Navy Department, January 27, 1863.Sir: As soon as the U. S. S. Vanderbilt is ready you will proceed with her to sea and resume the search for the steamer Alabama, or 290. You will first visit Havana, where you may obtain information to govern your future movements. You can then visit any of the islands of the West Indies or any part of the Gulf at which you think you would be most likely to overtake the Alabama or procure information of her.When you are perfectly satisfied that the Alabama has left the Gulf or the West Indies and gone to some other locality, you will proceed along the coast ofBrazil to Fernando de Noronha and Rio de Janeiro, making enquiry at such places as you may think advisable. From Rio continue your course to the Cape of Good Hope, thence back to St. Helena, Cape Verde, the Canaries, Madeira, Lisbon, Western Islands, and New York.If at any point word is obtained of the Alabama, or any other rebel craft, you will pursue her without regard to these instructions; and if the Alabama should be captured by any of our vessels, you will regard these instructions as void, and return at once to New York, unless you are in pursuit of some other rebel craft.The U. S. bark Ino is cruising in the vicinity of St. Helena, and the U. S. S. Mohican near the Cape Verde. Endeavor to obtain all the information possible at points where the mail steamers touch, and communicate with the department as opportunity offers.I am respectfully, etc.,GIDEON WELLES.Secretary of the Navy.Acting Lieutenant Chas. H. Baldwin,Commanding U. S. S. Vanderbilt, Hampton Roads.
Navy Department, January 27, 1863.
Sir: As soon as the U. S. S. Vanderbilt is ready you will proceed with her to sea and resume the search for the steamer Alabama, or 290. You will first visit Havana, where you may obtain information to govern your future movements. You can then visit any of the islands of the West Indies or any part of the Gulf at which you think you would be most likely to overtake the Alabama or procure information of her.
When you are perfectly satisfied that the Alabama has left the Gulf or the West Indies and gone to some other locality, you will proceed along the coast ofBrazil to Fernando de Noronha and Rio de Janeiro, making enquiry at such places as you may think advisable. From Rio continue your course to the Cape of Good Hope, thence back to St. Helena, Cape Verde, the Canaries, Madeira, Lisbon, Western Islands, and New York.
If at any point word is obtained of the Alabama, or any other rebel craft, you will pursue her without regard to these instructions; and if the Alabama should be captured by any of our vessels, you will regard these instructions as void, and return at once to New York, unless you are in pursuit of some other rebel craft.
The U. S. bark Ino is cruising in the vicinity of St. Helena, and the U. S. S. Mohican near the Cape Verde. Endeavor to obtain all the information possible at points where the mail steamers touch, and communicate with the department as opportunity offers.
I am respectfully, etc.,
GIDEON WELLES.Secretary of the Navy.
Acting Lieutenant Chas. H. Baldwin,Commanding U. S. S. Vanderbilt, Hampton Roads.
It will be noticed that the route thus mapped out for the Vanderbilt corresponded very closely to the one actually taken by the Alabama. The next day the secretary was informed of the Alabama’s fight with the Hatteras, and the Florida’s escape from Mobile, and telegraphed Lieutenant Baldwin as follows:
* * * proceed with all possible dispatch to Havana, and there be governed by circumstances, but do not leave the West Indies as long as the Florida or Alabama are there.
United States Steamer Vanderbilt.
Acting Rear Admiral Wilkes, commandingthe West India squadron, had come very near plunging his country into a foreign war in November, 1861. He then held the rank of Captain, and was in command of the San Jacinto. He overhauled the British steamer Trent at sea and forcibly removed from her the Confederate commissioners Mason and Slidell. This act would have been perfectly justifiable if the Trent had been attempting to run the blockade, but as she was bound from the neutral port of Havana to an English port, there was no excuse for the seizure, and the act was disavowed and the prisoners released by order of President Lincoln. Nevertheless, Captain Wilkes was advanced to the rank of commodore, and in September, 1862, made an acting rear admiral and assigned to the command of the West India fleet, consisting of the Wachusett, Dacotah, Cimarron, Sonoma, Tioga, Octorara and Santiago de Cuba. Almost from the time of takingcommand he had been sending frequent requests to Secretary Welles for more and better vessels. He felt sure that the Alabama might soon be captured if his requests were complied with. He complained bitterly because the Dacotah had been sent on an independent cruise, and because the San Jacinto, although cruising in the West Indies, was not placed under his command. He was inclined to make use of any stragglers from other squadrons which came within his reach. The R. R. Cuyler and the Oneida, of Admiral Farragut’s squadron, after chasing the Florida out of Mobile, got within the sphere of Admiral Wilkes’ influence, and the former did not get back to her station for six weeks. The Oneida did not get back at all while Wilkes retained his command. When the Vanderbilt reached the West Indies Wilkes took possession of her and retained her as his flag ship until the 13th of June. He persisted in the belief that the main object of the Alabama and the Florida would be the capture of the California treasure steamers, although those steamers had long since been furnished with an armed convoy. Whenthe news of the Alabama’s depredations on the coast of Brazil reached the United States and the shipping interests began to clamor for protection in that quarter, Secretary Welles at first replied that the Vanderbilt had already gone thither. When later reports showed that she was still retained by Wilkes, the secretary’s stock of patience was exhausted, and he relieved Wilkes of his command.
TheAlabama had now made some fifty captures, and American vessels were taking circuitous routes in order to avoid her. In some cases they had been sold to British owners, and doubtless there were many pretended sales for the purpose of obtaining the protection of the neutral flag. Several vessels were overhauled off the Brazilian coast by the Alabama, where a real or pretended transfer to neutral owners had been made. The papers being regular in each case, Captain Semmes had no alternative but to release them. But woe to any ship or cargo in whose papers any technical flaw could be made to justify him in disregarding them!
In the afternoon of May 25th the Alabama’s lookout reported a sail in sight and the cruiser had hardly made ready to pursue before anothersail was descried. On nearer approach both were pronounced Yankee, but the Alabama was not able to overhaul them until after sunset. The first ship boarded was the S. Gildersleeve, of New York, with a cargo of coal. The cargo was from London, and was probably owned there, but no proper certificate of that fact being found, ship and cargo were condemned to the flames. The other vessel was the bark Justina, of Baltimore, with a neutral cargo, properly certified. The Justina was released on ransom bond and the crew of the S. Gildersleeve transferred to her. The sea was very rough, and the transfer of the prisoners after dark was no easy task. The light having gone out on one of the boats, it came very near being run down by the Alabama while changing position. At eleven o’clock that night the Gildersleeve was ready for the torch.
