Raphael Semmes wrote a book after the War which I hope to read. A very non-"PC" book indeed.
Semmes going out to meet KEARSARGE was, by modern standards, romantic and foolish. Losing ALABAMA was a very serious thing for the Confederacy. Semmes was a man of a world gone with the wind, as Margaret Mitchell put it. Honor before Mission. How quaint. (Notice my mixed feelings!)