However, when Semmes applied for permission to use the docks, the Port Admiral said the Emperor's authorization would have to be obtained. Unfortunately, the Emperor was on vacation at Biarritz and "out of reach." This may have been a diplomatic evasion, since the Admiral clearly would have preferred that Semmes go to Le Havre or some other commercial port where he could find private docks.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Consul in Cherbourg got word of the Alabama's presence to the Northern man-of-war Kearsarge, which had been hunting the Alabama for many months and was anchored off Flushing, Holland. Within three days, the Kearsarge had rushed to Cherbourg, cruising just outside the then three-mile territorial limit. Her captain, John Winslow, had previously been Semmes' shipmate, sharing a cabin with him during the Mexican War.

© C. Henze 1999