An American Civil War battle was fought off the coast of France.

U.S. History

W hile most U.S. Civil War conflicts occurred on American soil, the Battle of Cherbourg was a rare exception — it took place all the way across the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of France. This sea skirmish occurred on June 19, 1864, between two opposing warships, the Union's USS Kearsarge and the Confederacy's CSS Alabama. The battle was the result of an effort by Union ships to track down Confederate raiders across the globe. Given the U.S. Navy's loyalty to the Union, the Confederacy contracted various shipyards in Britain to help expand their fleet, which the neutral British government did little to prevent at the time. The Alabama had been secretly built in England, and set sail across the Atlantic in January 1863. The warship struck and sank the USS Hatteras off the coast of Galveston, Texas, before changing course toward Southeast Asia. During this global excursion, it captured 65 Union merchant ships before returning to Europe in 1864 for much-needed repairs.

The crew of the Alabama docked in Cherbourg Harbor on June 11, believing they'd likely be safe in neutral French territory. However, on June 14, the Kearsarge came upon the enemy ship and created a blockade out at sea. Over the next several days, Union Captain John A. Winslow and Confederate Captain Raphael Semmes prepared their respective ships for battle, and the Alabama fired the first shots on June 19. The fighting drew the attention of spectators who gathered on the shore to witness the skirmish. After an hour, the Alabama began sinking, though most of its crew members were rescued by a nearby British yacht. While Semmes escaped into England and evaded capture, the battle was a decisive victory for the Union Army, which had toppled one of the Confederacy's most destructive warships.

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By the Numbers

Duration (in days) of the longest siege of the Civil War

292

Year Congress authorized the first U.S. paper currency

1862

Did you know?

Lincoln's Gettysburg Address lasted only two minutes.

The Gettysburg Address is one of the most famous speeches in U.S. history, but President Abraham Lincoln's historic remarks were actually quite brief. On November 19, 1863, two years into the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln was asked to speak at the dedication of the military cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Before the President took the stage, Massachusetts politician and orator Edward Everett gave a lengthy 13,600-word speech that lasted for two hours. Lincoln followed with his own address, beginning with the immortal opening line, "Fourscore and seven years ago…" He went on to deliver a quick two-minute speech that was just 272 words long. Initially, the Gettysburg Address was met with mixed reviews; it wasn't until the 20th century that many Americans came to fully appreciate Lincoln's words. Everett was immediately effusive, however. The next day, he wrote in a letter to Lincoln, "I should be glad… that I came as near to the central idea of the occasion, in two hours, as you did in two minutes."

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