The Confederate Raider Florida torches the Jacob Bell

In the early days of the Civil War, a number of Confederate privateers were sent to sea and immediately began to take a heavy toll upon Union shipping. But as privateers, a lot depended upon their capturing prizes and valuable cargoes to sell to cover their own expenses with the incentive of prize money for the captain, officers, and crew.

But this practice was soon curtailed, as the growing Union blockade of Southern ports became more and more effective. The Confederate Government then swiftly focused their attention to building a fleet of commerce raiders in England at the Liverpool shipyards and elsewhere to send out and drive Yankee commerce from the sea. Prize money was of little importance except as an inducement to sign up British sailors to take up the Confederate cause.

In England, the Trent affair had certainly done much to spur on Southern sympathies among the leaders of the aristocracy and Parliament even though the common people held Northern sympathies. The Confederacy was granted belligerent status, which allowed Confederate vessels rights and privileges at certain ports such as Nassau, in the Bahamas, where Union ships were denied.

Captain James Dunwood Bulloch, of Georgia, had arrived in England in early 1861 and began negotiating contracts with British shipyards that called for the speedy construction of specifically designed steam-powered warships that carried auxiliary sails.

Work soon began in a number of shipyards under a cover of deception where the ships taking shape on the stocks were given misleading names or in many cases only a hull number in an effort to keep their identities secret.

On March 22, 1862, one such ship, the "Oreto," was the first to slip away from her Liverpool shipyard. It was fitted out at Nassau and placed under the command of Captain John Maffitt who promptly renamed her the Florida, ran the Stars and Bars up her mainmast, and began the search for Union merchant ships to send to the bottom of the sea.

Across the Mercy River from Liverpool at the Birkenhead shipyard, vessel "No. 290" was under construction in the stocks. It was obvious towards the end of her completion in June, 1862, that the three-masted topsail schooner was equipped with a powerful auxiliary steam engine and much resembled a warship and capable of carrying a heavy battery of guns.

"Officially," little was known about her, but the American consul at Liverpool was well informed by his agents as to the real purpose of the building of this vessel. He soon brought the matter to the attention of the American Minister of Great Britain, Charles Francis Adams, the son of John Quincey Adams, who forwarded the letter to British authorities who immediately began to look into the matter, and upon further investigation decided that the report was true, and on June 23rd decided that the vessel be seized.

But the queen's advocate, Sir John Harding, had fallen ill and the papers saying that this action could be taken did not arrive for six days and by the time instructions calling for the seizure of this vessel reached the proper hands it was too late.

When officials came calling at the Birkenhead yard they discovered that "Hull 290," only recently christened the "Enrica," had caught the evening tide the previous evening down the Mersey River out to sea.

She lingered off the coast of Anglesey for two days and then set sail with a British crew for the Azores. Two British ships with supplies, guns, and ammunition met the newly launched Enrica in the Azores and transferred the munitions and supplies over to her decks.

Captain Raphael Semmes, a commissioned officer of the Confederate Navy, had sailed, along with other Southern officers, from a Southern port and run the Union blockade. They had arrived at Liverpool shortly after the Enrica had slipped out on the Mersey tide. The Southern vessel, with the officers still aboard, sailed immediately to the Azores port of Terceira, and upon anchoring nearby, Semmes came aboard to take command of the Enrica on behalf of the Confederate government and renamed her the "Alabama."

The British sailors that had shipped aboard this new vessel and sailed her down to the Azores from Liverpool may have known the truth about what was going on and they certainly knew that such a ship needed a crew. The Confederate States had been unable to send a crew out along with the officers. A crew would have to be rounded up and Captain Raphael Semmes was just the man to do it. He gathered on deck all these English seamen together for a rousing speech, and within a very short time the Alabama signed on a crew. Induced quite possibly by the lure of prize money and adventure.

The guns were mounted and the ammunition stowed away aboard the newest Confederate raider to join the growing fleet. The Alabama's bunkers were filled with coal, but could only carry a limited capacity and most of the time the Alabama used her sails to conserve coal.

Due to the Union blockade, she could never safely enter a Southern port and was, in essence, a ship without a home port about to wreck havoc upon Union shipping around the world and drive the clipper fleet from the seas.

The Alabama in a squall

For the first two weeks the crew was acquainted with the Alabama and the duties required of them. Then, Captain Semmes turned his attention to the American whaling fleet in nearby waters, and totally disrupted operations as the slow unarmed whalers were easy prey to such a determined hunter.

The crews of the whalers were permitted to gather up as much of their belongings that they could take with them in their boats that they then were allowed to row to the Azores. The American Consul there was soon besieged by hundreds of stranded whalers.

Day after day, the flames of the burning ships and smoke could be seen for miles over the Atlantic as the last whalers afloat scurried home to New Bedford and Nantucket bringing home alarming tales of depredation.

