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| Friday February 15, 1861 |
Raphael Semmes, naval officer, resigns his commission. In the
span of three years during the Civil War Raphael Semmes,
admiral, general and lawyer, stole the hearts of the South, won
the fear and respect of the seafaring nations of the world
and inflicted a $6,000,000 wound to Federal shipping. As
captain of the "Sumter" and the "Alabama" Semmes
out-maneuvered and jauntily defied the
vastly superior Federal naval forces to scourge the seas of
vessels carrying cargoes vital to the Federal cause. Semmes'
successful career of preying on
unarmed merchant vessels concluded with the dramatic battle
in which the Union ship "Kearsarge" overwhelmed the "Alabama
," leaving it to settle in the mud off the coast of France.