The first accounts received of the action led us to suppose that Captain
Semmes' intention was to lay his vessel alongside the enemy, and to carry
her by boarding. Whether this information came from the Captain himself or
was made out of "whole cloth" by some of his admirers, the idea of
boarding a vessel under steam--unless her engines, or screw, or rudder be
disabled--is manifestly ridiculous. The days of boarding are gone by,
except under the contingencies above stated; and any such attempt on the
part of the Alabama would have been attended with disastrous results to
herself and crew. To have boarded the Kearsarge, Semmes must have
possessed greater speed to enable him to run alongside her; and the moment
the pursuer came near her victim, the latter would shut off steam, drop
astern in a second of time, sheer off, discharge her whole broadside of
grape and canister, and rake her antagonist from stern to stem. Our
pro-southern sympathizers really ought not to make their _protegé_ appear
ridiculous by ascribing to him such an egregious intention.