THE _MONITOR_ AND THE _MERRIMAC_
SUPERIOR ACTIVITY OF THE CONFEDERATES IN PREPARING FOR IRONCLAD
WARFARE AFLOAT--STORY OF THE BUILDING AND ARMING OF THE
_MERRIMAC_--SHE WAS A FORMIDABLE SHIP IN SPITE OF DEFECTS IN
DETAIL, BUT HER DESIGN WAS NOT THE BEST CONCEIVABLE--ORIGIN AND
DESCRIPTION OF THE SHIP THAT REVOLUTIONIZED THE NAVIES OF THE
WORLD--A WONDROUS TRIAL TRIP--FOR ONE DAY THE _MERRIMAC_ WAS
IRRESISTIBLY TRIUMPHANT--TWO FINE SHIPS OF THE OLD STYLE DESTROYED
WHILE SHE HERSELF SUFFERED BUT LITTLE--THE MAGNIFICENT FIGHT OF THE
_CUMBERLAND_--A DIFFERENCE IN OPINIONS.
The story of the most famous ship duel known to the history of the
world, the battle between the _Monitor_ and the _Merrimac_, begins on
June 10, 1861, when Lieut. John M. Brooke, C.S.N., formerly of the
American navy, was assigned to assist the Confederate Navy Department
in designing an ironclad that should be able to gain control of the
navigable waters in and about the Chesapeake Bay. Brooke “entered
upon this duty at once, and a few days thereafter submitted to the
department, as the results of his investigations, rough drawings of a
casemated vessel, with submerged ends and inclined iron-plated sides.
The ends of the vessel and the eaves of the casemate, according to his
plan, were to be submerged two feet; and a light bulwark or false bow
was designed to divide the water and prevent it from banking up on
the forward part of the shield with the vessel in motion, and also to
serve as a tank to regulate the ship’s draft. His design was approved
by the department,” and Constructor J. L. Porter was brought up from
Norfolk to Richmond to assist in making the working drawings. Porter
had already been considering this subject, and brought with him a model
of a light-draft, screw-driven scow, that was to support a “casemated
battery, with inclined iron-covered sides and ends.” In the opinion
of Brooke this would have been, “for ordinary purposes, a good boat
for harbor defence,” but a blunt-ended hull was, naturally, not to the
liking of a naval man, and he proposed to have the ends of the hull
“prolonged and shaped like those of any fast vessel, and submerged two
feet under water, so that nothing was to be seen afloat but the shield
itself.”
Plans were drawn for such a ship, and, with Chief Engineer W. P.
Williamson, Brooke went looking for engines to drive the proposed
ironclad, but failed to find any. It was in this emergency that
Williamson thought of the hulk of the _Merrimac_, that had been partly
burned and sunk at Norfolk. Her engines were old and in bad order when
she arrived at Norfolk before the trouble began, and new ones were to
have been provided. Moreover, the fire and the soaking in sea-water had
injured them; but Williamson knew that they could be made to work. Both
Porter and Brooke “thought the draft too great, but were nevertheless
of the opinion that it was the best thing that could be done,” and the
order to transform the old frigate into a floating fort was issued.
Williamson “thoroughly overhauled her engines, supplied deficiencies,
and repaired defects, and improved greatly the motive power of the
vessel.” Porter “cut the ship down, submerged her ends, performed
all the duties of constructor, and originated all the interior
arrangements.” The casemate was built according to the plans of his
model.
“Mr. Brooke attended daily to the iron armor, constructed targets,
ascertained by actual tests the resistance offered by inclined planes
of iron to heavy ordnance, and determined interesting and important
facts in connection therewith, and which were of great importance in
the construction of the ship; devised and prepared the models and
drawings of the ship’s heavy ordnance, being guns of a class never
before made, and of extraordinary power and strength.”
