Archive of material from Electra Louisa Semmes Colston (1843-1925), the oldest daughter of Admiral Raphael Semmes and Anne Elizabeth “Annie” Spencer Semmes. Items include

1. Autograph letter signed by Confederate General Braxton Bragg (1817-1876) to Annie Semmes. Missionary Ridge, [Tennessee], 19 November 1863. 1 page, 7 7/8 x 5 1/2 in., on blue paper.

Written just a few days before the Battle of Missionary Ridge, General Bragg sends a letter, via William M. Clayton, to Admiral Semmes's wife, Anne Elizabeth "Annie" Spencer Semmes (1819-1892).

Bragg writes in full: "You and your party are not only permitted but invited to visit Head Quarters here at your pleasure. To witness the scene in its beauty and grandeur will require a day and night. You shall have a soldiers welcome and such accommodations as his Bivouac affords."

Mrs. Semmes did indeed visit the front. It was reported in the 28 November 1863 issue of the Daily Dispatch (Richmond, VA.) that on November 22nd, "Mrs. Semmes, the wife of the famous Captain Semmes, and a bridal party of ten or twelve persons, are on a visit to Gen. Bragg and the army." It is plausible that the bridal party was that of Electra, who would marry Pendleton Colston in February 1864.

2. Souvenir Album. [1857]. 8vo. Original gilt-illustrated red morocco. Shelf label to spine. Front flyleaf inscribed: “Presented to Miss Electra L. Semmes. Mobile April 1st 1857.” Includes 5 engravings and 38 pages of writing, most poems or brief missives written by friends and family to Electra. Though their names have not been extensively researched, some appear to have become Confederate soldiers. Several pages include pressed flowers and botanicals, including a sheet with a caption reading “Worn in my bridal veil Thursday evg. February 18th, 1864. 

3. Gem-sized tintype of Katherine Middleton "Kate" Semmes, mounted on CDV-sized cardstock mount. Cincinnati, Ohio: Field. Signed in pencil to mount recto: "Yours Truly Kate Semmes". Photographer's imprint to mount recto margin. Kate was a daughter of Admiral and Anne Semmes and sister to Electra.

4. Virginia Legislature. and Great Union Meeting. N.p. January [1861]. Reports on secession. 2 1/4 x 3 7/8 in. newspaper clipping.

5. Wm. R. Smith. The Lost Pleiad Found. N.p., 1861. 2 1/4 x 1 3/4 in. newspaper clipping. A short poem praising the Alabama flag, the poem is copied in the Souvenir Album.

6. To the Memory of General Robert E. Lee. N.p., [1870?]. 4 3/8 x 8 3/4 in. handbill. A 5-stanza paean to the late Confederate general.

7. Admiral R. Semmes' Letter. N.p., 1874. 2 3/4 x 5 7/8 in. newspaper clipping. A newspaper clipping syndicated throughout southern newspapers in late March 1874 printing a letter from Admiral Semmes to GAR member Darwin C. Pavey to Rome to lecture and fundraise for tombstones for Civil War veterans.

8. Admiral Raphael Semmes. N.p., [1877?]. 2 5/8 x 5 3/8 in. newspaper clipping. A short eulogy which reads in part: "Semmes was American. We of the South honor him as a Southerner and because he served so well the Southern cause. The world, however, must take him as an American product, and his deeds of heroism go into common fund that makes for American glory."

9. Christian Reids' "Alabama". N.p. 28 September [1909]. 2 1/4 x 9 3/4 in. newspaper clipping. Poem commemorating centenary of Admiral Semmes and the CSS Alabama.

Raphael Semmes (1809-1877) was a US Navy officer from 1826 until 1861, but is best remembered for his command of the Confederate cruiser C.S.S. Alabama. He became the war's most successful commerce raider, taking 65 prizes. The Alabama was finally defeated at the Battle of Cherbourg on 19 June 1864, when the newly-ironclad USS Kearsarge awaited the Alabama outside a neutral French port. Semmes, unaware of the Kearsarge's recent upgrades, engaged, but was bested in the single-ship action.

The archive here of his daughter is an invaluable insight into the life and legacy of his family. 

[Civil War, Union, Confederate] [Manuscripts, Documents, Letters, Ephemera, Signatures, Autographs] [Navy, Naval History, Brown Water Navy, David Glasgow Farragut, David Dixon Porter, Battle of Mobile Bay, Battle of New Orleans, Blockade, Confederate Blockade]