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Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
USS Kearsarge Sinking the Alabama
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.

USS Kearsarge Sinking the Alabama

Artifact IDMO 1957.45
Object Type Painting
Artist (American, 1839-1929)
Date1922
Mediumpainting: board, paint (oil)
frame: wood
Dimensionsframe H 17 in x W 26 in x D 3/4 in (43.2 cm x 66 cm x 1.9 cm )
Physical DescriptionAn oil on board painting of the USS KEARSARGE sinking the CSS ALABAMA off the coast of Cherbourg, France on June 19, 1864. The scene depicts the heavily damaged and sinking ALABAMA on the left and the KEARSARGE on the right with a rowboat moving between the two ships. Another war ship is seen in the distance on the far right. The painting is signed by the artist in the lower left: Xanthus Smith / 1922.

The painting is framed in a 1¼" black-painted wood frame with gilt inner trim.


Historical NoteFranklin Roosevelt was an avid, lifelong collector of prints, engravings, and paintings illustrating the history of the United States Navy. In 1922, he purchased this Xanthus Smith painting from Newman F. McGirr, a Philadelphia book and art dealer. The painting depicts the 1864 battle in which the USS Kearsage sank the famed Confederate raider. FDR often purchased naval artwork from McGirr during the 1920s and 1930s.

Smith was a marine artist who served in the United States Navy during the Civil War. He is best known for his depictions of important naval battles of that war—a special interest of FDR’s.

Roosevelt was initially attracted to another Smith painting of the battle between the CSS Virginia (formerly the USS Merrimack) and the USS Congress (see MO 1957.44), which he found listed in a McGirr catalog. After viewing the painting, and being impressed by it, FDR paid McGirr $42 for it.

Several months later, Roosevelt wrote McGirr again. “I like the painting of the Merrimac [sp.] so much that I wish you would send me on approval Xanthus Smith’s painting of the Sinking of the Alabama”. FDR purchased it for $47.25.

Additional Details
Credit LineEstate of Franklin D. Roosevelt
National Archives Catalog CollectionFranklin D. Roosevelt Library Museum Collection (National Archives Identifier 735948)
National Archives Catalog SeriesUnited States Navy Materials (National Archives Identifier 782673)
Use Restriction StatusUnrestrictedCopyrightReproduction or other use of these holdings or images thereof is unrestricted.
In Collection(s)
Exhibitions
Not on view
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