Porter having got the hull in the dry dock, cut it down to where the
berth deck had been. Then he laid a heavy timber deck over the entire
hull, and on this, amidships, he erected a casemate, with its walls
inclined in at an angle of “about thirty-six degrees,” according to one
of her officers, and forty-five according to another. This casemate
was two feet thick, and was made of twelve-inch timbers standing on
end, covered with eight-inch timbers laid horizontally, which were in
turn covered with oak plank four inches thick. On these were laid iron
plates two inches thick and eight inches wide, placed horizontally,
with another layer of the same dimensions over them placed vertically.
The side-walls of this casemate projected down and out over the
sides of the hulk, like the eaves of a country house, to protect the
water-line, and the hull itself was plated with one-inch iron for two
feet below the deck, although the design called for three-inch iron.
The inclined sides were carried up high enough to give seven feet head
room inside, and then a heavy flat deck twenty feet wide, with hatches
in it, was laid across. On the bow, two feet below the water-line, was
bolted a cast-iron wedge that projected two feet from the stem, and was
for use as a ram.
[Illustration: Franklin Buchanan.]
The battery of the _Merrimac_ contained six of the nine-inch Dahlgrens
found in the Norfolk Navy Yard, and four rifles designed by Brooke.
Two of these rifles were mounted as pivots at bow and stern, and
two smaller ones were in the broadside. The pivots were cast-iron
muzzle-loading rifles of seven-inch calibre, and they weighed 14,500
pounds each. The reader will appreciate the weight of the gun when
it is told that the best gun in the British navy at that time was
the 68-pounder, having a calibre of eight inches and weighing 9,500
pounds. Moreover, Brooke’s heavy casting was reinforced by wrought-iron
bands shrunk on. The broadside guns were of the same construction, but
weighed 9,000 pounds and were of four-inch calibre. Brooke’s guns were
far and away the best then afloat.
When ready for a trial trip, with all weights on board, the _Merrimac_
drew twenty-two feet six inches of water. Her crew numbered 320. She
was commanded by Flag Officer Franklin Buchanan, and Lieut. Catesby Ap
R. Jones was chief officer. Another lieutenant was John Taylor Wood,
and both of these lieutenants have written accounts of the ship. They
agree in saying that the engines were in wretched order, and that the
great draft of the ship was a serious disadvantage in the waters where
she was to be used is manifest. Nevertheless, for smooth water she was
the most powerful ship afloat. She was named the _Virginia_, and should
have been called so in history, for she was a rebuilt ship; but it is
too late to change history now.
Of course, the government heard about the building of a floating
battery on the _Merrimac_ hull. The spy service of the government was
never as good as that of the Confederates, and the news obtained was
not always appreciated. Porter tells of seeing a mechanic who had
fled from the Norfolk Navy Yard ill-treated when taken on board the
government flagship to tell what he knew. This matter is referred to,
not to make an ill-natured criticism of a government officer, but
to show how important it is in time of war to make a full and just
estimate of the power of the enemy.
[Illustration: The _New Ironsides_ in Action.
_From a photograph, of a drawing, owned by Mr. C. B. Hall._]
The Confederates began the work of converting the _Merrimac_ in June,
1861. There were several frigates in the Union navy that might have
been converted, with Northern resources, into more powerful ironclad
batteries than the _Merrimac_ was, but nothing was done until Congress
met, and on August 3d made an appropriation for ironclads. Then
designs were called for, and three were selected for acceptance after
long consideration. One of these proved a failure as an ironclad. One
proved a great success a year or so later (she was called the _New
Ironsides_), and, fortunately, the third was of a design that might be
built quickly and yet prove efficient. This ship was from the brain of
John Ericsson, who had already revolutionized the navies of the world
by introducing the submerged screw propeller; and the name which he
gave to the marvel he produced, at once became generic.
Although Congress appropriated the money for ironclads on August 3d,
the board appointed to consider plans did not convene until the 8th.
It took them until September 8th to make up their minds, and it was
not until October 4, 1861, that the final contract with Ericsson was
signed. This was a needless delay, and this fact is worth emphasizing
because it is not unlikely that similar delays will be experienced
whenever the nation is again unexpectedly plunged into war.
[Illustration: The Giant and the Dwarfs; or John E. and the Little
Mariners.
[From a Swedish caricature, February 10, 1867.]
