"What ship is that?" CSS Alabama Strikes, Sinks USS Hatteras

CSS Alabama continued her cruise west across the Gulf of Mexico, reaching its western edge by mid January 1863.  Captain Raphael Semmes rec...

CSS Alabama Searches for California Gold, December 1862

In late November 1862, Raphael Semmes ordered CSS Alabama  to steam southwest toward Cuba.  He was purposely looking to intercept steamships...

CSS Alabama Migrates South For the Winter, November 1862

While raiding Gulf Stream merchant traffic near Nova Scotia, Confederate Captain Raphael Semmes was well aware that the weather could turn n...

Alabama's Gulf Stream Raid, October 3-15, 1862

Alabama burning the ship Brilliante and her $93,000 worth of grain off the coast of Nova Scotia When CSS Alabama and her captain Raphel Se...

Rear Admiral Wilkes and his Magical Flying Squadron

Steam sloop USS Wachusett In mid-1862, Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles had a serious problem on his hands.  Intelligence indicated that ...

CSS Alabama is Commissioned

Before the cruiser CSS Alabama could begin her famous campaigns, she had to get out of England without being impounded by British authoritie...

CSS Florida is Commissioned and Puts to Sea

In late July, Confederate Lieutenant John Newland Maffitt arrived in Nassau, Bahamas aboard one of his blockade runners.  Soon after arrivin...

CWN 150 Talk in Darien, GA

Ashantilly Center in Darien, GA Last week, I had the distinct pleasure to give a talk at the Ashantilly Center in Darien, GA.  Over 50 resid...

The Confederate Navy's Favorite Shipyard -- Birthplace of CSS Alabama, 'Birkenhead Rams.'

(U.S. Navy Library) 'Birkenhead Ram:' Called El Tousson because it was supposedly being bought by Egypt, the ship was seized at the...

New Blog Title Image

The new title image for this blog is a 1864 oil painting titled Battle of the U.S.S. Kearsarge and the C.S.S. Alabama , by Belgian artist Je...

"Daar kom die Alibama"

Rarely do scholars note the impact the Civil War had on other countries, especially non-European ones. The South African folksong “Daar kom ...