d by marline to eyebolts protected with one-inch boards. This
natural precaution was the foundation for Captain Semmes' charge that
the _Kearsarge_ was partly armored. During the fight this part of the
ship was hit only twice, so that the protection, if it be considered
such, bore an unimportant part in the battle itself.

Captain Winslow was determined that no question about neutral waters
should be raised. Accordingly, as the _Alabama_ approached, he steamed
out to sea, as if running away from his antagonist. Another object he
had in mind was to prevent the _Alabama_, in case she was crippled, from
escaping by running into the harbor.

When the _Kearsarge_ had reached a point some seven miles from land, she
swung around and made directly for the _Alabama_, although such a course
exposed her to the raking broadsides of the enemy. Reading his purpose,
Semmes slowed his engines and sheered off, thus presenting his starboard
battery to the _Kearsarge_. When the vessels were about a mile apart,
the jets of fire and smoke from the side of the _Alabama_, followed by
the reverberating boom of her cannon, showed that she had fired her
first broadside. It did only trifling damage to the rigging of the
_Kearsarge_. A second and part of a third broadside were delivered, with
no perceptible effect. All the time, under a full head of steam, Winslow
was rushing toward his enemy for the death grapple. Still in peril of
being raked, he now sheered when half a mile distant and fired his
broadside of five-second shells, at the same time endeavoring to pass
under the _Alabama's_ stern, but Semmes defeated the manoeuvre by also
sheering his vessel. The effort of each was now to keep his starboard
broadside presented to the other, the attempt causing the two ships to
describe an immense circle, the diameter of which steadily decreased,
until it was barely a third of a mile.

Ten minutes after the opening of the battle the spanker gaff of the
_Alabama_ and the ensign were brought down by the fire of the
_Kearsarge_, whose crew burst into cheers, but the Confederates quickly
hoisted the colors to their mizzen. When the two ships were within a
third of a mile of each other the fire became terrible; but from the
first that of the _Kearsarge_ was more accurate and did vast damage.
This was impressively shown by the fact that although the _Kearsarge_
fired only 173 shots during the fight, nearly every one struck the
_Alabama_, which fired 370,