Natty, according to Burke Davis, Semmes sought the general's rank as a hedge against the possible charge of piracy. I don't hold that against Semmes. Commerce raiders have always been glorified as somewhat larger than life, probably because of their inflated tonnage against unarmed or under-gunned merchantmen. But Alabama proved its mettle against armed adversaries too, no question.

The German raider Atlantis, to follow Mr. Upton's WW2 comparisons, was highly successful and from what I have read of Atlantis, the skipper was quite humane for a sailor who wore the swastika. I'm sure Semmes was from the same bolt of cloth.

But as far as John Winslow vs. Raphael Semmes is concerned, all the smart money was on Goliath. Seems some higher power had a hand in that outcome as well.

Well, you might say, it took God to beat Semmes. Reminds me of that preacher's semi-blasphemous rebuke of God for first taking out his servant T J Jackson in order bring about the Confederacy's defeat, as though the Creator of the Universe needed to indulge in parlor games with mere mortals to implement His Will.