“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.“CaptainJohn A. Winslow,“Comd’g U. S. S. S. Kearsarge, Cherbourg.”
“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.
“CaptainJohn 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 ofpowder—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 shellsfellupon 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 hauleddown 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.
THE FEELING AFTER THE BATTLE.
The wounded of the two vessels were transferred shortly after the action to the Naval Hospital at Cherbourg. I paid a visit to that establishment on the Sunday following the engagement, and found the sufferers lying in comfortable beds alongside each other in a long and admirably ventilated ward on the first floor. Poor Gowen, who died the following Tuesday, was in great pain, and already had the seal of death upon his face. James McBeath, a young fellow of apparently twenty years, with a compound fracture of the leg, chatted with much animation; while Dempsey, the stump of his right arm laid on the pillow, was comfortably smoking a cigar, and laughing and talking with one of the Alabama crew, in the bed alongside him. The wounded men of the sunken privateer were unmistakably English in physiognomy, and I failed to discover any who were not countrymen of ours. I conversed with all of them, stating at the outset that I was an Englishman like themselves, and the information seemed to open their hearts to me. They represented themselves as very comfortable at the hospital, thatevery thing they asked for was given to them, and that they were surprised at the kindness of the Kearsarge men who came to visit the establishment, when they were assured by their own officers before the action that foul treatment would only be shown them in the event of their capture. Condoling with one poor fellow who had his leg carried away by a shell, he remarked to me, “Ah, it serves me right! they won’t catch me fighting again without knowing what I’m fighting for.” “That’s me too,” said another poor Englishman alongside of him.
The paroled prisoners (four officers) on shore at Cherbourg, evinced no hostility whatever to their captors, but were always on the friendliest of terms with them. All alike frequented the same hotel in the town (curiously enough—“The Eagle,”) played billiards at the samecafé, and bought their pipes, cigars, and tobacco from the same pretty littlebrunetteon theQuai du Port.
The following are the names of the officers and crew of the Alabama, saved by the Kearsarge:
(All the above belonged to the Alabama when she first sailed from the Mersey, and John Neil, John Emory, and Peter Hughes belong to the “Royal Naval Reserve.”)
Seamen.—William Clark, David Leggett, Samuel Henry, John Russell, John Smith, Henry McCoy, Edward Bussell, James Ochure, John Casen, Henry Higgin, Frank Hammond, Michael Shields, David Thurston, George Peasey, Henry Yates.
Ordinary Seamen.—Henry Godsen, David Williams, Henry Hestlake, Thomas Watson, John Johnson, Match Maddock, Richard Evans, William Miller, George Cousey, Thomas Brandon.
Coxswains.—William McKenzie, James Broderick, William Wilson.
These men, almost without exception, are subjects of Her Majesty the Queen. There were also three others, who died in the boats, names not known.
The following are those reported to have been killed or drowned:
The above all belonged to the original crew of the Alabama.
The Deerhound carried off, according to her own account, forty-one; the names of the following are known:
The last four belong to the “Royal Naval Reserve.”
MOVEMENTS OF THE ENGLISH YACHT DEERHOUND.
That an English yacht, one belonging to the Royal Yacht Squadron, and flying the White Ensign, too, during the conflict, should have assisted the Confederate prisoners to escape after they had formally surrendered themselves, according to their own statement, by firing a lee-gun, striking their colours, hoisting a white flag, and sending a boat to the Kearsarge—some of which signals must have been witnessed from the deck of the Deerhound, is most humiliating to the national honour. The movements of the yacht early on Sunday morning were as before shown, most suspicious; and had Captain Winslow followed the advice and reiterated requests of his officers when she steamed off, the Deerhound might now have been lying not far distant from the Alabama. Captain Winslow however, could not believe that a gentleman who was asked by himself “to save life” would use the opportunity to decamp with the officers and men who, according to their own act, were prisoners-of-war. There is high presumptive evidence that the Deerhound was at Cherbourg for the express purpose of rendering every assistance possible to the corsair; and we may be permitted to doubt whether Mr. Lancaster, the friend of Mr. Laird, and a member of the Mersey Yacht Club, would have carried Captain Winslow and his officers to Southampton if the result of the struggle had been reversed, and the Alabama had sent the Kearsarge to the bottom.