The next night about 8:30 the Alabama began a chase by moonlight which lasted all night. With very careful handling the cruiser was able to gain slightly on the chase, which was also well handled and carrying a press of sail. After daylight the next morning the chaseobeyed the signal of a blank cartridge and proved to be—a Dutch vessel!
Forty-eight hours later another night chase yielded better results. The vessel overhauled this time was the Jabez Snow, of Rockport, Maine, with a cargo of coal, and bound from Cardiff, Wales, to Uruguay. A certificate of neutral ownership of the cargo was produced by the master, but not being sworn to, no attention was paid to it, and the ship was burned.
June 2d at half past three o’clock in the morning the Alabama passed a large ship on the opposite tack. The cruiser made sail in pursuit. At daylight the fugitive was still six or seven miles distant, and refused to obey the Alabama’s gun. At 10:30 the cruiser had crept up within four miles, and a shot from the “Persuader” brought the chase to a stop. This prize was the Amazonian, of Boston, also bound for the coast of Uruguay. The cargo was an assorted one, and there were two claims of neutral property; but Captain Semmes picked flaws in both of them, and the ship was condemned to be burned. In searching for some boxes ofsoap and candles which were needed on the Alabama, the ocean was strewn with boxes and bales, many of them containing articles of high value. Pianos, cases of fine shoes, and the like, were dumped like so much rubbish until the coveted soap was brought to light. Having secured what was deemed necessary, the ship was set on fire. The next day an English brigantine was boarded, and by presenting her master with a chronometer, of which there were now a great number on the cruiser, taken from prizes, and a considerable quantity of provisions, Captain Semmes persuaded him to take the Alabama’s prisoners, about forty in number, to Rio Janeiro.
June 5th just before daylight the fine clipper ship Talisman ran within gunshot of the Alabama before discovering her presence. She was bound from New York to the coast of China, and had on board four brass twelve-pounder cannon and ammunition for them. Two of these cannon were transferred to the Alabama, with the ammunition and some provisions, and the vessel was then burned.
During the next two weeks no less than three “Yankee” ships were fallen in with, which had been sold to British owners, and an American cargo was found bound for New York in a Bremen ship. The Confederate commander was exultant over these multiplying proofs of the terror which his arms had inspired.
The 20th of June brought a new departure in the Alabama’s career. On that day the bark Conrad, of Philadelphia, homeward bound from Buenos Ayres with a cargo of wool, was captured. There were declarations of English ownership, but Captain Semmes pronounced them fraudulent. Instead of burning this prize, however, he determined to fit her out to assist in the work of destroying American commerce. A crew of fifteen men was sent on board under command of Lieutenant Low, with Midshipman William H. Sinclair as his first officer. The two twelve pounders taken from the Talisman were transferred to her, with a supply of rifles and revolvers, and the vessel was rechristened the Confederate States bark Tuscaloosa.
The Alabama was now south of the tropicof Capricorn and on her way to the Cape of Good Hope. Captain Semmes still hoped to find the Agrippina on the South African coast, but after spending some days on the voyage, the ship’s bread was discovered to be nearly destroyed by weevil, and it became necessary to put back to Rio Janeiro for a fresh supply. On the first day of July the Alabama was again nearing the locality where she had parted from the Tuscaloosa. After overhauling no less than eleven neutral ships during the day, chase was given to the twelfth at eleven o’clock p. m. As the day broke the chase developed into a fine tall ship with tapering spars and white canvas. At the summons of a blank cartridge, she showed the United States flag, but her master refused to heave to, and was evidently determined not to permit his ship to be captured until the last resource of seamanship had failed. It was not until the cruiser had crept near enough to throw a shell screaming across her bow, that she shortened sail. The prize proved to be the Anna F. Schmidt, bound from Boston to San Francisco with a valuable assorted cargo. Ifshe had been fitted out as a supply ship for the Alabama she could hardly have met the needs of the hour better. An abundance of bread put an end to the need of another visit to unfriendly Brazil. Trousers and shoes for the sailors, and plenty of warm underclothing, so much needed in the colder region which the cruiser was now approaching, were dug up out of the hold. The whole day was consumed in the looting. Great quantities of crockery and glassware, lamps, clocks, sewing machines, patent medicines and so on, were flung overboard in order that the needed articles might be found, and at night the match was applied to what remained.
As the cruiser stood away from the blazing ship at 9 p. m. she fired a bow gun to bring to a large ship speeding northward. The stranger answered also with a gun. Aha! a man-of-war. But why this haste? Why carry royals in such a gale, unless safety depends upon it. The stranger must be a “Yankee” gun boat and one afraid to meet us, judging from the heels he shows. Or perhaps a valuable merchant ship playing man-of-war in order to deceive. Soreasoned Captain Semmes, and pressed on both steam and sail to overhaul the fleeing stranger. At midnight the Alabama was near enough to hail.
“What ship is that?” shouted Lieutenant Kell through his trumpet.
“This is her Brittanic Majesty’s ship Diomede,” was the reply. And so vanished alike the captain’s hope of a rich prize and the sailors’ thoughts of a battle. As ships of war are not expected to obey a summons to heave to and show papers, the Diomede flew away on her course, and the Alabama shortened sail and banked her fires.
July 6th the Express, of Boston, bound for Antwerp, with a cargo of guano, said to be the property of the government of Peru, was captured. Captain Semmes found flaws in the certificate of neutral ownership, and the vessel was burned.
July 29th the Alabama reached the coast of South Africa and anchored at Saldanha Bay, an excellent but secluded harbor about ninety miles north of Cape Town. Here the Alabama wasrepaired and painted and word sent to the governor of the colony that the neutrality laws would be carefully respected. The first loss of life since the beginning of the cruise occurred August 3d, when one of the engineers accidentally shot himself while returning from a hunting expedition. Three days later, finding that there were no Union cruisers about the colony, and the Agrippina not having put in an appearance, the Alabama proceeded to Cape Town. On the way she spoke the Tuscaloosa, and Lieutenant Low reported that he had captured the Santee, which ship, having a neutral cargo, he had released on bond.
