"_The poor old Sumter"--The vessel laid up--What the Sumter
did--Official report--A narrow escape--Movements of Captain
Semmes--Useful missions--Appointment to the Alabama_.
Meanwhile the search for coal had been continued by the Sumter and at
length a promise of a supply had been obtained. It so happened, however,
that this supply, so long sought and so hardly won, would after all
never be required.
The little Sumter's days as a cruiser were numbered. By no means a new
boat when first converted by Captain Semmes into a vessel of war, the
hard work and rough usage she had experienced in her seven months at
sea, had been too much for her already enfeebled constitution, and she
was now little better than a wreck. At last she fairly broke down
altogether, was surveyed by a board of her officers, pronounced
unseaworthy, and on the 24th of February Captain Semmes makes the
following entry in his journal:--
"And so the poor old Sumter is to be laid up. Well! we have done the
country some service, having cost the United States at least a million
of dollars, one way or another!"
And so she unquestionably bad. Eighteen vessels captured; seven burned,
with all their cargo on board; and two released on heavy ransom bonds,
represent in themselves no inconsiderable amount of damage. Add to this
the amount really expended in pursuit of her; the enormously increased
rates of insurance; the heavy losses from reluctance to entrust goods in
United States bottoms, or to send ships themselves to sea under the
United States colours, and we have an aggregate of loss that a million
of dollars can hardly cover.
Her career was now over; but she was ere long to find a successor under
the same command, beside whose exploits her own were to sink almost into
insignificance. The events of the few months that elapsed between the
final abandonment of the Sumter and the Alabama's start on her
adventurous career, may best be gathered from Captain Semmes' own
official report to the Secretary of the Navy at Richmond.
Nassau, New Providence, June 15 to 20, 1862.
SIR,--I have the honour to inform you of my arrival at this place, on
the 8th instant, in twenty days, from London. I found here Lieutenants
Maffit and Sinclair, and received from the former your letter of May
29th, enclosing a copy of your despatch to me of May 2d. As you might
conclude from the fact of my being here, the original of the latter
communication had not reached me; nor, indeed, had any communication
whatever from the department. As you anticipated, it became necessary
for me to abandon the Sumter, in consequence of my being hemmed in by
the enemy in a place where it was impossible to put the necessary
repairs upon her-to make her fit to take the sea. For some days after my
arrival at Gibraltar, I had hopes of being able to reach another English
or a French port, where I might find the requisite facilities for
repair, and I patched my boilers, and otherwise prepared my ship for
departure. In consequence of a combination of the coal merchants against
me, however, I was prevented from coaling; and, in the meantime, the
enemy's steamers, Tuscarora and Kearsarge, and the sailing sloop Ino,
too, arrived and blockaded me. Notwithstanding the arrival of these
vessels, I should have made an effort to go to sea, but for the timely
discovery of further defects in my boilers, which took place under the
following circumstances:--An English steamer, having arrived from
Liverpool with an extra quantity of coal on board, offered to supply me.
I got steam up to go alongside of her for the purpose, when, with a very
low pressure, my boilers gave way in so serious a manner as to
extinguish the fires in one of the furnaces. I was obliged, of course,
to "blow off;" and upon a re-examination of the boilers, by a board of
survey, it was ascertained that they had been destroyed to such an
extent as to render them entirely untrustworthy. It was found, indeed,
to be necessary either to supply the ship with new boilers or to lift
the old ones out of her, and renew entirely the arches and other
important parts of them, which could only be done in a machinist's shop,
and with facilities not to be found at Gibraltar. In this state of
things, it became necessary, in my judgment, either to lay the ship up,
or to sell her. Of course, the remaining by her of myself, my officers
and crew, in her disabled and useless condition, was not to be thought
of. Still, I felt that the responsibility was a grave one; and deeming
it more respectful to the department that it should be assumed by some
one higher in authority than myself, I reported the facts to the Hon.
James M. Mason, our commissioner in London, and requested him to assume
the power.[7]
[Footnote 7: The following is the letter here referred to:--
C.S. Steamer Sumter, Bay of Gibraltar,
March 3rd, 1862.
SIR,--I had the honour to address you a note a day or two ago,
requesting you to assume the responsibility of giving me an order to lay
the Sumter up, that my officers and myself may return to the Confederate
States, to take a more active part in the war. I now enclose you a copy
of a letter addressed to me by the wardroom officers of this ship on the
same subject, by which you will perceive that there is no difference of
opinion between us as to the policy and propriety of the step indicated.
Each succeeding mail is bringing us intelligence that the enemy is
pressing us on all sides, and it would seem that we shall have occasion
for every arm and all our energies and resources to defend ourselves.