The Deerhound reached Cherbourg on the 17th of June, and between that time and the night of the 18th, boats were observed from the shore passing frequently between her and the Alabama. It is reported that English gunners come over from England purposely to assist the privateer in the fight; this I heard before leaving London, and the assertion was repeated to me again at Havre, Honfleur, Cherbourg, and Paris. If this be the fact, how did the men reach Cherbourg? On the 14th of June, Captain Semmes sends his challenge to the Kearsarge through Monsieur Bonfils, stating it to be his intention to fight her “as soon as I can make the necessary arrangements.” Two full days elapse, during which he takes on board 150 tons additional of coal, and places for security in the Custom House the following valuables:
What then became of the pillage of a hundred merchantmen, the chronometers, etc., which theTimesdescribes as the “spolia opimaof a whole mercantile fleet?” Those could not be landed on French soil, and were not: did they go to the bottom with the ship herself, or are they saved?
Captain Semmes’ preparations are apparently completed on the 16th, but still he lingers behind the famous breakwater, much to the surprise of his men. The Deerhound arrives at length, and the preparations are rapidlycompleted. How unfortunate that Mr. Lancaster did not favour theTimeswith a copy of his log-book from the 12th to the 19th of June inclusive!
The record of the Deerhound is suggestive on the morning of that memorable Sunday. She steams out from behind the Cherbourg breakwater at an early hour,—scouts hither and thither, apparently purposeless—runs back to her anchorage—precedes the Alabama to sea—is the solitary and close spectator of the fight whilst the Couronne has the delicacy to return to port, and finally—having picked up Semmes, thirteen of his officers and a few of his men—steams off at fullest speed to Southampton, leaving the “apparently much-disabled”Kearsarge(Mr. Lancaster’s own words) to save two-thirds of the Alabama’s drowning crew struggling in the water.
An English gentleman’s yacht playing tender to a corsair! No one will ever believe that Deerhound to be thorough-bred.
CONCLUSION.
Such are the facts relating to the memorable action off Cherbourg on the 19th of June, 1864. The Alabama went down riddled through and through with shot; and, as she sank beneath the green waves of the Channel, not a single cheer arose from the victors. The order was given, “Silence, boys,” and in perfect silence this terror of American commerce plunged to her last resting place.
There is but one key to the victory. The two vesselswere, as nearly as possible, equals in size, speed, armament and crew, and the contest was decided by the superiority of the 11-inch Dahlgren guns of the Kearsarge, over the Blakely rifle and the vaunted 68-pounder of the Alabama, in conjunction with the greater coolness and surer aim of the former’s crew. The Kearsarge was not, as represented, specially armed and manned for destroying her foe; but is in every respect similar to all the vessels of her class (third-rate) in the United States Navy. Moreover, the large majority of her officers are from the merchant service.
The French at Cherbourg were by no means dilatory in recognizing the value of these Dahlgren guns. Officers of all grades, naval and military alike, crowded the vessel during her stay at their port; and they were all eyes for the massive pivots and for nothing else. Guns, carriages, even rammers and sponges, were carefully measured; and, if the pieces can be made in France, many months will not elapse before their muzzles will be grinning through the port-holes of French ships-of-war.
We have no such gun in Europe as this 11-inch Dahlgren, but it is considered behind the age in America. The 68-pounder is regarded by us as a heavy piece; in the United States it is the minimum for large vessels; whilst some ships, the “New Ironsides,” “Niagara,” “Vanderbilt,” etc., carry the 11-inchin broadside. It is considered far too light, however, for the sea-going ironclads, although throwing a solid shot of 160 pounds; yet it has made a wonderful stir on both sides of the Channel.What, then, will be thought of the 15-inch gun, throwing a shot of 480 pounds, or of the 200-pound Parrot, with its range of five miles?
We are arming our ironclads with 9-inch smooth-bores and 100-pounder rifles, whilst the Americans are constructing their armour-ships to resist the impact of 11 and 15-inch shot. By next June, the United States will have in commission the following ironclads:
These, too, without counting six others of “second class,” all alike armed with the tremendous 15-inch, and built to cross the Atlantic in any season. But it is not in ironclads alone that America is proving her energy; first, second and third-rates, wooden built, are issuing constantly from trans-Atlantic yards, and the Navy of the United States now numbers no less than six hundred vessels and upwards, seventy-three of which are ironclads.
