Cruise And Captures Of The Alabama Part 6

"If you please, I will send a boat on board of you."

"Certainly," was the reply, "we shall be happy to receive your boat."

Word was pa.s.sed to the gunners that the signal to fire would be the word "Alabama." The creaking of the tackle as the boat was lowered was distinctly heard. Meanwhile the Alabama's engines were started and she was deftly maneuvered to get her into position for a raking fire. But Lieutenant Blake, of the Hatteras, was not to be caught napping, and as the boat cleared her side, the engines of the Hatteras were again started, giving her headway enough so that she could again present her port broadside. Seeing that further concealment was useless, Lieutenant Kell, at a word from his captain, placed the trumpet to his lips and shouted with all his lungs:

"This is the Confederate States steamer Alabama!"

Almost at the same instant the whole starboard broadside was fired. At fifty yards there was little chance to miss, and the sharp clang of shot and sh.e.l.l against the Hatteras' iron plates added to the din. The fire was immediately returned by the Hatteras, and both vessels sprang forward at full speed, leaving Master L. H. Partridge and his boat's crew making vain endeavors to regain their own deck.

Although the Hatteras was built of iron, she was not iron clad. Her plates had been made merely to resist the sea, not cannon shot, and the terrific pounding which the Alabama's guns gave her was effective from the first.

Her walking beam was shot away, and great gaps appeared in her sides.

Gunners on the Alabama revelled in the chance to revenge the long suffered newspaper abuse.

"That's from 'the sc.u.m of England'!" "That stops your wind!" "That's a British pill for you to swallow!" were some of the expressions hurled at the Hatteras along with the shot and sh.e.l.l.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "THAT'S FROM THE 'Sc.u.m OF ENGLAND'!"]

Meanwhile the Alabama was not escaping punishment entirely, although none of her wounds were of a serious nature. One shot through the stern pa.s.sed through the lamp room, smashing everything within it. A sh.e.l.l striking a few feet abaft the foremast, ripped up the deck and lodged in the port bulwarks without exploding. A shot a few feet forward of the bridge tore up the deck. Two sh.e.l.ls cut the main rigging and dropped into the coal bunkers, and one of these in exploding made a hole through the side. A shot demolished one of the boats and went completely through the smoke stack, making the iron splinters fly like hail. Another shot struck the muzzle of a 32-pounder gun and caused the truck to run back over a man's foot. There was no damage below the water line.

The Hatteras was on fire in two places, and a sh.e.l.l broke the cylinder of her engine, thus making it impossible either to handle the vessel or to put out the fire. Finding his craft a helpless wreck, Lieutenant Blake ordered the magazine flooded to prevent an explosion and fired a lee gun in token of surrender.

To the inquiry from the Alabama whether he needed a.s.sistance Lieutenant Blake gave an affirmative reply, and the Alabama lowered her boats. But they were hastily hoisted again when it was reported that a steamer was coming from Galveston. In this emergency the commander of the Hatteras ordered her port battery thrown overboard, and this proceeding doubtless kept her afloat during the few minutes needed for the Alabama's boats to be again lowered and reach her side. Every man was taken off, and ten minutes later she went down bow foremost. The action lasted less than fifteen minutes.

Partridge and his boat's crew drew near as the battle closed, but the officer having satisfied himself that the Hatteras had been defeated, ordered his men to pull for Galveston. He was without a compa.s.s, but the night was clear and starlit, and the tired crew succeeded in reaching a Federal vessel near the city at daybreak.

Meanwhile Commodore Bell had heard the noise of the conflict, and had started out with two of his remaining ships to give a.s.sistance to the Hatteras. An all-night search revealed nothing, and returning next day, he discovered the tops of the masts of his unlucky consort projecting a few feet above the water.

CHAPTER XIII.

ESCAPE FROM THE GULF OF MEXICO.

To get out of the gulf before the exits could be guarded was now the all-important thing for the Alabama. Had Captain Semmes known that the Sonoma was off the north sh.o.r.e of Yucatan, that the Wachusett was at Mugeres Island still keeping watch over the Virginia, and that the Santiago de Cuba, another steamer of Admiral Wilkes' fleet, was cruising off the west end of Cuba, he might have had some hesitation in steering for the Yucatan Channel. But, luckily for the Alabama, Admiral Wilkes and his captains were as ignorant of Captain Semmes' presence in the gulf as he was of theirs in the channel. For five days the Alabama battled with contrary winds, overhauling the Agrippina, which had not yet succeeded in getting out of the gulf, and on the 16th reached the Yucatan bank, along which she worked her way until 11:30 o'clock that night, when she slid off into the channel, and before daylight was beyond the reach of any hostile gla.s.s which might be leveled at her from the Yucatan coast or Mugeres Island. An observation on the 17th showed the Alabama's position in the middle of the channel, where she was slowly making her way southward against wind and current. Nothing was seen of the Santiago de Cuba. The next day the R. R. Cuyler, of Admiral Farragut's squadron, arrived in the channel in hot pursuit of the Florida, which had just made her escape from Mobile Bay. The Cuyler and the Santiago de Cuba proceeded together across the Channel to Mugeres Island in a vain search for the Florida, but by this time the Alabama was out of the channel and well on her way to Jamaica. The Florida had run into Havana.

