Nonfiction

To the Uttermost Ends of the Earth: The Epic Hunt for the South's Most Feared Ship - And the Greatest Sea Battle of the Civil War

To the Uttermost Ends of the Earth: The Epic Hunt for the South's Most Feared Ship - And the Greatest Sea Battle of the Civil War

  • Downloads：5467
  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2022-04-19 11:21:45
  • Update Date：2025-09-07
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Phil Keith
  • ISBN：B09FS2VM26
  • Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
  • Download

Download

Reviews

Bookreporter。com Biography & Memoir ，

“Named the Alabama， this cruiser had as her captain Raphael Semmes， who had already proved his prowess as a salt-water guerrilla on the now-defunct C。S。S Sumter。 For the next two years Semmes and the Alabama roamed the seas and destroyed or captured sixty-four American merchant ships before being sunk by the U。S。S。 Kearsarge off Cherbourg in June 1864。” – James M。 McPherson， BATTLE CRY OF FREEDOM: The Civil War EraThat’s it。 That’s all the CSS Alabama rates。 A couple of sentences （less than a fu “Named the Alabama， this cruiser had as her captain Raphael Semmes， who had already proved his prowess as a salt-water guerrilla on the now-defunct C。S。S Sumter。 For the next two years Semmes and the Alabama roamed the seas and destroyed or captured sixty-four American merchant ships before being sunk by the U。S。S。 Kearsarge off Cherbourg in June 1864。” – James M。 McPherson， BATTLE CRY OF FREEDOM: The Civil War EraThat’s it。 That’s all the CSS Alabama rates。 A couple of sentences （less than a full paragraph！） in a book that runs over 800 pages in paperback。 That’s all it ever rates in most Civil War histories --- a brief mention， maybe in a footnote。 You would think there would be a whole book in there。And you would be right。Phil Keith （who sadly passed away before the book’s publication） and Tom Clavin have collaborated to drag the men of the USS Kearsarge and the CSS Alabama out of the gray， dim footnotes of history。 Despite its clunky， unfortunate title， TO THE UTTERMOST ENDS OF THE EARTH is a stellar retelling of Civil War naval history， focusing not on the blockade or the showier Monitor-Virginia duel， but on the lonely shadow war fought by the Alabama on American shipping。It was H。L。 Mencken， the Sage of Baltimore， who said， "Every normal man must be tempted， at times， to spit upon his hands， hoist the black flag， and begin slitting throats。" Raphael Semmes was a native Marylander like Mencken， and was living the quiet life of a lawyer and naval reservist in Mobile when war broke out。 He successfully glad-handed his way into the captaincy of a small merchant steamer and converted her into a successful commerce raider in the Caribbean， before being trapped in the port of Gibraltar。 When the Confederacy was able to procure a cruiser from Britain and smuggle her out to the Azores， Semmes took command， armed and refitted the ship， and set off on a highly successful career of intercepting Union shipping。The primary difficulty that Semmes and the Alabama faced was that （due to the Union blockade of Southern harbors） she did not have a home port。 Historically， this has been a problem for privateers， who are more successful when they can have a base of operations， such as Port Royal in Jamaica， where they can offload stolen goods， sell prizes and recruit hearty tars to prowl the Spanish Main in search of treasure。 Semmes had to do all that， along with buying coal， and was only able to use neutral ports of call to do so。 His ship was undermanned， and thus he wasn’t able to send out prize crews for captured ships。 This turned him into one of history’s greatest arsonists， ranking with Nero and Mrs。 O’Leary’s cow。What always puzzled me about the brief mentions of the Alabama in Civil War history was that her final battle was fought in France of all places。 But Semmes was forced to range much farther than that。 In search of friendly neutral ports， he sailed （and steamed， as the Alabama could operate on both sails and steam power） as far afield as South Africa， and even to Singapore， in search of unwary Union merchantmen。The authors wisely don’t focus all too much on the success of the Alabama。 There’s not a great deal you can say about overwhelming victories against defenseless opponents after a while。 The story then becomes about the worldwide hunt for the raiders， the corresponding voyage of the USS Kearsarge to block them， and the climactic battle that closes the book。In TO THE UTTERMOST ENDS OF THE EARTH， Keith and Clavin have righted a great slight and thrown the efforts of the two great ships and their crew into the spotlight。 This is a masterwork of historical recovery and will be a proud addition to anyone’s Civil War library。Reviewed by Curtis Edmonds 。。。more