To drive the point home, Captain Semmes captured a whaler on one occasion and instead of setting her on fire, decided to scuttle her and leave her floating as a sort of large mid-ocean signpost. It called the attention of every passing ship as to the whereabouts of the Alabama in a daring gesture of defiance to the U. S. Navy cruisers that were sure to come after her.

An Italian whaler sailed by soon after the ship sank and took notice of hundreds of barrels of whale oil that had burst through the hatches and were now floating about the sea, there for the taking. The Italian whaling crew lost little time in gathering up the precious cargo and set sail for the Mediterranean and home.

The Union Navy was sure to arrive in the area and Captain Semmes was not looking for a fight, as his purpose was to destroy Northern commerce. So, the Alabama sailed on leaving a devastated whaling industry behind in her wake.

Instead of fleeing to the east away from U. S. naval bases, the Alabama sailed to the west boldly cruising back and forth across the sea-lanes in the search for prey. He was especially grain carrying ships, but any ship flying the American flag would do. The Alabama sailed almost directly for New York at a leisurely pace.

Over the month of October 1862, the Alabama sunk eleven ships: Brilliant, Emily Farnum, Wave Crest, Dunkirk, Tonawanda, Manchester, Lamplighter, Lafayette, Crenshaw, Lavretta, and the Baron de Castine.

The Alabama took the captured crews aboard as the cruise continued on into November closing the distance to under 600 miles from New York when Captain Semmes decided to send the Alabama South and try to avoid meeting any Union frigates in its dash down the Atlantic.

The Alabama had succeeded in frightening the wits out of Yankee ship owners and skippers and none dared sail from their home ports as long as they thought that the dreaded Alabama was out their lurking on the seas in wait for them. Captain Semmes had played his game brilliantly and tied up commerce all along the Northeast coast.

Captain Raphael Semmes and First Officer John Kell

The Alabama cruised on past Bermuda on the lookout for Union merchant vessels finding and burning a few along the way. The captured crews were set free now and then whenever the Alabama encountered a neutral vessel as the Alabama voyaged to the south.

The Alabama sailed almost to the coast of Venezuela before making a dash into the Caribbean Sea on through the Yucatan Channel and entered the Gulf of Mexico bound for the coast of Texas. As the Alabama neared Galveston, she was engaged by the U.S.S. Hattaras, a Union gunboat, and the Confederate vessel promptly sank her.

Captain Semmes soon abandoned any hopes of entering Galveston Harbor to take on coal and repair his ship when he saw the strength of the Union blockade. He swiftly departed the Gulf of Mexico, the same way he had entered, through the Yucatan Channel.

Upon leaving the Caribbean Sea, the Alabama headed on down along the coast of Brazil for Cape St. Roque, bound for the South Atlantic to lie in wait of any passing clipper ships en route to China or around Cape Horn, or ships returning from those places. The South Atlantic was a major hub of the shipping world and Captain Semmes would not have to wait long for a clipper ship to come his way.

The Alabama captured the Boston clipper Morning Star near the island of St. Paul at the equator on March 23, 1863. Neutrals owned her cargo. The ship was released under a $60,000 bond and the Morning Star proceeded on to London. The Alabama continued on her cruise to the south in search of other prey.

The Talisman, a medium clipper ship built at Damariscotta, Maine, had cleared New York on May 2, 1863, on the China run bound for Shanghai and was 34 days out on June 5th, several hundred miles off the coast of Bahia, Brazil, and making good time. When just before dawn, the Talisman passed by a strange vessel lying to in the water that immediately sprang to life as Captain Semmes hauled up the topgallant sails of the Alabama and bore down on his clipper prey firing off a blank shot to bring her to. The Confederate privateers boarded the Talisman and took possession of their prize and took what they wanted of the provisions, which included a bountiful supply of shot and powder along with four brass 12-pound guns that were meant for outfitting a steam gunboat.

The Alabama took aboard the Talisman's crew along with four passengers including a woman before setting the ship afire that evening. A British ship was sighted the next day and the captured passengers and crew were transferred to that ship en route to Calcutta.

The Alabama captured the Philadelphia barque Conrad off the coast of Brazil on June 20th while she was en route from Buenos Ayres to New York carrying a cargo of wool. The next day, Captain Semmes commissioned the barque the Confederate cruiser Tuscaloosa to serve as tender to the Alabama and two of the 12-pound guns taken off the Talisman were mounted on the Tuscaloosa. Semmes soon sent the new Confederate cruiser on her way with the same mission of going after Yankee commerce.