Thefame of the Alabama had preceded her, and her reception at the capital of the colony was an ovation. One of the Cape Town newspapers thus describes her arrival:
On the 27th of July no little excitement was caused in Cape Town on the arrival of the coasting schooner Rover from Walwich Bay, with the news that the Confederate steamer Alabama had actually made her appearance about twenty-five miles off Green Point. * * * Nothing further was heard, and it was thought by some that she had proceeded on to the eastward; but on the afternoon of August 4 public excitement was again aroused on the arrival of the schooner Atlas, Capt. Boyce, from Saldanha Bay, with the intelligence that the Alabama was lying snugly at anchor in that bay repairing. * * * Captain Boyce also informed us that he had boarded the steamer and was told by her commander that it was his intention to visit both Table Bay and Simons Bay, and that he would be up almost as soon as the Atlas. This bit of news put every one on thequi vive, and the eagerly looked for arrival was the sole subject of talk. Tuesday passed, but the Alabama had not made her appearance yet.About noon on the following day (Wednesday) an American bark was signalled as standing into Table Bay from the southwest. Almost immediately after a bark-rigged steamer was made down as standing in from the northeast.The stoop of the Exchange and the space aroundthe signalman’s office behind the Custom House, and all other places from which the signals could be made out, were soon crowded; and when the name of the steamer was made known, the excitement passed all bounds. The news spread through Cape Town like wild fire:“The Alabama is outside the bay, in chase of an American bark!”Trading was forgotten—the busiest rushed out of their offices and shops; every cab on the stand loaded regardless of municipal regulations, and vanished up the Kloof road or down Somerset road. Horsemen galloped about the street, and then spurred their steeds right up the Lion’s rump. Men, women and children were seized as with frenzy, and rushed about here, there and everywhere, asking and telling the most contradictory and unheard of things.“They were firing at each other!—at close quarters!—the smoke and roar of the battle could be quite distinctly heard from the breakwater!”And the shore from that point round to Camp’s bay was, in an incredibly short space of time, lined with no inconsiderable portion of the madly excited citizens of Cape Town. * * * The fine bark Sea Bride, having run the gauntlet of the Confederate fleet on the Atlantic, had deemed her voyage to be approaching a happy end, and, with full sail set, a favoring breeze and the star-spangled banner at her peak, she sped onward like a thing of life and beauty, in full view of the port to which she was bound. Dimly in the north she descried a steamer standing likewise for the bay, and congratulated herself on her good luck in arriving just in time to receive the latest American news of Vicksburg or the Rappahanock by the English mail. Fast as the bark went, the steamer sped faster still, and in a very unaccountable manner seemed to be bearing down upon the Yankee. In less than half an hour the suspicious craft had fairly overhauled her, and, with the dreadful Confederate flag run up at the peak, left little doubt that the Sea Bride was to become the prey of the redoubtable cruiser, the Alabama. But still, as it appeared to us who witnessed the whole scene from Green Point shore, the Northerner determined to strain every nerve to escape his foe and reach the neutral waters within the charmed league from shore.The demand from the steamer to heave to wasanswered by a defiant pressing on of every stitch of canvas, and a still more jaunty display of the stars and stripes at the mizzen. The chase was then continued for a few seconds longer; but at no time was the issue of it uncertain. The Alabama seemed to cut the waters with prodigious speed, and a blank charge from one of her big guns brought the Sea Bride to a full stop. The Confederate, puffing off her steam in enormous volumes, moved gently round her fated victim, and seemed to gaze upon her with the complacent satisfaction a cat might show after the seizure of a tempting mouse, or a hawk which in swift descent had pounced on its unsuspecting prey. A boat was sent to go on board the bark—a few minutes longer and it was impossible to judge what was happening; until at last the stars and stripes were struck, and the Northern bark Sea Bride was manifestly proclaimed a Confederate prize.
On the 27th of July no little excitement was caused in Cape Town on the arrival of the coasting schooner Rover from Walwich Bay, with the news that the Confederate steamer Alabama had actually made her appearance about twenty-five miles off Green Point. * * * Nothing further was heard, and it was thought by some that she had proceeded on to the eastward; but on the afternoon of August 4 public excitement was again aroused on the arrival of the schooner Atlas, Capt. Boyce, from Saldanha Bay, with the intelligence that the Alabama was lying snugly at anchor in that bay repairing. * * * Captain Boyce also informed us that he had boarded the steamer and was told by her commander that it was his intention to visit both Table Bay and Simons Bay, and that he would be up almost as soon as the Atlas. This bit of news put every one on thequi vive, and the eagerly looked for arrival was the sole subject of talk. Tuesday passed, but the Alabama had not made her appearance yet.
About noon on the following day (Wednesday) an American bark was signalled as standing into Table Bay from the southwest. Almost immediately after a bark-rigged steamer was made down as standing in from the northeast.
The stoop of the Exchange and the space aroundthe signalman’s office behind the Custom House, and all other places from which the signals could be made out, were soon crowded; and when the name of the steamer was made known, the excitement passed all bounds. The news spread through Cape Town like wild fire:
“The Alabama is outside the bay, in chase of an American bark!”
Trading was forgotten—the busiest rushed out of their offices and shops; every cab on the stand loaded regardless of municipal regulations, and vanished up the Kloof road or down Somerset road. Horsemen galloped about the street, and then spurred their steeds right up the Lion’s rump. Men, women and children were seized as with frenzy, and rushed about here, there and everywhere, asking and telling the most contradictory and unheard of things.
“They were firing at each other!—at close quarters!—the smoke and roar of the battle could be quite distinctly heard from the breakwater!”
And the shore from that point round to Camp’s bay was, in an incredibly short space of time, lined with no inconsiderable portion of the madly excited citizens of Cape Town. * * * The fine bark Sea Bride, having run the gauntlet of the Confederate fleet on the Atlantic, had deemed her voyage to be approaching a happy end, and, with full sail set, a favoring breeze and the star-spangled banner at her peak, she sped onward like a thing of life and beauty, in full view of the port to which she was bound. Dimly in the north she descried a steamer standing likewise for the bay, and congratulated herself on her good luck in arriving just in time to receive the latest American news of Vicksburg or the Rappahanock by the English mail. Fast as the bark went, the steamer sped faster still, and in a very unaccountable manner seemed to be bearing down upon the Yankee. In less than half an hour the suspicious craft had fairly overhauled her, and, with the dreadful Confederate flag run up at the peak, left little doubt that the Sea Bride was to become the prey of the redoubtable cruiser, the Alabama. But still, as it appeared to us who witnessed the whole scene from Green Point shore, the Northerner determined to strain every nerve to escape his foe and reach the neutral waters within the charmed league from shore.
