Raphael Semmes was almost a caricature of the Southern beau ideal. He was a dashing master seaman and an accomplished diplomat in his dealings with neutrals and port authorities around the world. Known to his men as "Old Beeswax" because he waxed and twisted his moustache to long points, he was also a strict disciplinarian to his 149-member crew, largely composed of Liverpool waterfront toughs.

On June 11, 1864, the Alabama put in at the French naval port of Cherbourg on the Normandy coast. She badly needed dockyard maintenance after an extraordinarily long cruise which had taken her halfway around the world. Captain Semmes favored a French port because France had always been friendly toward the Confederacy, which, for its part, supported Emperor Napoleon III's Mexican expedition, partly because it was a thorn in the side of the North. Cherbourg also had excellent facilities. A reliable Confederate agent lived there, and it was more difficult than many other ports for enemy ships to block.

© C. Henze 1999