Semmes made a mistake.

wausaubob

Colonel
Member of the Month
Joined
Apr 4, 2017
Location
Denver, CO
Bern Anderson, see page 207, reported:
"After leaving Singapore,[some time after Christmas 1863] Semmes captured and burned a ship under British register which had only recently been transferred from American register. This change in register was an old trick to evade capture, but in this case it was legitimate and the local British admiral ordered his ships to capture Alabama if the action was repeated."
The Alabama sailed into Indian ocean and made Capetown by March 1864. The Alabama arrived in Cherbourg, France on June 11, 1864. Coincidentally, or not, a specialized search and destroy vessel, the USS Kearsage was in Flushing, in the Netherlands, and in telegraph range of Paris. Was it a coincidence or had the shipping news arrived on the English channel ahead of the Alabama?
Wherein lies Semmes' mistake?
As a hint, he sailed to Cherbourg, not an English port. Even after he was picked by the Deerhound and reached England, Semmes did not stay there, but somehow made his way back to the Confederacy.
 
Semmes was not perfect and when discussing his time in command of the CSS Alabama, perhaps his greatest and certainly his fatal mistake was not taking better care of his powder and ordnance which dearly cost him in his fight with the USS Kearsarge. Oh yes, and his hubris didn't help much either.
 
The Union had kept cruisers in European waters for just this sort of opportunity. Once the Alabama was known to be in Cherbourg, the Kearsarge got there as rapidly as possible; and then she would have been soon joined by the frigate-sloop Niagara and the cruiser Sacramento. It's my contention that one of the reasons Semmes accepted the duel with Kearsarge is that he knew the odds would only get worse the longer he delayed.
 
The Union had kept cruisers in European waters for just this sort of opportunity. Once the Alabama was known to be in Cherbourg, the Kearsarge got there as rapidly as possible; and then she would have been soon joined by the frigate-sloop Niagara and the cruiser Sacramento. It's my contention that one of the reasons Semmes accepted the duel with Kearsarge is that he knew the odds would only get worse the longer he delayed.
The French were getting very legalistic about neutrality and Semmes was worried about his future if he landed in England.
 
No one wants to note Semmes' error?

Being a lawyer? My apologies for the bad 'thread derailing' attempt at humor...

Heading back to Britain / France at all - neither place was going to welcome him - 'officially' - with bands and parades. France was probably his best choice over Britain because Charles Francis Adams Sr. would have gone absolutely simian effluvia crazy. And at this point in the war, the game was up...

Cheers,
USS ALASKA
 
Being a lawyer? My apologies for the bad 'thread derailing' attempt at humor...

Heading back to Britain / France at all - neither place was going to welcome him - 'officially' - with bands and parades. France was probably his best choice over Britain because Charles Francis Adams Sr. would have gone absolutely simian effluvia crazy. And at this point in the war, the game was up...

Cheers,
USS ALASKA
He didn't take the captured ship to a prize port. He did not have one. He made the decision on his own that the paperwork was invalid. That put him outside the bounds of international law and made him an outlaw. I suspect the news traveled to the Cape of Good Hope and to England and France faster than the Alabama. The Kearsage then stayed out of the French and Belgian ports, so that Semmes might not have been aware immediately that the US ship was nearby. Once he was on land and read newspapers and talked with Confederate sympathizers he knew he was in for it. As you state, the Kearsage had help on the way. But Winslow wanted the duel, not another chase.
After the mistake, things tightened up on neutral rules, and Semmes lost his ship in about 6 months. About 4 months later the Brazilians did about the same thing as French, but the Confederate and US ships did not shoot it out, and there was no needless loss of life. The real raiding was over. The actions of the Shenandoah don't merit the terms raiding.
 
Back
Top