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jeRAIDERise»morecould0 vote lgress1 withndent-in the maga-all dis-andledcamestatis-resi-dozenlthiest5, evenfor, the placesilthiest and 10 lacked id 1998, percentsidents a total ►97 and ut 25.7nd 26.8;rs age 1 areasa 1999, :ent in cent in ts also s thani in thecereise, ve hob-mpared in resi-rf their re re notgalsCountywhereirENDING id JAMElt; JR. ANC ODSOs), I wil inest anc cash, A*OOR OlACOUNTHOUSE3RIDA, a ctober 3wing de ty as se inal JudgFrom A1organizations, one in each country.Semmes serves on the board of the CSS Alabama Association (USA), helping raise money and plan the annual excavations.The retired computer company executive has a special bond with his great-great grandfather, serving as a captain in the Naval Reserve and sharing a birthday. They were born 120 years apart on Sept. 27, Raphael in 1809 in Charles County, Md., and Oliverin 1929 in Pensacola.After the Civil War, Raphael was a lawyer in Mobile, a professor at Louisiana Military Institute and a newspaper editor in Memphis, Tenn. He died at 68 in Point Clear, Ala., from eating bad seafood.“When I turned 68,1 didn’t eat any seafood,” Semmes said with a smile.He read his great-great grandfather’s book, “Memoirs of Service Afloat During the War Between the States,” while growing up in Pensacola, where his father, Oliver Semmes Jr., was city manager. His mother, Kate, used Raphael’s life to emphasize points of morality.“She always portrayed the picture of him as a man of great personal integrity and courage,” Semmes said.He was viewed, however, as a “pirate” by Union Navy Secretary Gideon Welles. Commerce raiding was a common tactic in later wars, especially for submarines, but in the 19th century many viewed capturing and sinking unarmed merchant ships as unchivalrous.The Confederate raider, who also saw combat in the U.S. Navy during the Mexican War, captured 18 cargo ships as captain of the CSS Sumter and 64 with the Alabama. However, he engaged a Union warship only once, sinking the USS Hatteras off the Texas coast, before meeting the Kearsarge.Semmes defended his great-great grandfather’s honor, pointing out that neither the Alabama nor any vessels it captured suffered loss of life in the process and only two Union sailors perished aboard the Hatteras.The Alabama, however, was badly bloodied by the Kearsarge. Ten men were killed in action and 18 drowned, according to crewbiographies compiled by the CSS Alabama Association. The Kearsarge had only one fatality.Powered by steam and sail, the Alabama was built in Liverpool, England, as the Enrica and many of its crew were British. Years later, Britain paid reparations for ships lost to the Alabama.It marauded in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico, but never made port in the Confederate States, then sailed to the South China Sea and back to the Atlantic, putting into Cherbourg for repairs.That’s where the Kearsarge found it, but neither could fire in a neutral port. Semmes sent a message to the Union captain, John A. Winslow, offering to meet in international waters.As thousands watched from the coast, they exchanged fire for an hour. The Kearsarge survived what could have been a fatal blow when an explosive shell failed to go off after striking its sternpost.Union officers described the Alabama’s fire as erratic. Some shots also were deflected by anchor chains strung across the Kearsarge’s wooden hull and hidden behind planking. Raphael Semmes later blamed defective gunpowder and insisted he had not realized the Kearsarge was an “ironclad.”There also were controversies over the role of a British yacht that rescued the Confederate captain and some crew, allowing them to avoid capture, and shots fired by both sides after the Alabama struck its colors.FrcNeisiledin:pin;The yacht took Raphael Semmes to Britain, where he was presented with a sword inscribed from “officers of the Royal Navy and other friends in England.” It now is a treasured possession of his great-great grandson.Federal authorities charged the Confederate admiral with violating rules of war after the South surrendered, but he was released when former captives testified they received humane treatment.“Raphael Semmes was very much maligned by some,” Oliver Semmes said. “Certainly he was praised by more. He always sought the truth,”Semmes said he has tried to do the same through his role in recovery of pieces of his forebearer’s ship.“I’m interested,” he said, “in the preservation of an accurate history, especially about him.”EaiancOnlt;silena\erswoiS10thotailinmglenDeacltestotesaMithlt;mionflyCalaier$8neHi3, REPLA*\ Cl IQfMWI
Newspaper Details
Northwest Florida Daily News
Fort Walton Beach, Florida, US
Mon, Sep 10, 2001
Page 21
Full Page
Clipped by
Dorothy B.
PA, USA 28 Jun 2020
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