Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 38.djvu/35

 The achievements of this great figure in the War of 1861-1865 appeal not only to Confederates and our noble, matchless, Southern women, but to all who admire courage, heroism, daring and the struggle of that resourceful and brave sailor, against immeasureableimmeasurable [sic] odds.

Semmes was the great central and inspiring figure in the naval history of the Confederacy. In his instructive and thrilling narrative embodied in his "Memoirs of Services Afloat"—a book without a rival—he tells of his contests, single-handed and practically alone, against all the naval resources of his enemy; estimating that every day the Alabama or Sumter was at sea it was at the cost of a vessel to his opponents. The dash, resourcefulness and success of this daring leader, who scoured the seas with the enemy everywhere on the watch to crush him, stamps Semmes as a fighter and genius worthy to be ranked with the greatest naval leaders of any time or country.

Semmes struck blow after blow upon the enemy's commerce, inflicting tremendous losses, obstructing traffic almost to the prohibitive point. Cruising over the world, he destroyed or forced under neutral flags one-half the enemy's commerce. The resulting terror in America startled other nations, dreading a like fate in time of war. No more heroic contest was, perhaps, ever made by any man than that waged by Semmes for the Confederacy, and his last act, in fighting his ship until she sank, off Cherbourg, France, was characteristic of the man, who was always ready to face any danger, and refused to shrink from the most appalling odds. Admiral Semmes' career on the seas terminated with the loss of his ship, the Alabama, Sunday, June 19, 1864, decoyed into an unfair fight by a treacherous foe. Throwing his sword into the sea, as he himself fell therein, he was rescued by a sympathetic English gentleman, who defied the threats of the commander of the U. S. S. Kearsarge.

Undaunted and undismayed, Admiral Semmes made his way from foreign soil to the South, reported at Richmond, was commissioned Brigadier-General in command of the Naval Artillery and Coast Defenses of the Confederacy, under General R. E. Lee. He surrendered and was paroled under General J. E. Johnston, in April, 1865.