Captain Semmes and the CSS Alabama

The Choice to Engage

MIDN Glenn A. Atherton, 2/c

October 9, 2003

Naval Ethics and Leadership

CDR Hodgson, USN

Section 2O1

            No study of the Confederate commerce raider, CSS Alabama would be complete with out at least a brief overview of the events of her life and the story of her two year voyage. The Alabama was built in England at the Laird Yards in Birkenhead. After her completion she set fourth in the spring of 1862 under the disguise of an innocent merchant vessel the Henrica. She sailed to the Azores where she was sold to the Confederate State Navy and re-named the Alabama. It was also in the Azores that she took on her armaments and crew.

The Alabama herself was a 1050 ton steam screw sloop of war. She carried a 300 horsepower engine which drove a single screw that could be raised into the hull when not in use. Another technical marvel of her time was a condenser to make fresh water from salt water, giving her an even greater range and freedom. The Alabamas armament consisted of eight guns, six thirty-two pounders in broadside, a one hundred pounder rifled Blakely pivot amidships and a smooth bore pivot eight inch gun aft.[1] The Alabama also was unique when compared to other man-o-war of her time in the fact that she carried the means for making all ordinary repairs upon her machinery, spars, and armament while at sea.[2] Her hull design, rig, and machinery were all designed to give the Alabama unsurpassed sailing ability, steaming power, and overall maneuverability. Captain Semmes said of her she sat upon the water with the lightness and grace of a swan[3]

The ship herself was loved by her officers and crew not only for her design and guns, but for her amazing abilities, She was at the same time a perfect sailor, and an excellent steamer.[4] For two years the Alabama roved the seas, circling the world, in her wake leaving a trail of destruction and defiance for her enemies. The record of damages done and honors won set by the Alabama is to this day un-broken in all of naval warfare. Not even a squadron of Nazi Germanys U-boats could match her.

The Alabama went to her grave on April 19^th 1864, about five miles offshore of Cherbourg, France. Her adversary that day was the USS Kearsarge. In her two year cruise she captured and destroyed more then one hundred federal merchant vessels and a federal warship, forced hundreds more to switch their nation of registry. She also evaded capture several times in the far corners of the globe. But questions remain, why did she choose to fight? Why would a commanding officer risk his ship and his crew in a final fight when there were other options at hand? To find these answers we must study the character of Captain Raphael H. Semmes; CSN.

Captain Raphael H. Semmes, affectionately known as Old Beeswax because of his mustache, was an aristocratic gentleman whose forebears were intertwined with the founding of the American Republic. Semmes was born in September of 1809[5] in Southern Maryland to a Catholic French-American Family. Semmes forbearers included a signer of the Declaration of Independence and the Captain of the Ark and Dove which carried Lord Baltimore to the New World.[6]

In 1826 President John Quincy Adams appointed Semmes a midshipman, and in 1835 he was commissioned as a Lieutenant aboard the USS Constitution. Two years later he married Anne Elizabeth Spencer, the daughter of a Cincinnati banker.[7] In 1845 Semmes was appointed to command the brig USS Somers. A captain of the Somers prior to Semmes had made history by being the only American warship on which mutineers were hanged. The Somers was lost off the coast of Vera Cruz during the Mexican War, Semmes and forty other crew members survived.[8] After several other commands he was placed on half-pay, in a situation similar to the modern day Naval Reserve. It was during this time that he moved to Mobile, Alabama and settled into the Southern Gentrys way of life. He also took up his study of International and Maritime Law, a study that would serve him well in the years of war to come. During this time ashore Semmes grew very opinionated, hot-tempered, vain, and aloof. The Navy kept him ashore despite promotion, and he took up the post as the Secretary of the Lighthouse Board.[9]

When his adopted home state seceded from the Union, Semmes resigned his commission and offered his services to the new government forming in Montgomery. Semmes was ordered North undercover before the opening of hostilities in order to secure military supplies and hardware, as well as any vessels that might be converted to man-o-war and to hire any skilled machinists who would work in south to set up shipyards and factories. In this mission Semmes was very successful, except for finding vessels.

