Raphael Semmes

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Raphael Semmes Much has been written about Raphael Semmes, some of it controversial to say the least; but Semmes was without doubt one of the Confederate Navy's most brilliant and charismatic officers during the American Civil War where he ended his career as Rear Admiral of the Navy.  Raphael Semmes was born in 1809 to Maryland tobacco farmer, Richard Thompson Semmes and his wife, Catherine Middleton. Catherine was the daughter of South Carolina lawyer and planter Arthur Middleton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. She died when young Raphael was two years of age and his father died when he was ten. He was taken in and cared for by two uncles, living most of the time at his Uncle Raphael's Georgetown home. As a young man, Uncle Raphael had sailed to many ports around the world, working for a maritime trading company. Settling down in Georgetown, he became a successful businessman, operating a wholesale grocery business, Semmes and Company. In addition, he was a bank director, an insurance commissioner and a tavern-keeper. Uncle Alexander Semmes on the other hand, owned a fleet of merchant ships but was lost at sea sometime in 1826 or 1827. Another uncle, Benedict Joseph Semmes, was a medical doctor who served in the Maryland state legislature and in 1825 presided as speaker in the House of Delegates. In 1828, he was elected to the U.S. Congress and served from 1829 to 1833. It was he who enabled the young Raphael to gain an appointment as a midshipman in the Navy. During his naval career, Raphael Semmes would study law and became an accomplished lawyer in the states of Alabama and Florida, where he spent much of his service. Despite being an accomplished lawyer, he proved himself to be an extremely capable, naval officer and recognition of his abilities was quick in coming when assigned command of the USS Somers during the US-Mexican War of the 1840's. When a storm sank his ship in December of 1846 off the coast of Veracruz, Mexico, Semmes himself requested a court of enquiry, no doubt to attest to the good discipline and running of his command? It is interesting to note the sometime coments of Commodore O'Connor remarking on the 'Somer' under Semmes command to effect - 'the Somer was always in position, sails trimmed and dilligent...' The enquiry judged Semmes to have conducted himself gallantly and found no actions of his led to the loss of the vessel. It was also revealed, that during the sinking of the USS Somers (Photo), Semmes had taken great personal risks on several occasions to save numerous crew members. This would not be the last time false charges would threaten his career. As a result of his gallantry in Mexico, Semmes was appointed a surveyor for the US Lighthouse Board. He worked in that capacity along the Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida coasts with the naval rank of Commander until the late 1850's when he was sent to Washington, DC as a member of the Lighthouse Board. He would hold this position until the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861. In March 1861, the State of Alabama decided to leave the Union and join the new Confederate States. Commander Semmes, finding himself torn between career and duty, decided to follow many of his colleagues and resigned his position in the United States Navy, returning immediately south to Alabama. A month later, in April of 1861, Semmes travelled to New Orleans and joined the Confederate Navy with the appointed rank of Commander. Whilst in New Orleans, ‘Commander Semmes’ purchased a steamer for the Confederate Navy and had it refitted at the Confederate Naval Arsenal in New Orleans, converting the merchant vessel with bark-rigged sails and 473 tons displacement. He installed additional coal carrying capacity and five large cannon. in New Orleans. Renamed the CSS Sumter and under Semmes’ command, between June of 1861 and January of the following year the Sumter captured or sank eighteen US merchant ships until Semmes found himself and his ship trapped by a US Navy blockade at Gibraltar. With the Sumter in need of serious repairs and the likelihood of a long blockade keeping his ship and crew in port for an indefinate period, Semmes and his fellow officers (Photo) decided to abandon their vessel and travel seperately to Great Britain. Arriving in England and now without a command, Commander Semmes proceeded to Liverpool and met with a fellow, former US Naval officer, Commander James Dunwoody Bulloch, now the Confederate’s Navy Purchasing Agent in Europe. Bulloch already knew of Semmes’ prowess and maritime experience and requested that he travel to the Azores to ‘commission’ and take command of the Confederate’s newest