A shell from the Alabama lodged in the USS Kearsarge's sternpost during epic duel. It failed to explode and cripple the ship. You can see artifact at a Navy museum

Sinking of Alabama, Kearsarge sternpost, Capt. Ralphael Semmes (NHHC)

For about an hour on June 19, 1864, artillery crews on the USS Kearsarge and commerce raider CSS Alabama plugged away at each other, their shells flying wide or impacting just about every conceivable spot on their opponent’s vessel.

The Union warship, protected by heavy chains, had an advantage in the epic duel off Cherbourg, France -- one that was not of its own making: The Rebel ordnance was old and at times unreliable, meaning a shell might not explode. Still, the Alabama brought its fierce reputation to the fight, having captured or burned dozens of vessels on the high seas.

About 30 minutes in, a shell struck the vital sternpost of the USS Kearsarge (photo of encased artifact in 1980, NHHC). It should have been game, set, match in favor of Capt. Raphael Semmes and his sailors. Instead, the round was mostly a dud, failing to explode. The fighting continued and before long, it was game, set and match for the Federals, who sent the CSS Alabama to the bottom.

Today, the shattered sternpost and the intact artillery shell are on display in the “Securing the Seas for Union Victory” exhibit at the National Museum of the U.S. Navy in Washington, D.C. Visitors currently can see the items from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays.

I turned to Andy Hall, an author, blogger and Civil War naval expert, to explain the importance of a ship’s sternpost, which is a component at the rear (stern).

“It generally consists of a vertical (more or less), heavy component of timber, iron, or steel. It needs to be especially strong because it is the principal structural component to which many other parts of the stern are attached,” Hall wrote in an email. “Usually, the sternpost is also the attachment point for the rudder that swings left and right to steer the ship as it moves through the water.”

Example of sternpost on CSS Jackson at National Civil War Naval Museum (Picket photo)

"Damage to the sternpost is especially serious, because it is one of the critical elements that gives strength to the hull of the vessel.”

While the speedy Alabama’s shot on the Kearsarge sternpost did impede operations, the crew was able to steer with extra hands at the helm, according to an Encyclopedia of Alabama article.

Hall says if the shell had exploded, it likely would have ended the battle immediately and quite possibly led to the sinking of the Kearsarge, which was commanded by Capt. John Winslow. He theorizes the ordnance hit the Kearsarge around its waterline.

The red box at left shows the location of the Kearsarge's sternpost; click to enlarge

Semmes wrote in his memoir of his bad luck with the 56-pound shell’s percussion cap.

"I lodged a rifled percussion shell near her stern post – where there were no chains -- which failed to explode because of the defect of the cap. If the cap had performed its duty, and exploded the shell, I should have been called upon to save Captain Winslow’s crew from drowning, instead of his being called upon to save mine. On so slight an incident the defect of a percussion cap did the battle hinge.”

Semmes crowed that the sternpost was the only Alabama trophy taken. While that may have been true in 1864, the Naval History and Heritage Command and a team of experts recovered artifacts – including the Alabama’s bell -- from the site in 2002. Semmes was rescued by a British vessel.

Hall, writer of the Dead Confederates blog and author of "Civil War Blockade Running on the Texas Coast," summarized the importance of the duel last year when Case Auctions sold items pertaining to Winslow and the Kearsarge. Among the items sold was a picture frame made from pieces of the sternpost (right, Case Auctions)

“It’s hard for most Americans to appreciate now how momentous this battle was viewed at the time,” Hall told the Picket. “Alabama had roamed the globe unmolested for almost two years, destroying American merchant shipping at will. Dozens of civilian ships were seized or destroyed by Capt. Semmes, causing insurance rates to skyrocket and wreaking financial havoc on ships and ports never within a thousand miles of the Confederate raider.”

While a formidable captain, Winslow thanked “the mercy of God” for his vessel’s fortune.

Legend held that the post was sent upon request to President Abraham Lincoln, but Grant Walker, a curator for the U.S. Naval Academy Museum in Annapolis, Md., said he has been unable to find any mention of Lincoln associated with the sternpost.

“The earliest correspondence we have concerns its transfer in 1924 from the Bureau of Ordnance Museum to the Naval Academy Museum,” says Walker. “It was part of a large transfer of ordnance from Washington to Annapolis that took place in July 1924. I could find no records re: how, when, and from whom the Bureau of Ordnance acquired it.”

One of the documents relating to the sternpost lists it as being among "trophies" kept at the Washington Navy Yard.

