On the 18th of that month, Mr.Mallory detached him from the post he held, by appointment from the President, of Chief of the Lighthouse Bureau, with orders that he should proceed to New Orleans and take command of the steamer Sumter.
Captain Semmes saw clearly that war was coming.

He perceived, at the same time, the means by which he could serve his country best.

He set forth for New Orleans without delay.
Our readers will see, by-and-by, from the quotations we shall make from the Captain's Log, that he is as little the hungry fire-eater which many of his admirers suppose him to be, as he is the Black Pirate of the New York press.

Captain Semmes is a native of Charles county, in Maryland, a State that has furnished numerous patriotic citizens to the South.
Before accepting his new service he had taken honourable farewell of his old.

The Federals had no charge to bring against him before the day when he stepped on the deck of the then unknown and insignificant Sumter steam-vessel.