An Englishman's View of the Battle between the Alabama and the Kearsarge

SHOTS FIRED BY THE KEARSARGE.

The last-named gun performed no part whatever in sinking the Alabama, and was only used in the action to create laughter among the sailors. Two old quarter-masters, the two Dromios of the Kearsarge, were put in charge of this gun, with instructions to fire when they received the order. But the two old salts, little relishing the idea of having nothing to do while their messmates were so actively engaged, commenced peppering away with their pea-shooter of a piece, alternating their discharges with vituperation of each other. This low-comedy by-play amused the ship’s company, and the officers good-humoredly allowed the farce to continue until the single box of ammunition was exhausted.

DAMAGE TO THE KEARSARGE

The Kearsarge was struck as follows:

One shot through starboard quarter, taking a slanting direction aft, and lodging in the rudder post. This shot was from the Blakely rifle.

One shot, carrying away starboard life-buoy.

Three 32-pounder shots through port bulwarks, forward of mizzen-mast.

A shell, exploding after end of pivot port.

A shell, exploding after end of chain-plating.

A 68-lb. shell, passing through starboard bulwarks below main rigging, wounding three men – the only casualties amongst the crew during the engagement.

A Blakely-rifle shell, passing through the engine-room sky-light, and dropping harmlessly in the water beyond the vessel.

Two shots below plank-sheer, abreast of boiler hatch.

One forward pivot port plank sheer.

One forward foremast-rigging.

A shot striking Launch’s toping-lift.

A rifle-shell, passing through funnel, bursting without damage inside.

One, starboard forward main-shroud.

One, starboard after-shroud main-topmast rigging.

One, main topsail tye.

One, main topsail outhaul.

One, main topsail runner.

Two, through port-quarter boat.

One, through spanker (furled).

One, starboard forward shroud, mizzen rigging.

One, starboard mizzen-topmast backstay.

One, through mizzen peak-signal halyards, which cut the stops when the battle was nearly over, and for the first time let loose the flag to the breeze.

This list of damages received by the Kearsarge proves the exceedingly bad fire of the Alabama, notwithstanding the numbers of men on board the latter belonging to our “Naval Reserve,” and the trained hands from the gunnery ship “Excellent.” I was informed by some of the paroled prisoners on shore at Cherbourg that Captain Semmes fired rapidly at the commencement of the action “in order to frighten the Yankees,” nearly all the officers and crew being, as he was well aware, merely volunteers from the merchant service.⁹ At the expiration of twenty minutes after the Kearsarge discharged the first broadside, continuing the battle in a leisurely, cool manner, Semmes remarked: “Confound them; they’ve been fighting twenty minutes, and they’re as cool as posts.” The probabilities are that the crew of the Federal vessel had learnt not to regard as dangerous the rapid and hap-hazard practice of the Alabama.

From the time of her first reaching Cherbourg until she finally quitted the port, the Kearsarge never received the slightest assistance from shore, with the exception of that rendered by a boiler maker in patching up her funnel. Every other repair was completed by her own hands, and she might have crossed the Atlantic immediately after the action without difficulty. So much for Mr. Lancaster’s statement that “the Kearsarge was apparently much disabled.”

SEMMES’ DESIGN TO BOARD THE KEARSARGE

The first accounts received of the action led us to suppose that Captain Semmes’ intention was to lay his vessel alongside the enemy, and to carry her by boarding. Whether this information came from the Captain himself or was made out of “whole cloth” by some of his admirers, the idea of boarding a vessel under steam – unless her engines, or screw, or rudder be disabled – is manifestly ridiculous. The days of boarding are gone by, except under the contingencies above stated; and any such attempt on the part of the Alabama would have been attended with disastrous results to herself and crew. To have boarded the Kearsarge, Semmes must have possessed greater speed to enable him to run alongside her; and the moment the pursuer came near her victim, the latter would shut off steam, drop astern in a second of time, sheer off, discharge her whole broadside of grape and canister, and rake her antagonist from stern to stem. Our pro-southern sympathizers really ought not to make their protegé appear ridiculous by ascribing to him such an egregious intention.