Various documents listing Kearsarge sternpost; click to enlarge (U.S. Naval Academy Museum)

Tracie Logan, senior curator at the USNA Museum, said the sternpost has been on loan from the academy to the National Museum of the U.S. Navy for decades.

The National Museum is undergoing an extensive renovation and movement of artifacts, so while the sternpost is still on display and the “Securing the Seas” exhibit exists, access to Building 76 is limited to Saturdays only.

Most of the objects from Alabama that were considered underwater archaeological recovery pieces have been removed from display, says Wesley Schwenk, registrar for the museum in Washington. They are retained in storage for preservation purposes. 

Capt. John Winslow, front right, with Kearsarge crew

Schwenk is involved with an exciting acquisition pertaining to orderly Sgt. Charles T. Young, a Marine who served on two other vessels and the Kearsarge during the Civil War. A native of Massachusetts, Young spent 16 years at sea before being assigned to the Kearsarge.

“Described by his fellow sailors as a garrulous sailor, he kept the crew entertained with his humorous and fantastical tales of past voyages when all other forms of amusement no longer brought pleasure to the rest of the crew,” says Schwenk. “Upon the ship's famed meeting with CSS Alabama at the Battle of Cherbourg on 19 June 1864, he and other Marines of the crew provided cover and assault fire from the ship’s topgallant forecastle.”

For his bravery and protection of his fellow crew members, the Marine Corps commended Young, says the registrar. (Seventeen members of the crew received the Medal of Honor for their valor during the battle with Alabama.) Young was in his mid-50s, an old man by the standard of the armed forces.

Schwenk says the museum received two diaries, not yet transcribed, a cudgel (it is unknown whether Young actually carried it aboard), discharge papers, a service record, letters and a muster roll. There is no known photograph of Young.

Broadside, with detail below, includes Young's name at top right, click to enlarge (George Costopulos Auctioneers)

A 2014 auction of items that belonged to Kearsarge Pvt. John J. McAleer included a fascinating hand-inscribed and decorated broadside listing the officers and crew of the famous warship. Young is listed among three Marine guards.

A Boston Journal newspaper article posted on Findagrave.com indicates Young died in 1872, age 62, in Portsmouth, N.H. He is reportedly buried at Walnut Street Cemetery in Brookline, near his native Boston. I asked Lisa Golden with the city for a photograph of his grave, but she has been unsuccessful thus far in locating it or obtaining more information about Young.

The naval clash between Kearsarge and Alabama is the stuff of history books. The victor's prized souvenirs recently went to auction

35-star flag, ship's log and Capt. WInslow and crew (Case Auctions)

The ship’s log and 35-star flag of the USS Kearsarge -- which sank the Confederate commerce raider Alabama in an epic duel off Cherbourg, France -- and associated items have been sold at auction for more than $60,000, including buyer’s premium.

The Case Auctions sale last weekend in Knoxville, Tenn., featured items that belonged to Capt. John Winslow, hero of the June 19, 1864, battle. History, however, has more remembered his foe, Capt. Raphael Semmes.

“It’s hard for most Americans to appreciate now how momentous this battle was viewed at the time,” said Civil War blogger and author Andy Hall. “Alabama had roamed the globe unmolested for almost two years, destroying American merchant shipping at will. Dozens of civilian ships were seized or destroyed by Capt. Semmes, causing insurance rates to skyrocket and wreaking financial havoc on ships and ports never within a thousand miles of the Confederate raider.”

Winslow and Semmes, who were friends, clashed off Cherbourg (Library of Congress)

Before squaring off with the USS Kearsarge, Semmes and his crew had battled a U.S. warship only once, sending the USS Hatteras to the bottom off Galveston, Texas, in January 1863.

The auctioned items came from the collection of a Tennessee descendant of Winslow. 

“Although there are many surviving artifacts of the naval war that survive today, there are relatively few that can match the ones sold in this auction for their proven, central link to momentous historical events and persons. It’s an amazing collection of pieces,” says Hall.

Here’s a closer look at the items, with the sales price including the premium.

SHIP’S LOG ($19,520)

The Alabama was in Cherbourg for repairs and resupply when Winslow learned of its location.

(Case Auctions)

The log entry on June 14, 1864 reads: "Steering in for Cherbourg Breakwater. Stopped the engines off the eastern entrance and sent a boat ashore to communicate with the Am. Consul. Found the rebel privateer ‘Alabama’ lying at anchor in the Roads." 

Semmes several days later sailed from port and the two warships soon engaged, circling each other for nearly an hour and a half. The USS Kearsarge had outer chains effective in limiting damage from the Alabama’s shells, which were of dubious quality.