This is, indeed, an immense fleet for one nation, but we may, at all events, rejoice that it will be used to defend—in the words of the wisest and noblest of English statesmen—“the democratic principle, or, if that term is offensive, popular sovereignty.”
LETTER OF CAPTAIN JOHN A. WINSLOW.
“U. S. S. S. ‘Kearsarge,’ Off Dover,July 13, 1864.“My Dear Sir—I have read the proof-sheet of your pamphlet, entitled ‘The Alabama and the Kearsarge. An Account of the Naval Engagement in the British Channel on Sunday, June 19, 1864.’ I can fully endorse the pamphlet as giving a fair, unvarnished statement of all the facts both prior and subsequent to the engagement.“With my best wishes, I remain, with feelings of obligation, very truly yours,“John A. Winslow.“Fred’k M. Edge, Esq.,“London.”
“U. S. S. S. ‘Kearsarge,’ Off Dover,July 13, 1864.
“My Dear Sir—I have read the proof-sheet of your pamphlet, entitled ‘The Alabama and the Kearsarge. An Account of the Naval Engagement in the British Channel on Sunday, June 19, 1864.’ I can fully endorse the pamphlet as giving a fair, unvarnished statement of all the facts both prior and subsequent to the engagement.
“With my best wishes, I remain, with feelings of obligation, very truly yours,
“John A. Winslow.
“Fred’k M. Edge, Esq.,“London.”
Footnotes:
[1]The Kearsarge has a four-bladed screw, diameter 12-ft 9-in. with a pitch of 20-ft.
[2]The Career of the Alabama, “No. 290,” from July 26, 1862, to June 19, 1864.London: Dorrell and Son.
[3]Captain Winslow, in his first hurried report of the engagement, put the space covered at 20 or 25 feet, believing this to be rather over than under the mark. The above, however, is the exact measurement.
[4]There was nothing whatever between the chain and the ship’s sides.
[5]Including three dead.
[6]See page 41.
[7]The Kearsarge started on her present cruise the 4th of February, 1862; the Alabama left the Mersey at the end of July following.
[8]This information was incorrect. No such statement was ever made by the Consul of the United States at Cherbourg. F. M. E.
[9]The following is the copy of the log of the Kearsarge on the day in question:
“June 19, 1864.“From 8 to Merid.
“Moderate breeze from the Wd. weather b. c. At 10 o’clock, inspected crew at quarters. At 10.20, discovered the Alabama steaming out from the port of Cherbourg, accompanied by a French iron-clad steamer, and a fore-and-aft rigged steamer showing the white English ensign and a yacht flag. Beat to General Quarters, and cleared the ship for action. Steamed ahead standing off shore. At 10.50, being distant from the land about two leagues, altered our course and approached the Alabama. At 10.57, the Alabama commenced the action with her starboard broadside at 1,000 yards range. At 11, we returned her fire, and came fairly into action, which we continued until Merid., when observing signs of distress in the enemy, together with a cessation of her fire, our fire was withheld. At 12.10, a boat with an officer from the Alabama came alongside and surrendered his vessel, with the information that she was rapidly sinking, and a request for assistance. Sent the Launch and 2d Cutter, the other boats being disabled by the fire of the enemy. The English yacht before mentioned, coming within hail, was requested by the Captain (W.) to render assistance in saving the lives of the officers and crew of the surrendered vessel. At 2.24, the Alabama went down in forty fathoms of water, leaving most of the crew struggling in the water. Seventy persons were rescued by the boats, two pilot boats and the yacht also assisted. One pilot boat came alongside us, but the other returned to the port. The yacht steamed rapidly away to the Nd. without reporting the number of our prisoners she had picked up.
“(Signed)James S. Wheeler, Actg. Master.”
[10]According to the statement of prisoners captured, the Alabama fired no less than three hundred and seventy times (shot and shell); more than twice the number of the Kearsarge.
[11]Captain Winslow has long been a citizen of the State of Massachusetts.