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.

John H. Simpson, teen survivor of Sultana explosion, kept the memory alive to his dying day. A monument to men on the vessel is near his grave in Knoxville church cemetery

John H. Simpson (photos courtesy of Gene Salecker)

In both photographs – taken about 60 years apart – John Harrison Simpson’s gaze is steadfast, projecting confidence and resolve.

The image taken after the Tennessee boy joined the Union army at age 15 or 16 shows him gripping a revolver -- perhaps a photographer’s prop – that is wider than his torso. He wants the viewer to know he is ready for the battle.

In the later photograph, Simpson’s face is framed by a full white beard. He has led a long life, but this time he is displaying something else – a postwar Grand Army of the Republic badge affixed to his coat lapel. He is proud of having served the United States.

The intervening years in many ways defined Simpson, who was captured in battle, spent several months in a prison camp in Alabama and then survived the worst maritime disaster in U.S. history, the explosion and sinking of the Sultana at war’s end in April 1865. The vessel was carrying released prisoners back to their homes in the North at war's end.

Memorial sits atop hill at Knoxville area cemetery (Picket photos)

Upon returning to the Knoxville area, Simpson became a businessman and farmer. But his real passion was ensuring those who died or survived the Sultana disaster would be remembered – a tall task since the tragedy was largely overlooked because it occurred shortly after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.

Simpson helped form the local chapter of the Union veterans group the Grand Army of the Republic and by the late 1880s, according to the Knoxville History Project, was convening meetings of Sultana survivors. These veterans and others around the country lobbied long and hard for a monument in Washington or one in Memphis, Tenn., near the site of the disaster, but those never came to be.

The East Tennessee chapter, however, was particularly ambitious. On July 4, 1916 -- having given up on the federal government to come through -- members dedicated a striking Sultana memorial on a hilltop cemetery belonging to Mount Olive Baptist Church, where Simpson was a member.

(Courtesy Gene Salecker)

A 2015 article by the Knoxville History Project gave this description of the ceremony:

“Dozens assembled there … old men in then-unstylish beards and hats, but also with children, perhaps grandchildren or even great-grandchildren, with flags flying, to unveil their monument, Knoxville’s last new monument to be witnessed by actual Civil War veterans -- just as their nation tried to stay out of another war.”

The Picket has written much about the Sultana over the years, but last month brought the first opportunity to see the memorial in person.

I wanted to learn more about how it came to be, and I began researching Simpson’s story. Here’s what I have learned.

He was raring to fight in mid-teens

In 1863, the younger Simpson and his father Green enlisted in the 3^rd Tennessee Cavalry (Federal), Company I. While there were divided loyalties, East Tennessee was largely pro-Union and towns across the region sent thousands to join the cause. The boy likely lied about his age so that he could join up.

Knoxstalgia blogger Mark Knox years ago wrote a couple posts about his second great-grandfather.

“I suppose no one will ever know if Green’s enlistment resulted from inspiration at John’s courageous act of patriotism, or if he simply joined to be able to keep a watchful eye on his obviously headstrong son,” he wrote.

Hundreds of names are etched on memorial (Picket photo)

The 3^rd Tennessee eventually was assigned to help guard a supply rail line in northern Alabama in September 1864. Troops under Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest surrounded the Federal works at Sulphur Creek Trestle and the commander was forced to surrender. Among the 1,000 or so men taken prisoner were hundreds with the 3^rd Tennessee, who had been sent to reinforce the garrison.

Knox wrote that his great uncle gave an account of what happened to John during the fighting.

“My grandfather often spoke of the tense moments spent waiting for the Confederate attack, and then suddenly hearing the awful ‘rebel yell’ and seeing the Confederate troops come charging in on their position with their sabers clashing,” the great uncle wrote. “Before he had time to react, he was overrun by one of the charging horsemen. The horse stepped down and smashed his thigh and side. He was soon after captured and removed to the Cahaba prison for Union soldiers. When I was a boy, my grandfather still bore the terrible scars on his side and leg from this occasion.”

The view toward cemetery entrance (Civil War Picket photo)

Headed home after prison ordeal in Alabama

While not as well-known as Andersonville prison camp in Georgia, Cahaba held thousands of men during it two phases of operation. It was closed for a time, and its prisoners were sent to Andersonville. The Alabama camp near Selma reopened for the final six months of the conflict.

“As Confederate-run prisoner-of-war camps go, Castle Morgan was not considered one of the hellish ones, that is, if you could suffer the central Alabama heat,” says the Knoxville History Project. “Its death rate was relatively low. Perhaps the worst they had to deal with was another flood, that February.”

The 3^rd Tennessee Cavalry POWs were part of a large prisoner exchange in March 1865, only a few week before the war’s end. They had to travel to Columbus, Ohio, to muster out of service. They were sent from Cahaba westward to Vicksburg, Ms., where they would travel by boat to Ohio.

Harpers Weekly illustration of the disaster

Thousands of gaunt former prisoners from Andersonville and Cahaba, exhausted by their ordeal, were jammed onto the Sultana steamboat. Simpson, then 17, was believed to be sleeping on the third deck when the disaster occurred just north of Memphis, near Marion, Ark.

The overcrowded vessel exploded and caught fire on April 27, 1865, killing nearly 1,200 passengers and crew. Local residents, including freed slaves, helped the passengers, who found themselves swimming for shore, or thrashing about in the chilly Mississippi River, About 750 people were rescued, with 31 dying from horrible wounds or exposure. Bodies were recovered over the next several months.