NATIONALITY OF THE CREW OF THE KEARSARGE

It has frequently been asserted that the major portion of the Northern armies is composed of foreigners, and the same statement is made in reference to the crews of the American Navy. The report got abroad in Cherbourg that the victory of the Kearsarge was due to her having taken on board a number of French gunners at Brest; and an admiral of the French Navy asked me in perfectly good faith whether it were not the fact. It will not, therefore, be out of place to give the names and nationalities of the officers and crew on board the Kearsarge during her action with the Alabama.

OFFICERS OF THE U.S.S. KEARSARGE, June 19, 1864.

¹¹Captain Winslow has long been a citizen of the State of Massachusetts.

CREW OF THE U.S.S. KEARSARGE, June 19, 1864.

It thus appears that out of one hundred and sixty-three (163) officers and crew of the sloop-of-war Kearsarge, there are only eleven (11) persons foreign born.

The following is the Surgeon’s report of casualties amongst the crew of the Kearsarge during the action:

“U. S. S. S. Kearsarge,

“Cherbourg, France,

“Afternoon, June 19, 1864.

“Sir – I report the following casualties resulting from the engagement this morning with the steamer ‘Alabama.’

John W. Dempsey, Quarter-gunner. Compound comminuted fracture of right arm, lower third, and fore-arm. Arm amputated.

William Gowen, Ordinary seaman. Compound fracture of left thigh and leg. Seriously wounded.

James McBeath, Ordinary seaman. Compound fracture of left leg. Severely wounded.

I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

John M. Browne,

Surgeon U. S. Navy.

“Captain John A. Winslow,

“Comd’g U. S. S. S. Kearsarge, Cherbourg.”

All these men were wounded by the same shot, a 68-pounder, which passed through the starboard bulwarks below main-rigging, narrowly escaping the after 11-inch pivot-gun. The fuses employed by the Alabama were villainously bad, several shells having lodged in the Kearsarge without taking effect. Had the 7-inch rifle shot exploded which entered the vessel at the starboard quarter, raising the deck by its concussion several inches and lodging in the rudder-post, the action might have lasted some time longer. It would not, however, have altered the result, for the casualty occurred towards the close of the conflict. During my visit, I witnessed the operation of cutting out a 32-pounder shell (time fuse) from the rail close forward of the fore pivot 11-inch port; the officer in charge of the piece informed me that the concussion actually raised the gun and carriage, and, had it exploded, many of the crew would have been injured by the fragments and splinters.

Among the incidents of the fight, some of our papers relate that a 11-inch shell from the Kearsarge fell upon the deck of the Alabama, and was immediately taken up and thrown overboard. Probably no fight ever occurred in modern times in which somebody didn’t pick up a live shell and throw it out of harm’s way; but we may be permitted to doubt in this case – 5-second fuses take effect somewhat rapidly; the shot weighs considerably more than a hundred-weight, and is uncomfortably difficult to lay hold of. Worse than all for the probabilities of the story, fifteen pounds of powder – never more nor less – were used to every shot fired from the 11-inch pivots, the Kearsarge only opening fire from them when within eight hundred yards of the Alabama. With 15 pounds of powder and fifteen degrees of elevation, I have myself seen these 11-inch Dahlgrens throw three and a half miles; and yet we are asked to credit that, with the same charge at less than half a mile, one of the shells fell upon the deck of the privateer. There are eleven marines in the crew of the Kearsarge: probably the story was made for them.

THE REPORTED FIRING UPON THE ALABAMA AFTER HER SURRENDER

Captain Semmes makes the following statement in his official report:

“Although we were now but 400 yards from each other, the enemy fired upon me five times after my colours had been struck. It is charitable to suppose that a ship of war of a Christian nation could not have done this intentionally.”

A very nice appeal after the massacre of Fort Pillow, especially when coming from a man who has spent the previous two years of his life in destroying unresisting merchantmen.

The Captain of the Kearsarge was never aware of the Alabama having struck until a boat put off from her to his own vessel. Prisoners subsequently stated that she had fired a lee-gun, but the fact was not known on board the Federal ship, nor that the colours were hauled down in token of surrender. A single fact will prove the humanity with which Captain Winslow conducted the fight. At the close of the action, his deck was found to be literally covered with grape and canister, ready for close quarters; but he had never used a single charge of all this during the contest, although within capital range for employing it.