_John._--Come here, little boys, and I will show you. What do you
say to this model of a gunboat for our coast defence?
_The Little Boys._--Won’t do ... too small ... too heavy
draught ... too large guns ... too light draught ... too large
... too small guns ... won’t do,--that’s what I say ... and I
also,--because it isn’t our invention.
_John._--Well, little boys, that is at least some reason.
]
But if the authorities were dilatory, the mechanics were not. The
keel was stretched in that part of the Brooklyn water front called
Greenpoint, before the end of the month, although working plans had to
be laid in the mould loft and contracts for materials made. Three gangs
of men were employed, working eight hours each in succession; the iron
was kept hot from the day the work began until January 30, 1862, when
the hull was sent afloat in the waters of the East River, under the
name of _Monitor_.
[Illustration: The Monitor.]
The hull of the _Monitor_, as it stood on the land, was in a way
something like that of the common ferryboat. There was a smooth,
rounded hull, 124 feet long, thirty-four wide, and about six feet
deep, with a superstructure laid flat across the top of this hull and
projecting out like a guard-rail on all sides.
It projected three feet and eight inches on each side, and twenty-five
feet at each end. But this overhanging part was really a super-added
hull; it was a flat-bottomed hull, 172 feet long, forty-one wide, and
five feet deep, laid on top of the lower hull, and secured to it by a
single row of rivets. As a whole, the _Monitor_ was unlike any other
hull ever built. And it is no disparagement of the genius of Ericsson
to say that no sailorman could ever have dreamed of such a thing even
when in a delirium from drink.
This hull was made of boiler-iron riveted to suitable frames, and the
vertical sides of the overhang were protected by five one-inch iron
plates bolted on and backed by heavy oak timbers. A heavy timber deck,
supported on big wooden beams, was protected from a plunging fire by
two layers of half-inch iron plates. On the centre of this hull rose a
round turret, twenty feet in diameter inside and nine feet high, made
of eight one-inch iron plates. It was supported on a pivot, to which
an engine was geared so that it could be readily turned in either
direction. Her deck was one foot above the water-line. She carried two
eleven-inch smooth-bore guns, firing solid shot weighing from 170 to
180 pounds. Her speed was between four and five knots. A novel feature
was the absence of smoke-stacks in action; they were taken apart and
laid flat on deck, which gave an all-round fire abaft. The draught to
the furnaces was maintained by powerful blowers. Forward of the turret
stood a pilot-house made of iron logs, nine inches square, built up
log-cabin fashion by notching and bolting the ends together. Her anchor
was suspended in a well under the bow, the cable passing through a
pipe beneath the deck to a winch further aft. The propeller was, of
course, concealed under the overhang aft. In short, her machinery was
altogether below the water-line, while her guns were placed as near the
centre of gravity as could well be imagined, and were well protected.
It is perhaps as well to say here as elsewhere that with such
modifications as experience has suggested, the _Monitor_ type is, in
the opinion of many of the American captains who have commanded them,
not only the best protected, but the most efficient and the safest
style of coast-defence ships.
As the month of January, 1862, came on, the Confederates learned from
their spies that the _Monitor_ was rapidly nearing completion, and the
number of men at work on the _Merrimac_ was doubled. They had already
been pushing the work as fast as daywork could do it, but with the
added force, the _Merrimac_ rapidly assumed the form where she might
be placed in commission. The collecting of a crew proved a matter of
some trouble, for the people of the South were all soldiers rather
than seamen; but by visiting the various armies, Captain Buchanan was
able to select a thoroughly good crew for the work--men who could fix
the boilers, steer the ship, and work the guns to the best advantage.
The fact that many of them did not know a royal halliard from futtock
shroud was of no importance, for, like the latest of warships, the
_Merrimac_ had neither halliards nor shrouds. With the arrival of the
crew the eagerness of the officers to try their ship increased. She had
never steamed a mile in her new form--she had never steamed at all save
only to turn her shaft at the dock to see whether the engines would
work or not; but this did not matter. The men were fore and fit, and on
Saturday, March 8th, they would show what the ship was good for.
