The Confederate Captain’s Report

On Sunday, in the morning, being June 19th, the Alabama steamed out of Cherbourg harbor and steered straight to meet the Kearsarge.

Continuing The USS Kearsarge Versus the CSS Alabama,
our selection from the Official Report by Raphael Semmes. The selection is presented in 2.5 easy 5 minute installments. For works benefiting from the latest research see the “More information” section at the bottom of these pages.

Previously in The USS Kearsarge Versus the CSS Alabama.

Time: June 19, 1864
Place: English Channel off Cherborg, France

It was this state of mind through the whole crew which caused the excitement on board the Alabama when the Kearsarge steamed in and out of the breakwater. Now, and at last, our day of action has come! was the thought of every man on board. They trusted for victory; but defeat itself was to be a vindication of their whole career, and they welcomed the chances gladly.

The application for coal at a neutral port was in itself a renunciation of any further hospitality from the harbor, as Captain Semmes was aware. The port-admiral contented himself with pointing it out to him. The prospective combat of two apparently equally matched ships-of-war would have been sufficient to melt any scruples entertained by Frenchmen in authority. French officers agreed with Captain Semmes in thinking that there was marked offence and defiance in the maneuvers of the Kearsarge, and that he could hardly do less than go out and meet her. The Captain, whether in his heart he felt the mere chances to be equal or not, was desirous to persuade himself that they were so. He knew his opponent to be the heavier in ship, battery, and crew, but “I did not know that she was also ironclad,” he says. Personally he desired the battle; the instigations of an enthusiastic crew, unanimous for action, as also of friendly foreign officers, are to be taken into account.

On Sunday, in the morning, being June 19th, the Alabama steamed out of Cherbourg harbor and steered straight to meet the Kearsarge, accompanied by the French ironclad LaCouronne. The late foul weather had given way to a gentle breeze, and the subsiding swell of the Atlantic wave under a clear sky made the day eminently favorable for the work in hand. All Cherbourg was on the heights above the town and along the bastions and the mole. It chanced fortunately that an English steam-yacht, the Deerhound, with its owner, Mr. John Lancaster, and his family on board, was in harbor at the time. The Deerhound followed the Alabama at a respectful distance and was the closest witness of the fight. Some French pilots-boat hung as near as they considered prudent. At the limit of neutral waters the Alabama parted company with her escort, and La Couronne re turned to within a league of the shore.

Left to herself at last, the Alabama made her final preparations for the coming struggle. Mustering all his ship’s company upon the deck, Captain Semmes addressed them as follows:

You have at length another opportunity of meeting the enemy —- the first that has been presented to you since you sunk the Hatteras!” * In the mean time you have been all over the world, and it is not too much to say that you have destroyed, and driven for protection under neutral flags, one-half of the enemy’s commerce, which, at the beginning of the war, covered every sea. This is an achievement of which you may well be proud; and a grateful country will not be unmindful of it. The name of your ship has become a household word wherever civilization extends. Shall that name be tarnished by defeat? The thing is impossible! Remember that you are in the English Channel, the theatre of so much of the naval glory of our race, and that the eyes of all Europe are at this moment upon you. The flag that floats over you is that of a young republic, which bids defiance to her enemy’s whenever and wherever found. Show the world that you know how to uphold it. Go to your quarters.”

[* The Alabama sunk the Federal gunboat Hatteras off Galveston January 11, 1863.—ED.]

It took three-quarters of an hour for the Alabama to come within range of the Kearsarge. At the distance of one mile the Alabama opened fire with solid shot. The Kearsarge took time to reply. After ten minutes the firing was sharp on both sides.

According to the statement of the Captain of the Kearsarge, her battery consisted of seven guns, to wit: two 11-inch Dahlgrens (very powerful pieces of ordnance), four 32-pounders, one light rifled 30-pounder. She went into action with a crew of one hundred sixty-two officers and men.

The armament of the Alabama consisted of one 7-inch Blakeley rifled gun, one 8-inch smooth-bore pivot gun, six 32-pounders, smooth-bore, in broadside. The Alabama’s crew numbered not more than one hundred twenty. On this head Captain Winslow speaks erroneously. He sets down the Alabama’s crew at one hundred fifty officers and men. The Alabama had a formidable piece in the Blakeley rifled gun but she was destitute of steel shot.

It will thus be seen that there was inequality between the antagonists. Captain Winslow speaks of the Alabama having “one gun more” than the Kearsarge. His two great Dahlgrens gave the balance altogether in his favor. But in an estimate of the rival capabilities of the two vessels, the deteriorated speed of the Alabama should be considered as her principal weakness. Cherbourg had done little to repair the copper of her bottom, which spread out in broad fans and seriously impeded her cutting of the water; and it had been found impossible to do more than to patch up the boilers for the day’s business. They were not in a state to inspire the engineers with confidence. The Kearsarge, on the other hand, was in first-rate condition and well in hand. She speedily showed that she could overhaul the Alabama. In fact, the Alabama entered the lists when she should have been lying in dock. She fought with an exhausted frame. She had the heroism to decide upon the conflict, without the strength to choose the form of it. After some little maneuvering this became painfully evident to Captain Semmes. The Kearsarge selected her distance at a range of five hundred yards and being well protected she deliberately took time and fired with sure effect.

John Ancrum Winslow began here. Raphael Semmes began here.

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