According to Knoxstalgia, John Simpson ended up in Nashville, where he mustered out on June 10. His father left the cavalry a short time later. (I attempted to contact Mark Knox for this blog post, but have thus far been unable to reach him.)

They wouldn't give up on monument

The Sultana Survivors’ Association was formed about two decades later. National meetings were held in Toledo, Ohio. Many survivors were from the Buckeye State, but those in the South eventually decided to mostly gather in Knoxville, meaning there would be two main survivors groups – one in Ohio, the other in Tennessee.

1920 Knoxville reunion; Pleasant Keeble at far left, John H. Simpson
second from right (Knox County Public Library, McClung Historical Collection)

The survivors wanted a special pension and a national monument to be erected, but Congress never authorized the money, for a variety of reasons.

So the Knoxville chapter raised money to have one built in Tennessee, procuring native marble. Simpson was listed as the promoter.

“The dwindling number of gray-haired survivors -- by then, all were all pushing 70, or beyond --got together and, without waiting for government help, established a permanent memorial,” according to the Knoxville History Project. “Simpson was a member of Mount Olive Baptist Church. He picked that church’s hilltop cemetery as the site, and it was his prerogative. But it was a pretty good place anyway, a pretty, quiet spot barely within view of an important road, Maryville Pike.”

The pink marble memorial bears the names of 365 Tennesseans who were on the Sultana. Most, like Simpson, served in the 3^rd Tennessee Cavalry. The centerpiece is a bas-relief of the Sultana, smoke pouring from its smokestacks and the American flag fluttering.

Patriotic dedication in July 4, 1916 (courtesy of Gene Salecker)

Gene Salecker, who is a board member of the Sultana Disaster Museum in Marion and a longtime Sultana historian and author, provided the Picket an article he wrote about the Knoxville monument, including details of dedication day.

“Present among the hundred or so people that attended the unveiling of the monument, were members of the GAR, the Daughters of America, four survivors from the Knoxville area, including “Colonel” Simpson, and a representative from the northern Sultana Survivors’ Association who gave a short speech on behalf of the aging survivors from the North who could not attend. The beautiful monument was christened by Rev. W. L. Singleton, pastor of Mt. Olive Baptist Church.”

Visitors to the memorial today will notice a column jutting from the top. It wasn’t there in 1916.

“I have been able to reach up and feel the top of the column or shaft,” Salecker told the Picket. “There is no hole -- nothing to put flowers in or put a flag pole in. We believe that it may have been put on the monument to make it look like a steamboat smokestack.”

Descendants ensure the story lives on

The Association of Sultana Descendants and Friends, which was organized in 1988, held most of first 14 annual reunions at Mount Olive Baptist Church, says founder Norman Shaw. A ceremony of some kind always took place at the memorial.

Bob Warner, son of survivor Pvt. William
Warner, at monument in 1997 (G. Salecker)

The group had the aging monument sandblasted about 20 years ago and it has been cleaned since, said Shaw, who is not a descendant.

John H. Simpson, as president of the Southern contingent of survivors, was active in affairs pertaining to the Sultana for the rest of his life. The group met at various locations and by 1921 there were just 14 Tennessee survivors.

The Knoxville History Project says Simpson and Pleasant M. Keeble, residents of Knoxville’s Vestal neighborhood, were the last two Tennessee survivors. (Keeble often served as scribe for the group.)

“The two who lived closest to their monument were the last to see it. Simpson, with the kind face and flowing white beard, died first (in 1929 at age 82). Pleasant Keeble, who wore an old-fashioned walrus mustache and still had some dark in his hair, seemed made of iron cable. He decided no further reunions need occur, that the tradition would die with him.”

(Courtesy of Kendra Kirk)

The last survivors' meeting in his city was held in April 1930, with only Keeble, 84, in attendance. The former private of Company H, 3rd Tennessee Calvary, died the following year.

His comrade, John H. Simpson, is buried at Mount Olive Cemetery, not far from the beloved Sultana monument. Next to him is his wife, Margaret Flenniken Simpson, who died just two weeks after her husband’s passing.

Pastor Kirby Ownby of Mount Olive Baptist says he is unaware of any Sultana descendants currently in the congregation.

The church does keep a  history written in 2004. "They Are Not Dead But Sleepeth: The Interments of the NM Cemetery at Mt. Olive" has details of many annual reunions. Simpson was active in all of them, and he would make appearances about the Sultana until his death. A 1901 Knoxville Sentinel article about that year's meeting noted, "the event has proven a success and one of general enjoyment to the survivors and their families there assembled to pay homage to their bravery and perseverance in the Civil War."

Kendra Kirk, a trustee with the church's cemetery committee, said they get inquiries from those curious about the memorial and will provide information. The marble was recently sandblasted, she said.

(Courtesy of Gene Salecker)

(This post was updated to correct the number of those rescued and who died later)

Re-enactments this weekend near Knoxville

The 150th anniversary of the Civil War battles of Fort Sanders and Campbell's Station is being marked this week near Knoxville, Tenn. A brass band will play Civil War-era instruments, and Dan Paterson, the great-grandson of the Confederate commander during the battle, is expected to attend. Battles will take place Saturday and Sunday near Corryton. • Details

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