A glance at the map shows that the waters of the James River come down
from the northwest, those of the Nansemond come from the southwest,
and those of the Elizabeth come up from the south to unite in Hampton
Roads, and flow out to the northeast to empty into Chesapeake Bay. Old
Point Comfort, with Fortress Monroe, guarded the north side of the
mouth of Hampton Roads, but away south, on the route to Norfolk, was
Sewell’s Point, where the Confederates had erected strong batteries
that completely commanded the channel running south from Hampton Roads
to Norfolk. Over on the northwest corner, so to speak, of Hampton
Roads lay Newport News Point, which was held by the government; so the
government ships were in the habit of anchoring along the northerly
side of Hampton Roads all the way from Fortress Monroe to Newport News,
a distance of seven miles. They were in plain sight of the Confederate
batteries on Sewell’s Point, but far out of range, for it is a wide
stretch of water.
[Illustration: Hampton Roads.
_From “The Navy in the Civil War.”_]
On the morning of March 8, 1862, the steam frigates _St. Lawrence_,
_Roanoke_, and _Minnesota_ were anchored at wide intervals, in the
order named, in a line southwest from Fortress Monroe toward Newport
News Point, while the sailing frigate _Congress_ lay just east of
Newport News Point, and the sailing sloop-of-war _Cumberland_ lay
just a little to the west of the point. It was a lovely day of the
early spring. The ships swung easily to their cables; the small boats
wabbled over the tiny waves as they tugged at the painters that held
them fast to the wide-spread booms. The wash-clothes, on well-filled
lines stretched in the rigging, fluttered in the gentle breeze. There
was nothing to indicate that any officer had any care or thought of the
ironclad ship that for months past the Confederates had been building
at Norfolk. And as a matter of fact they did not give the ironclad a
serious thought, for they were conservatives. What could a newfangled
notion like this ironclad do, any way? Hadn’t Lord Howard Douglas
and other good English authorities proved to the satisfaction of the
experienced men of the world that a ship plated with iron would really
prove more dangerous to her crew than to an enemy in the oft-approved
frigates of the day? He had.
The morning wore away in peace, but at noon exactly, the crew of the
_Cumberland_ saw the long trail of smoke from steamers that were boldly
coming up the channel from Norfolk. A careful lookout kept watch of
that smoke until it was seen that the steamers were three in number, of
which one, although it made more smoke than both the others, did not
look at all like a ship, but like a low black box instead. There was
no mistaking her character, however. She looked as the escaped colored
people had said the new ironclad looked, and the drums beat the long
call to quarters.
Over on the _Congress_, lying east of Newport News Point, there was a
similar stir while signal flags fluttered aloft to warn the big steam
frigates lying up to the northeast toward Fortress Monroe.
[Illustration: Fortress Monroe and its Vicinity.
1. Old Point Comfort, 2. Fortress Monroe. 3. Water battery. 4.
Hampton Roads. 5. Rip Raps. 6. Chesapeake Bay. 7. Sewell’s Point.
8. Craney Island. 9. Elizabeth River. 10. Norfolk. 11. Portsmouth.
12. Dismal Swamp. 13. Atlantic Ocean. 14. Cape Hatteras, N. C. 15.
Nansemond River. 16 James River. 17. Newport News. 18. Hampton. 19.
Mill Creek. 20. Land approach to Fortress.
]
Capt. John Marston, who was senior officer and commanded the _Roanoke_,
reports that he had already seen the enemy coming. At 12.45 o’clock
they passed Sewell’s Point, over on the south shore, and on getting out
into deep water they headed away to the west toward Newport News.
The _Merrimac_ had left Norfolk for a trial trip, but the crew had
slushed her walls to make the Yankee shells slip off, and their
enthusiasm made them determine to give her such a trial as no new-idea
ship ever had either before or since. Running across to Newport News,
the _Merrimac_ headed for the _Cumberland_, that lay beyond the
point. The government crews were at their quarters, and while yet
the _Merrimac_ was three-quarters of a mile away, the _Cumberland’s_
ten-inch pivot began to talk. Then the frigate _Congress_ opened fire.
