Pirates & Privateers: Stephen Fox's Books

Semmes has been a wolf of the deep
For many a day to harmless sheep;
Ships he scuttled and robbed and burned,
Watches pilfered and pockets burned.

George H. Boker writes these words in 1864, about the most successful commander of a notorious Confederate raider during the American Civil War. This verse, written by a Northerner, captures Union sentiments towards Semmes, whom they deem a pirate, and his menacing vessel. Wolf of the Deep is the story of this Confederate captain and his vessel, and the impact they have on Union shipping and morale. It also showcases the opposite sentiments expressed by Southerners, as Edward C. Bruce does when he pens:

She bears the name of a noble State, and sooth she bears it well.
To us she hath made it a word of pride, to the Northern ear a knell.
To the Puritan in the busy mart, the Puritan on his deck,
With “Alabama” visions start of ruin, woe, and wreck.

Stephen Fox opens the story in July 1862, as Semmes awaits a ship that will take him to England, for that is where vessel 290 is being built. Although not a die-hard southerner – he lives in the border state of Maryland – Semmes eventually moves his family to Alabama. During one of the long separations from his wife, Anne – who comes from an upstanding Northern family – he writes, “But whatever may betide them [their sons] or me, my dear wife, you must keep ever present to your mind, that we are engaged in a holy cause, fighting for all that is dear to man.” When strangers meet the captain, they are disappointed, for he never measures up to their images of an infamous pirate or dedicated officer.

Built in the Laird shipyard, the 290 is designed to remain at sea for long periods and carries sufficient armament for her to successfully attack Union merchantmen. She is powered by both sail and steam. When Semmes first sees her, he compares her to the “lightness and grace of a swan.” He names her CSS Alabama and convinces some of British sailors to join him and his officers in their raids in exchange for shares of the plunder. In the first two months of their cruise, they burn twenty vessels and release three others because too many passengers are aboard or their holds carry cargo of neutral nations. To the North, the cruiser can’t be caught and is ghostlike, for she seems to strike everywhere. His success impacts northern morale and disrupts Union commerce so much that many ship owners sell their vessels to foreign entities.

Semmes doesn’t immediately resign his commission in the American navy, but he eventually embraces the war. Although principally a story of the man and his vessel, this book also tells the tale of American efforts (both for and against the Union) in Britain and how devastating his raids are on the Union. Fox also shows the differences in which Northerners and Southerners view the commerce raider’s actions and how Semmes’s success leads to problems aboard his vessel. These will eventually cause her downfall at the hands of USS Kearsage, but not before Alabama has captured sixty-five vessels and traveled 75,000 miles all in the space of twenty-two months.

Wolf of the Deep is a fascinating examination of a man maligned in Union newspapers and heralded in Confederate ones. Quotes from primary and contemporary sources compel the reader to see the people and events from various viewpoints, rather than providing a narrow glimpse that is one-sided and prejudicial. Fox demonstrates that Semmes understands that to defeat the enemy, the Confederacy needs to strike where the Union is most vulnerable – its commercial shipping. The author dares to show how Semmes adapts to the changing times by depicting him as a person with foibles, strengths, weaknesses, and quirks, rather than as either a hero or a villain. This book is a must read for fans of Civil War history and maritime history as steam began to replace sail.