The demand from the steamer to heave to wasanswered by a defiant pressing on of every stitch of canvas, and a still more jaunty display of the stars and stripes at the mizzen. The chase was then continued for a few seconds longer; but at no time was the issue of it uncertain. The Alabama seemed to cut the waters with prodigious speed, and a blank charge from one of her big guns brought the Sea Bride to a full stop. The Confederate, puffing off her steam in enormous volumes, moved gently round her fated victim, and seemed to gaze upon her with the complacent satisfaction a cat might show after the seizure of a tempting mouse, or a hawk which in swift descent had pounced on its unsuspecting prey. A boat was sent to go on board the bark—a few minutes longer and it was impossible to judge what was happening; until at last the stars and stripes were struck, and the Northern bark Sea Bride was manifestly proclaimed a Confederate prize.
When the Alabama anchored in the bay, she was surrounded by boats, the occupants all eager to view ship, officers and crew; and the Confederates found themselves the heroes of the hour. The history of their captures and the battle with the Hatteras had to be related over and over again, with various grades of embellishment, according to the veracity or imagination of the narrator. The newspaper account continues:
Next day the excitement in town was if possible still greater. The day was to all intents and purposes a general holiday. The weather was favorable, charming; the bay was as smooth and sparkling as a sheet of glass, and every man, woman and child in Cape Town seemed to have made up their minds to get on board the Alabama in some; way or other. * * * The Alabama took in and discharged a living freight at the rate of about sixty in the minute from eight o’clock in the morning till four or five in the afternoon. * * * The boatmen quarreled, roared andswore, as their eager living cargoes tumbled in and out of large boats into little ones, utterly reckless of their lives in their mad haste to get into the ship. The ladies’ crinolines blocked the ladders and gangways. * * * The great center of attraction was Captain Semmes. “Where is he?” “Might we just have a look at him?” “Do let us down,” “Do make a little room,” begged and prayed ladies and gentlemen all day long at the head of the companion ladder leading down to the cabin.
Captain Semmes seems to have borne his honors with a becoming grace, and to have made a good impression upon his army of visitors. Bartelli, the captain’s steward, acted as master of ceremonies, and refused to admit any one until his or her card had first been sent in, and he had very diplomatic ways of getting rid of people who did not impress him as being of the proper social standing. Invitations to make visits on shore were showered upon the officers and some of them were accepted. Quires of paper were consumed in autographs, and the officers posed for their photographs on deck.
The Alabama remained here and at Simons Bay until August 15th under various pretexts of needed repairs. The United States consul made the claim that the Sea Bride had been captured within the marine league, and also that while in charge of the prize crew she hadapproached within a mile and a half of the shore. On the 8th the Tuscaloosa came into Simons Bay, and the consul protested that her proper name was the Conrad, that she had never been condemned in an admiralty court, that her original cargo of wool was still on board, and that the mere fact that two brass guns and a dozen men had been transferred to her decks could not deprive her of the character of a prize, which it would be unlawful to bring into a British port. Governor Wodehouse decided both of these cases in favor of the Confederates, but having reported the facts to the British government, his action in the case of the Tuscaloosa was disapproved. Accordingly, when that vessel again appeared in port he caused her to be seized. This proceeding was also disapproved at London, on the ground that having once found an asylum in a British port, she had a right to expect similar treatment in the future. This diplomatic controversy was many months in progress, and before a final decision was arrived at there were no Confederate officers at the Cape to whom she could be delivered. After the war she was transferred to her original owners.
August 9th the Alabama steamed out from Cape Town, bound for Simons Bay. As she passed out of the harbor two American ships were sighted by the signalman on shore. But they were warned of their danger by some boats, and, the weather being foggy, they got inside the marine league without being seen by the Confederates. The same day the Alabama captured the bark Martha Wenzel near the entrance to False Bay, but, having taken his bearings, Captain Semmes decided that the capture had been made in British waters, and accordingly released her, much to the joy of her commander, who had expected to witness her destruction.
August 28th the Alabama arrived at Angra Pequeña Bay, on the west coast of Africa, more than a hundred miles north of the northern boundary of the Cape Colony, whither the Tuscaloosa and Sea Bride had preceded her. The harbor was good, but the country was a rainless, sandy, rock-bound desert, without so much as a shrub or a blade of grass; and no nation had as yet set up any claim to it.
At last Captain Semmes had found a port into which he could take a prize. The few naked and half starved Hottentots who appeared made no remonstrance against the violation of neutrality.
The Sea Bride and her cargo were sold to a Cape Town merchant for about one-third of their value, he to take the risk arising from the fact that she had never been condemned in a prize court, and the money was paid and possession given him at this secluded place. Here also was deposited the wool from the Tuscaloosa, to be picked up by another speculator, who was to ship it to Europe and credit the Confederate government with two-thirds of the proceeds. Two months later the Vanderbilt visited Angra Pequeña and captured there the British bark Saxon, having a large part of the wool on board, and sent her to a prize court in the United States.
The United States consul at Cape Town, having heard of the Alabama’s little mark down sales, protested against the vending of any of the goods within the colony by the purchasers.After much delay and difficulty the cargo of the Sea Bride was peddled out in Madagascar and elsewhere, and the vessel herself turned adrift—for a consideration—with the understanding that certain persons should pick her up as a derelict.
When the Alabama returned to Simons Town, she found the Vanderbilt had been there, and had, moreover, taken in all the coal which was to be had in the place. The Vanderbilt was an enormous consumer of coal, a fact which interfered considerably with her movements in a quarter of the world where coal was so high in price and so uncertain in supply. Lieutenant Baldwin had fairly turned the tide of popular opinion in his favor by his magnanimous conduct in the case of a Dutch bark, which the Vanderbilt found in a disabled state a hundred miles from the shore, and which she towed safely into a harbor. Lieutenant Baldwin declined to accept any part of the salvage which he might have claimed, and although he was delayed some twenty-four hours in his chase of Confederate cruisers by the incident, the improved feeling toward the United States government in SouthAfrica was of much greater value. The three months rule was so far relaxed that the Vanderbilt coaled three times in British ports within three months, instead of only once, as the rule prescribed. Permission to coal a fourth time was, however, denied.
