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was fine, and a large number of people were assembled on the heights to witness the engagement.
The English yacht
Deerhound, owned by one of
Semmes' sympathizers, followed in the
Alabama's wake, and the French iron-clad
Couronne steamed out of port to see that the neutrality of French waters was not violated.
Before going into battle,
Captain Semmes made the following address to his officers and men, who were all attired in their best clothes:
Officers and seamen of the Alabama: you have at length another opportunity of meeting the enemy — the first that has been presented to you since you sank the Hatteras! In the meantime 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, who bids defiance to her enemies, whenever and wherever found.
Show the world that you know how to uphold it!
Go to your quarters.
The
Kearsarge ran off shore a few miles so as to draw the Confederate vessel as far as possible from the land and be able to intercept her in case she should attempt to retreat in shore.
As soon as the
Kearsarge turned to approach the
Alabama.
the latter opened fire from the distance of a mile; the
Federal vessel not replying, but steaming at full speed for the enemy, receiving a second and third broadside.
When within nine hundred yards, the
Kearsarge slowed and returned the fire with her starboard battery, and then attempted to gain a position where she could rake the
Alabama.
The latter avoided this by sheering, still keeping her starboard broadside bearing on the
Kearsarge.
These tactics brought the combatants circling around each other, each working their starboard batteries.
As
Captain Semmes appeared to avoid close action,
Captain Winslow was apprehensive that he might make for the shore, and therefore determined, with full speed and a port helm, to run under the
Alabama's stern.
and if possible rake her. It was
Semmes' anticipation of this manoeuvre that forced the
Alabama under full steam into a circular track during the action as in the diagram, with the result that at the close of the fight the
Alabama was then nearly five miles off shore,
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|
Circular track. |
and it was impossible for her to escape within French jurisdiction, as her commanding officer intended in case the battle should go against him.
The firing of the
Confederates was rapid and wild until near the close of the engagement, when it became better, while that of the
Federal gunners, owing to the careful training of
Lieutenant-Commander James S. Thornton.
the executive officer of the
Kearsarge.
was very effective.
The superior training of the
Kearsarge's crew was evident from the beginning of the action, their guns telling fearfully on the hull and spars of the
Confederate.
On the seventh rotation on the circular track the
Alabama set her foresail and two jibs, with head in shore.
Her speed was now retarded, and, by winding her, the port broadside was presented to the
Kearsarge, with only two guns bearing, being able to shift but one gun from the starboard side.
At this time the
Alabama was completely
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|
The U. S. S. Kearsarge. |
at the mercy of the
Kearsarge, and a few more well-directed shots brought down the
Confederate flag.
Fifteen minutes after the action commenced, the spanker-gaff of the
Alabama was shot away, and her flag came down, but was immediately hoisted at the mizzen.
The
Kearsarge's shot told fearfully on the
Alabama's hull, killing and wounding numbers of men in different parts of the ship.
So that,in sixty-five minutes after the commencement of the fight, the
Alabama was discovered to be sinking, an 11-inch shell having entered her side near the water line, making a huge aperture, through which the water poured in torrents.
For a moment
Semmes had an idea of escaping, and crowded on steam and sail, leading the
Alabama for the
French coast; but the fires in the engineroom were soon extinguished and he was obliged to surrender.
Semmes asserts that his ship was fired upon five times after he had hauled down his colors; but this assertion is not supported by other evidence, for when the
Confederate flag came down,
Captain Winslow, although