cruiser, the CSS Alabama with a promotion to the rank of Captain. As the new commander of the CSS Alabama took his ship to sea few realized, the twenty two month voyage that followed would see Raphael Semmes hailed as a hero and damned as a pirate. In August 1862, Captain Semmes (Photo) sailed the Alabama on her epic voyage that would see them cross the Atlantic more than twice and take Semmes and his crewmen as far as the East Indies. In the course of the career of the CSS Alabama, Semmes captured or destroyed more than fifty US merchant ships, securing both ship and captain as one of the most successful, commerce raiders in the history of naval warfare. Semmes captained the CSS Alabama until her final encounter and fateful sinking at the hands of the USS Kearsarge on June 19, 1864. Following that battle Captain Semmes and most of his crew were rescued by the British yacht SS Deerhound and transported safely to England. Once again Semmes was without a ship to command. With the tide of war changing and no further ships being built in Europe, Captain Semmes boarded the first vessel he could find that was destined for the Confederate States. Successfully running the US Navy's blockade, Captain Semmes finally arrived home to a hero's welcome. In the span of three years he had stolen the hearts of the South, won the fear and respect of the seafaring nations of the world and inflicted over $6,000,000 in losses to Federal shipping. On the recommendation of Stephen Mallory, Secretary of the Navy, Confederate President Jefferson Davis promoted Raphael Semmes to the rank of Rear Admiral (Photo). In February of 1865, Rear Admiral Semmes was given command of the James River Squadron and the responsibility of defending the approaches to the Confederate positions at Richmond in Virginia. Despite shortages of supplies, Semmes once more excelled in his given tasks but these successes were to be short-lived. In April of 1865 the Confederate Army was forced to abandon Richmond compelling Semmes to scuttle his fleet and prevent it falling into the hands of the enemy. Then, in command of a force without any ships, Semmes organized the former crews and marines into a naval brigade to fight alongside the battered Army of Northern Virginia in which he received the rank of Brigadier General. The end of the war came later that month and found Semmes and his remaining command near Durham, North Carolina where they surrendered alongside the army of Confederate General, Joseph E. Johnston. In December of 1865, Raphael Semmes was brought as a prisoner of war to Washington, D. C. on charges of treason and piracy. The US Government investigated these charges, taking testimonial oaths and statements from witnesses to Semmes actions from both sides of the conflict. In the end, the investigating authority found they were baseless and ordered Semmes’ immediate release after thirteen weeks of incarceration. Following the war, Semmes held several posts from college professor at Louisiana State Seminary to judge and newspaper editor. Such was his reputation his notoriety caused him trouble from those now occupying the former Confederate States. His destruction of the mercantile marine during his captaincy of the Sumter and Alabama embittered northern public opinion against him that. The unjust and false accusation of ‘Pirate’ was often used against him, even after his eventual pardon under the amnesty proclamation of President Johnson.  It became impossible to lead the quiet life he craved so he once more took up the legal profession as a self-employed lawyer in Mobile, Alabama. Here he thrived, immersing himself in legal argument and helping other former Confederate soldiers and sailors whilst running a successful law firm until his death on August 30, 1877. During his later years he became a published author with ‘Service Afloat and Ashore During the Mexican War’ (1851); ‘The Campaign of General Scott in the Valley of Mexico’ (1852); ‘The Cruise of the Alabama and Sumter’ (1864); and ‘Memoirs of Services Afloat during the War between the States’ (1869). The body of Raphael Semmes is interred in the Old Catholic Cemetery, Mobile in Alabama. The enduring legacy of Rear Admiral Raphael Semmes is that his actions of the American Civil War are still studied around the world to this present day. Several books have been written about his exploits. The many voyages he undertook as a Confederate naval officer and the successes he enjoyed, have directly influenced naval warfare. During the early part of World War Two, Captain Hans Langsdorff of the Graf Spee, a German pocket battleship and successful commerce raider, spoke of Semmes during his final days in Montevideo saying, ‘Captain Semmes of the Confederate ship Alabama was and remains my inspiration!’