Not being able to procure any coal at Simons Bay, Captain Semmes had a supply sent around from Cape Town in a merchant vessel. Meanwhile the crew were permitted to have shore liberty, and nearly the entire number, including the petty officers, proceeded to get as drunk as possible. A week was spent in getting the unruly fellows on board and coaling ship. On September 24th, finding himself still fourteen hands short, Captain Semmes shipped eleven new ones at Simons Bay, although this was in direct violation of the British neutrality act. The Vanderbilt was reported not far outside the bay, but the Alabama succeeded in avoiding her, and steamed out to sea the same night in the teeth of a southeast gale.
Runningsouthward to the fortieth parallel, the Alabama availed herself of both a trade wind and a current setting eastward. The following month was spent in the eastward trip, which, aside from storms and bad weather, was uneventful. In the latter part of October she approached the East Indies. Passing vessels reported the United States war sloop Wyoming, a vessel of about the same grade as the Alabama, as guarding the Strait of Sunda. The Confederate cruiser hung round the entrance of the strait for two weeks, and then ran through without encountering the Wyoming, which had gone to Batavia for a fresh supply of coal. On November6th, just before entering the strait, the Alabama gave chase to and captured the United States bark Amanda, laden with sugar and hemp. There was an attempt to cover the cargo with British consular certificates, but these not being sworn to, the vessel was burned. At the other end of the strait the fine clipper Winged Racer was encountered and met a like fate. Here the Alabama obtained a much needed supply of pigs, chickens and fresh vegetables from a fleet of Malay bum boats, and proceeded on her way.
United States Steamer Wyoming.
November 11th the magnificent clipper Contest led the Alabama a desperate chase in the Sea of Java, and although the latter was under both sail and steam, came very near escaping. Captain Semmes ordered some of the forward guns trundled aft and the crew assembled on the quarter deck, by which means the bow of the cruiser was lifted higher in the water; and, the wind dying down, the Alabama got near enough to reach the chase with her guns and compel her to heave to. Her master brought his papers on board the Alabama, which showed both ship and cargo to be American. The beautiful vessel,the pride of master and crew, was consigned to the flames. Her mate was placed in irons after he had knocked down an officer of the Alabama and offered to fight any “pirate” on board.
The American shipping trade in the East Indies was paralyzed. Few United States vessels ventured to put to sea, and fewer still could get profitable cargoes. At Manila, at Singapore, at Bangkok, and wherever a snug harbor was offered, American ships were lying idly at the docks. The Wyoming had no better success in pursuit of the Alabama than the Vanderbilt, and never once sighted the pestiferous Confederate.
Nine days were spent by the Alabama at Pulo Condore, a small island in the China Sea, then recently seized by the French, making some needed repairs, and giving the men rest and shore liberty without the possibility of their getting drunk or running away. The officers were delighted with the novel opportunity of hunting among the strange animals of this region. One killed an immense vampire bat, and another brought back a lizard over five feet long. The pugilistic seamen had their propensities gratified,it is said, by a fight with large baboons, in which the less human combatants put the invaders to flight. The baboons threw stones and clubs with great force, and some of the men were badly bitten.
REPELLING A CONFEDERATE INVASION.
Captain Semmes put in practice a plan similar to that which he usually adopted in avoiding Federal cruisers. He computed the number of days which would be required for the last ship spoken to carry the news of his presence at Condore to Singapore, and the time the Wyoming would be likely to take in proceeding from Singapore to Condore. The day before the possible arrival of the Wyoming he sailed out of the harbor, and proceeded by a circuitous route—to Singapore!
December 24th a bark was overhauled in the Strait of Malacca, which had every appearance of being American built, but which flew the English flag and had an English register. The boarding officer, Master’s Mate Fullam, reported that the name “Martaban” on the stern was freshly painted and the flag perfectly new. The speech of Captain Pike proclaimed him anative of New England, but he claimed the protection of the British flag and stoutly refused to go on board the Alabama to exhibit his papers to the Confederate commander. Under the circumstances Captain Semmes determined to take upon himself for once the duties of boarding officer, and visited the merchant ship in person.
The master of the bark was now subjected to a sharp cross-examination and his papers given a rigid reinspection, at the conclusion of which Captain Semmes announced that the vessel would be burned. Subsequent admissions of Captain Pike and his crew established the fact that the ship was the Texan Star, that the pretended sale to English parties was a sham to prevent her destruction, and that the name on the stern had been changed since the vessel left port.
Two days later in the same strait the torch was applied to the Sonora and the Highlander, two large ships discovered at anchor near each other.
The Alabama ran westward across the Bay of Bengal and rounded the Island of Ceylonwithout sighting an American ship. An English vessel was spoken having on board a number of Mohammedan passengers. They had heard in Singapore that the Alabama had a number of black giants chained up in the hold, which were let loose upon the Yankees in time of battle. They did not doubt the truth of the story, but they desired to ask Mr. Fullam whether it was a fact that these giants were fed on Yankee sailors. Fullam assured them with the utmost gravity that this diet had been tried, but that the Yankees were so lean and tough that the giants refused to eat them.
January 14th, 1864, the Emma Jane was captured off the west coast of India, and committed to the flames. A British commercial agent sent this report of the affair to his government:
The ship sailed from Bombay on the 6th instant under English charter to proceed to Moulmein to load a cargo of teak for London, and on the 14th instant at 10 a. m., saw a sail ahead steering for them. At noon, light airs and calm, latitude 8° 6′ north, longitude 76° 10′ east, the stranger hoisted the United States flag, which flag was also run up to the mizzen peak by the Emma Jane; at 1 p. m. the bark fired a gun across the bows of the ship, when Captain Jordan hove his ship to with the main yard to the mast, believing the bark to be the Wyoming, U. S. N. Sent an armed boat’s crew on board, and ordered the ship’s papers to be produced. Asked where the ship wasfrom and where bound for. On being furnished with these particulars, Captain Jordan was informed that his ship was a prize to the Alabama; they ordered the flag to be hauled down, which was also done on board the Alabama, she hoisting in its place the Confederate one. Captain Jordan was ordered on board the Alabama, and, on going on deck, Captain Semmes, after examining his papers, said that he must burn his ship; he questioned him closely as to his accounts, and the sums of money remitted to England, but there was no money on board.
