Cruise And Captures Of The Alabama Part 2

It was the purpose of Captain Semmes to strike at the American whaling vessels which he knew would be at work in the vicinity of the Azores. The season would close about the first of October, after which time the whales would seek other feeding waters. The following week was spent in getting the pivot guns mounted and in putting the ship in order. The captain was not at once successful in locating the whaling fleet. On Friday, August 29th, a blank shot was fired at a brig which had been pursued all day, but the latter refused to heave to or show her colors, and not having the look of an American craft, the chase was abandoned. Another week was spent in the search, and several vessels were overhauled, but all showed neutral colors. September 5th the Alabama was in chase of a brig which showed very fast sailing qualities, and came unexpectedly upon a ship lying to in mid-ocean with her foretopsail to the mast. Excitement grew apace as a nearer approach justified the opinion that the motionless stranger was a Yankee whaler. The English flag was hoisted on the Alabama, and all doubt was set at rest when the ship responded with the stars and stripes. The chase of the brig was forthwith abandoned. The master of the whaler made no effort to get under way. He had struck a fine large sperm whale, which was now alongside and partly hoisted out of the water by the yard tackles, and his crew were hard at work, cutting it up and getting the blubber aboard. A boat was sent from the Alabama, and as the boarding officer gained the whaler's deck, the cruiser dropped her false colors, and ran up the Confederate flag.

The astonishment and consternation of Captain Abraham Osborn when he realized that he was a prisoner and that his ship and cargo were subject to confiscation, can only be imagined. International law, which is so careful of property rights on land, affords no protection whatever at sea in the presence of a hostile force. The ship was the Ocmulgee, of Edgartown, Ma.s.sachusetts. Captain and crew were removed to the deck of the Alabama and placed in irons. Some beef, pork and other stores were also transferred, and the ship left, anch.o.r.ed to the whale, as Captain Semmes did not wish to burn her during the night, for fear of alarming other whaling masters, who were probably not far away. Next morning the torch was applied, and the most of the Alabama's crew saw for the first time a burning ship.

Sunday, September 7th, the Alabama approached the south sh.o.r.e of the island of Flores, one of the westernmost of the Azore group, and the crew of the Ocmulgee were permitted to pull ash.o.r.e in their own whaleboats. At four o'clock p. m. the Alabama filled away to head off a schooner which appeared to be running in for the island, and hoisted the English flag.

The schooner failed to respond, and a gun was fired, but she still held her course. A shot was fired across her bow, but even this failed to stop her. Then a shot whistled between her fore and main masts, and the futility of attempting to escape being apparent, she rounded to and hoisted the United States flag. Her master, a young man not over twenty-eight, was well aware of the fate which had befallen him. His vessel was the Starlight, from Boston, and he was homeward bound from the Azores, having on board a number of pa.s.sengers to be landed at Flores, including several ladies. He also had dispatches from the American consul at Fayal to Secretary Seward, narrating the proceedings of the Alabama at Terceira. The captain and the six seamen who const.i.tuted his crew, were placed in irons. Next day the cruiser proceeded again to the island of Flores, and sent the prisoners on sh.o.r.e in a boat.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CAPTURES NEAR THE AZORES.]

The obliging governor of the island paid the Alabama a visit, and offered her officers the hospitalities of the place. In the afternoon (Sept. 8th) the whaling bark Ocean Rover, of New Bedford, Ma.s.sachusetts, was captured.

She had been out over three years, had sent home one or two cargoes of oil, and now had about 1,100 barrels of oil on board. The captain and crew were permitted to pull ash.o.r.e in their six whale boats, into which they had conveyed a considerable quant.i.ty of their personal effects.

Before daylight the next morning Captain Semmes was aroused and notified that a large bark was close by. She proved to be the Alert, of New London, Connecticut, sixteen days out. Her crew pulled ash.o.r.e in their boats.

During the day the three prizes (Starlight, Ocean Rover and Alert) were burned. While the hulks were still smoking the schooner Weathergauge, of Provincetown, Ma.s.sachusetts, was captured. This vessel and the Alert brought plenty of Northern newspapers, and those on board the cruiser were thus informed of the progress of the war. The whaler Eschol, of New Bedford, came near enough to make out the burning vessels with a gla.s.s, but her master kept her close to the sh.o.r.e, determined to run her upon the beach rather than permit her to be captured, and she escaped without being seen.

