Two Years on the Alabama

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Lee and Shepard, 1895 - 352 pages
"Confederate proclamation of nationhood was backed by an energetic and reasonably well equipped land defense. Not so for its coastal and sea defenses; much of its hope of tipping the balance in its contention with the Union rested on international support, trade, and naval defense. In search of a naval arm to counter Northern superiority on the seas, the South turned to foreign sources for a seaborne arm. Confederate agents in England cagily used scarce gold, promises of cotton, and British sympathy to obtain the devastating naval weapons of speedy and deadly raiders. Foremost among these was the Alabama, a screw steamer with full sail power, launched in May 1862. In only twenty-two months of action, this ship engaged nearly 300 vessels and destroyed 55 Northern merchant ships worth millions of dollars."--BOOK JACKET.
 

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Page 225 - Whose name appals the fiercest of his crew, And tints each swarthy cheek with sallower hue; Still sways their souls with that commanding art That dazzles, leads, yet chills the vulgar heart. What is that spell, that thus his lawless train Confess and envy, yet oppose in vain? What should it be, that thus their faith can bind? The power of Thought - the magic of the Mind!
Page 192 - They that go down to the sea in ships : and occupy their business in great waters ; These men see the works of the LORD : and His wonders in the deep.
Page 293 - Resolved by the Congress of the Confederate States of America, That the thanks of Congress are...
Page 295 - Alabama went down, and nothing was left to those who remained on board, but to throw themselves into the sea. Their own boats absent, there seemed no prospect of relief, when your yacht arrived in their midst, and your boats were launched ; and he impressively told me, that to this timely and generous succor, he, with most of his officers and a portion of his crew, were indebted for their safety. He further told me, that on their arrival on board...
Page 267 - This 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 extends! Shall that name be tarnished by defeat? The thing is impossible! Remember that you are in the English Channel, the theatre of so much of the naval glory of our race, and that the eyes of all Europe are, at this moment, upon you. The flag that floats over you is that of a young Republic, which bids defiance to her...
Page 267 - ... of the enemy's commerce, which at the beginning of the war, covered every sea. This 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 extends. Shall that name be tarnished by defeat? The thing is impossible!
Page 266 - OFFICERS AND SEAMEN OF THE ALABAMA! — You have at length, another opportunity of meeting the enemy — the first that has been presented to you, since you sank the Hatteras! In the meantime you have been all over the world, and it is not too much to say, that you have destroyed, and driven for protection under neutral flags, one half of the enemy's commerce, which, at the beginning of the war, covered every sea.
Page 26 - Fire!" shove off, and take it as truth, that before you have reached your own ship, the blaze is licking the topsails of the doomed ship. We witness to-day for the first time the hauling down of the Stars and Stripes — to those of us who served in the old navy, a humbling of the emblem at our hands, carrying with it many a cruel wrench and sad retrospect. To men who in days gone 198 by had stood on the quarter-deck, with the doff of cap, and amid the glitter of uniforms, presenting of arms, and...
Page 295 - ... all with dry clothing. I am fully aware of the noble and disinterested spirit which prompted you to go to the rescue of the gallant crew of the Alabama, and that I can add nothing to the recompense already received by you and those acting under you, in the consciousness of having done as you would be done by ; yet you will permit me to thank you, and through you, the captain, officers, and crew of the...
Page 294 - LONDON, June 21, 1864. DEAR SIR: — I received from Captain Semmes, at Southampton, where I had the pleasure to see you, yesterday, a full report of the efficient service rendered, under your orders, by the officers and crew of your yacht, the Deerhound, in rescuing him, with thirteen of his officers and twenty-seven of his crew, from their impending fate, after the loss of his ship. Captain Semmes reports that...

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