The ship sailed from Bombay on the 6th instant under English charter to proceed to Moulmein to load a cargo of teak for London, and on the 14th instant at 10 a. m., saw a sail ahead steering for them. At noon, light airs and calm, latitude 8° 6′ north, longitude 76° 10′ east, the stranger hoisted the United States flag, which flag was also run up to the mizzen peak by the Emma Jane; at 1 p. m. the bark fired a gun across the bows of the ship, when Captain Jordan hove his ship to with the main yard to the mast, believing the bark to be the Wyoming, U. S. N. Sent an armed boat’s crew on board, and ordered the ship’s papers to be produced. Asked where the ship wasfrom and where bound for. On being furnished with these particulars, Captain Jordan was informed that his ship was a prize to the Alabama; they ordered the flag to be hauled down, which was also done on board the Alabama, she hoisting in its place the Confederate one. Captain Jordan was ordered on board the Alabama, and, on going on deck, Captain Semmes, after examining his papers, said that he must burn his ship; he questioned him closely as to his accounts, and the sums of money remitted to England, but there was no money on board.
In the East Indies.
Captain Jordan was then ordered on board his own ship again, with an allowance of half an hour to put up some clothes, with the intimation that the concealment of any valuables, money, watches, &c., by himself, wife or crew, would be useless, as their effects and persons would be searched as soon as they came on board. Mrs. Jordan concealed herhusband’sand chief officer’s watches in the bosom of her dress, with about thirty rupees in silver.The captain’s chronometer, sextants, nautical instruments and books were appropriated by Captain Semmes, and, after hoisting out the provisions and live stock, they broke up the cabin furniture and piled it in the cabin, making another pile down the fore hatchway smeared with tar; they then set fire to the ship, and left her with all her sails set to sky sails. At 5:30 p. m. they arrived on board the Alabama, when the captain and crew were subjected to a personal search. Mrs. Jordan escaped this indignity, but her clothes, together with the others, were all turned out on deck and minutely scrutinized. At 6 p. m. the ship was enveloped in flame to the trucks fore and aft.From this time Captain Semmes and his officers behaved toward the captives with civility, and on Sunday, the 17th, ran under the land at Anjengo and landed them there, with a cask of pork and bag of bread to carry them to Cochin, Captain Semmes presenting Mrs. Jordan with a little canister of what was shortly before her own biscuits.
Captain Jordan was then ordered on board his own ship again, with an allowance of half an hour to put up some clothes, with the intimation that the concealment of any valuables, money, watches, &c., by himself, wife or crew, would be useless, as their effects and persons would be searched as soon as they came on board. Mrs. Jordan concealed herhusband’sand chief officer’s watches in the bosom of her dress, with about thirty rupees in silver.
The captain’s chronometer, sextants, nautical instruments and books were appropriated by Captain Semmes, and, after hoisting out the provisions and live stock, they broke up the cabin furniture and piled it in the cabin, making another pile down the fore hatchway smeared with tar; they then set fire to the ship, and left her with all her sails set to sky sails. At 5:30 p. m. they arrived on board the Alabama, when the captain and crew were subjected to a personal search. Mrs. Jordan escaped this indignity, but her clothes, together with the others, were all turned out on deck and minutely scrutinized. At 6 p. m. the ship was enveloped in flame to the trucks fore and aft.
From this time Captain Semmes and his officers behaved toward the captives with civility, and on Sunday, the 17th, ran under the land at Anjengo and landed them there, with a cask of pork and bag of bread to carry them to Cochin, Captain Semmes presenting Mrs. Jordan with a little canister of what was shortly before her own biscuits.
The Alabama stopped a week at the island of Johanna, off the coast of Africa, near the north end of Madagascar. The population consisted of negroes, with an admixture of Hindoos andArabs. The sultan sent off his grand vizier to welcome the visitors, with an apology for not coming himself, being busily engaged in erecting a sugar mill—a refreshing instance of royal industry. Most of the inhabitants wore the scantiest clothing, and yet nearly all could read and write, and the Mohammedan religion seemed to be universally accepted. They had heard of the war in America, and debated upon its merits among themselves. A jet black negro asked Captain Semmes whether he was fighting for the North or the South.
“For the South,” was the answer.
Quick as thought came the reply with a frown of disapproval:
“Then you belong to the side which upholds slavery.”
Through the stormy region about the Cape of Good Hope the Alabama passed once more, and cruised there ten days without sighting a single American vessel. As she left the harbor of Cape Town March 25th, however, she met the United States steamer Quang Tung coming in. Fortunately for the latter, she was alreadywithin the marine league; otherwise the experience of the Sea Bride would have been repeated.
April 22d, off the coast of Brazil the Rockingham was captured. This vessel was used as a target and then burned. April 27th the torch was applied for the last time to the Tycoon, of New York. Nineteen other vessels were overhauled between the coast of Brazil and that of France, but none of them were American.
June11th, 1864, the Alabama entered the port of Cherbourg, France, and Captain Semmes made application for leave to place his vessel in a dock for the purpose of replacing the copper sheathing, which was working loose and retarding the speed of the vessel. The boilers also required to be replaced or repaired. But the only docks at Cherbourg were those belonging to the government, and as the port admiral felt some reluctance in regard to admitting a belligerant vessel to a government dock, the matter was referred to the emperor (Napoleon III).
Sunday, June 12th, was a quiet day in the Netherlands. The shipping in the Scheldt was lying quietly at anchor, and Sabbath stillnesshad settled down upon the docks and the town. The idlers of Flushing, who were gazing with some curiosity at the United States screw sloop Kearsarge, suddenly became aware of some unusual stir upon her decks. Presently a signal flag appeared at the fore, and the boom of a gun waked the river echoes. This was notice to absent officers and seamen that work was at hand, and that there was to be no more loitering in Holland.
United States Steamer Kearsarge.
The absentees hurried on board, and as soon as there was a sufficient head of steam the vessel turned her prow toward the North Sea. The crew were assembled, and Captain Winslow told them of a telegram from Mr. Dayton, the United States minister at Paris, containing the information that the Alabama had run into Cherbourg, and requesting him to run down to that place immediately. The announcement was received with cheers, and every one was in high spirits at the prospect of a battle with the famous cruiser.
