Law, naval service, and secession in Semmes's early career

Semmes entered the United States Navy as a midshipman in 1826, but the small peacetime fleet left many officers without continuous sea employment. His early assignments included service aboard Lexington, Erie, Brandywine, and Porpoise, with the latter employed against piracy in the Caribbean. He used much of the 1830s to study law and qualify for the bar, experience that strengthened his public speaking and argumentative writing. After losing Somers during the Mexican-American War, he served as a first lieutenant, then received lighthouse duties while building a reputation as an author and lawyer. When Alabama seceded, he resigned his federal posts and followed the state where he had made his home. He had condemned commerce warfare before conducting it himself. His writings allow that change to be examined alongside his repeated appeals to honour.