For Union Captain John Winslow of the USS Kearsarge, the victory was well deserved and rewarding. Throughout the North, news of the Alabama's end was greeted with jubilation and relief.
Secretary Welles wrote Winslow: "I congratulate you for your good fortune in meeting tehAlabama, which had so long avoided the fastest ships of the service...for the ability displayed in the contest you have the thanks of the Department....The battle was so brief, the victory so decisive, and the comparative results so striking that the country will be reminded of the brilliant actions of our infant Navy, which have been repeated and illustrated in this engagement.....
"Our countrymen have reason to be satisfied that in this, as in every naval action of this unhappy war, neither the ships, the guns, nor the crews have deteriorated, but they maintain the ability and continue the renown which have ever adorned our naval annals."
Winslow received a vote of thanks from Congress, and was promoted to Commodore with his commission dated 19 July 1864, his victory day.
Great for Winslow. --Old B-R'er
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