conclusion that Galveston had been recaptured by the Confederates. That the Banks expedition had been diverted to New Orleans, and would proceed toward Texas by way of the Red River he could not know, but that it had not reached Galveston was sufficiently apparent.

The Alabama’s prow was turned off shore again, and presently the lookout called down that one of the steamers was in pursuit. Commodore Bell, of the Federal fleet had discovered the strange actions of the sail in the offing, and had suspected an intention of running the blockade. The gunboat Hatteras was therefore signalled to go in chase of the intruder. The Alabama flew away under sail, but not so fast as to discourage her pursuer. The propeller was finally let down, and about twenty miles out she turned to meet the Hatteras. The engines on both vessels stopped at a distance of about a hundred yards, and the Federal hailed.

“What ship is that?”

“This is Her Britannic Majesty’s ship Petrel,” shouted Lieutenant Kell.

He then demanded the name of the pursuer. The first answer was not clearly heard. A second summons brought the reply:

“This is the United States ship—”

Again those on the Alabama failed to catch the name, and the people on the Hatteras seemed to be in a like predicament, for her officer shouted:

“I don’t understand you.”

“I don’t understand you,” rejoined Kell.

After a few moments’ delay the Hatteras hailed again.

“If you please, I will send a boat on board of you.”

“Certainly,” was the reply, “we shall be happy to receive your boat.”

Word was passed to the gunners that the signal to fire would be the word “Alabama.” The creaking of the tackle as the boat was lowered was distinctly heard. Meanwhile the Alabama’s engines were started and she was deftly maneuvered to get her into position for a raking fire. But Lieutenant Blake, of the Hatteras, was not to be caught napping, and as the boat cleared her side, the engines of the Hatteras were again started, giving her headway enough so that she could again present her port broadside. Seeing that further concealment was useless, Lieutenant Kell, at a word from his captain, placed the trumpet to his lips and shouted with all his lungs:

“This is the Confederate States steamer Alabama!”

Almost at the same instant the whole starboard broadside was fired. At fifty yards there was little chance to miss, and the sharp clang of shot and shell against the Hatteras’ iron plates added to the din. The fire was immediately returned by the Hatteras, and both vessels sprang forward at full speed, leaving Master L. H. Partridge and his boat’s crew making vain endeavors to regain their own deck.

Although the Hatteras was built of iron, she was not iron clad. Her plates had been made merely to resist the sea, not cannon shot, and the terrific pounding which the Alabama’s guns gave her was effective from the first.

Her walking beam was shot away, and great gaps appeared in her sides. Gunners on the Alabama revelled in the chance to revenge the long suffered newspaper abuse.

“That’s from ‘the scum of England’!” “That stops your wind!” “That’s a British pill for you to swallow!” were some of the expressions hurled at the Hatteras along with the shot and shell.

“That’s from the ‘scum of England’!”

Meanwhile the Alabama was not escaping punishment entirely, although none of her wounds were of a serious nature. One shot through the stern passed through the lamp room, smashing everything within it. A shell striking a few feet abaft the foremast, ripped up the deck and lodged in the port bulwarks without exploding. A shot a few feet forward of the bridge tore up the deck. Two shells cut the main rigging and dropped into the coal bunkers, and one of these in exploding made a hole through the side. A shot demolished one of the boats and went completely through the smoke stack, making the iron splinters fly like hail. Another shot struck the muzzle of a 32-pounder gun and caused the truck to run back over a man’s foot. There was no damage below the water line.

The Hatteras was on fire in two places, and a shell broke the cylinder of her engine, thus making it impossible either to handle the vessel or to put out the fire. Finding his craft a helpless wreck, Lieutenant Blake ordered the magazine flooded to prevent an explosion and fired a lee gun in token of surrender.

To the inquiry from the Alabama whether he needed assistance Lieutenant Blake gave an affirmative reply, and the Alabama lowered her boats. But they were hastily hoisted again when it was reported that a steamer was coming from Galveston. In this emergency the commander of the Hatteras ordered her port battery thrown overboard, and this proceeding doubtless kept her afloat during the few minutes needed for the Alabama’s boats to be again lowered and reach her side. Every man was taken off, and ten minutes later she went down bow foremost. The action lasted less than fifteen minutes.

Partridge and his boat’s crew drew near as the battle closed, but the officer having satisfied himself that the Hatteras had been defeated, ordered his men to pull for Galveston. He was without a compass, but the night was clear and starlit, and the tired crew succeeded in reaching a Federal vessel near the city at daybreak.

Meanwhile Commodore Bell had heard the noise of the conflict, and had started out with two of his remaining ships to give assistance to the Hatteras. An all-night search revealed nothing, and returning next day, he discovered the tops of the masts of his unlucky consort projecting a few feet above the water.