The full content of this document is only available to subscribing institutions. More information can be found via www.amdigital.co.uk
If you believe you should have access to this document, click here to Login.
| Field name | Value |
|---|---|
| Collection Reference Number | GLC05591 |
| From Archive Folder | Unassociated Civil War Documents 1865-1929 |
| Title | John McIntosh Kell to Raphael Semmes regarding the capture of the "Whaling Ship Levi Starbuck" |
| Date | 28 December 1874 |
| Author | Kell, John McIntosh (1823-1900) |
| Recipient | Semmes, Raphael |
| Document Type | Correspondence |
| Content Description | Writes to Semmes about "my recollection of the capture of the Whaling Ship Levi Starbuck." Gives a detailed description of the events leading up to the ship's capture and the situation of the Levi Starbuck's prisoners on board -- "I most solemnly hold that no prisoners on board of the Alabama were treated with severity" but "greater restrictions were necessary...perhaps confinement in irons." Mentions that a man named Whitney claims that "the loss of the use of his hands" occurred while he was imprisoned on the Alabama and calls the accusation "simply absurd." Writes that Whitney reminds him of "that scamp Forrest," a sailor who was "a prime mover in that mutinous row in Martinique." |
| Subjects | Civil War Military History Confederate General or Leader Confederate States of America Navy Prisoner of War Whaling Prisoner Health and Medical Injury or Wound Mutiny Caribbean |
| People | Kell, John McIntosh (1823-1900) Semmes, Raphael (1809-1877) |
| Place written | Sunny Side, Georgia |
| Theme | The American Civil War; Naval & Maritime; Foreign Affairs |
| Sub-collection | Papers and Images of the American Civil War |
| Additional Information | In the fall of 1862, Semmes and Kell captured seven vessels in the Caribbean. They faced a mutiny near Martinique which ended in a court martial and the discharge of the leader, Forrest, from the Confederate Navy. |
| Copyright | The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History |
| Module | Civil War, Reconstruction and the Modern Era: 1860-1945 |