On September 13th the brig Altamaha, of New Bedford, fell a prey to the spoiler, and during the night the Benjamin Tucker, of the same town met a like fate. The boarding officer on this occasion was Master's Mate G. T.

Fullam, an Englishman, whose home was at Hull. He wrote in his diary:

Darkness prevented us knowing who she was, so I went on board to examine her papers, which, if Yankee, I was to signal it and heave to until daylight. What I did on boarding this vessel was the course usually adopted in taking prizes. Pulling under the stern, I saw it was the whaling ship Benjamin Tucker, of and from New Bedford.

Gaining the quarter deck, I was welcomed with outstretched hands.

The unsuspecting master answered all questions promptly touching the character of his ship and cargo, and was then told that the vessel was a prize to the Confederate States steamer Alabama. This ship had 340 barrels of oil and made a brilliant bonfire. One of the crew, a Hollander, shipped on the Alabama. Early the next morning (Sept. 16th) the whaling schooner Courser, of Provincetown, Ma.s.sachusetts, was captured. The Alabama then ran in toward Flores, and to the rapidly increasing colony of shipless mariners on that island were added the sixty-eight seamen forming the crews of the last three prizes. The Courser was used as a target until dark and then burned.

The forenoon of the next day was taken up with the chase of another whaler, the Virginia, of New Bedford. She was overhauled at noon and burned. The next day (Sept. 18th), with the wind blowing half a gale, the Alabama chased the Elisha Dunbar, also a New Bedford whaler. Both vessels carried their topgallant sails, although the masts bent and threatened to go over the side. In three hours the Alabama had drawn within gunshot, and her master judged it best to obey the summons conveyed by a blank cartridge. Sails were hastily taken in on both vessels. Captain Semmes hesitated somewhat about launching boats in so rough a sea, but he was fearful that the gale would increase and that the prize would escape during the night. The Alabama reached a position to windward of her victim, so that the boats' crews might pull with the wind and waves, and two of the best boats were launched, gaining the Dunbar's deck in safety.

The Alabama then dropped round to the leeward of the prize, so that the boats might return in the same manner, with the wind. The Dunbar's master and crew were ordered into the boats, and hastily applying the torch, the boarding officer gained the lee of the Alabama where a rope was thrown to him, and the boats' crews with their prisoners got on board the cruiser without accident. The fire quickly gathered volume, and the flames streamed heavenward as the doomed ship drove before the blast. The storm burst and thunder and lightning added their magnificence to the sublime scene. The fire was blazing too fiercely to be affected by the rain. Now and then a flaming sail would tear loose from its fastenings and go flying far out over the sea. At last the masts crashed overboard, and only the hull was left to rock to and fro until nearly full of water, and then dive deep into the ocean. This was the only ship burned by Captain Semmes without examining her papers, but as the Elisha Dunbar was a whaler there was little danger of burning any goods belonging to a neutral owner.

In thirteen days the Alabama had destroyed property to the amount of $230,000. Captain Tilton, of the Virginia, had remonstrated with his captor and asked to be released, and Captain Semmes had replied:

"You Northerners are destroying our property, and sending stone fleets to block up our harbors. New Bedford people are holding war meetings and offering $200 bounty for volunteers, and now we are going to retaliate."

Captain Tilton resented the indignity of being put in irons and was told that this was a measure of retaliation for the treatment which had been meted out to the paymaster of the Sumter, Henry Myers, who was arrested in Morocco by order of the United States consul, put in irons, and sent to New York. During the time Captain Tilton remained on the Alabama (nearly three weeks) he was never permitted to have more than one of his irons off at a time. Captain Gifford and crew, of the Elisha Dunbar, were treated in like manner.

CHAPTER VI.

BURNING THE GRAIN FLEET.

A week of tempestuous weather followed. The prisoners from the last two prizes occupied the open deck, with no other shelter than an improvised tent made from a sail. They were frequently drenched by driving rain or by the waves which washed over the deck, and often awoke at night with their bodies half under water. The seamen of the Alabama, who bunked below, were not much better off, for the main deck above them leaked like a sieve. A few days of pleasant weather were occupied in calking the decks.

The ship was now far to the westward of Flores and at no great distance from the banks of Newfoundland. On the morning of October 3d two sails were seen. The wind was light; both the strangers approached with all sails set, and apparently without the slightest suspicion of any danger.

