The USS Monitor Appears

Much had been heard of this vessel, and a great deal had been promised for her by her builder, but when she came into the Roads everybody was disappointed.

Continuing The USS Monitor Versus The CSS Merrimac,
our selection from Young Folks History of the War for the Union by John Denison Champlin published in 1881. The selection is presented in three easy 5 minute installments. For works benefiting from the latest research see the “More information” section at the bottom of these pages.

Previously in The USS Monitor Versus The CSS Merrimac.

Time: March 9, 1862
Place: Hampton Roads, Virginia

Meanwhile the two little vessels, the Beaufort and the Raleigh, had been firing into the Congress, and three other small gunboats —- the Patrick Henry, the Jamestown, and the Teazer -— joined them in the attack. The Congress replied bravely to their fire until the fate of the Cumberland showed her commander what he had to expect, and he ordered her to be run ashore, so that the enemy could not ram her. The Merrimac then fired shells into her with great effect, dismounting her guns, and killing many of her men. At last her commander, Lieutenant Joseph B. Smith, and a large part of her crew, having fallen, and the ship being on fire in several places, her colors were hauled down. Some of her men were taken prisoners by one of the Confederate steamers, and some escaped to the shore; but many were killed or wounded, and only about half of her crew of four hundred thirty-four answered the roll-call next morning.

The three frigates that had left Fort Monroe to go to the aid of these unfortunate ships had grounded in shallow water and had watched the unequal struggle more than a mile away, powerless to help. After the destruction of the Cumberland and the Congress, the Merrimac and the gunboats bore down to attack the others. The Roanoke by this time had got off, with the aid of tugs, but her machinery being damaged she returned to Fort Monroe. The Merrimac drew so much water that she could not get within a mile of the stranded vessels, so she fired shells at them from a distance, the gunboats helping her with their fire. The Minnesota was struck several times, and many of her men were killed or wounded. At last the St. Lawrence was pulled off by tugs and taken back to Fort Monroe, but the Minnesota remained fast in the mud. She kept up a fire on the enemy, but without any effect on the armor of the Merrimac, and it seemed as if she must soon suffer the fate of the Congress. But the day was fast waning, and about seven o’clock the Confederates left their prey and steamed slowly back toward Norfolk.

Saturday night was a dismal one at Fort Monroe, and few eyes closed in sleep. The return of the Merrimac on the morrow was a certainty, and there appeared to be little chance of saving the Minnesota. What the monster would do next, was a question that no one could decide. General John E. Wool, the commander of the Fort, telegraphed to Washington that probably both the Minnesota and the St. Lawrence would be captured, and that it was thought the enemy’s vessels would pass the Fort.

About nine o’clock in the evening a queer-looking vessel came into Hampton Roads, and anchored near the Fort. It was a novel steam-battery -— the now famous Monitor -— which had been building near New York under the eye of her inventor, John Ericsson, a Swede by birth, but long a resident of the United States. Much had been heard of this vessel, and a great deal had been promised for her by her builder, but when she came into the Roads everybody was disappointed. What could this puny thing do against the great Merrimac, more than five times her tonnage! Her sides were but little above the water, and nothing was to be seen on her deck but a kind of round iron box in the middle, a pilot-house forward, and a small smokestack aft.

At a mile’s distance she might be taken for a raft -— indeed, the Confederates well described her when they called her a “Yankee cheese-box on a plank.” But when one went on board, her great strength was seen: her deck was plated with shell-proof iron, and her round box, called a turret, was made of iron plates eight to nine inches thick. Inside this turret, which was made to turn round, were two eleven-inch Dahlgren guns, placed side by side, so that both could be fired together at the same object. Ordinary ships have to be turned so as to bring their guns to bear on an enemy, but by revolving the turret of the Monitor her guns could be fired forward, backward, or sidewise, without changing the position of the ship. Her bow, too, was made strong and sharp, so that she could ram in the side of an enemy’s vessel. This odd shaped craft had been named by her inventor the Monitor, because, he said, he expected that she would be a monitor to the great nations of Europe and teach them that the days of old fashioned ships had passed away forever.

The authorities at Washington, frightened at the prospect of a visit from the Merrimac, had telegraphed to have the Monitor sent there as soon as she should arrive at Fort Monroe; but Captain Marston, thinking it important to do what he could to save the rest of the fleet, ordered Lieutenant John L. Worden, her commander, to go to the aid of the Minnesota. The little vessel therefore went up in the night and took a position alongside the Minnesota, between her and the Fort, where she could not be seen by the Confederates, but could be ready to slip out in case the Merrimac and her gunboats came to finish their work.

The whole bay and the shores were lighted up by the flames of the Congress, which had been burning many hours. Her guns went off one by one as the fire reached them, and at last, a little after midnight, her magazine, which contained five tons of gunpowder, went off with a grand explosion, which threw the blazing fragments of the ship over the waters to a great distance around.

The Monitor did not have to wait long, for early on Sunday morning the monster was seen coming down again, followed by two gunboats crowded with troops. The Confederates evidently hoped to board the Minnesota and capture both her and her crew, and this is probably the reason they did not destroy her the night before.

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