Several rounds failed to explode, including a shell that lodged in the sternpost of Kearsarge and almost certainly would have been fatal had it detonated,” writes Navy historian Craig Symonds for the American Battlefield Trust. “Instead, it was Alabama that took several hits and began taking on water. Semmes fought her until she sank, then -- defiant to the last -- threw his sword into the sea and swam to the safety of a nearby British yacht that had come out to watch the excitement.”

Raphael Semmes served the Confederacy again after the battle.

Hall, writer of the Dead Confederates blog and author of “Civil War Blockade Running on the Texas Coast,” calls the log “fantastic. It’s a perfect example of the way official reports were written, presenting the barest necessary facts without comment or editorializing.

“[Winslow’s] note that ‘The English Yacht steamed rapidly away to the Nd [northward] without reporting the number of our prisoners she picked up’ is a classic cold understatement. Winslow and his officers were undoubtedly furious when they learned that the yacht’s waterlogged passengers included Alabama’s commander, Raphael Semmes, and several of his officers, who within hours would be greeted as heroes after landing in Southampton.”

35-STAR U.S. FLAG AND COMMENDATION ($17,080)

A report for Case Auctions says this banner is made of imported British wool bunting. It measures 40 ½ inches on the hoist by 79 ½ inches on the fly.

The USS Kearsarge carried several flags that day, including this ensign, according to a report for Case Auctions by flag expert Greg Biggs.

“This is an exceptionally rare piece and, although it had some efforts at restoration done decades ago, remains in stunning, mostly unaltered condition,” says Hall. Interestingly, this flag was expected to have the highest sale in the lot, but the captain's log went for more.

WINSLOW’s 13-STAR FLAG ($7,680)

The auction house says this banner in the Winslow family collection was likely carried on the USS Kearsarge in the battle, but it is not known for sure. The reported size is 36 inches by 70 inches.

(Case Auctions)

“The flag is used, worn, soiled, and visibly dehydrated,” an accompanying report says. “It exhibits some fabric loss, the majority of which is in the hoist half of the flag with most of it in the lower hoist corner.” Consulting  James J. Ferrigan recommends a vigorous conservation treatment.

“It is not known when this boat flag was framed, but its similarity the frame of another 35-star U.S. flag from the USS Kearsarge makes it highly likely that both Winslow family flags were from the Kearsarge,” writes Ferrigan.

DOLLAND MARITIME TELESCOPE ($4,636)

Case Auctions said the telescope/spyglass likely was used in the fight with the Alabama. The lot includes a tripod and box. The functionality of the lenses was not guaranteed.

“English-made Dollond telescopes were prized for their optical quality and depended upon by some of the world's most important historical figures. George Washington's Dolland telescope, essential to his tactical decisions during the American Revolution, is in the Smithsonian Museum of American History in Washington, DC, and a Dolland telescope owned by Thomas Jefferson is at Monticello.”

USS KEARSARGE WOOD RELIC FRAME AND PAINTING ($4,636)

This is probably the most unusual item in the Winslow collection to be sold earlier this month.

The picture frame for the marine painting was made from four pieces of the ship’s sternpost where a shell from the Alabama lodged.

"Although we received some twenty-five or thirty shots, twelve or thirteen taking effect in the hull, by the mercy of God we have been spared… the only shot which I fear will give us any trouble is one 100-pound rifle, which entered our stern post and remains at present unexploded,” Winslow wrote.

The ordnance round was removed from the post and sent upon request to President Abraham Lincoln. It is currently housed in a museum in Washington, D.C.

The painting appears to be based on a photograph of USS Kearsarge taken by John A. Whipple.

PRESENTATION SILVER TEA SET ($6,144)

Winslow became a hero following the battle, was promoted to commodore and received the Thanks of Congress after for the victory over Alabama. He received many honors before his 1873 death.

(Case Auctions)

The citizens of Roxbury, Mass., presented this tea set to Winslow on Nov. 22, 1864. It is described as being in overall excellent condition.

GORHAM STERLING SILVER CENTERPIECE($4,096)

The body is engraved on one side with Winslow’s monogram and "1864."

(Case Auctions)

The American Classical Revival centerpiece “features an oval gilt-washed bowl centered on each side by masks, with dart banding at edges and stylized anthemion handles terminating in rosettes, and is supported on a trumpet-shaped pedestal flanked by two figural cherub caryatids holding floral swags, atop a plinth base.”

USS Kearsarge was recommissioned several times after the Civil War but wrecked in 1894 on a reef in the Caribbean sea. Several items were recovered, including the ship's Bible.