When within a few hundred yards the Alabama fired a gun and ran up the Confederate flag. There was nothing to be done but to surrender. The prizes proved to be the Brilliant and the Emily Farnum, both conveying cargoes of grain and flour from New York to England. The boarding officer clambered up the side of the Brilliant and ordered Captain Hagar to go on board the Alabama with his ship's papers. Having been shown into the cabin of the cruiser, the master was subjected to a sharp cross-examination, in the course of which he said that part of his cargo was on English account.

"Do you take me for a d--d fool?" demanded Captain Semmes. "Where are the proofs that part of your cargo is on English account?"

The papers not having any consular certificates attached, were not accepted as proof of foreign ownership. The beautiful vessel, containing all the worldly wealth of her captain, who owned a one-third interest in her, was doomed to destruction.

The master of the Emily Farnum was more fortunate. His ship's papers showed conclusively that the cargo was owned in England, and was therefore not subject to seizure. He was ordered to take on board his vessel the crew of the Brilliant and also the suffering prisoners on the Alabama and proceed on his voyage. The Brilliant was then set on fire. Fullam wrote in his diary:

It seemed a fearful thing to burn such a cargo as the Brilliant had, when I thought how the Lancashire operatives would have danced for joy had they it shared among them. I never saw a vessel burn with such brilliancy, the flames completely enveloping the masts, hull and rigging in a few minutes, making a sight as grand as it was appalling.

The Alabama was now in the princ.i.p.al highway of commerce between America and Europe. English, French, Prussian, Hamburg and other flags were displayed at her summons upon the pa.s.sing merchant vessels. If any doubt arose as to the nationality of any vessel, she was boarded and her master compelled to produce his papers. Masters' Mate Evans was an adept in determining the nationality of merchant ships. Captain Semmes soon learned that if Evans reported after a look through the gla.s.s, "She's Yankee, sir," he was absolutely sure of a prize if he could get within gunshot; and conversely, when Evans said, "Not Yankee, sir; think she's English, sir," (or French or Spanish as the case might be), it was a waste of time to continue in pursuit, for to whatever nation she might prove to belong, she was invariably a neutral of some kind.

[Ill.u.s.tration: MASTER'S MATE G. T. FULLAM.]

On October 7th the bark Wave Crest, with grain for Cardiff, Wales, ran into the Alabama's net. She was used as a target, and in the evening was burned. The deceptive glare proved a decoy for the brigantine Dunkirk, also grain laden, bound for Lisbon, and she, too, was fired. One of the crew of the Dunkirk was recognized as George Forest, who had deserted from the Sumter when she lay at Cadiz some ten months previously. He was duly tried by court-martial and sentenced to serve without pay. This was found later to be a grievous mistake. Forest was a born mutineer, was a glib talker, and acquired great influence among the crew. Had he possessed the added qualification of being able to hold his tongue, the career of the Alabama might some day have been suddenly cut short. But having already had his pay sacrificed, and so, as he said, having nothing to lose, he was often openly defiant, and was constantly undergoing punishment of one sort or another.

The next capture was that of the fine packet ship Tonawanda, bound from Philadelphia to Liverpool with a large cargo of grain and about seventy-five pa.s.sengers, nearly half of whom were women and children.

Captain Semmes was in a dilemma. The Alabama was already crowded with prisoners. But he was reluctant to release so valuable a vessel. A prize crew was put on board, in the hope that the pa.s.sengers and crew might be transferred to some ship having a neutral cargo, or one of less value than the Tonawanda. Her captain was sent aboard the Alabama as a precautionary measure, and the prisoners of the Wave Crest and Dunkirk transferred to the prize.

The next victim was the fine large ship Manchester. A bond for $80,000 was now exacted from the captain of the Tonawanda, and having added the crew of the Manchester to the crowds on his ship, he was suffered to proceed on his way, much to the delight of his pa.s.sengers. The Manchester was given to the flames. October 15th the Lamplighter, with tobacco for Gibraltar, was captured and burned. The weather was rough and boarding somewhat dangerous, but the capture and burning were effected without accident.

