One of the streets on the current Louisiana State University campus once carried his full name in his honor, as does Semmes Avenue in Richmond, Virginia. A subtle sign of the times came in recent years when the nearby Radisson Admiral Semmes Hotel underwent a renovation and its name was changed to “The Admiral” in a quiet move that drew little public notice. Of his orders to mount a rapid evacuation of forces from Richmond as the Confederacy’s final fortunes crumbled, the admiral wrote that “I had become used to emergencies, and was not dismayed.”. In 2007 several hundred members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans participated in a formal burial in Mobile’s Magnolia Cemetery. After a long voyage the ship desperately needed repairs, but with the Confederacy’s fortunes in decline it was unlikely ever to get them. “Moving this statue will not change the past. The statue was dedicated in 1900, the year before Alabama ratified a Constitution that established white supremacy in the state by essentially disenfranchising blacks and poor whites. He resigned his commission immediately after Alabama’s secession. While the Alabama and a couple of similar ships could hardly stop international trade, they could scare shippers, drive up insurance rates and make the U.S. Navy scatter resources around the world in pursuit. “No ship could get a freight, and the commerce of the enemy was as dead, for the time being, as if every ship belonging to him had been destroyed,” he wrote. 0:24. There was a small engine lying along the track, but there was no fire in its furnace, no fuel with which to make a fire, and no one to manage it. [1] It was removed on 5 June 2020 during the George Floyd protests. Vaughan said the effort to raise funds for the statue had taken three years, thanks to disruptions such as the Spanish-American War. Press-Register archives suggest the statue has been moved more than once, though never very far. The 2007 funeral procession for a sailor whose remains were found during restoration work on a cannon from the CSS Alabama passes by the statue of Confederate Adm. Raphael Semmes at Government and Royal street in Mobile, Ala. Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson has directed that a statue of Confederate Admiral Raphael Semmes be permanently moved to the History Museum of Mobile. Statue of Rear Admiral Raphael Semmes, Mobile, Alabama Contributor Names Highsmith, Carol M., 1946-, photographer Created / Published 2010 March 17. As captain of the CSS Sumter and the better-known CSS Alabama, Semmes had an unusual and very specific mission. A suburban area of western Mobile County is named for him, as well as a hotel in downtown Mobile named The Admiral Hotel. “To be clear: This decision is not about Raphael Semmes, it is not about a monument and it is not an attempt to rewrite history,” Stimpson said. Closeup of the statue itself. He was a commerce raider roaming the high seas intercepting cargo ships that might be carrying goods for the United States. Let’s find out which is your favorite one. The birds had all taken to cover, and there was no such thing as flushing them.”. He describes with some glee his arrival in Singapore to see nearly two dozen U.S. ships sitting idle in port. A Confederate statue … On June 25, 2000 (Sunday), Raphael Semmes Camp 11 of the Sons of Confederate Veterans held a Rededication Ceremony of the Admiral Semmes Statue in Mobile, Alabama. … My first move was to turn all these wretched people I have described out of the cars. Rear Admiral Raphael Semmes (1809-1877) was an officer in the United States Navy from 1826 to 1860 and the Confederate States Navy from 1860 to 1865. In a surprise move, the Alabama city took down a statue of Confederate Admiral Raphael Semmes. Navy, Mobile, Alabama Contributor Names Highsmith, Carol M., 1946-, photographer Created / Published 2010 April 14. He’d moved to the Mobile area after the Mexican-American War and was working as a lawyer while still a Navy officer. Diplomatic pressure from the U.S. made it difficult for him to resupply in neutral ports, which he also regarded as playing dirty. He also used the occasion to argue at length that slavery had not been the root cause of the conflict, though it was “possibly one of the fuses to the magazine.”. In describing the last legs of that journey he depicts a land wrecked and demoralized by war, with the enemy’s navy operating with general impunity. He wasn’t on the scene when the immortal phrase “damn the torpedos” was coined on Mobile Bay. Admiral Raphael Semmes, CSA Additional Plaques. The city of Mobile removed the Confederate statue … By Stephen Bell, February 21, 2011. Admiral Raphael Semmes statue in downtown Mobile is shown here June 2, 2020, the morning after it was vandalized overnight. Military patients had hobbled thither from the hospitals; civil employees of the Government, who had missed the ‘last train,’ by being a little too late, had come to remedy their negligence; and a great number of other citizens, who were anxious to get out of the presence of the hated Yankee, had rushed to the station, they scarcely knew why. The city of Mobile, Alabama removed a Confederate statue early Friday, without making any public announcements about it beforehand. Credit: WALA CNN — A statue … Rear Admiral Raphael Semmes (1809-1877) was an officer in the United States Navy from 1826 to 1860 and the Confederate States Navy from 1860 to 1865. The pedestal where the statue of Admiral Raphael Semmes stands empty, early Friday, June 5, 2020 in Mobile, Ala. This bronze statue of Admiral Raphael Semmes was dedicated in Mobile, Alabama on June 27, 1900. She described Semmes as “one whose matchless deeds of daring are known throughout all civilized nations, whose name ranks with the great naval commanders of the world’s history, and who, when our loved flag was furled (defeated but not dishonored) returned to the peaceful walks of life, and for years lived in our midst, honored and beloved by all.”, The day’s main speaker, Col. William J. Samford, praised Semmes as an exemplar of the honor and virtue of the men of the old South, a region that had helped build and was now a vital part of a mighty nation. “We had here the key to the mystery, that the Alabama had encountered no American ship in the China Sea, since she had burned the Contest. Semmes is a member of the Alabama Hall of Fame. The glossy version of the Confederacy touted by speakers at the statue’s unveiling has faded. It stands at the foot of Government Street, just above the Bankhead Tunnel in downtown. The statue of Confederate Admiral Raphael Semmes before it was removed from its defaced pedestal on June 5 by the city of Mobile, Alabama.