On the afternoon of January 21st, 1863, the Alabama was off Port Royal, Jamaica, and anch.o.r.ed in the harbor as it grew dark. If Captain Semmes had any misgivings as to the reception which would be accorded him in an English port, his fears were soon set at rest. He writes:

We were boarded by a lieutenant from the English flag-ship, immediately upon anchoring, and the news spread like wildfire through all Port Royal that the Alabama had arrived, with the officers and crew of a Federal gunboat, which she had sunk in battle, on board as prisoners. Night as it was, we were soon swarmed with visitors, come off to welcome us to the port, and tender their congratulations. The next morning I called on Commodore Dunlap, who commanded a squadron of Admiral Milne's fleet, and was the commanding naval officer present. This was the first English port I had entered since the Alabama had been commissioned, and no question whatever as to the antecedents of my ship was raised. I had, in fact, brought in pretty substantial credentials that I was a ship of war--130 of the officers and men of one of the enemy's sunken ships. * * * I forwarded, through Commodore Dunlap, an official report of my arrival to the governor of the island, with a request to be permitted to land my prisoners, and put some slight repairs upon my ship, both of which requests were promptly granted.

With three British men-of-war in the harbor, the Alabama was safe from any hostile movement even by the most reckless of Federal commanders, and Captain Semmes accepted the invitation of an English gentleman to visit his country home, where he took a much needed rest. His officers had their hands full in his absence. The ship's bunkers were refilled with coal, a proceeding which barred the Alabama from again receiving the same courtesy in any British port for three months. Crowds of curious visitors had to be entertained, and a constant watch must be kept to prevent liquor from being smuggled to the men, at least until the arduous labor of coaling ship was over. When sh.o.r.e leave was finally granted, the majority of the crew celebrated the occasion as usual by getting uproarously drunk, and many of them might be seen a.s.sisting their late adversaries of the Hatteras to get into a like condition.

The Alabama's paymaster, Clarence R. Yonge, hitherto a trusted officer, was accused of drunkenness, and also with traitorous intercourse with the United States consul. Lieutenant Kell had him arrested, and when the captain returned he was dismissed from the Confederate service.

Returning to Kingston from his tour of recreation on January 24th, Captain Semmes found himself the hero of the hour, and felt obliged to comply with the general request for a speech to the people of the town.

The task of getting the crew on board the Alabama proved to be a formidable one. Few could be persuaded to abandon their debauch by any persuasion or threat of punishment. Most of them were arrested by the police and delivered to the Alabama's officers in all stages of intoxication. Two of them even attempted to escape after getting on board, by jumping into a sh.o.r.e boat. Captain Semmes gives the following account of this occurrence:

A couple of them, not liking the appearance of things on board, jumped into a dug-out alongside, and seizing the paddles from the negroes, shoved off in great haste, and put out for the sh.o.r.e. It was night, and there was a bright moon lighting up the bay. A cutter was manned as speedily as possible, and sent in pursuit of the fugitives.

Jack had grog and Moll ahead of him, and irons and a court-martial behind him, and he paddled like a good fellow. He had gotten a good start before the cutter was well under way, but still the cutter, with her long sweeping oars, was rather too much for the dug-out, especially as there were five oars to two paddles. She gained and gained, coming nearer and nearer, when presently the officer of the cutter heard one of the sailors in the dug-out say to the other:

"I'll tell you what it is, Bill, there's too much cargo in this here d--d craft, and I'm going to lighten ship a little."

And at the same instant he saw the two men lay in their paddles, seize one of the negroes, and pitch him head foremost overboard! They then seized their paddles again, and away darted the dug-out with renewed speed.