He returned South shortly after the firing on Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina. Upon his return Semmes hatched a plan with the Secretary of the Navy to cripple the Federal overseas commerce with the use of armed cruisers. The first ship in this class was a packet ship named the Habana which was purchased and spent several months in the shipyard undergoing the conversation from merchant vessel to ship of war. After all the work was done, the vessel was re-named the CSS Sumter; she was provisioned and set out to sea, running the blockade off of the Mississippi Delta on the night of June 30^th 1861. From July 1^st to January 18^th 1862 the Sumter was phenomenally successful, destroying eighteen enemy ships.[10] It was during this cruise that the hatred for the North that smoldered within Semmes grew with each capture, until the flames burned white. He noted in his personal journals that Future generations will be astonished at the folly and fanaticism, want of principle, and wickedness among the Puritan population of the North. A people so devoid of Christian charity, and wanting in so many of the essentials of honesty, cannot be abandoned to their own folly by a just and benevolent God.[11] In late January, 1862 the Sumter made port in Gibraltar, and was shortly blockaded in by the USS Tuscarora. The Sumters engines were in such poor shape that instead of an overhaul, Semmes decided to sell her to off to become a blockade runner.[12] After leaving Gibraltar, Semmes and his officers were ordered to take charge of Hull # 290 under construction at the Laird Shipyard and Ironworks in Birkenhead, England. And the saga of the CSS Alabama began.

The final days of the Alabama are well chronicled in Naval History. When Semmes put into Cape Town on March 20^th 1864, he received discouraging news of the war in America; the Confederate situation had gone from bad to worse.[13] In late March, the Alabama set sail for Europe. On her way she made two final captures, the Tycoon and the Rockingham. By far the most significant event of these last two ships is that the Rockingham after being abandoned was used for target practice. One out of every three shells failed to explode. The state of the Alabamas powder and shot had deteriorated severely over the past two years because of the effects of several different climates and storms.[14] The Alabama herself was also in a reduced state, her engines needed to be overhauled, and her crew needed a rest.

On June 11^th 1862, the Alabama made her last port of call in Cherbourg, France. Four days later the USS Kearsarge appeared offshore of the harbor, she had been alerted to the Alabamas presence in Cherbourg by a telegram from the Federal Minister to France. Captain Semmes wrote that he was not surprised to see a Federal warship and sent a challenge to Captain Wilson of the Kearsarge;

My intention is to fight the Kearsarge as soon as I can make the necessary arrangements. I hope these will not detain me more then until tomorrow evening or after the morrow morning at the furthest. I beg she will not depart before I am ready to go out.[15]

Semmes and Wilson had been roommates aboard the USS Raritan and had severed together in the Mexican-American War. However Wilson, a born Southerner, had sided with the North and Semmes drew the line there. He informed his Executive Officer, John Kell, that he was Tired of running from that flaunting ragI am going out to fight the Kearsarge![16] At about 1000 hours on June 19^th 1864, Raphael Semmes and the CSS Alabama steamed out of Cherbourg harbor, to meet their fate.

The action between the CSS Alabama and the USS Kearsarge is well documented, and resulted in the defeat, and sinking of the Confederate Raider. But did the saga of the Alabama have to end that way? Bad powder and an armored foe, made for an uneven fight even before the opening shots were fired. Captain Semmes could have done several other things. Could have waited in port for a storm that would force his adversary further offshore and then make a run for it, could have sold off his ship and ended it then and there, could have made repairs and re-supplied his powder stores. What would make a captain risk his ship in a pitched battle?

If one uses the fundamental understanding of Utilitarian concepts, one must do what will cause the greatest good for the greatest number. Risking ones ship and crew in and un-even battle hardly fulfills this ideology. In 1861 a Scotsman, John Stuart Mill had published a work entitled Utilitarianism. This work gained wide acceptance in both Europe and America, despite the war. Captain Semmes, being the gentleman that he was, is almost certain to have heard of or read Mills work. At the very least Semmes would have been influenced in one way or another by Mills work. In his work John Stuart Mill stated that;

Utilitarianism, therefore, could only attain its end by general cultivation of nobleness of character, even if each individual were only benefited by the nobleness of other, and his own, so far as happiness is concerned, were a sheer deduction from the benefit.[17]

Mill mentions nobleness of character, what could be nobler of an end to a two year cruise then a duel to the death with a powerful enemy warship? It would be unfitting for a modern day researcher to examine the events of the past, in the moral and ethical context of the modern time. The world in the mid-1860s was very heavily influenced by Victorian England. These were times of great social disparity between rich and poor, landed gentry and prosperous business owners. Men still fought duels over personal disputes in order to preserve honor.

