John McIntosh Kell

John McIntosh Kell. Life of An Extraordinary Seaman. The CSS Alabama is probably the most recognized vessel of the Confederate Navy. Many men served under her commander, Raphael Semmes, including a gentleman who would eventually call Sunnyside his home; John McIntosh Kell., Born in McIntosh County, near Darien, Georgia, in 1823, John McIntosh Kell entered the U.S. Navy in September 1841, at the age of 17, as a Midshipman. Over the next two decades he served on several ships, was active in California during the war with Mexico and participated in Commodore Matthew C. Perry's expedition to Japan., When Georgia seceded from the Union in early 1861, Lieutenant Kell resigned from the United States' Navy. In April 1861, he briefly commanded the Georgia state gunboat Savannah, but received a Confederate States Navy commission as First Lieutenant the following month and was sent to New Orleans. There, he helped Commander Raphael Semmes fit out the cruiser CSS Sumter, on which he served as Executive Officer during her commerce raiding cruise in 1861-62., First Lieutenant Kell was Rear Admiral Semmes' Executive Officer on CSS Alabama, the South's most famous commerce raider, which not only took more than sixty prizes but also fought and sank a Union warship. It was itself eventually sunk in June 1864 in an encounter with the USS Kearsarge off the coast of France. Kell was rescued by the British yacht Deerhound and taken to England. Promoted to the rank of Commander in that month, he commanded the ironclad CSS Richmond in the James River Squadron in 1865., After the end of the War Between the States, Kell returned to Sunnyside, Georgia and became a farmer. During this time he would entertain the famous Georgia poet Sydney Lanier at his home. In 1874, while visiting Kell, Lanier would write the poem "Corn." In later years, he served as Adjutant General of Georgia from 1887 until his death in 1900. Prior to his death, Kell wrote Recollections of a Naval Life including the Cruises of the Confederate States Steamers "Sumter" and "Alabama.", One of the most famous pictures of Raphael Semmes on the CSS Alabama has Kell in the background. Kell's trunk can be viewed at the Port Columbus Naval Museum in Columbus. A portrait of him, in his Confederate Naval uniform with the CSS Alabama in the background, hangs with many of Georgia's famous dignitaries within Georgia's Capitol. His final resting place is in Oak Hill Cemetery in Griffin, Georgia.