THE BOAT FROM TIIE “ALABAMA ” ANNOUNCING THE SURRENDERAND ASKING FOR ASSISTANCE.
Tlie picture shows shot-marks in the thin deal covering of the chain armor amidships.
eitlier side of him com-plained, he reprovedhim, saying, “Am I not■worse hurt than you?and I am satisfied, for weare whipping the Ala-bama .” Directly afterthe enemy’s woundedwere brought on boardlie desired the surgeonto give him no furtherattention, for he was“doing well,” request-ing that all aid be givento “ the poor fellows ofthe Alabama .” In thehospital he was patientand resigned, and happyin speaking of the vic-tory. “This man, sovery interesting by hiscourage and resigna-tion,” wrote the French surgeon-in-chief, “re-ceived general sympa-thy ; all desired hisrecovery and lamentedhis death.” At a dinnergiven by loyal Ameri-cans in Paris to CaptainWinslow and two of hisofficers, a telegram wasreceived announcing thedeath of Gouin. Hisname was honorablymentioned, his behavioreulogized, and his mem-ory drunk in silence.
At 3 :10 P. M. the Kearsarge anchored in Cher-bourg harbor close by the ship-of-war Napoleon , andwas soon surrounded by boats of every descriptionfilled with excited and inquisitive people. Am-bulances, by order of the French admiral, weresent to the landing to receive the wounded, andthence they were taken to the Hfipital de la Marine,where arrangements had been made for their re-ception. Dr. Galt and all the prisoners except fourofficers were paroled and sent on shore before sun-set. Secretary Welles soon after expressed his dis-approbation of this action.
An incident that occasioned gratification wasthe coincidence of the lowering of the enemy’scolors by an early shot from the Kearsarge, alreadymentioned, and the unfolding of the victorious flagby a shot from the Alabama . The Kearsarge’s col-ors were “ stopped’ r at the mizzen, that theymightbe displayed if the ensign were carried away, andto serve as the emblem of victory in ease of success.A shot from the last broadside of the Alabama passed high over the Kearsarge, carried away thehalyards of the colors, stopped at the mizzen, andin so doing pulled sufficiently to break the stop,and thereby unfurled the triumphant flag.
The Kearsarge received twenty-eight shot andshell, of which thirteen were in the hull, the mostefficient being abaft the mainmast. A 100-pounder
rifle shell entered at the starboard quarter andlodged in the stern-post. The blow shook the shipfrom stem to stern. Luckily the shell did not ex-plode, otherwise the result would have been serious,if not fatal. A 32-pounder shell entered forwardof the forward pivot port, crushing the waterways,raising the gun and carriage, and lodged, but didnot explode, else many of the gun’s crew wouldlikely have been injured by the fragments andsplinters. The smoke-pipe was perforated by arifle shell, which exploded inside and tore a raggedhole nearly three feet in diameter, and carriedaway three of the chain guys. Three boats wereshattered. The cutting away of the rigging wasmostly about the mainmast. The spars were leftin good order. A large number of pieces of burstshell were gathered from the deck and thought-lessly thrown overboard. During the anchorage inCherbourg harbor no assistance was received fromshore except that rendered by a boiler-maker inpatching up the smoke-stack, every other repairbeing made by our own men.
Captain Semmes in his official report says :
“ At the end of the engagement it was discovered, bythose of our officers who went alongside the enemy’s shipwith the wounded, that her midship section on bothsides was thoroughly iron-coated. The planking hadbeen ripped off in every direction by our shot and shell,