On This Date. Lincoln Asks for a Souvenir from The CSS Alabama

     150 years ago today: Dec. 5, 1864 President Lincoln requests the stern post of The USS Kearsarge, with an unexploded shell from the CSS Alabama embedded in its timbers, be cut out and transported to Washington, D.C. 
     It can be seen today in the Naval Historical Center.
     There's some speculation that the battle may have turned out differently had the shell gone off. Instead, the Alabama sank.

Raphael Semmes, Captain of the CSS Alabama

 The ship became front page news during the war, capturing scores of Northern ships and sinking them, after removing the passengers and valuable cargo.



[See my old blog about the Civil War ship The CSS Alabama here.]