The _Merrimac_ passed her broadside to broadside, for the _Congress_
swung head to the east with the young flood-tide. It was an experienced
crew on the _Congress_, and her shot rattled and burst against the
_Merrimac’s_ side--rattled and burst “like peas from a pea-shooter.”
They made the slush there sizzle and smoke, but they did no damage
whatever. As the _Merrimac_ passed the _Congress_, however, and opened
fire with her broadside, the shot struck home, carrying death on every
side.
One broadside only, and then she was gone. She was going to begin
on the _Cumberland_. Lieut. George U. Morris was in command of the
_Cumberland_, for Capt. William Radford was away on other duty. But
Morris was equal to the emergency. As the _Merrimac_ drew near, the
_Cumberland’s_ guns were loaded with solid shot and the heaviest
service charge of powder. The broadside guns were carefully aimed, and
almost every shot struck the moving target--struck it and bounded clear
or burst into harmless fragments. There was nothing they could do to
impede the coming monster. And then, when the _Merrimac_ was within
a few yards, her long bow rifle blazed forth. It was aimed by Lieut.
Charles Simms, and it killed and wounded “most of the crew of the after
pivot gun of the _Cumberland_.”
The _Cumberland_ returned the shot with a broadside, but the _Merrimac_
was now upon her; the long bow, that was just awash, slid through the
water and into the side of the old sloop just under the fore rigging.
The crash of the timbers was heard above the roar of the guns. The
_Cumberland_ shivered and heeled slightly to the blow, while the
_Merrimac_ hung for a moment in the wound she had made, and then backed
off, firing every gun that would bear, while the water went roaring
into the _Cumberland_ through the hole where the ram had struck.
Heading to the west, the _Merrimac_ steamed slowly away astern of the
wounded ship, and then turned to come back again. While the _Merrimac_
turned she raked the _Cumberland_ first with the big stern pivot and
then with the broadside guns, killing and wounding many, and then
ranging up beside her, hailed and demanded that she surrender.
[Illustration: The Sinking of the _Cumberland_ by the Ironclad
_Merrimac_.
_From a lithograph published by Currier & Ives._]
The _Cumberland_ was now settling down forward under the weight of
water there; it was plain that she must sink. It was certain that her
shot could not pierce the side of the ironclad. But Lieutenant Morris
replied:
“Never! I’ll sink alongside.” And then the _Cumberland’s_ “gun’s crews
kicked off their shoes, and stripped to the waist. Tanks of cartridges
were hoisted on the gun-deck and opened, and round after round was
fired at the ironclad. A shell passing through the hatch burst in the
sick-bay, killing four of the wounded. On the berth-deck, the wounded
men were lifted upon racks and mess-chests, to keep them from drowning;
and as the water rose, those who fell on the upper decks were carried
amidships and left there. Already, the boats had been lowered and made
fast in a line on the shore side. At half-past three, the forward
magazine was drowned, and five minutes later the order was given to the
men to leave quarters and save themselves.”
The water had risen at this time to the gun-deck, and the ship was
heeling swiftly to port. There was need of haste if the crew were to
save themselves even by swimming, but with their feet in the rising
flood one crew lingered to fire a last shot. And as its smoke rolled
from the ship’s side she sank out of sight with her flag flying.
“Never did a crew fight a ship with more spirit and hardihood than
these brave fellows of the _Cumberland_ while the vessel was going
down. Nor was it a mere idle display of gallantry, this holding on to
the last; for in these days, in naval battles,” “_c’est le dernier
coup qui peut-être nous rendra victorieux_” (the last shot may give us
the victory). “_Tirez, tirez toujours!_”
Flag and all disappeared as the ship went down, but the water was only
fifty-four feet deep, and when she struck bottom she righted, and the
peaks of her masts appeared once more to flutter the old flag in the
sunlight.