Captain Semmes was warned of the approach of the Kearsarge in ample time to enable him toget away, but he made no attempt to do so, and it soon became evident that he intended to fight. Commodore Barron, of the Confederate navy, was in France at this time, impatiently awaiting the completion of the two iron clads then building at Bordeaux, of which he expected to have the command. Captain Semmes communicated to him his desire to engage the Kearsarge, and was advised that he might use his own judgment in the matter.
European partisans of the South could paint the career of the Alabama in the most glowing colors. Captain Semmes was the “gallant,” “noble,” “chivalrous,” “heroic” commander, and officers and crew shared in the honors heaped upon him. But there were not wanting, either in Great Britain or in France, those who were disposed to echo the cry of “pirate!” which went up from the press of New York and Boston. The claim was made that the Alabama waged warfare exclusively upon defenceless merchantmen, and therefore was not entitled to be considered as a vessel of war. Her defenders could only point to that solitary thirteen-minute fight with theHatteras. A Scotch paper called attention to the fact that although Captain Semmes had “destroyed property to the value of between £3,000,000 and £4,000,000, he has never once attacked or come in the way of a vessel of his own calibre, except under false colors, and with a lie in the mouth of his officials.”
There is no doubt that the Confederate captain chafed under criticisms of this character. On the other hand, American shipping had been all but driven from the ocean, and if the Alabama was to refrain from battles with armed vessels, her usefulness, except as a mere patrol, was at an end. And, again, if the Alabama waited to refit she might have to fight a whole fleet in order to get to sea.
June 14th the Kearsarge steamed into Cherbourg through the east entrance and sent a boat on shore, but kept on and went out at the west entrance without anchoring. This was construed by some as an act of defiance, but the real reason was to avoid coming within the provisions of the twenty-four hour rule. Captain Semmes changed his request for a dock permitto an order for coal, and sent the following note to Mr. Bonfils, the Confederate commercial agent at Cherbourg:
C. S. S. Alabama, Cherbourg, June 14, 1864.To A. Bonfils, Esq., Cherbourg.Sir: I hear that you were informed by the U. S. consul that the Kearsarge was to come to this port solely for the prisoners landed by me, and that she was to depart in twenty-four hours. I desire you to say to the U. S. consul that my intention is to fight the Kearsarge as soon as I can make the necessary arrangements. I hope these will not detain me more than until tomorrow evening, or after the morrow morning at furthest. I beg she will not depart before I am ready to go out. I have the honor to be very respectfully, your obedient servant,R. SEMMES,Captain.
C. S. S. Alabama, Cherbourg, June 14, 1864.
To A. Bonfils, Esq., Cherbourg.
Sir: I hear that you were informed by the U. S. consul that the Kearsarge was to come to this port solely for the prisoners landed by me, and that she was to depart in twenty-four hours. I desire you to say to the U. S. consul that my intention is to fight the Kearsarge as soon as I can make the necessary arrangements. I hope these will not detain me more than until tomorrow evening, or after the morrow morning at furthest. I beg she will not depart before I am ready to go out. I have the honor to be very respectfully, your obedient servant,
R. SEMMES,Captain.
This is the “challenge,” in regard to which there was so much subsequent discussion. A copy thereof having been transmitted to Captain Winslow, he replied through the U. S. consul that he came to Cherbourg to fight, and had no intention of leaving.
The Kearsarge was built in Maine in the early part of the war, and cost about $275,000. The two vessels were very evenly matched in size and armament. The following table shows the measurements:
The Alabama carried eight guns: the hundred-pounder rifled Blakely pivoted forward; the eight-inch gun pivoted abaft the mainmast, and six 32-pounders in broadside. The Kearsarge carried seven guns: two eleven-inch smooth bore pivoted guns; one 28-pounder rifle, and four 32-pounders. The officers and men on the Kearsarge numbered one hundred and sixty-three; those on the Alabama about one hundred and fifty.
On Monday the Kearsarge ran into Dover for dispatches, and on Tuesday appeared off Cherbourg. Permission was obtained for boats to visit the shore, but the ship did not anchor in the harbor. The officers of the Kearsarge were very skeptical as to the desire of Captain Semmes for a battle, and a strict watch was kept at both entrances of the harbor, lest he should give them the slip, as he had the San Jacinto. The possibility of a night attack was also discussed, and preparations made for repelling it in case it should be suddenly thrust upon them.
More than a year previous while at the Azores the spare chain cable had been hung upand down upon the sides of the vessel as an additional protection to the engines when the coal bunkers were not full, and the whole enclosed by a covering of inch deal boards. This was done upon the suggestion of the executive officer, James S. Thornton, who had seen this device used by Admiral Farragut when running past the forts on the Mississippi to reach New Orleans. Captain Semmes says he knew nothing about this chain armor. If he did know about it, he evidently underrated its effectiveness.
The ports of the Kearsarge were let down, guns pivoted to starboard, and the entire battery loaded and made ready for instant service. Thursday, Friday and Saturday passed, but the Alabama failed to show herself outside the breakwater. Communication with the shore had been forbidden, and the only intelligence of events in the harbor other than what could be made out with the glass, came through the French pilots, who reported that the Alabama was taking in a large supply of coal, sending chronometers, specie and other valuables on shore, and thatswords, boarding pikes and cutlasses were being sharpened.
A message from Minister Dayton was brought off by his son, who with difficulty obtained permission from the French admiral of the district to visit the Kearsarge. He told Captain Winslow that it was his opinion that Captain Semmes would not fight, but admitted that the general opinion in Cherbourg was contrary to his own. On returning to the shore, Mr. Dayton was informed by the admiral that Captain Semmes would go out to the attack the next morning, and he spent a considerable part of the night endeavoring to communicate this intelligence to Captain Winslow, but the vigilance of the Cherbourg police prevented him from accomplishing his object. He stayed in Cherbourg the next day, witnessed the battle from a convenient height, and telegraphed the result to his father in Paris.
Meanwhile the coaling of the Alabama was completed. Some of the officers were given a banquet by admiring friends in the town on Saturday night, and the party broke up with apromise to meet again in a similar way to celebrate the victory which none seemed to doubt would soon be theirs.
