The application for coal at a neutral port was in itself a renunciation of any further hospitality from the harbor, as Captain Semmes was aware. The port-admiral contented himself with pointing it out to him. The prospective combat of two apparently equally matched ships-of-war would have been sufficient to melt any scruples entertained by Frenchmen in authority. 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. The Captain, whether in his heart he felt the mere chances to be equal or not, was desirous 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 ironclad," 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.
On Sunday, in the morning, being June 19th, the Alabama steamed out of Cherbourg harbor and steered straight to meet the Kearsarge, accompanied by the French ironclad La Couronne. The late foul weather had given way to a gentle breeze, and the subsiding swell of the Atlantic wave under a clear sky made the day eminently favorable for the work in hand. All Cherbourg was on the heights above the town and along the bastions and the mole. It chanced fortunately that an English steam-yacht, the Deerhound, with its owner, Mr. John Lancaster, and his family on board, was in harbor at the time. The Deerhound followed the Alabama at a respectful distance, and was the closest witness of the fight. Some French pilots-boat hung as near as they considered prudent. At the limit of neutral waters the Alabama parted company with her escort, and La Couronne returned to within a league of the shore.
Left to herself at last, the Alabama made her final preparations for the coming struggle. Mustering all his ship's company upon the deck, Captain Semmes addressed them as follows:
"You have at length another opportunity of meeting the enemy - the first that has been presented to you since you sunk the Hatteras! [The Alabama sunk the Federal gunboat Hatteras off Galveston January 11, 1863. -ED] In the mean time you have been all over the world, and it is not too much to say that you have destroyed, and driven for protection under neutral flags, one-half of the enemy's commerce, which, at the beginning of the war, covered every sea. This is an achievement of which you may well be proud; and a grateful country will not be unmindful of it. The name of your ship has become a household word wherever civilization extends. Shall that name be tarnished by defeat? The thing is impossible! Remember that you are in the English Channel, the theatre of so much of the naval glory of our race, and that the eyes of all Europe are at this moment upon you. The flag that floats over you is that of a young republic, which bids defiance to her enemy's whenever and wherever found. Show the world that you know how to uphold it. Go to your quarters."
It took three-quarters of an hour for the Alabama to come within range of the Kearsarge. At the distance of one mile the Alabama opened fire with solid shot. The Kearsarge took time to reply. After ten minutes the firing was sharp on both sides.
According to the statement of the Captain of the Kearsarge, her battery consisted of seven guns, to wit: two 11-inch Dahlgrens (very powerful pieces of ordnance), four 32-pounders, one light rifled 30-pounder. She went into action with a crew of one hundred sixty-two officers and men.
The armament of the Alabama consisted of one 7-inch Blakeley rifled gun, one 8-inch smooth-bore pivot gun, six 32-pounders, smooth-bore, in broadside. The Alabama's crew numbered not more than one hundred twenty. On this head Captain Winslow speaks erroneously. He sets down the Alabama's crew at one hundred fifty officers and men. The Alabama had a formidable piece in the Blakeley rifled gun, but she was destitute of steel shot.
“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."”
– Hebrews 13:5