Dublin Core
Title
Statue of Raphael Semmes, Mobile, Alabama
Description
This statue of Confederate Naval Commander Raphael Semmes served to immortalize him and to reinforce the actions taken by the Confederacy during the American Civil War. These monuments reflect the values that the South wanted to portray about the Confederacy after the war and continue to affect American public memory of the conflict. This archive is intended to bring awareness to why these monuments were erected, the specific groups that funded them and most importantly, the Lost Cause narrative that the South utilized to shift the Nation’s memory of the war.
The statue of Raphael Semmes was erected in 1900 in Mobile, Alabama by a group responsible for many other Confederate monuments, the Sons of Confederate Veterans. The monument commemorates Raphael Semmes, the Captain of the CSS Alabama which saw service between 1862 and 1864. The vessel was built in secrecy in a British port which served to increase tensions between the United States and Britain, eventually leading the United States to seek reparations from Britain following the war. The Alabama caused significant damage to US Naval shipping and trade throughout the war until it was finally sunk off the coast of France in 1864. Raphael Semmes survived the sinking of the CSS Alabama and remained a prominent member of the community in Mobile until his death in 1877. The monument features a life size statue of Semmes atop a stone base with the following inscription:
COMMANDER
C.S STEAMER
ALABAMA
REAR-ADMIRAL
C.S NAVY
SAILOR, PATRIOT
STATEMAN
SCHOLAR
AND
CHRISTIAN
GENTLEMAN
The statue of Raphael Semmes was removed on June 5, 2020 following the statue’s vandalization during the George Floyd protests. At first glance, it is not readily apparent that Raphael Semmes and his statue propagate the Confederate Lost Cause narrative. The monument alludes to a positive representation of a “patriot”, skilled sea captain and respectable member of the community in Mobile. Several factors point to a different reality however. During the commemoration of the monument in 1900, several speakers utilized the opportunity to criticize Northern aggression during the war and to explicitly promote the Lost Cause narrative. Additionally, Semmes himself wrote a memoir after the war in which he bitterly defended the Lost Cause narrative and is credited with being one of the first to coin the phrase, ”War between the States”. The monument itself was also funded by the Sons of Confederate Veterans, a group that continues to promote the Lost Cause narrative to this day. The recent controversy over Confederate monuments reflect a divide within the Nation that has never fully been healed. Through this archive and its documentation of Confederate monuments, the hope is that more Americans can become better versed in their history and the divide may be mended.
Statue has been moved to the History Museum of Mobile, and has been unveiled on December 17, 2021.
The statue of Raphael Semmes was erected in 1900 in Mobile, Alabama by a group responsible for many other Confederate monuments, the Sons of Confederate Veterans. The monument commemorates Raphael Semmes, the Captain of the CSS Alabama which saw service between 1862 and 1864. The vessel was built in secrecy in a British port which served to increase tensions between the United States and Britain, eventually leading the United States to seek reparations from Britain following the war. The Alabama caused significant damage to US Naval shipping and trade throughout the war until it was finally sunk off the coast of France in 1864. Raphael Semmes survived the sinking of the CSS Alabama and remained a prominent member of the community in Mobile until his death in 1877. The monument features a life size statue of Semmes atop a stone base with the following inscription:
COMMANDER
C.S STEAMER
ALABAMA
REAR-ADMIRAL
C.S NAVY
SAILOR, PATRIOT
STATEMAN
SCHOLAR
AND
CHRISTIAN
GENTLEMAN
The statue of Raphael Semmes was removed on June 5, 2020 following the statue’s vandalization during the George Floyd protests. At first glance, it is not readily apparent that Raphael Semmes and his statue propagate the Confederate Lost Cause narrative. The monument alludes to a positive representation of a “patriot”, skilled sea captain and respectable member of the community in Mobile. Several factors point to a different reality however. During the commemoration of the monument in 1900, several speakers utilized the opportunity to criticize Northern aggression during the war and to explicitly promote the Lost Cause narrative. Additionally, Semmes himself wrote a memoir after the war in which he bitterly defended the Lost Cause narrative and is credited with being one of the first to coin the phrase, ”War between the States”. The monument itself was also funded by the Sons of Confederate Veterans, a group that continues to promote the Lost Cause narrative to this day. The recent controversy over Confederate monuments reflect a divide within the Nation that has never fully been healed. Through this archive and its documentation of Confederate monuments, the hope is that more Americans can become better versed in their history and the divide may be mended.
Statue has been moved to the History Museum of Mobile, and has been unveiled on December 17, 2021.
Creator
Caspar Buberl, Sculptor
Sons of Confederate Veterans, Funders
Sons of Confederate Veterans, Funders
Source
“Raphael Semmes Statue.” Encyclopedia of Alabama. Accessed December 15, 2020. http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/m-2614.
Lawrence Specker. “Mobile's Statue: Who Was CSA Adm. Raphael Semmes?” al, June 5, 2020. https://www.al.com/news/mobile/2020/06/mobiles-statue-who-was-confederate-adm-raphael-semmes.html.
Armus, Teo. "Protests prompt U.S. leaders to remove Confederate monuments." Washington Post, June 9, 2020, NA. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints (accessed December 15, 2020). https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A626125519/OVIC?u=csuf_main&sid=OVIC&xid=ade1e2fc.
Sharp, John. “A Statue of the Confederate Navy Adm. Raphael Semmes Was Removed by the City of Mobile in June 2020. It Now Has a New Home as a Display inside the History Museum of Mobile an Unveiling with the Local Media Took Place on Friday, December 17, 2021.” Al, 17 Dec. 2021, www.al.com/galleries/75BZPECLZRH7JJ2WRXIBTW5HGE/.
Lawrence Specker. “Mobile's Statue: Who Was CSA Adm. Raphael Semmes?” al, June 5, 2020. https://www.al.com/news/mobile/2020/06/mobiles-statue-who-was-confederate-adm-raphael-semmes.html.
Armus, Teo. "Protests prompt U.S. leaders to remove Confederate monuments." Washington Post, June 9, 2020, NA. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints (accessed December 15, 2020). https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A626125519/OVIC?u=csuf_main&sid=OVIC&xid=ade1e2fc.
Sharp, John. “A Statue of the Confederate Navy Adm. Raphael Semmes Was Removed by the City of Mobile in June 2020. It Now Has a New Home as a Display inside the History Museum of Mobile an Unveiling with the Local Media Took Place on Friday, December 17, 2021.” Al, 17 Dec. 2021, www.al.com/galleries/75BZPECLZRH7JJ2WRXIBTW5HGE/.
Date
1900
Contributor
Matthew Mulcaire, Ian Hodges
Language
English
Type
Sculpture
Identifier
HIST 402A
Coverage
Mobile, Alabama