[Illustration: Engagement between the U. S. S. _Kearsarge_ and the _Alabama_ off Cherbourg, on Sunday, June 19, 1864. _From a French lithograph._] As this circling was started the _Kearsarge_ opened fire. Word was sent to every gunner to “make every shot count,” and they obeyed. The gunnery of the _Kearsarge_ was the best shown during the Civil War. The _Alabama_ fired rapidly--she hurled 370 shot in sixty-five minutes, of which only twenty-eight struck the _Kearsarge_. Of these, two were turned by the chain armor, but had they penetrated they would have had no serious effect. One shell penetrated the stern post, but failed to explode. Had it exploded, the _Kearsarge_ would have had difficulty in steering--perhaps she would have been made helpless; but the battle was then so far done that the _Alabama_ would, at best, have been able to escape. The _Kearsarge_ fired only 173 shot, but so many of these struck home that before the end of an hour the _Alabama_ was sinking. Hoisting trysail and jib, Semmes headed for the shore, hoping to escape with the aid of his sails, but it was too late. The _Kearsarge_ ran across her bow to deliver a raking broadside, and then the _Alabama_ hauled down her flag. A little later a white flag was displayed, and then it was seen that the _Alabama_ was rapidly settling in the water. A boat put off from her to ask for assistance. The _Kearsarge_ sent two boats to rescue the crew, and the steam yacht _Deerhound_ came up to help also. Semmes seeing at last that she must sink, threw his sword into the sea and leaped overboard, and while he swam for life the _Alabama’s_ stern sank under the sea, the bow was lifted high out of water, and down she went, with her bowsprit disappearing last of all. There was some diplomatic trouble over the escape of a lot of the _Alabama’s_ crew, including Semmes, on the _Deerhound_. The reader will, perhaps, be able to determine the rights of the _Deerhound_ in this case by putting himself mentally in her owner’s place. Suppose Ireland should secede from Great Britain and an Irish cruiser should be sunk in the presence of a Yankee yacht. Would the Yankee yacht-owner deliver up the Irishmen’s crew to the triumphant British warship? Certainly, if the Yankee yacht-owner was a politician, he would not do so. [Illustration: The _Kearsarge_ Sinking the _Alabama_. _From an engraving._] And, then, there were the virulent attacks on Semmes for swimming to the _Deerhound_ instead of swimming to the _Kearsarge_. What would the reader have done? What would that other “pirate,” John Paul Jones, have done in a case like that? It is now thirty-seven years since the _Alabama_ sank in the green waves off Cherbourg. Those of us who were old enough to read the newspaper extras that were issued when the account of it was telegraphed home are old enough to know better than to call Semmes a pirate. [Illustration: Action between the _Kearsarge_ and the _Alabama_.