A murderous band, killing innocent civilians?

I don't think so: from Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSS_Alabama

Upon the completion of her seven expeditionary raids, Alabama had been at sea for 534 days out of 657, never visiting a single Confederate port. She boarded nearly 450 vessels, captured or burned 65 Union merchant ships, and took more than 2,000 prisoners without a single loss of life from either prisoners or her own crew<\B><\U>.