. The naval history of the Civil War . thatj| .pat the close of the fight the \ y Alabama was thennearlvfive ^ miles off shore, and it was impossible for her to escape withinFrench jurisdiction, aa her commandingofficer intended in case the battle should goagainst him. The firing of the Confederates was rapidand wild until near the close of the engage-ment, when it became better, while that ofthe Federal gunners, owing to the carefultraining of Lieutenant-Commander JamesS. Thornton, the executive officer of theKearsarge. was very effective. The su-perior training of the Kearsarges crewwas evid
. The naval history of the Civil War . thatj| .pat the close of the fight the \ y Alabama was thennearlvfive ^ miles off shore, and it was impossible for her to escape withinFrench jurisdiction, aa her commandingofficer intended in case the battle should goagainst him. The firing of the Confederates was rapidand wild until near the close of the engage-ment, when it became better, while that ofthe Federal gunners, owing to the carefultraining of Lieutenant-Commander JamesS. Thornton, the executive officer of theKearsarge. was very effective. The su-perior training of the Kearsarges crewwas evident from the beginning of the ac-tion, their guns telling fearfully on the hulland spars of the Confederate. On the sev-enth rotation on the circular track the• Alabama set her foresail and two jibs,with head in shore. Her speed was nowretarded, and, by winding her. the portbroadside was presented to the Kear-sarge, with only two guns bearing, beingable to shift but one gun from the star-board side. At this time the Alabama was com-. KEAUSAKGE. pletely at the mercy of the a few more well-directed shots broughtdown the Confederate flag. Fifteen min-utes after the action commenced, thespanker-gaff of the Alabama was shotaway, and her flag came down, but wasimmediately hoisted at the mizzen. TheKearsarges shot told fearfully on theAlabamas hull, killing and woundingnumbers of men in different parts of theship. So that, in sixty-five minutes afterthe commencement of the fight, the Ala-bama was discovered to be sinking, an11-inch shell having entered her sidenear the water line, making a huge aper-ture, through which the water poured intorrents. For a moment Semmes had anidea of escaping, and crowded on steam andsail, heading the Alabama for theFrench coast; but the fires in the engine-room were soon extinguished and he wasobliged to surrender. Semmes asserts that his ship was firedupon five times after he had hauled downhis colors; but this assertion is not supporte
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Keywords: ., boo, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectunitedstatesnavy
