Rensselaer Republican, Volume 25, Number 8, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 October 1892 — MONITOR AND MERRIMAC. [ARTICLE]

MONITOR AND MERRIMAC.

Tbe Aannehin* of the Raleigh Recalls (be Greatest of Naval Duels. Norfolk Lett»r to St. Leal* Glebe Democrat. With the aid of 1,200 pounds of tallow, 250 pounds of Alban j grease. 300 pounds of soft soap and the force of gravity the 1)140 tons of steel slid down the ways and floated like a duck. All newly-lsuncbed ships float like ducks, and in so doing the "hull of the Raleigh simply fulfilled her destiny.: —■ —-—— ■ft. Thirty years ago to the month another warship left this navy-yard, steamed slowly oat off the Elizabeth into Hampton Roads) and in twelve hours revolutionized 5 the science of naval warfare. The Confederate Merrimac, with her roof of iron, crossed' the roads, moved right up to the United States sloop of war Cumberland, with thirty guns, crushed in " her wooden hull as if it had been pasteboard, and sunk her. Then, turning attention to the frigate Congree, with fifty guns, the Merritnac drove her agroupd, disabled her, forced her to surrender and burned her. For an hour the Congress poured broadside after broadside upon the Merrimac, but the solid shot bounded off the armor as if they had been baseballs. Having destroyed two of tbe best ships in the United States navy the Merrimac drew back behind Sewell’s Point for the night. That day’s work taught the world a lesson. It marked the end of the wooden war ship. It ushered in the era of the iron clads. The long, symmetrical steel hull of the Raleigh, which slid down the ways into the Elizabeth, was the legitimate successor in naval science to the Merrimac. The day following that on which she gained her double victory, the Merrimac steamed out of the ftoads to complete her work of annihilation. The Minnesota was there, and several other wooden vessels of the United States Navy. These disposed of, the cities of Washington and Baltimore were at the mercy, of tbe Merrimac, and if she could’ demonstrate seagoing qualities for brief periods Philadelphia and New York might be destroyed. Confederate fortunes touched one of the highwater marks when the Cumberland went down and the Congress was burned. But the surprise was on the other side when the Merrimac presented herself in the Roads for the second day’s work. Out in front of the fleet of wooden war-ships lay a craft as queer and extraordinary as the Merrimac in naval architecture. The papers of that day said it looked like a ‘‘cheese box on a raft.’’ During the night the Monitor, the first of Ericsson’s creations, had arrived. It had been a terrible voyage down tbe Atlantic coast for tills strange craft. The escape from shipwreck had been a narrow one. But the Monitor bad come. And as the Merrimac moved forward: the monitor also advanced. What a battle it was! In after years every detail of it was analyzed and studied as a science, and the navies of the world were rebuilt from tbe keel up to conform, to the new conditions. It was armor against armor. Back and forth, on straight lines and curves they moved, each seeking the other's vulnerable point, Solid shot struck tbe low, sloping sides of the Merrimac, raking her from stem to stern. Solid shot made great dents in the turret of the Monitor and fell off into the water. There they pounded each other for hours, and then, shaken and damaged they parted with mutual respect. The moral effect of the battle of the Merrihiac and the Monitor was great. The North took breath. Washington and Baltimore were safe. Monitors were at least a match for Merrimacs. “Build iron clads” was the lesson of that day in Hampton Roads, March, 1862, and “build iron clads” was the order which went to every navy yard of all the nations of the world? “A cheese box on a raft” describes the monitor type pretty well. Three of the monitors lay beside the dock of the navy yard on the Elizabeth the day the Raleigh was launched. At the time of the Chilian excitement a few months ago these monitors, that had been resting peacefully at anchor for more than twenty years, were hauled up to the docks and the work of refitting them for active service was undertaken. Rather strange to tell, they were found in good condition, and in a few days they could have taken up position at the mouths of Hampton Roads, or Chesapeake Bay, or wherever wanted to repel attack. One of these monitors was scarred and dented in a score of places. Solid shot had hit the turret fairly and squarely, bending in the plate until it made a perfect impression, but that was all. Nowhere had the armor been punctured, and so far as outward Inspection showed, nowhere hod the best guns of the Confederacy been able to inflict serious damage. All of the honor this Government recently bestowed upon Ericsson in sending his body on a war ship to his native land was worthily bestowed. The inventor of the monitor deserved well of his adopted country, and the debt may yet be Increased. What did the Merrimac look like?

A citizen of Norfolk answered the question. He was old enough to be a courier to a Confederate general when the great naval battle occurred. He saw the Merrimac building. He saw her steam down the Elizabeth and into Hampton He saw the Cumberland go. under with her flag firing, and he saw the Congress forced to surrender. And he saw the next day’s duel between the hope of the Confederacy and the dream of Ericsson. “What did the Merrimac look ilker The ex-courior glanced up and down the river, where 40,000 pooplo were standing or sitting on all min* ner of craft writing for the steel hull of the Raleigh, 300 feet long, to start to her baptism. The ex-couri-er's vision took in the little fleet of monitors. It passed by the venerable frigate Franklin, in mid stream, with towering masts and boarded portholes, once a monarch of the sea. now a receiving ship. Ooean steamers, with their black halls, trim revenue cutters double ecidwl ferrvwßb “

schooners, the graceful swift, hardwood passenger boat of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, yaohts—these alt passed In mental review. And the ex-courier, pointing beyond them all to a very low, almost flat roofed building on the Norfolk shore, said-; - “There.do youeee that warehouse over yonder? Well, tbe Merrimac looked just like that building would if it was on the waiter. She had a roof that slopid down just about as that roof slopes. The shot struck that roof and just bounded - 1 “ The roof was made of railroad rails laid close together, wasn’t it ?** “ Oh, no 1 That’s a mistake. ” y “Seems to me the Northern papers said so at the time to account for the solid shot making no impression. " “ Well, that's all wrong. I saw the armor when it was put on. It was in iron sheets six Inches thick, and’it was <. laid on the roof and bolted, That was the armorfrom which the solid shot bounced off. It’s another mistake to say that the Monitor didn’t run from the Merrimac. She did run, for I saw her. She got out into the shallow water where the Merrimac couldn’t ram her and then pouhded away with her guns. Hullo —there she goes. ” The great steel hull had begun to move. The truth of Confederate history was forgotten in the pride of present patriotism. The ex-courier became as enthusiastic as the ten-year-old girl by his side, and joined his “There she goes 1” to 40,000 others.