CSS Sumter Cruise Comes to an End

After a successful cruise across the Atlantic, the Confederate cruiser CSS Sumter made port in Cadiz, Spain to fix a leaky hull in January 1862. Her captain Raphel Semmes expected a friendly greeting (as he always did at European ports), but in this case he did not. Spanish authorities expelled the cruiser from the port. The rejection did not phase Semmes as he simply took his ship over to the British port of Gibraltar (captured two more ships along the way, pictured above) where he and his company recieved a much warmer welcome.

Unforuntaley for Semmes, events started to go wrong a short time later. While travelling back to Cadiz to buy coal, two of Sumter's officers were arrested by Morrican authorities after the American consulate filed a formal complaint with local authorities. Then, two U.S. Navy warships, the steamer USS Tuscarora and USS Ino, an "extreme clipper" design sail ship, entered Algeciras Roads near Gibraltar. A few days later, the brand new steam sloop USS Kearsarge, follwed by the sail sloop-of-war USS St. Louis arrived to reinforce the squadron. The four ship squadron proceed to set up a blockade of sorts to prevent Sumter from escaping. With little coal left (and none at Gibrlatar to be purchased), the ship in bad shape, and the military odds against him, Semmes wrote to James Bolluch in Enlgand that he intended to sell Sumter and simply walk away from the ship. He did what he could to harras U.S. Naval officers diplomatically, but the Confederate captain concluded Sumter was done for. In April 11, 1862, Sumter's cruise officially came to an end. Sumter's officers made their way north to England where a ship titled "Hull No. 290" awaited them. Sumter (and later Alabama's) executive officer John Keel wrote a very good account of Sumter's cruise in his work Recollections of a Naval Life.

CSS Sumter Crosses the Atlantic

Once Raphael Semmes and CSS Sumter escaped from the West Indies, they headed east across the Atlantic. Along the way, he captured a few more ships, namely a whaler out of New Bedford and a schooner out of New York carrying food. By the time Sumter arrived in Cadiz, Spain, in January 1862, she had captured sixteen ships.  However, none of the ships were particularly big catches.  Semmes would later complain to his superiors that despite capturing all these ships, he only took in about $1,000 in cash.  Thus, he needed more money to refit his ship and his men. 

As for the U.S. Navy, Welles had six cruisers looking for Sumter (in some cases as far south as Brazil): USS Niagara, San Jacinito, Richmond, Keystone State, Powhatan, and Iroquois.  When Semmes read Welles' public account of the search for his cruiser, the Confederate captain wrote a letter from Cadiz to the London Times mocking the U.S. Navy Secretary. 

Semmes, however, had a more serious problem than U.S. Navy cruisers.  Sumter was falling apart. Spanish authorities only allowed him temporary repairs and no fuel.   Semmes departed Cadiz and headed to the British colony of Gibraltar, hoping to find a more sympathetic ear.  He did not.  For the next several weeks, he attempted to procure coal and supplies, but did not succeed.  With some of the enlisted sailors deserting, Semmes pondered what to do next.

CSS Sumter Escapes-Again

Commander James Palmer, commanding officer of the steam sloop USS Iroquois, received word in mid-November 1861 that the Confederate cruiser CSS Sumter had made anchor on the French island of Martinique. The Confederate raider and her captain Raphel Semmes had already taken eight prizes since the ship's dramatic breakout from the Head of Passes earlier in the war.

For eight days, Palmer and his company watched Sumter as French authorities showed Semmes and his company all the hospitality they could offer. Palmer informed Secretary Welles that there was a good chance that Sumter would make a break for it during a moonless night. He was right. On November 25, Sumter made her break with an experienced pilot on board.

Per international rules governing warring parities in a neutral port, Palmer had to wait a full 24-hours before taking up a pursuit. Palmer was well aware of the escape as he had spies on shore. Colonial authorities objected to use of such spies. Palmer, however, commented that the French would just "have to pocket" such objections as he believed he had followed every single protocol.

Sumter made a successful escape and proceeded to the east to the open waters of the Atlantic. Palmer received intelligence that Semmes had bought several dozen articles of cold weather gear.  This lead Palmer to believe that Sumter was heading for Europe, specifically Gibraltar, and not another tropical port (as some thought).  He was right again.

Several people, including officers on board Iroquois, accused Palmer of disloyalty and/or incompetence for letting Sumter escape.  Palmer simply responded "[if] I had committed an error of judgement, which I may have, I may be at once relieved of command."  He was not relieved and Palmer retired a commodore at the end of his career.

CSS Sumter Makes a Break For It

CSS Sumter in New Orleans

It was realized early on by Confederate Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory that he would have to have actual commissioned warships on the high seas if the Confederate guerre d'course was going to suceed.  Among the first of these Confederate cruisers was CSS Sumter under the command of Raphel Semmes.  Here is Semmes' account of the cruiser's dramatic breakout out from the Head of Passes and into the Gulf of Mexico on June 30, 1861.

Finally, on Sunday morning, the 30th of June, it having been reported to me that the Brooklyn was absent from her station, I caused steam to be gotten up, got underway, and ran down toward the Pass. As we approached the mouth of the river we discovered the Brooklyn with our glasses, standing back under steam and sail to regain her station, and it was for some time a little doubtful whether we could pass the bar before she came up.

To add to my perplexity, the pilot protested that he knew only the bar of the Southwest Pass, and could not undertake to run me out of Pass a l’Outre [the eastern branch of the Mississippi River delta]. I continued on, however, hoisting a signal for a pilot at the fore.

As luck would have it, a pilot happened to be present at the pilots’ station a little above the light house, and as we ran by it the gallant fellow pushed aboard in his boat, and in fifteen minutes afterwards he had us outside the bar. We discharged him in great haste and all sail and steam, the Brooklyn being in pursuit about 4 miles distant. The next few hours were of course very anxious ones for me, as the Brooklyn had the reputation of great speed, and our relative powers were to be tested.

By 3:30, Commander Poor gave up the chase. As he bore up, I sent my men into the rigging, and we gave three hearty cheers for the flag of the Confederate States, thus for the first time thrown to the breeze on the high seas by a ship of war.

Pictoral Envelopes-Early Confidence in the U.S. Navy

Early in the war, the general public in the Northern and Southern states believed that the war would be quick, easy, and painless.  One such example of this early confidence can found in pictorial envelopes.  These images were produced by New York City print shops and often contain some type of cartoon image expressing patriotism or political opinion.  The U.S. Navy and the print shops' confidence in the the U.S. Navy was a popular subject.  All of these images belong to the New York Historical Society. Many  more of them and other rare Civil War images and drawings can be found at  http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpcoop/nhihtml/cwnyhshome.html.

Sketches of the USS Brooklyn, 18 May 1861

The images below were sketched by an Engineer Officer onboard the sloop-of-war USS Brooklyn on its way to aid the reinforcement of Fort Pickens in Pensecola, FL.  The crew of the Brooklyn helped to stem several advances of the Confederates to take the position during its mission there.  She would later fail to capture the infamous commerce raider CSS Sumter in the Gulf of Mexico in June.  The images appeared in the 18 May 1861 issue of Harper's Weekly. 

THE APARTMENT ON THE BERTH DECK OF THE "BROOKLYN" IN WHICH OUR ARTIST RESIDES.



DISEMBARKING THE TROOPS FROM THE U. S, SHIP "BROOKLYN" TO REINFORCE FORT PICKENS, APRIL 13, 1861, [SKETCHED BY AN ENGINEER OFFICER ON BOARD.]