Sunday morning came. The weather was fine, the air slightly hazy and a light westerly breeze rippled the harbor. Sunday was esteemed the Alabama’s lucky day. On Sunday Captain Semmes had assumed the command of her and the Confederate ensign first appeared at her mast head. On Sunday many of her most important captures had been made. On Sunday she halted the mighty Ariel, and on Sunday she sunk the Hatteras. It was inevitable that there should grow up between decks a belief that any important enterprise begun on Sunday had the best chance of success. As a factor in the coming contest, a feeling in the minds of the men who were to do the fighting that a lucky day had been pitched upon for the battle, was not to be despised. And so on Sunday, June 19th, 1864, the Alabama sallied forth to meet the Kearsarge. The French iron clad frigate Couronne accompanied her to the three-mile limit in order to make sure that no fightingshould take place in French waters. A private English steam yacht, the Deerhound, followed in the wake of the Couronne and took a position affording a good view of the battle, and several French pilot boats did likewise. The taller buildings, the rigging of vessels, the fortifications, and the heights above the town, were lined with people, many of whom had come from the interior and even from Paris to view the extraordinary spectacle. It is said that more than fifteen thousand people had gathered for this purpose. The great majority sympathised with the Alabama, but there was quite a contingent of Union adherents, among whom were the captains of the Tycoon and the Rockingham, with their families and crews, eager that vengeance at last might fall upon the destroyer.
Onboard the Kearsarge the long wait had bred doubts of the martial temper of Captain Semmes, and aside from the preparations already made affairs had largely dropped back into the ordinary routine. Soon after ten o’clock the officer of the deck reported a steamer approaching from the city, but this was a frequent occurrence, and no attention was paid to the announcement.
The bell was tolling for religious services when loud shouts apprised the crew that the long-looked-for Alabama was in sight. Captain Winslow hastily laid aside his prayer book and seized his trumpet. The fires were piled high with coal and the prow was turned straight out to sea. The fight must be to the death, and the vanquished was not to be permitted to crawlwithin the protection of the marine league. Moreover, the French government had expressed a desire that the battle should take place at least six or seven miles from the coast. Ten, fifteen, twenty, twenty-five minutes passed. The Alabama kept straight on, and the Kearsarge continued her apparent flight.
Finally, at 10:50, when six or seven miles from shore, the Kearsarge wheeled and bore down upon her adversary. At a distance of a little over a mile the Alabama began the fight with her Blakely rifle, and at 10:57 she opened fire with her entire starboard broadside, which cut some of the Kearsarge’s rigging but did no material damage. The latter crowded on all steam to get within closer range, but in two minutes a second broadside came hurtling about her. This was quickly followed by a third, and then, deeming the danger from a raking fire too great longer to allow the ship to present her bow to the enemy, Captain Winslow directed his vessel sheared, and fired his starboard battery. He then made an attempt to run under the Alabama’s stern, which she frustrated by shearing,and thus the two ships were forced into a circular track round a common center, and the battle went on for an hour, the distance between them varying from a half to a quarter of a mile. During that time the vessels described seven complete circles.
At 11:15 a sixty-eight pounder shell came through the bulwarks of the Kearsarge, exploding on the quarter deck and badly wounding three of the crew of the after pivot gun. Two shots entered the ports of the thirty-two pounders, but injured no one. A shell exploded in the hammock nettings and set fire to the ship, but those detailed for fire service extinguished it in a short time, and so thorough was the discipline that the cannonade was not even interrupted.
A hundred-pounder shell from the Alabama’s Blakely pivot gun entered near the stern and lodged in the stern-post. The vessel trembled from bowsprit to rudder at the shock. The shell failed to explode, however. Had it done so, the effect must have been serious and might have changed the result of the battle. A thirty-two pounder shell entered forward and lodged underthe forward pivot gun, tilting it out of range, but did not explode. A rifle shell struck the smoke stack, broke through, and exploded inside, tearing a ragged hole three feet in diameter Only two of the boats escaped damage.
As the battle progressed, it became evident that the terrible pounding of the two eleven-inch Dahlgrens was having a disastrous effect on the Alabama. The Kearsarge gunners had been instructed to aim the heavy guns somewhat below rather than above the water line, and leave the deck fighting to the lighter weapons. As the awful missiles opened great gaps in the enemy’s side or bored her through and through, the deck of the Kearsarge rang with cheers. A seaman named William Gowin, with a badly shattered leg, dragged himself to the forward hatch, refusing to permit his comrades to leave their gun in order to assist him. Here he fainted, but reviving after being lowered to the care of the surgeon, waved his hand and joined feebly in the cheers which reached him from the deck.
“It is all right,” he told the surgeon; “I am satisfied, for we are whipping the Alabama.”
The situation on the Alabama was indeed getting serious. It is evident that Captain Semmes entered the fight expecting to win. On leaving the harbor the crew were called aft, and, mounting a gun carriage, he addressed them as follows:
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 sunk 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.
As before stated, the “Persuader” began to speak at long range-more than a mile. But it was no peaceful merchantman that she had now to accost; no fleeing Ariel, vomiting black smoke in a vain effort to get beyond her range—no white winged Starlight or Sea Bride, piling sail on sail to reach the shelter of a neutralharbor. The Kearsarge only raced toward her with still greater speed. At the third summons the Kearsarge yawed gracefully to port, and out of those frowning Dahlgrens blazed her answer. The Alabama staggered at the blow, and her creaking yards shook like branches in a tornado. Glass in hand, Captain Semmes stood upon the horseblack abreast the mizzen mast.
“Try solid shot,” he shouted; “our shell strike her side and fall into the water.”
A little later shells were tried again, and then shot and shell were alternated during the remainder of the battle. But no plan seemed to check the awful regularity of the Kearsarge’s after pivot gun. Captain Semmes offered a reward for the silencing of this gun, and at one time his entire battery was turned upon it, but although three of its men were wounded as stated, its fire was not interrupted.
“What is the matter with the Blakely gun?” was asked; “we don’t seem to be doing her any harm.”
At one time the after pivot gun of the Alabama, commanded by Lieutenant Wilson, hadbeen run out to be fired, when a shell came through the port, mowing down the men and piling up a gastly mass of human flesh. One of the thirty-two pounders had to be abandoned in order to fill up the crew of the gun. The deck was red with blood, and much effort was necessarily expended in getting the wounded below.