e cruisers were still roaming the ocean and creating
immense havoc among the Union shipping. Despite our protests to England,
she helped to man these vessels, and laid up a fine bill for damages
which she was compelled to pay after the close of the war.

THE CONFEDERATE CRUISERS.

During the year 1864, several new cruisers appeared on the ocean, one of
which, the _Tallahassee_, boldly steamed up and down off our northern
coast, and, in the space of ten days, destroyed thirty-three vessels.
The most famous of all these cruisers was the _Alabama_, which was built
at Birkenhead, England, and launched May 15, 1862. She was a bark-rigged
propeller of 1,016 tons register, with a length over all of 220 feet.
Her two horizontal engines were of 300 horse-power each. When
completed, she was sent on a pretended trial trip. At the Azores she
received her war material from a waiting transport, while her commander,
Captain Raphael Semmes, and his officers, who had gone thither on a
British steamer, went aboard. The _Alabama_ carried 8 guns and a crew of
149 men, most of whom were Englishmen. Thus fairly launched, she started
on her career of destruction, which continued uninterruptedly for
twenty-two months.

DESTRUCTION OF THE ALABAMA.

One of the many United States vessels that was engaged in a hunt for the
_Alabama_ was the _Kearsarge_, Captain John Ancrum Winslow. She was of
1,030 tons, carried 7 guns, and had a crew of 163 men, nearly all of
whom were Americans. On Sunday, July 12, 1864, while lying off the town
of Flushing, Holland, Captain Winslow received a dispatch from Minister
W.L. Dayton, at Paris, notifying him that the _Alabama_ had arrived at
Cherbourg, France. Winslow lost no time in steaming thither, and reached
Cherbourg on Tuesday, where he saw the cruiser across the breakwater
with the Confederate flag defiantly flying.

Winslow did not dare enter the harbor, for, had he done so, he would
have been obliged, according to international law, to remain twenty-four
hours after the departure of the _Alabama_, which would thereby gain all
the opportunity she needed for escape. He, therefore, took station off
the port, intending to wait until the cruiser came out.

This precaution, however, was unnecessary, for Semmes, grown bold by his
long career of destroying unarmed merchantmen, had resolved to offer the
_Kearsarge_ battle. He sent a challenge to Captain Winslow, couched in
insulting language, and the Union