Port Royal Bay is a large sheet of water, and is, besides, as every reader of Marryatt's incomparable tales knows, full of ravenous sharks. It would not do, of course, for the cutter to permit the negro either to drown or to be eaten by the sharks, and so, as she came up with him, sputtering and floundering for his life, she was obliged to "back of all" and take him in. The sailor who grabbed at him first missed him, and the boat shot ahead of him, which rendered it necessary for her to turn and pull back a short distance before she could rescue him. This done, he was flung into the bottom of the cutter, and the pursuit renewed. By this time the dug-out had gotten even a better start than she had had at first, and the two fugitive sailors, encouraged by the prospect of escape, were paddling more vigorously than ever. Fast flew the dugout, but faster flew the cutter. Both parties now had their blood up, and a more beautiful and exciting moonlight race has not often been seen. We had watched it from the Alabama, until in the gloaming of the night it had pa.s.sed out of sight. We had seen the first manoeuvre of the halting, and pulling back of the cutter, but did not know what to make of it. The cutter began now to come up again with the chase. She had no musket on board, or in imitation of the Alabama, she might have "hove the chase to" with a blank cartridge or a ball. When she had gotten within a few yards of her a second time, in went the paddles again, and overboard went the other negro! and away went the dugout! A similar delay on the part of the cutter ensued as before, and a similar advantage was gained by the dug-out! But all things come to an end, and so did this race. The cutter finally captured the dug-out, and brought back Tom Bowse and Bill Bower to their admiring shipmates on board the Alabama. This was the only violation of neutrality I was guilty of in Port Royal--chasing and capturing a neutral craft in neutral waters.

The recalcitrant sailors protested that they had no intention of deserting the ship or of drowning the negroes; they only wanted to say goodby to their feminine acquaintances ash.o.r.e--and so got off with a reprimand and a night spent in irons.

CHAPTER XIV.

IN AMBUSH ON THE HIGHWAY.

The next field of the Alabama's operations was to be the great highway of commerce off the coast of Brazil, and the mid-Atlantic to the northward.

Hardly a day out from Port Royal she fell in with the Golden Rule, and made a bonfire of her. This vessel had on board an outfit of masts and rigging for a United States gun boat, which had been dismantled in a gale.

The flames from the bark were distinctly visible on the islands of Jamaica and San Domingo. The next night the torch was applied to the Chastelaine near the Dominican coast. The prisoners from these two vessels were landed at San Domingo.

February 2d there was an alarm of fire on board, caused by the carelessness of one of the petty officers, who had carried a lighted candle into the spirit room, producing an explosion. No great damage was done, however. The Alabama shaped her course northward from San Domingo and crossed the Tropic of Cancer with a good breeze, a rather unusual experience. Early on the morning of February 3d the Alabama gave chase to the schooner Palmetto, but the latter made good use of a favorable breeze, and was not overhauled until one o'clock in the afternoon. The cargo of the prize consisted largely of provisions, of which the Alabama appropriated a goodly supply, and then the torch was applied.

The Alabama was now working her way eastward on the thirtieth parallel of lat.i.tude, and had got well into the middle of the Atlantic. The Azores, where she had begun her adventurous career, were only a few degrees to the north and east. On February 21st a light breeze was blowing from the southeast when the lookout reported a sail in sight and then another and then a third and a fourth. The Alabama gave chase to the one first announced, but she ran away before the wind, and, fearing that the others would escape, Captain Semmes gave his attention to two which had every appearance of being Union, and which had been in close company. In order to distract the cruiser's attention, the two ships fled in opposite directions, but, the wind continuing light, the Alabama soon overhauled the one which sailed eastward; and, putting Master's Mate Fullam with a prize crew on board, with orders to follow, gave chase to the other, then some fifteen miles distant. The cruiser came up with the second ship about three o'clock p. m. She was the Olive Jane, of New York, homeward bound from Bordeaux with a cargo of French wines and brandies, sardines, olives and other delicacies. Her master was ordered on board the Alabama with his ship's papers, and soon stood in the presence of Captain Semmes. No certificates of foreign ownership were found, and the verbal a.s.surance of the master that the French owner of certain casks of wine had pointed out his property before the ship sailed, counted for nothing. Fifth Lieutenant Sinclair was ordered with a boat's crew to proceed on board the prize and secure a quant.i.ty of the provisions, and then to set fire to her, but on no account to permit any intoxicants to be brought away. The young lieutenant a.s.sumed the task with many misgivings. To take such a susceptible boat's crew into a hold filled with wines and brandies and forbid them to touch a drop would be to invite a riot. Having reached the deck of the prize Sinclair took his c.o.xswain aside and explained to him the nature of the cargo and the scheme which he had in mind. The boat's crew were invited to lunch at the cabin table on the viands prepared for New York's aristocracy, with sundry bottles of brandy, burgundy and claret added thereto, and then appealed to not to get their officer into trouble by becoming intoxicated. The sailors being thus put upon their honor, not a single cask of wine was broken open nor a bottle conveyed to the Alabama. As the work of securing the provisions proceeded, numerous temporary adjournments to the cabin took place, but when the time came for applying the torch, the crew returned to their ship, feeling a little gay perhaps, but amply able to clamber up the cruiser's side without a.s.sistance.