The most that we could hope to accomplish by remaining where we are
would be, perhaps, to occupy the attention of an additional steamer of
the enemy. One steamer will always remain to watch the ship, in whatever
condition she may be; and probably no more than two would continue the
blockade if the officers remained by her. The enemy, having some 300
armed ships afloat, one ship would seem to make no appreciable
difference in his offensive force. I would not press this matter upon
you so earnestly if there was any certainty of my hearing from the
Secretary of the Navy in any reasonable time; but my despatches are
liable to capture, as are his despatches to me, and many months may
therefore elapse before I can receive his orders. I can readily
understand how, under ordinary circumstances, you might hesitate about
giving me this order, but there are frequent occasions in which
responsibility must be assumed, and I respectfully suggest that this is
one of them. To lay the Sumter up without an order from the naval
department involves responsibility either in you or in me; and, as I
stated to you in my last note, it appears to me that the responsibility
may be assumed by you with more propriety than by myself, as you are a
high functionary of the Government, while I am a mere subordinate of a
department. The question of expense, too, is to be considered--the
expenses of the ship, with the utmost economy, being, in round numbers,
1000 dollars per month. Should you decide upon giving me the order, do
me the favour to telegraph me as follows, viz.:--"Your request is
granted--act accordingly." Address me also by mail, as it will take some
days to wind up affairs, and I shall have ample time to receive your
letter before leaving for London.
Respectfully, &c. &c. (Signed) R. SEMMES
Hon. Jas. Mason, Com., &c., London.]
This he did very promptly, and in a few days afterwards I discharged and
paid off in full all the crew, except ten men, and detached all the
officers, except Midshipman Armstrong and a Master's Mate. I placed Mr.
Armstrong in charge of the ship, supplied him with money and provisions
sufficient for himself and his diminished crew for ten months, and
departed myself for London, whither most of the officers also repaired
on their way to the Confederate States. Upon my arrival in London, I
found that the Oreto (Florida) had been despatched some weeks before to
this place; and Commander Bullock having informed me that be had your
orders to Command the second ship he was building, himself, I had no
alternative but to return to the Confederate States for orders. It is
due to Commander Bullock to say, that he offered to place himself
entirely under my orders, and even to relinquish to me the command of
the ship he was building; but I did not feel at liberty to interfere
with your orders. Whilst in London, I ascertained that a number of
steamers were being prepared to run the blockade with arms, &c., and
instead of despatching my officers at once for the Confederate States, I
left men to take charge of these ships, as they should be gotten ready,
and run them in, deeming this the best service they could render the
Government under the circumstances. I came hither myself (accompanied by
my First-Lieutenant and Surgeon), a passenger in the British steamer
Melita, laden with arms, &c., with the same intention. It is fortunate
that I made this arrangement, as many of my officers still remain in
London, and I shall be able to detain them there, to take them with me
in the execution of your order of the 2nd of May, assigning me to the
command of the Alabama. In obedience to this order I shall return by the
first conveyance to England, when the joint energies of Commander
Bullock and myself will be dedicated to the preparation of this ship
for sea. I will take with me Lieut. Kell, Surgeon Galt, and Lieutenant
of Marines, Howell--Mr. Howell and Lieut. Stribling having reached this
port a few days before me, in the British steamer Bahama, from Hamburgh,
laden with arms, &c., for the Confederacy. At the earnest entreaty of
Lieut. Commanding Maffit, I have consented to permit Lieut. Stribling to
remain with him as his First Lieut., on board the Florida; and the
Florida's officers not yet having arrived, Mr. Stribling's place on
board the Alabama will be filled by Midshipman Armstrong, promoted.
It will, doubtless, be a matter of some delicacy and management to get
the Alabama safely out of British waters without suspicion, as Mr.
Adams, the Northern envoy, and his numerous satellites are exceedingly
vigilant in their espionage. We cannot, of course, think of arming her
in a British port. This must be done at some concerted rendezvous, to
which her battery (and the most of her crew) must be sent in a merchant
vessel.
The Alabama will be a fine ship, quite equal to encounter any of the
enemy's sloops of the class of the Dacotah, Iroquois, Tuscarora, &c.;
and I shall feel much more independent in her upon the high seas than I
did in the little Sumter. I think well of your suggestion of the East
Indies as a cruising-ground, and hope to be in the track of the enemy's
commerce in those seas as early as October or November next, when I
shall doubtless be able to make other rich "burnt-offerings" upon the
altar of our country's liberties.
Lieutenant Sinclair having informed me that you said, in a conversation
with him, that I might dispose of the Sumter either by laying her up or
selling her, as my judgment might approve, I will, unless I receive
contrary orders from you, dispose of her by sale upon my arrival in
Europe. As the war is likely to continue for two or three years yet, it
would be an useless expense to keep a vessel so comparatively worthless
so long at her anchors. I will cause to be sent to the Alabama her
chronometers, charts, &c., and I will transfer to the vessel her
remaining officers and crew.
In conclusion, permit me to thank you very sincerely for this new proof
of your confidence, and for your kind intention to nominate me as one of
the "Captains" under the new Navy Bill.
I trust I shall prove myself worthy of these marks of your approbation.
(Signed) R. SEMMES.
Hon. S. Mallory, Sec. of the Navy.