In describing the last legs of that journey he depicts a land wrecked and demoralized by war, with the enemy’s navy operating with general impunity. He wasn’t on the scene when the immortal phrase “damn the torpedos” was coined on Mobile Bay.A native of Maryland, Semmes had more than 30 years’ service in the U.S. Navy when the Civil War began. After further difficulties the pitiful train rolled out. After a long voyage the ship desperately needed repairs, but with the Confederacy’s fortunes in decline it was unlikely ever to get them. He died in 1877. In February 1865 he took charge of the Naval defenses of Richmond, Va., an assignment that ended with him burning his own fleet as Confederate forces withdrew and the city fell.His account of fleeing the city is a poignant picture of the ruin of war, as he and his Navy men commandeered the last train out of the city:Semmes’ Navy steamship engineers got the train working, boarded it, and then he allowed some civilians to re-board. Description of photo: Captain Raphael Semmes, Alabama's commanding officer, standing by his ship's 110-pounder rifled gun during her visit to Capetown in August 1863.
Though the venture faltered and the community remained unincorporated for a century, it’s now the growing city of Semmes.At the unveiling, Mrs. E.B. Of his orders to mount a rapid evacuation of forces from Richmond as the Confederacy’s final fortunes crumbled, the admiral wrote that “I had become used to emergencies, and was not dismayed.”Perhaps he’d simply be glad for his likeness to stand somewhere where it’s less likely to be festooned with Mardi Gras beads.Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission.Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our © 2020 Advance Local Media LLC. Vaughan said the effort to raise funds for the statue had taken three years, thanks to disruptions such as the Spanish-American War. He also used the occasion to argue at length that slavery had not been the root cause of the conflict, though it was “possibly one of the fuses to the magazine.”Press-Register archives suggest the statue has been moved more than once, though never very far. As captain of the CSS Sumter and the better-known CSS Alabama, Semmes … )In 2003, preservationists restoring a cannon recovered from the CSS Alabama found the remains of a crewman encrusted against the iron. Given that the monument stood just off Mobile’s main parade route, it hasn’t been unusual to see the admiral wearing a few strands of beads during the season.A subtle sign of the times came in recent years when the nearby Radisson Admiral Semmes Hotel underwent a renovation and its name was changed to “The Admiral” in a quiet move that drew little public notice.Semmes’ remarkable voyage doubtless will remain of interest to some whatever happens next. If he determined he was looking at contraband supporting the enemy’s war effort, he confiscated or destroyed it, and the same for the vessel.While the Alabama and a couple of similar ships could hardly stop international trade, they could scare shippers, drive up insurance rates and make the U.S. Navy scatter resources around the world in pursuit. Nor was he known for violent clashes with U.S. Navy warships: In fact, he generally had orders to avoid head-to-head battles. “Alongside the black savage marched the white savage -- worthy compeers! Some in the crowd toppled a bronze statue of city industrialist Charles Linn, who served in the Confederate Navy, but they were unable to budge the huge stone obelisk of the large Confederate monument.