The Alabama crisscrossed the South Atlantic and gradually approached Cape Town, where she caught up with and captured the Sea Bride and sent a prize crew aboard well within sight of thousands of people along the shore. The Alabama then brazenly sailed into Table Bay and anchored in the harbor to the cheers of the Cape Town crowds.

The Alabama was re-outfitted and her coal supply replenished and her crew given a rest as Semmes was toasted like a prince about the city. The Alabama was thrown open to visitors and hundreds came aboard to marvel at the by then legendary raider that had, along with the Florida and others, just about driven Yankee commerce from the seas of the entire Atlantic Ocean.

Captain Semmes at last gave the order to depart Cape Town to resume his voyage of plunder and was running out of Table Bay when he spotted the Union Navy steamer Vanderbilt waiting for the Alabama off Cape Town just as the fog started rolling in, thus making it possible for the Confederate raider to escape in the swirling mists of fog with the crew of the Vanderbilt none the wiser.

The Alabama sailed at a leisurely pace across the Indian Ocean bound for Anjer Strait and took every opportunity to capture and burn American vessels along the way.

All the China clippers had to come through Anjier Strait on the homeward passage and the Alabama lay in wait for them. A passing neutral ship informed Semmes that there was a Union Navy frigate off Krakatoa Island lying in wait for the Alabama. This news certainly didn't scare off Captain Semmes for he sent the Alabama boldly through Anjier Strait right after the Union frigate had left her station to return to port to replenish her coal supply. Captain Raphael Semmes' memoirs picks up the story from there:

On the morning of November 6, we boarded an English ship from Foo Chow, which informed us that an American ship called the Winged Racer had come out of the Gaspar Strait in company with her. That afternoon we captured the bark Amanda of Boston, from Manila for Queenstown, with hemp and sugar; a fine rakish looking ship. Burned her at ten P.M. Next day ran through the straits in full view of the town of Anjier. Just where the strait debouches into the China Sea, we descried in the midst of a rain squall, to which we were both obliged to clew up our topgallant sails, a tall clipper ship, evidently American. She loomed up through the passing shower like a frigate. We at once gave chase and in a few moments hove the stranger to with a gun. It was the Winged Racer which our English friend had told us had passed out of the Strait some days before in his company. She was a perfect beauty; one of those ships of superb model, with taunt, graceful masts and square yards, known as clippers. We anchored her North Island and came to ourselves for the purpose of robbing her. She had sundry provisions aboard, particularly sugar and coffee, of which we stood in need. She had besides a large supply of Manila tobacco and my sailors' pipes were beginning to want replenishing It took the greater part of the night to transport to the Alabama such things as were needed. The captain was presented with all the Winged Racer's boats with liberty to pack as much plunder as he chose. He left about 1 P.M. proposing to make his way to Batavia and report to his consul for further assistance. The prisoners of the Amanda took passage with him.

A log account of the Alabama also describes the encounter:

Tuesday, November 10, 1863,- ran through the Straits of Sunda about 2 P.M. and soon discovered a clipper-looking ship under topsails standing toward North Island. Gave chase in the midst of a rain squall and in 15 minutes made him show colors; found him to be the Winged Racer, a vessel for which we had been hunting outside the Strait. Sent him to anchor about three miles from North Island, we anchored near. Got everything out we wanted by 2 A.M. and sent off his crew in his own boats; fired ship and were out of sight of land by daylight. Our appraisement: value of ship, $87,ooo; of cargo, $63,000; total, $150,000.

Samuel Harte Pook's beautiful Winged Racer, with her figurehead of a flying horse with wings extended, was no more.

The next day, the Contest was sighted by the Alabama off Batavia and the Alabama bore right down on her and hoisted the American ensign as a ruse. The Contest stayed her course and ran up her colors as the Alabama chased after her and after 20 minutes fired off a shot and soon hauled down the ruse ensign and hoisted up the Stars and Bars and fired off another shot, as the Crew of the Contest frantically hauled aloft every sail they could to catch the 14 knot blowing breeze and pull away.

The Alabama went to full steam power to try and chase after the fleeing clipper that was more than holding her own for a time, actually pulling away, as the Alabama fired off a third shot, but the Contest was a half-mile out of range. But the luck of the winds ran out around 12:30 p.m., and with only a six knot breeze, the Alabama overhauled the clipper firing a shot a quarter-mile astern that passed between the main and foremast; miraculously missing the rigging and only then did the Contest crew decide to lay to and surrender the ship.

A boat of armed sailors rowed over to the Contest and declared her a prize of the Alabama. Her captain was ordered to report on board the Alabama with his papers and to break out the provisions, which the raiders proceeded to plunder and send over to the Alabama.