And let it be told to the honor of the _Cumberland’s_ crew, who fought
till their feet were wet by the water above the deck of the sinking
ship, that their shot did more damage than any others fired at the
_Merrimac_, not excepting the _Monitor’s_; for they shot off the
muzzles of two of the Confederate guns and burst a shell in a port
where its fragments killed two and wounded several others.
There were 376 souls on board the _Cumberland_ when she went into
action. Of these, 117 were lost and twenty-three were missing.
[Illustration: The _Merrimac_ Ramming the _Cumberland_.
_From a drawing by M. J. Burns._]
“The gallantry of her officers and crew was the theme of great praise,
and painting and poetry celebrated their heroism. Lieutenant Morris,
who was commanding in the absence of Captain Radford, was the recipient
of special commendations from the Secretary of the Navy in a letter
to him on the 21st March. Just a week later, twelve citizens of
Philadelphia, all personal strangers to him, presented to Lieutenant
Morris, at the house of R. W. Leaming, an elegant sword, saying in
a letter to him, that it could have ‘no worthier recipient than the
brave sailor who fought his ship while a plank floated, fired his last
broadside in sinking, and went down with his flag flying at the peak.’
On the sword was the motto in Latin, ‘I sink, but never surrender.’”
[Illustration: George U. Morris.
_From a photograph owned by Mr. C. B. Hall._]
From the _Cumberland_ the _Merrimac_ turned to the government batteries
on shore, which were silenced for brief intervals, and then she
began on the _Congress_. Lieut. Joseph B. Smith was in command that
day. Seeing the fate of the _Cumberland_, he made sail to fly toward
Fortress Monroe, but unfortunately grounded. Two Confederate gunboats
that had come with the _Merrimac_ got under the stern of the _Congress_
and opened a hot fire where only two guns would bear on them, and then
finally came the _Merrimac_ to take a raking position at a distance of
150 yards. She could not use the ram because the water was shoal, but
her powerful battery knocked the guns of the _Congress_ to pieces and
“searched the ship.” Just before the last stern gun was disabled the
powder cartridges ceased coming to it. The division lieutenant went to
learn why. “After my eyes became a little accustomed to the darkness
and the sharp smoke from burning oak,” he wrote, “I saw that the line
of cooks and wardroom servants stationed to pass full boxes had been
raked by a shell, and every one of them either killed or wounded.”
For an hour the crew of the _Congress_ stood to their guns, and then,
Lieutenant Smith having been killed, and the ship being on fire in
several places, Lieut. Austin Pendergrast hoisted a white flag.
Meantime the flagship _Roanoke_ had sent the _Minnesota_ over toward
Newport News to attack the _Merrimac_, and had herself followed with
the _St. Lawrence_. But only the _Minnesota_ got near enough to fight.
The other two “very prudently ran aground not far from Fortress Monroe.”
“As soon as the _Congress_ surrendered, Commander Buchanan ordered the
gun-boats _Beaufort_ and _Raleigh_ to steam alongside, take off her
crew, and set fire to the ship. Lieutenant Pendergrast surrendered to
Lieutenant Parker, of the _Beaufort_. Delivering his sword and colors,
he was directed by Lieutenant Parker to return to his ship and have the
wounded transferred as rapidly as possible. All this time the shore
batteries and small-arm men were keeping up an incessant fire on our
vessels. Two of the officers of the _Raleigh_, Lieutenant Taylor and
Midshipman Hutter, were killed while assisting the Union wounded out
of the _Congress_. A number of the enemy’s men were killed by the same
fire. Finally it became so hot that the gun-boats were obliged to haul
off with only thirty prisoners, leaving Lieutenant Pendergrast and
most of his crew on board, and they all afterward escaped on shore by
swimming or in small boats. While this was going on, the white flag was
flying at her mainmast-head. Not being able to take possession of his
prize, the commodore ordered hot shot to be used, and in a short time
she was in flames fore and aft. While directing this, both himself and
his flag-lieutenant, Minor, were severely wounded. The command then
devolved upon Lieut. Catesby Jones.
