Is Semmes best known as the Captain of the Alabama or the Sumter? Which would best identify him?
Isn’t King saying August 5, 1861 is the date of the conversation, and not what ship he commanded on that date? It appears so.
Granted, King could have worded that sentence a whole lot better! :)
Given the overall poor scholarship of the article I'm more than willing to accept what he said at face value and was actually identifying Semmes as the captain of the Alabama in 1861.