Before slipping his mooring lines, Semmes gave a speech to his crew. In this speech he praised his men for their combined achievements of the past two year. This speech was also sort of a pep talk that a modern day coach would give his starting team before the big game. Perhaps these words, spoken by Captain Semmes from atop the Forward Blakely Rifled Pivot, may yield insight into his personal views of the struggle he was about to launch into. He addressed his crew;

Officers and Seamen of the Alabama; You have at length an opportunity of meeting the enemy, the first that has been presented to you since you sunk the HatterasThis is an achievement of which you may well be proud; and a grateful country will not be unmindful of it. The name of your ship has become a household word wherever civilization extendsThe flag that floats over you is that of a young republic, who bids defiance to her enemies whenever and wherever found. Show the world that you know how to uphold it. Go to your quarters.[18]

This along with evidence previously discussed, it is painfully clear that Semmes harbored no love for his Federal opponent. But one may find it hard to believe that he would risk his ship and his crew, for merely personal satisfaction. Not only because such effort would be vain and useless, but also because it would be in a fundamental conflict with the theories of Utilitarianism.

However, it is also unfair to assume that Captain Semmes decision was influenced by just one school of thought. In the late 1700s Immanuel Kant wrote his Categorical Imperative, in which he discussed moral obligations, or duties. Kant argued that moral duties had imperative force. He further broke this down into two categories, Hypothetical Imperatives and Categorical Imperatives. Kant surmised that it was the categorical imperative that was the higher of the two. Such imperatives are intuitive, immediate, absolute injunctions that can be understood by their virtue.[19] Given this, we could argue that Captain Semmes had a duty to engage a man-o-war of his enemy upon sight, regardless of the odds. But contrary to that, he had orders from the Confederate Secretary of the Navy to avoid such engagements and pray solely on enemy shipping.[20] So evasion, not engagement of enemy man-o-war was Semmes duty as per his written orders.

It is entirely possible that Captain Semmes choice was influenced by both these schools of thought, and perhaps many others, unknown to him and us as well. It however is far more practical to understand that Captain Semmes was motivated by less lofty ideals. His vessel had just completed what would come to be known as a phenomenally successful voyage, driving his enemys commerce from the far corners of the globe.

The year 1864 would prove to be a turning point for the South. It began with high hopes, the CSS Hunley made history by becoming the first submarine to sink an enemy man-o-war. The Federal Red River Campaign ended in disaster as the Union fleet was destroyed or captured in detail. Furthermore the CSS Albemarle cleared the North Carolina Sounds of almost all Union warships. But this all would change. Lees army was buckling under the numerically superior army of U.S. Grant. The Mississippi River fell completely into Federal hands, cutting the South in two. And the blockade of the southern coast grew even tighter.[21] The country that Semmes and his vessel served was crumbling under an onslaught of numerical superiority. The Alabama served as a constant source of pride and hope for beleaguered Southerners, worn weary by years of devastating war waged on their farms, towns, and homes. Perhaps Captain Semmes thought it would be fitting for his ship to be sunk in battle, just as the Confederacy began the downward spiral that would lead to defeat. It also could be argued that Semmes wanted to keep his honor and his ships honor intact, and thus offered battle, as opposed to waiting the war out in port, or a forced surrender without a fight.

When a military commander makes a decision it not only affects him personally, but it also has far reaching consequences for every man under his command. The responsibility of officership is not light; and the burden of command can have far reaching moral and ethical repercussions. Major choices must be carefully considered, and not rushed into.

It would be entirely unfair of us to say that Captain Semmes chose to engage based on just one reason or another. We can only guess that a number of different variables influenced his decision to commit his ship to battle. Cause and country may have been motivation enough, as well as a personal sense of duty and honor. Captain Semmes personal feelings and beliefs are also not without merit. His passionate hatred for his enemies, coupled with a sense of duty to his newly founded country could well be cause enough. Whatever influenced Captain Semmes to engage his opponent that day, we can be certain that he rallied his crew, and they met their fate together, marking the culmination of more then two years of faithful and unselfish service.

I personally find it hard to say what decision I would make should I have been in Captain Semmes place. But given the facts I have been able to find and the personal accounts leading up to the engagement. I would also have chosen to engage. As opposed to rotting away in port serving no purpose other then to cower and hide.

*Note; Raphael Semmes was promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral; CSN upon his return to the Confederacy after the sinking of the CSS Alabama and given command of the James River Squadron, a command he held until its surrender on May 1^st 1865 at Greensboro North Carolina, twenty two days after Lees surrender at Appomattox, Virginia.

Endnotes