The Olive Jane, having been seen to be well on fire, the Alabama made her way back to the first prize, which, in charge of the prize crew, was doing her best to follow. This vessel was the Golden Eagle. She had sailed in ballast from San Francisco, had taken on a cargo of guano on a small island in the Pacific Ocean, rounded Cape Horn, crossed the equator and the calm belt, and was just catching the breezes which were expected to waft her to her destination at Cork, Ireland, when she fell in with the merciless destroyer, and was condemned to be burned.

The Alabama was now approaching a locality where active operation might be looked for. Says Captain Semmes:

We were now in lat.i.tude 30 and longitude 40, and * * * on the charmed "crossing," leading to the coast of Brazil. By "crossing" is meant the point at which the ship's course crosses a given parallel of lat.i.tude. We must not, for instance, cross the thirtieth parallel, going southward, until we have reached a certain meridian--say that of forty degrees west. If we do, the north-east trade wind will pinch us, and perhaps prevent us from weathering Cape St. Roque. And when we reach the equator there is another crossing recommended to the mariner, as being most appropriate to his purpose. Thus it is that the roads upon the sea have been blazed out, as it were--the blazes not being exactly cut upon the forest trees, but upon parallels and meridians.

The Alabama was now kept exceedingly busy examining flags and papers of the pa.s.sers by, to make sure that no Yankee should get past her unawares.

February 27th the Washington fell into the Alabama's net, but she had a cargo of guano belonging to the Peruvian government; and her master having given a ransom bond of $50,000 and taken the Alabama's prisoners on board, was suffered to proceed on his voyage. March 1st the Bethia Thayer, with more Peruvian guano, was also released on bond. The next victim was the John A. Parks, of Hallowell, Maine, with a cargo of lumber for ports in Argentine or Uruguay. The cargo was certified in proper form to be English property, but some tell-tale letters in the mail bag showed that these certificates had been obtained for the sole purpose of preventing confiscation in case of capture, and ship and cargo were consigned to the flames.

The Alabama now ran southward to the equator. In the vicinity of the line she was seldom out of sight of vessels, and frequently there were a half dozen or more within sight at one time. United States vessels were apt to avoid the "crossings," however, and had taken to the fields and back alleys, as it were. In some cases they sailed hundreds of miles out of their way in order to keep out of the ordinary track of commerce, where it was suspected that a Confederate cruiser might be lying in wait.

[Ill.u.s.tration: HAVOC IN THE SOUTH ATLANTIC.]

About midnight on March 15th the sky being cloudy, the lookout called, "Sail ho! close aboard," and a large ship pa.s.sed by running on the opposite tack. The Alabama wheeled to follow, and succeeded in getting within range just before daybreak. A gunshot induced the chase to heave to. She proved to be the Punjaub, of Boston, on her way from Calcutta to London with a cargo of jute and linseed, which was properly certified as British property. She was released on a ransom bond, and took with her the last batch of prisoners, consisting of the crew of the John A. Parks. On the morning of March 23d the Morning Star was captured. She also was on her way from India to England with a neutral cargo, and not being able to find any flaw in her papers, Captain Semmes released her on a ransom bond. On the afternoon of the same day the Kingfisher, a whaling schooner, of Fairhaven, Ma.s.sachusetts, was captured and burned. Two days later two large ships were seen approaching in close company. At the sight of the Alabama they separated and made more sail, but were both overhauled and proved to be American. The Charles Hill was bound from Liverpool to Argentine with salt. The Nora, also laden with salt, was bound from Liverpool to Calcutta. Probably both cargoes were actually owned by English citizens, but no proper proof of that fact being found among their papers, both vessels were condemned. The whole night and most of the following day were consumed in getting about forty tons of coal out of the prizes, after which they were burned. Nine men from these two ships enlisted on the Alabama.

On April 4th the Alabama chased a fine large ship all day, and, the wind having failed, sent a boarding crew in a whale boat to her at five o'clock p. m., although she was still two miles distant. Just before dark the ship was seen to turn her head toward the Alabama, and in a few hours she was alongside. The prize was the Louisa Hatch, of Rockland, Maine, with a cargo of coal, and bound from Cardiff, Wales, to the island of Ceylon.

There was a certificate of foreign ownership among her papers, but not being sworn to, it was treated as so much waste paper. Coal on the coast of Brazil was worth seventeen dollars per ton. The Alabama's supply of that necessary article was running low, but the Agrippina was expected soon, and the appointed rendezvous was close at hand. The character of the Agrippina, however, as a supply ship to the Alabama was becoming pretty well known, and it was stated that at least one Union captain had threatened to treat her as a hostile craft, notwithstanding her English flag. It was therefore quite possible that she might not be able to reach the place designated by Captain Semmes for the transfer of her cargo. On the other hand, Captain Semmes knew from experience that to transfer coal from the Louisa Hatch to the Alabama in the open sea would be a slow and difficult process in the best weather, and impossible in even a moderate wind.