The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1862-03-22
APPEARANCE OF THE MONITOR.


upon her performance was felt that the
safety of their position in a great measure
! depended. Never was a greater hope
| placed upon apparently more insignificant
means, but never was great hope more
triumphantly fulfilled The Monitor is
the reverse of formidable, lying low on the
;yate-, with a plain structure ;midShip, a
small pilot house forward, a dirninutye
smoke pipe aft, at mile distance she
might be taken for a raft, with an army
ambulance amIdship. 1t is only when
on board that her compact strength and
/ formidable means Of offensive warfare are
| discoverable.
When Lieut.. Worden was informed of
what had occurred, though his crew were
suffering from exposure and loss OF rest
| from a stormy voyage around from New
York, he at once made preparations for
taking part in whatever might occur the
next day.
THE FIGHT BETWEEN THE MONITOR AND THE
MERRIaAC.
! Before daylight on Sunday morning
the Monitor moved up and took position
alongside the Minnesota, lying between
the latter ship and the Fortress, where
she could not be seen by the rebels, but
was ready, with steam up, to slip out
Up to now on Sunday the rebels gave no
indication of what were their further de-
signs The Merrimac laid up toward
Craney Island in view, bat motioniess.
At one clock she was observed in motion,
and came out, followed by the Yorktown
. and Jamestown, both crowded with troops
The object OF ieniency toward the Aiinne
sofa on the previous evening thus became
evident. It was the hope OF the robcI- 10
(! 10. oh. n
overcome her crew by tie force Of the
numbers, and capture both vessel and
men. Tho design wa, bold and practI-
cable one, an! apparently Of easy accom-
pli-hment
A. the reJel E5t,'a came out from
SewaIls Point, tue Monitor stood out
boldly toward them. II IS doubtful il the
rebels know .y.4at 10 make OF the strange
looking battery. or If they despised IT,
) Even the orhtown KEEP: on approaching
until a thirteen Inci. ,nei. from the Moni-
tor sent her 10 tile night about The
Merrlua: aud the Monitor kept on ap
pToacnlug each other, the former waiting
until she would choose her distance and
the latter apparently not knowing what
10 make Of ieF funny looking antagonist
the first shot from the Monitor Was tirca
hen about one hundred yards distant
from the MrrlImar, and tn, distance Wa
subsequently, reduced 10 hiJy yards and
at no I me during the two hour O: furious,
cam 5naI.uG that en,ueI were the vessels
more tIan t,yo hundred yards apart.
II - impossible 10 reproduce the ami
ma 81 descriptions -lyeA Of this grand
. coutc-t between i"J y---cl- Of such fyr-
m.dab.e J.i-a-.ye aud Il d-f-u~iyc powers.
The ,ceucc ,.a. IA plain sle" i.o:I toYi.e-.
..l. Z
spectators agree. i; i.-t the fight was
very furious. and the guns or the Monitor
were fred very Rapidly A. She carries
but J~J guns. whilst the Mer.liuac has
eight, OF course -hc !eec.ye4 two OF three
. ,liut- Tor every one size gave. FINDING
that her Antagonist wa, much InCrnit bl,.
than she looked, the Merrimac attempted
!. Iun hcr down. The superior ,p-ed
aI'! quicker turning 4Isl.tle, Of the Moui-
. .Dr enabled her II avoid these shocks
aud u giyc the McIriGac as she passed .
shot Dnce the Ner.imac struck her near
4nld-!iip>, but only TO prove that the
battery could not Ue run down nor shot
down. She spun round like Il top, and
a. she got her bearing again sent one OF
her formidable missiles into her huge op
pOHent
.Tne officers of the Monitor at This time
hal gained such confidence in the i'm
pregnability Of their battery, that they no
longer fired AT random nor hastily. The
tight then assumed its most interestin =
( aspects The Monitor ran round the Mer
. rimac repeatedly =. probing her sides. seek M
. for weak points and Teserving her fire
with a cooine>s tha, must hav. been in
ten-ely a-grayatinc - the officers OF he!
enemy, until she had the right spot and
the exact range, and made her expert
meGtS accordingly. In this way the Mer
mae received three shots which must
have seriously damaged her. The first
went ia abait of the smoke stack and
ranged forward The next shot was put
low Town on her side, near the edge OF the
iron roofing, which overLangs ner sides
somewhat like "a penthouse The next
shot was placed nearly in the same posi-
ton Neither of these shots reLounded
at all, but appeared to cut their way clear
through iron and wood into the ship
Soon after receiving the third shot, the
/ Merrimac turned toward Sewalls Point
and made oil at full speed.
The Monitor followed the Merrinlac
until she got well inside Sewali's Point
and then returned 10 the Minnesota 1t
is probable that the pursuit weule have
been continued still further, but Lieut..
had his eyes injured. and it was also felt
that u. SO much depended on the Monitor
it was impludant to expose her unneces
sarily. Lieut. Wordcn 1T the time he was
Injured, was looking out of the eyeboles OF
the pilot-house. which are simply horizon
tai sits about hal an inch wide. y round
shot from tue Merrimac struck against
these Sits as Lieut. Woiden was looking
through, causing some scalings from the
iron and fragments OF paint TO fly with
great force against his eyes The injury
was necessarily very painful, and it was at
/ once feared that he would lose one Of his
eyes Before, however. he left Cid Point,
it was thought this danger had been ie
moved. Lieut.. Green now has command
of the Monitor.
SAFETY or THE MINNESOTA
The Minnesota all this time renamed
! ashore, and it was not until three o clock
| on Monday morning that the Spauldingi
Captain Thomas, succeeded in drawing
/ her off, and she returned to her anchorage.
In order to tighten her, eight of the guns
were thrown overheard. Her crew were
also removed to the shore, her guns
spiked, and her officers prepared to burn
the vessel if she could not be got off :
Fortunately this calamity was avoided
and the splendid ship saved without ma
teral damage. The spikes have already
been removed from her guns, and she is
prepared to again back her lit,ie preserver
if necessary Ten thousand dollars, it Is
estimated, will repair her damages She
will probably be shortly relieved and go
to New York
GEN. HALLECK A WAG-Gen. Ilalleck
was lately guilty of giving expression TO
the following ton mot: Col Wyman, tie
commaniant at Rolla, on being ordered
by Gen. Curtis TO join him with his regl-
ment, telegraphed to st. Lous for instruc-
- IL L. IL l. L, l.