The chivalrous give and take of battle
was glorious to men who had alternately hunted and fled for so dreary a
term. They trusted for victory; but defeat itself was to be a
vindication of their whole career, and they welcomed the chances gladly.
The application for coal at a neutral port was in itself a renunciation
of any further hospitality from the harbour, as Captain Semmes was
aware. The Port-admiral contented himself with pointing it out to him. A
duel is not an unpopular thing in France. The prospective combat of two
apparently equally-matched ships of war would have been sufficient to
have melted any scruples entertained by Frenchmen in authority; they
were only too happy to assist towards an engagement between Federals and
Confederates, the latter being as popular in France as in England, to
say nothing for the sympathy excited for the Alabama. French officers
agreed with Captain Semmes in thinking that there was marked offence and
defiance in the manoeuvres of the Kearsarge, and that he could hardly do
less than go out and meet her. We have done our best to show that the
Captain, whether in his heart he felt the mere chances to be equal or
not, was anxious to persuade himself that they were so. He knew his
opponent to be the heavier in ship, battery, and crew, but "I did not
know that she was also iron-clad," he says. Personally he desired the
battle; the instigations of an enthusiastic crew, unanimous for action,
as also of friendly foreign officers, are to be taken into account.
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