At 9:30 that evening, the clipper crew was taken aboard the Alabama, and the Contest with her precious cargo of tea was set afire. Soon the burning clipper lit up the evening sky, as the crew aboard the Alabama hoisted the propeller and sailed away. The Contest crew watched from the guarded cruiser deck, as the flames faintly flickered in the distance until at last they disappeared into the sea. The Contest, the Low clipper that had made such a fine race of it going up against the Northern Light ten years earlier when she was once the pride of the South Street waterfront, passed beneath the waves.

The next ships to taste the wrath of the Alabama were the Sonora and the Highlander, both large beautiful ships that Semmes was delighted to capture and delighted as well to discover that they both were sailing in ballast; a sign that shippers were not willing to risk their merchandise in Yankee clippers that might fall prey to the Alabama.

The Alabama was running out of coal so she set sail for Singapore, and upon arrival in the harbor, Semmes saw twenty-two American clippers idling away; determined not to leave while the Alabama and her sister raiders roamed the nearby seas.

For American ships, cargoes were scarce and many ship owners were forced to sell their ships cheaply as few could afford keeping an idled ship for long. Foreigners were buying up the American clippers with the British getting the lion's share.

Hundreds of American merchant ships no longer sailed the seas, and those that had not burned or been sold stayed in safe harbors everywhere around the world knowing that Confederate raiders were lurking nearby. The Confederate Navy was holding its own out there on the high seas for a time even though the Union blockade was tightening up around the South.

The Alabama finally sailed from Singapore out past the twenty-two clippers moored in the harbor. She made her way for the southern tip of India and beyond that point the Alabama headed south through the Mozambique Channel and paid a call at Cape Town once again before sailing north out into the North Atlantic to take up their mission of destruction against the American merchant fleet. There were far fewer victims to choose from, but a few ships came their way and were captured and burned; among them the Rockingham, captured while on a voyage from Callao to Cork.

The Alabama soon arrived off England and sailed across the English Channel and entered Cherbourg Harbor, France, where Semmes hoped to re-outfit his ship, as she was due for a complete overhaul, and enter dry-dock. Some of the crew then left the ship on leaves of absence.

The Captain aboard the U.S.S. Kearsage, one of many Union warships searching for the Alabama, learned that their prey was moored in Cherbourg Harbor and the Kearsage steamed in themselves to get a better look and steamed out again to take up her station seven miles or so off shore to lie in wait.

Captain Semmes knew that the Kearsage was the more powerful of the two and that she carried chain armor. What Semmes did not know was that his rival was faster and that the powder he carried has lost some of its effectiveness.

Then, Semmes did an amazing thing and deliberately challenged Captain Winslow, of the Kearsage, to a ship's duel between the two and Winslow accepted. It was a foolish decision for Semmes to make without first refitting his ship to make her more seaworthy for the challenge.

But on June 19th, 1864, the Alabama got her steam up and departed Cherbourg Harbor out into the English Channel to meet her foe. An English yacht had already sailed out with a party of pleasure seekers eager to take up a station to watch the coming battle.

A French cruiser also came out of the harbor to take up her post at the three mile limit to insure that French neutrality was upheld.

The Kearsage crew watched as the Alabama steamed right toward their ship and prepared for the coming battle. The chain armor that the Kearsage wore gave her a distinct advantage and the Alabama's wooden hull offered no protection.

Soon, the two were steaming round and round keeping a long distance apart while firing off their starboard batteries at each other. An explosive shell fired by an exceptional marksman aboard the Alabama landed in the Kearsage's sternpost and failed to go off. If it had, the battle might have had another ending.

The constant pounding taken by the Alabama took a heavy toll and soon her deck was shot with holes and her pivot gun disabled. Dead and wounded were all about. An incoming shell killed all of the Alabama's remaining gun crews except for one sailor.

The Alabama was taking on water and the end was obvious to Semmes as he ordered his crew to surrender and the signal was given. But one of his crew, dissatisfied with the Captain's decision, fired another shot and the Kearsage replied with a shot of its own that fortunately for the Confederates didn't hit and wound any more men. Below deck, the ship was flooded with knee deep water as the ship's surgeon worked desperately on the wounded.

The Alabama was so shot full of holes that she began to sink stern first as the crew jumped into the water to escape the sinking ship. Semmes was wounded in one arm and had to be helped into a ship's boat as he left his quarterdeck.

As the outcome of the duel became apparent, the English yacht steamed over to the Kearsage, where Captain Winslow asked the English to assist in the rescue of the Confederate seamen. Winslow thought it prudent to delegate the rescue to the English for any prisoners that he might take of the Alabama's crew could possibly be hanged as pirates.

Captain John A. Winslow of the Kearsarge ( third from left )

The Kearsage's boats did assist the English yacht in picking up the sailors out of the sea who were taken ashore and paroled at Cherbourg in a gesture of humanity and chivalry by Captain Winslow, an action that was later disavowed by the Union Navy.

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