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J. A. Davis (search for this): chapter 47
itutional lawyer, and the secession fallacy has been so thoroughly exposed that we have no fears of another civil war based on State Rights theories. Commander Semmes resigned his commission in the United States Navy on the 15th of February, 1861, and made the best of his way to the capitol of the Southern Confederacy, temporarily fixed at Montgomery, Alabama. On his arrival he put himself in communication with Mr. Conrad, Chairman of the Confederate States Naval Committee, and when President Davis reached the city, a few days afterwards, offered his services to the Confederate Government. They were at once accepted, and Semmes proceeded to Washington. after a visit to Richmond and Harper's Ferry, to ascertain the character of certain machinery at the latter place, in anticipation of the enlargement of the Tredagar Works at Richmond, for the South meant war from the beginning, in case of any attempt on the part of the Northern States to prevent them from carrying out their desig
Lopez (search for this): chapter 47
e-looking man, when he found into what hands he had fallen, merely expressed his surprise at the appearance of the Confederate flag in Cuban waters. The name of the prize was the Golden Rocket, an appropriate one, for she would go off in a blaze, and be remembered in history as the first illegal prize made by a Confederate vessel-of-war — for Semmes had no more right to capture her than he had to seize the Spanish vessel he first encountered. Semmes at the time was simply an insurgent like Lopez, the Cuban fillibuster, who was garotted in the plaza at Havana, (because belligerent rights had not been accorded him,) and he was under the ban of proclamation. By sunset the wind had died away, and the night came on of such pitchy darkness as would seem emblematical of the deed about to be committed. The crew of the Golden Rocket, and everything on board the vessel needed by the Sumter, had been transferred to that vessel. The boat which had been sent on the errand of destruction pul
J. B. Lafitte (search for this): chapter 47
o stand in for Cienfuegos light-house and lay — to until morning. Thus in the space of three days, Semmes had captured five prizes heavily laden. His crew had become quite enamored of the service, which just suited these worthy successors of Lafitte, who were mostly from the city of New Orleans, which could then boast of possessing the worst class of seamen in the country. Without doubt, there were a number of persons on board the Sumter who acknowledged no allegiance to any nation, and who disarrange the yards, etc., that the Sumter might look as much like a merchant vessel as possible. To still further carry out the deceit, most of the crew were sent below and the Spanish ensign hoisted. These were the very tactics adopted by Lafitte, the Barratarian, in the early part of this century, which would indicate that Semmes had taken a leaf from his book. The prize-masters showed themselves adepts in following the methods of their commander and hoisted the American flag at the
Albert G. Hudgins (search for this): chapter 47
y Department, Montgomery, April 18, 1861. Sir — You are hereby detached from duty as Chief of the Light-house Bureau, and will proceed to New Orleans and take command of the steamer Sumter--named in honor of our recent victory over Fort Sumter. The following officers have been ordered to report to you for duty: Lieutenants John M. Kell, R. T. Chapman, J. M. Stribling and William T. Evans; Paymaster Henry Myers: Surgeon Francis L. Galt; Midshipmen Wm. A. Hicks, Richard F. Armstrong, Albert G. Hudgins, John F. Holden and Joseph D. Wilson. I am respectfully, your obedient servant, S. R. Mallory, Secretary of the Navy. On the 22d of April, Semmes took command of his vessel in New Orleans. The Sumter was simply a coasting steamer, cumbered with upper cabins, and with apparently none of the attributes of a ship-of-war. Who would imagine that so much harm lurked in that frail vessel? though her graceful lines and jaunty air pleased her commander, who seemed to have had a vivid
Paul Jones (search for this): chapter 47
. The limits of this work will not permit a lengthy discussion of this matter, however, and we can only chronicle the movements of the Confederate cruisers and the measures taken to check their career. While the Sumter remained in Gibraltar she was crowded with visitors. People came from a distance to see the wonderful vessel that had strewn the ocean with blackened hulls The Duke of Beaufort and Sir John Inglis went on board and examined the ship — men whose ancestors had stigmatized Paul Jones as a pirate when, in the Bon Homme Richard, he left the whole English coast in terror, and sunk the Serapis, in a contest that will be forever memorable. But in spite of the sympathy showered upon the Sumter and her interesting commander, the tide gradually turned, and Semmes wore out his welcome. Two Federal gun-boats were watching--one from Algesiras,the other at Gibraltar — neither of them violating any neutrality, or fraternizing with tile inhabitants of the shore, yet every moveme
