FIRST BATTLE OF THE CONFEDERATE RAM “ALBEMARLE.”

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gunners who had been trained on board the Excel-lent in Portsmouth harbor. The Blakely rifle wasthe most effective gun. The Alabama foughtbravely until she could no longer fight or float.

The contest was decided by the superiority ofthe 11-inch Dahlgrens, especially the after-pivot,together with the coolness and accuracy of aimof the gunners of the Kearsarge, and notably bythe skill of William Smith, the captain of theafter-pivot, who in style and behavior was likeLong Tom Coffin in Cooper’s “ Pilot.”

To the disparagement of Captain Winslow it hasbeen said that Lieutenant-Commander Thorntoncommanded the ship during the action. This is nottrue. Captain Winslow, standing on the horse-block abreast the mizzen-mast, fought his ship gal-lantly and, as is shown by the result, with excellentj udgment. In an official report he wrote :

“ It would seem almost invidious to particularize theconduct of any one man or officer, in which all had donetheir duty with a fortitude and coolness which cannot betoo highly praised, but I feel it due to my executive of-ficer, Lieutenant-Commander Thornton, who superin-

Note.— Twelve Confederate cruisers figured in the so-called “Alabama Claims ” settlement with England.Named in the order of the damage inflicted by each,these cruisers were: the Alabama, Shenandoah, Florida ,Tallahassee, Georgia, Chiekamauga, Sumter, Nashville ,Retribution, Jeff. Davis, Sallie, and Boston . The actuallosses inflicted by the Alabama ($7,050,293.76, accordingto claims for ships and cargoes filed up to March 15th,1872) were only about $400,000 great er than those inflictedby the Shenandoah. The sum total of the claims filedagainst the twelve cruisers for ships and cargoes, upto March 15th, 1872, was $19,782,917.60, all but about sixmillions of it being charged to the account of the Ala-bama and Shenandoah.

On May 8th, 1871, the Treaty of Washington was con-cluded, in accordance with which a Tribunal of Arbitra-tion was appointed, which assembled at Geneva. It con-sisted of Count Frederick Sclopis, named by the King ofItaly; Mr. Jacob Staempfli, named by the President of

tended the working of the battery, to particularly men-tion him for an example of coolness and encouragementof the men while fighting which contributed muchtoward the success of the action.”

This Sunday naval duel was fought in the pres-ence of more than 15,000 spectators, who, uponthe heights of Cherbourg, the breakwater, and rig-ging of men-of-war, witnessed “the last of the Ala-bama .” Among them were the captains, theirfamilies, and crews of two merchant ships burntby the daring cruiser a few days before her arrivalat Cherbourg, where they were landed in a nearlydestitute condition. Many spectators were pro-vided with spy-glasses and camp-stools. TheAear-sarge wa.s burning Newcastle coals, and the Ala-bama Welsh coals, the difference in the amount ofsmoke enabling the movements of each ship to bedistinctly traced. An excursion train from Paris arrived in the morning, bringing hundreds of pleas-ure-seekers, who were unexpectedly favored withthe spectacle of a sea-fight. A French gentlemanat Boulogne-sur-Mer assured me that the fight wasthe conversation of Paris for more than a week.

tlie Swiss Confederation ; Viscount d’ltajuba, named bythe Emperor of Brazil; Mr. Charles Francis Adams ,named by the President of the United States; and SirAlexander Cockburn, named by the Queen of GreatBritain. The Counsel of Great Britain was Sir KoundellPalmer (afterward Lord Selborne). The United States was represented by William M. Evarts, Caleb Cushing ,and Morrison B. Waite. Claims were made by the UnitedStates for indirect and national losses, as well as forthe actual private losses represented by nearly twentymillions on ships and cargoes.

The Tribunal decided that England was in no wayresponsible for the $1,781,915.43 of losses inflicted by theTallahassee, Georgia, Chiekamauga, Nashville , Retribu-tion, Jeff. Davis, Sallie, Boston , and Sumter; and on Sep-tember 14th, 1872, it awarded $15,500,000 damages foractual losses of ships and cargoes and interest, on ac-count of the Alabama, the Florida and her tenders, andthe Shenandoah after she left Melbourne.—E ditors.

THE FIRST BATTLE OF THE CONFEDERATE RAM “ALBEMARLE.”

BT HER BUILDER, GILBERT ELLIOTT.

I N the spring of 1864 it was decided at Con-federate headquarters that an attempt shouldbe made to recapture Plymouth. General Hokewas placed in command of the land forces, andCaptain J. W. Cooke received orders to cooperatewith the Albemarle, an iron-clad then nearly finished.

A For an account of the capture of New Berne andPlymouth, North Carolina , by the Union forces, see Vol.I-, pp. 647-659. The Confederates made three attemptsto recapture New Berne . On March 14th, 1863, GeneralD. II. Hill sent General J. J. Pettigrew with infantryand seventeen guns to attack Fort Anderson, an earth-work on the Neuse opposite the town, and garrisonedby 300 men of the 92d New York . After a bombardmentof several hours Pettigre w withdrew and Hill abandonedthe project. During the action the gun-boats Hetzeland Hunchback opened upon the Confederate batteries,drove the enemy from the field, and covered the land-ing of the 85th New York , in aid of the garrison. OnJanuary 30th, 1864, an expedition, under General GeorgeE. Pickett, set out from Kinston, North Carolina , to cap-ture New Berne , the defenses of which were garrisonedby 3000 men under General I. N. Palmer. A flotilla, com-posed of the steamers Lockwood, Commodore Hull, and

Accordingly Hoke’s division proceeded to the vicin-ity of Plymouth and surrounded the town from theriver above to the river below, and preparation wasmade to storm the forts and breastworks as soon asthe Albemarle could clear the river front of the Fed-eral war vessels protecting the place with their guns.

Underwriter, under Acting Volunteer Lieutenant G.W. Graves, was stationed in the Neuse and the Trent.General Pickett ’s force consisted of three brigades of in-fantry, 14 guns, and 600 cavalry, in all numbering about4500 men, and a fleet of ten row-boats, manned by 300'men armed with rifles and cutlasses, under ColonelJohn Taylor Wood. On the night of February 1st Wood ’sforce boarded the Underwriter as she lay at anchor inthe Neuse under the guns of Fort, Stevenson, killingher commander, Acting Master Jacob Westervelt, andthree of the crew, and capturing a third of the remain-der. Finding the boilers of the Underwriter cold,Colonel Wood set fire to the vessel. After some skir-mishing General Pickett abandoned the enterprise onthe 3d. On May 5th, 1864, a third demonstration wasmade against New Berne , but the Confederates retiredwithout having accomplished any results of impor-tance.— Editors.