The Sun.
London, England, 1862-03-31 00:00:00

THE IitERRIIIIAC AND MONITOR.

At a special meeting of the New York Chamber of Com-
merce, held on the 12th of March, Captain Ericsson, inven-
wtoarsoafsthkeedirtoong-cilvaedhsitrompinbioan of the
tteryModnaintogre,r to thewaspr shipping
of the port to be apprehended from the Merrimac.
Capt. Ericsson, upon rising, was received with a flatter-
ing welcome. He said he had received a letter from Chief-
Engineer Stimers, containing the first reliable information
they had got of the engagement between the Monitor and
the Merrimac, from any one on board the Monitor. The
letter was written two hours after t4e battle of last Sun-
day. He then proceeded to read the letter as follows :

Iron-clad Monitor,
Hampton Roads, March 9,
proved 1862.
this
My dear i , After a stormy passage) h
to be the finest sea boat I was ever in, we fought the
wase the
ht
Merrimac for more than three hours this forenoon, and sent
Sir,—After
wieh
her back to Norfolk in a sinking condition. Iron clad against
iron clad. We manoeuvred about the bay here, and went
at each other with mutual fierceness. I consider that both
e s.
The nine
only
vulnerable
point
ships were well-fought; we were struck twenty-two times,
pilot-house tvvice turretiim
times, deck
three
pilot-house. One of your great logs (9 by 12 inches thick
is broken in two. The shot struck just outside of where the
captain had his eye, and it has disabled him, by destroying
his left eye and temporarily blinding the other. The log is
' not quite in two, but is broken and pressed inwards li inch.
She tried to run us down and sink us as she did the Cumber-
land yesterday, but she got the worst of it. Her bow
passed over our deck, and our sharp upper-edged side cut
through the light iron shoe upon her stern, and well into
her oak. She will not try that again. She
gave us a tre-
mendous thump, but did not injure us in the least. We are
just able to find the point of contact.
The turret is a splendid structure. I don't think much
of the shield, but the pendulums are fine things, though I
cannot tell you how they would stand the shot, as they
were not hit.

You were very correct in your estimate of the effect of
shot upon the man on the inside of the turret, when it was
struck near him. Three men were knocked down, of whom
I was one, the other two had to be carried below, but I was
not disabled at all, and the others recovered before the
battle was over. Captain Worden stationed himself at the
pilot-house, Greene fired the guns, and I turned the turret
until the captain was disabled, and was relieved by lireene,
when I managed the turret myself, Master Stodden having
been one of the two stunned men.

Captain Ericsson, I congratulate you upon your great
success. Thousands have this day blessed you. I have
heard whole crews cheer you. feels that you
Every man
have saved this place to the nation by furnishing us with
the means to whip an iron-dad
frigate that was, until our
arrival, having it all her own way with our most Powerful
vessels.—l am, with much esteem, very truly Yours,
ALLAN C. STIMERS
Captain J. Ericsson? No. 95, Franklin-street' N. Y.• •
Note.—The `log" alluded to is made of Wrought irOn of
tho beat material.

The sailing transport Albuera arrived at Wool-
wich on Saturday, bringing a detachment of the
Military Train from China.
The following appointments were made on Satur-
day at the Admiralty :—Lieut. J. C. Paterson,
additional, to the Excellent ; Dr J. W. S. Meikle-
john, assist.-surg., to the Asia ; James Martin,
assist.-surg., to Greenwich Hospital; Geo. Lawless,
clerk, to the Tribune, and Edward A. Dyer, clerk,
to the Revenge.