Finding your suitable readers for admiral semmes statue mobile al is not easy. [4], Statue formerly displayed in Mobile, Alabama, List of monuments and memorials removed during the George Floyd protests, "Mobile's statue: Who was CSA Adm. Raphael Semmes? A native of Maryland, Semmes had more than 30 years’ service in the U.S. Navy when the Civil War began. The 8-foot-tall Semmes statue shows a mustached Confederate admiral clutching a pair of binoculars in his right hand while standing on a pedestal that has been situated at … The statue of Confederate Admiral Raphael Semmes was removed overnight. Though the venture faltered and the community remained unincorporated for a century, it’s now the growing city of Semmes. Given that the monument stood just off Mobile’s main parade route, it hasn’t been unusual to see the admiral wearing a few strands of beads during the season. In a statement released Friday after the overnight removal of the statue, Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson left the future of the statue undefined. Celebrated as a lone seawolf hero to an undergunned rebellion, damned as an utter pirate to the North, Semmes did not gain fame by running blockades. Story at a glance. At the unveiling, Mrs. E.B. The statue had originally been dedicated 100 years before on June 27, 1900. iStock. By . Semmes escaped the sinking of the Alabama and made his way back to Mobile. Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission. “Alongside the black savage marched the white savage -- worthy compeers! It is the work of the famous sculptor, Caspar Buberl, of New York, who died suddenly in his studio recently while at work upon his part of the Dewey arch. Perhaps he’d simply be glad for his likeness to stand somewhere where it’s less likely to be festooned with Mardi Gras beads. Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your California Privacy Rights (each updated 1/1/20). "On June 4, 2020, I ordered that the statue of Admiral Raphael Semmes be moved from its location at the intersection of Government and Royal streets in … (Source: WALA) June 5, 2020 at 7:12 AM CDT - Updated June 5 at 10:02 AM . The statue is that of Admiral Raphael Semmes, of the Confederate Navy, and is to be erected in Mobile, Ala. You may need consider between hundred or thousand products from many store. Download Image of Statue of Rear Admiral Semmes of the C.S. Of special interest to. The pedestal where the statue of Admiral Raphael Semmes stands empty, early Friday, June 5, 2020 in Mobile, Ala. That conversation, and the mission to create One Mobile, continues today.”. What would Semmes himself make of the latest twist? Admiral Raphael Semmes Statue in Mobile, Alabama Raphael Semmes moved to Alabama in 1842. 8. Closeup of plaques on statue. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. UPDATE: 10:15 AM: The future of the Admiral Semmes statue is still up in the air days after city employees, at the mayor’s direction, plucked the Confederate monument from its downtown perch. In his book Semmes also strikes an often strident and legalistic tone about Yankees and the conduct of the war, arguing at exhaustive length that all his exploits were legal and proper and that popular depictions of him as a lawless buccaneer were sheer slander. If he determined he was looking at contraband supporting the enemy’s war effort, he confiscated or destroyed it, and the same for the vessel. © 2020 Advance Local Media LLC. After further difficulties the pitiful train rolled out. A statue of Confederate Adm. Raphael Semmes has been a feature of Mobile's downtown landscape since 1900. The pedestal where the statue of Admiral Raphael Semmes stands empty, on June 5, 2020 in Mobile, Ala. (WMPI-TV via AP) SHARE. Semmes’ remarkable voyage doubtless will remain of interest to some whatever happens next. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. If Semmes’ far-flung voyages and his focus on naval matters provided some distance between him and the ugly issue of slavery, his own words show a decidedly less elegant streak: “As a crowning insult, a regiment of negro cavalry, wild with savage delight at the thought of triumphing over their late masters, formed a prominent feature in the grand procession,” he wrote of that bitter moment. By Brandon Fletcher, July 9, 2011. MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - The statue of Civil War Admiral Raphael Semmes has been removed from its longstanding place in downtown Mobile.
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