Trinidad Cuba (search for this): chapter 47
d abuse which had been heaped upon their persons by their late copartners for a generation or more. What generosity could be expected by his foes from an intelligent man holding such sentiments as these? At daylight next morning two sail were reported in sight ahead, which proved to be two American brigantines. The Sumter hoisted the Confederate flag, ran alongside and captured the vessels, both of which were loaded with sugar and molasses belonging to neutrals, and both bound from Trinidad de Cuba to English ports. These vessels Semmes did not venture to burn, but taking them in tow he steamed for Cienfuegos, in order to test the disposition of the Spanish authorities towards the Confederacy. France and England had issued proclamations forbidding the introduction of prizes to their ports, but Spain had not yet spoken, and Semmes hoped the Spanish officials might have different views. The vessels together being more than the Sumter could tow, the prize-master of the Cuba was or
William A. Hicks (search for this): chapter 47
en: Confederate States of America, Navy Department, Montgomery, April 18, 1861. Sir — You are hereby detached from duty as Chief of the Light-house Bureau, and will proceed to New Orleans and take command of the steamer Sumter--named in honor of our recent victory over Fort Sumter. The following officers have been ordered to report to you for duty: Lieutenants John M. Kell, R. T. Chapman, J. M. Stribling and William T. Evans; Paymaster Henry Myers: Surgeon Francis L. Galt; Midshipmen Wm. A. Hicks, Richard F. Armstrong, Albert G. Hudgins, John F. Holden and Joseph D. Wilson. I am respectfully, your obedient servant, S. R. Mallory, Secretary of the Navy. On the 22d of April, Semmes took command of his vessel in New Orleans. The Sumter was simply a coasting steamer, cumbered with upper cabins, and with apparently none of the attributes of a ship-of-war. Who would imagine that so much harm lurked in that frail vessel? though her graceful lines and jaunty air pleased h
J. C. Pegram (search for this): chapter 47
cruisers, and Semmes' career would have come to a sudden and inglorious termination. He showed a deal of cleverness in achieving so much for his Government, but he had few vessels in search of him, and only one of these was fast enough to overtake him if he was sighted. From an English vessel that Semmes encountered he obtained newspapers that gave him interesting information. Among other things he learned that another Confederate cruiser called the Nashville, under the command of Lieutenant Pegram, had put to sea and had burned a large American merchant ship, the Harvey Birch, in the British Channel. She was loaded with tea and just from China. This news stimulated Semmes to fresh exertions, that he might replenish his coal and continue his pleasant employment of burning and sinking. Having been well received at Cienfuegos, he calculated on meeting similar treatment in other Spanish ports, and he now entered tie beautiful harbor of Cadiz with the most pleasing anticipations,
William W. McKean (search for this): chapter 47
o Commodore Rousseau, delivering to him the prize-papers, seals unbroken, etc. The vessel reached Barrataria Bay, but was recaptured by the Powhatan, Lieutenant D. D. Porter, and restored to her owners. Semmes did not burn the Abby Bradford, because, as he says, I only resorted to that practice when it became evident there was nothing else to do. As soon as Lieutenant Porter ascertained from the crew of the Abby Bradford the whereabouts of the Sumter, he obtained the permission of Flag-officer McKean, and started in pursuit of the Confederate vessel, following her from port to port to the coast of Brazil, and thence to the equator, from which point Semmes shaped his course, so that his trail was lost. After having dispatched the Bradford, Semmes put to sea, and was no sooner outside the harbor than an American vessel was sighted. In less than an hour the Sumter came up with the bark Joseph Maxwell, of Philadelphia. Half her cargo was the property of a neutral doing business i
Francis L. Galt (search for this): chapter 47
terview with that gentlemen: Confederate States of America, Navy Department, Montgomery, April 18, 1861. Sir — You are hereby detached from duty as Chief of the Light-house Bureau, and will proceed to New Orleans and take command of the steamer Sumter--named in honor of our recent victory over Fort Sumter. The following officers have been ordered to report to you for duty: Lieutenants John M. Kell, R. T. Chapman, J. M. Stribling and William T. Evans; Paymaster Henry Myers: Surgeon Francis L. Galt; Midshipmen Wm. A. Hicks, Richard F. Armstrong, Albert G. Hudgins, John F. Holden and Joseph D. Wilson. I am respectfully, your obedient servant, S. R. Mallory, Secretary of the Navy. On the 22d of April, Semmes took command of his vessel in New Orleans. The Sumter was simply a coasting steamer, cumbered with upper cabins, and with apparently none of the attributes of a ship-of-war. Who would imagine that so much harm lurked in that frail vessel? though her graceful lines
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