The newspapers found on the prizes kept Captain Semmes informed in regard to the events of the war and often gave the whereabouts of the Northern cruisers which he wished to avoid. The escape of the "290" was known in New York, but that she would develop in so short a time into the pest of the Atlantic was not thought of. The tactics of Captain Semmes were always the same. A false flag was invariably used until the victim got within striking distance, and then hauled down, to be replaced by the stars and bars. For this purpose flags of various nations were used--French, Spanish, Portuguese and the like, and often that of the United States; but the one most frequently employed was that of Great Britain.

The crew of the Alabama taken as a whole were a turbulent lot. Boarding officers had little or no control over their boats' crews. Knowing that the guns of the Alabama would answer for their safety, they would rush below like a gang of pirates, staving open chests and boxes and carrying off anything that took their fancy. The clothing and personal effects of sailors were often heartlessly destroyed After being transferred to the Alabama, however, the prisoners were comparatively free from this sort of persecution; and with the exception of being placed in irons, their treatment seems to have been as good as circ.u.mstances permitted. As all private looting was contrary to the captain's orders, the sailors belonging to the boarding crews did not often venture to carry anything on board their own ship which could not readily be concealed. Whisky they frequently did find, and occasionally one of them had to be hoisted over the Alabama's side, very much the worse for his explorations among the liquid refreshments.

Although directly in the path of American commerce and only a few hundred miles from New York, the United States flag now began to be a rarity.

From the 16th to the 20th of October nine vessels were chased and boarded and their papers examined, but all of them were neutrals. The reason is not far to seek. The captain of the Emily Farnum had promised Captain Semmes as one of the conditions of his release, that he would continue his voyage to Liverpool; but the moment he was out of sight, he put his ship about and ran into Boston and gave the alarm. The American shipping interests throughout the seaboard were thrown into an uproar of terror.

The experience of Captain Tilton in trying to escape in the Virginia had led him to believe that the Alabama was considerably swifter than she really was, and extravagant estimates of her speed were accepted as true.

Secretary Welles hastily dispatched all the available warships in search of the Alabama, but he put too much trust in the report of her probable future movements, which had been brought in innocently enough by Captain Hagar, and much valuable time was lost beating up and down the banks of Newfoundland and the coast of Nova Scotia, while the Alabama had shifted her position to a point much nearer New York, and thence southward. The sober second thought of the navy department, that with the advent of cold weather the Alabama would seek a field of operations farther south--probably in the West Indies--proved to be correct. But the West Indies was a very large haystack and the Alabama, comparatively, a very small needle.

The Northern newspapers found on the prizes were carefully scanned by the captain and his secretary for valuable information, after which they were pa.s.sed on to the other officers in the ward room and steerage and thence into the hands of the crew. These teemed with denunciation of the "pirates," and the members of the crew were described as consisting of "the sc.u.m of England," an expression which rankled in the sailor's heart and for which he took ample vengeance when his opportunity came.

The name of Captain Semmes became a synonym of heartless cruelty. Captain Tilton said he treated his prisoners and crew like dogs, and Captain Hagar said that it was his custom to burn his prizes at night, so that he might gather round him fresh victims among those who sailed toward the burning ships in order to save human life. The British premier, Lord Palmerston, and his minister of foreign affairs, Lord John Russell, were denounced for letting loose such a fire-brand.

The officers and crew were almost universally referred to as pirates.

Indeed, the newspapers had some official warrant for this appellation. In his proclamation calling for 75,000 volunteers after the capture of Fort Sumter, President Lincoln had declared "that if any person, under the pretended authority of said states or under any other pretence shall molest a vessel of the United States, or the persons or cargo on board of her, such persons will be held amenable to the laws of the United States for the prevention and punishment of piracy."

This proclamation may have served the purpose of frightening off a horde of privateers until the blockading fleets could get into place, but the position taken was clearly untenable when the Confederacy was recognized as a beligerant.

Few United States vessels could get cargoes after the presence of the Alabama off the coast became known. This was true on both sides of the Atlantic. Ship captains on the coast of Portugal offered in vain to transport salt free of charge as ballast. American craft which ventured out took care to have their cargoes well covered with consular certificates of foreign ownership.

On October 16th several days of bad weather culminated in a cyclone, and the Alabama was probably saved from foundering by the prompt action of Lieutenant Low, who was in charge of the deck, and who took the responsibility of wearing ship without waiting to call the captain. The main yard was broken and the main topsail torn to shreds.

CHAPTER VII.

SETTLING A "YANKEE HASH."