Adelbert ，

Best account of the Kearsage and Alabama I gave read。Excellent writing and meticulous research。

Shoshana ，

Over the last few years Tom Clavin has become a favorite writer of mine。 His books about Dodge City Tombstone were well-written and very interesting。 Although Phil Keith is the main author of this book， with Tom Clavin being the secondary， it is also well-written and very interesting。 It recounts a little-known incident from the American Civil War which is right up my alley。`This is a fine book。 It describes a naval battle which took place outside of Cherbourg Harbor。 The Confederacy's raider "A Over the last few years Tom Clavin has become a favorite writer of mine。 His books about Dodge City Tombstone were well-written and very interesting。 Although Phil Keith is the main author of this book， with Tom Clavin being the secondary， it is also well-written and very interesting。 It recounts a little-known incident from the American Civil War which is right up my alley。`This is a fine book。 It describes a naval battle which took place outside of Cherbourg Harbor。 The Confederacy's raider "Alabama" and the America ship the "Kearsage" fought until the Alabama was utterly vanquished。 Keith gives the reader a minute-by-minute account of the battle， one might almost have been a participant。"Uttermost" is an excellent book for students of naval history。 or those interested in the American Civil War。 And， as proven once again， the reader cannot go wrong with any book in which Tom Clavin had a hand。Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC。 。。。more

Bookclubbish ，

CategoriesNaval History， Wars & Conflicts， Civil War Period （1850-1877） US History

Zeb Kantrowitz ，

During the Civil War the South didn't have a traditional Navy， nor did they have large scale shipyards to build a Navy。 So the Confederates sent agents to England to purchase existing ships and order the building of ships。 Before the US put a stop to the ships being built， one was released and became the Raider CSS Alabama。 Captained by a former Annapolis graduate， most of it's sailors were English or Irish。 During a two year cruise the Alabama to control of 65 merchant vessels flying the US fla During the Civil War the South didn't have a traditional Navy， nor did they have large scale shipyards to build a Navy。 So the Confederates sent agents to England to purchase existing ships and order the building of ships。 Before the US put a stop to the ships being built， one was released and became the Raider CSS Alabama。 Captained by a former Annapolis graduate， most of it's sailors were English or Irish。 During a two year cruise the Alabama to control of 65 merchant vessels flying the US flag。 Most of the ships and cargoes were burned and the sailors let off at neutral ports。At the end of the two year period， she was refitting at the port of Cherbourg in France when she was blocked by the USS Kearsarge from leaving the port。 When the Alabama came out to fight the Kearsarge， they were eight miles outside of Cherbourg。 While the French watched， the two ships battled。 Alabama was at a disadvantage because it's gunpowder and fuses were over two years old and many didn't explode。 Of their 170 man crew， the Alabama lost 19 dead and had 21 wounded。 The Kearsarge suffered 1 dead and 2 wounded。 In less than an hour the Alabama was sinking。 Because the Kearsarge was a US Navy ship， her gunners and gun crews were able to cause massive damage to the Alabama， where the Alabama had gun crews that were mostly made up of ordinary seamen。Many of the Alabam's sailors were picked-up by an English yacht and French shipping。 Though the Alabama lowered their flag and ran up a white surrender flag， none of the Alabama's officers were to surrender to the Kearsarge， choosing to escape to England or France。 This was considered to be cowardly under the traditional rules of battle at this time。Keith does a fabulous job of explaining the rules of the sea at that time and how they were supposed to act towards neutral and prisoners of war。 His description of the Battle of Cherbourg is a shell by shell description of how each shot's damage to the Alabama caused it's sinking。 。。。more

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=To the Uttermost Ends of the Earth: The Epic Hunt for the South's Most Feared Ship - And the Greatest Sea Battle of the Civil War

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=To the Uttermost Ends of the Earth: The Epic Hunt for the South's Most Feared Ship - And the Greatest Sea Battle of the Civil War&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,To the Uttermost Ends of the Earth: The Epic Hunt for the South's Most Feared Ship - And the Greatest Sea Battle of the Civil War&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0