Accordingly, soon after dark--the enemy in the meantime
having approached us so near as not to endanger our losing sight
of him--I clewed up, and furled the topsails, beat to quarters, and
doubled suddenly upon the stranger. He came in quite boldly,
and when within hailing distance of us, hailed us, and inquired--
"What ship is that?"
"Her Majesty's ship Petrel. What ship's that?"
To this inquiry there was no reply, and although we repeated
it several times there was no rejoinder.
During the colloquy, I endeavoured to place myself in a raking
position astern of him, which he as carefully avoided by keeping
his broadside to me. From this manoeuvre I knew him pretty
certainly to be an enemy, and having approached to within about
two hundred yards, I directed my First Lieutenant to repeat the
question. "What ship's that?" was accordingly again shouted,
and this time there was a reply.
We distinctly heard that he was an United States something or
other, but the name we could not make out. I then directed the
First Lieutenant to tell him that this was the Confederate States
steamer Alabama, and to open fire on him immediately, which we
did from our starboard battery. He returned our fire in a minute
or two, and the action was thus commenced.
We continued to run side by side at a distance ranging from
two to five hundred yards, both of us keeping up a rapid fire of
both artillery and rifles, when, after the lapse of thirteen minutes,
the enemy fired two guns from his off, or starboard side, and
showed a light above his deck in token of his being whipped.
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