“Our loss in killed and wounded was twenty-one. The armor was hardly
damaged, though at one time our ship was the focus on which were
directed at least one hundred heavy guns afloat and ashore. But nothing
outside escaped. Two guns were disabled by having their muzzles shot
off. The ram was left in the side of the _Cumberland_. One anchor, the
smoke-stack, and the steam-pipes were shot away. Railings, stanchions,
boat-davits, everything was swept clean. The flag-staff was repeatedly
knocked over, and finally a boarding-pike was used. Commodore Buchanan
and the other wounded were sent to the Naval Hospital, and after making
preparations for the next day’s fight, we slept at our guns, dreaming
of other victories in the morning.”
The quotations above are from John Taylor Wood’s story of the action,
as printed in the _Century Magazine_, and Wood was a lieutenant on
the _Merrimac_. There is no dispute as to the facts which he there
relates. The points especially worth observing in this account are
these: The government batteries on shore continued their fire at the
Confederates after the _Congress_ showed the white flag, and this fire
killed friend and foe alike. The commanding officer of the _Congress_
“was _directed_ by Lieutenant Parker to return to his ship and have the
wounded transferred,” and the Confederate “gunboats were obliged to
haul off with only thirty prisoners, leaving Lieutenant Pendergrast” on
the _Congress_. Captain Buchanan’s report of the fight says that the
firing on the Confederate gunboats was “vile treachery”; and Scharf’s
history says that “very great indignation was felt and expressed by
the Confederates,” because the officers of the _Congress_ who had
surrendered did not hasten on board the last Confederate gunboat
leaving the side of the surrendered ship. It says their remaining on
the _Congress_ was “to the discredit of the honor of American sailors.”
Admiral Porter says, regarding Buchanan’s firing red-hot shot at the
_Congress_ when the white flag was flying and many wounded as well as
the unhurt were on board, “this was certainly most inhuman, since the
crew of the _Congress_ were not responsible for the act of the troops
on shore.”
It was a right fierce battle, and the things done were inevitable under
the circumstances--inevitable because of the passions excited by actual
conflict. If another battle of the kind be conceivable, then just such
doings must follow in its wake.
In after years Secretary of the Navy Welles wrote an account of the
effect this first raid of the _Merrimac_ had upon a Cabinet meeting
at Washington. Because it showed a lamentable ignorance of the real
power of the ship, and because the losses of the day were wholly due to
needless delays in preparing to meet the new style of warship, it is
worth while quoting one paragraph from his article:
“‘The _Merrimac_,’ said Stanton, ‘will change the whole character
of the war; she will destroy, _seriatim_, every naval vessel; she
will lay all the cities on the seaboard under contribution. I shall
immediately recall Burnside; Port Royal must be abandoned. I will
notify the governors and municipal authorities in the North to take
instant measures to protect their harbors.’ He had no doubt, he said,
that the monster was at this moment on her way to Washington; and,
looking out of the window, which commanded a view of the Potomac
for many miles, ‘Not unlikely, we shall have a shell or cannon-ball
from one of her guns in the White House before we leave this room.’
Mr. Seward, usually buoyant and self-reliant, overwhelmed with the
intelligence, listened in responsive sympathy to Stanton, and was
greatly depressed, as, indeed, were all the members.”
But that was not all nor the worst of the panic. Assistant Secretary
of War John Tucker wrote to Commodore Vanderbilt of New York to ask
“for what sum you will contract to destroy the _Merrimac_ ... answer by
telegraph, as there is no time to be lost.” Humiliating as such panics
are, they must not be forgotten; they must be remembered because they
are humiliating, in order that they may be avoided in future.
By the time the _Congress_ was ablaze beyond remedy, five o’clock had
come, and the ebb-tide had run so far that the _Merrimac_ could not
go to look after the _Minnesota_, which was grounded some distance
off toward Fortress Monroe. Moreover, another day was coming, and to
the mind of Lieutenant Jones, who now commanded, he would much better
return to Sewell’s Point for the night and take the others on the
first of the flood-tide next day. That he would have destroyed them at
leisure next day, had no new element come into the conflict, is now
unquestioned. But a new and a remarkable element--the _Monitor_--was at
hand.