National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1882-03-25

by the kearsage in eacn of which the
estimated value of the ships destroyed or
rendered useless was granted and dis
tributed to the officers and crew of our
victorious vessels
There seems to be no good reason,
therefore, why the same action should
not be taken in the case of the Monitor.
The Importance of the victory gained by
her can hardly be overestimated. Not
only were untold millions of property
saved from destruction but the whole of
our blockading feet.
Who believes that any of our wooden
vessels guarding the Southern coast would
have withstood the Merrimac any better
than the Cumberland, the Congress, or
the Minnesota2 Had she assembled the
Potomac the Capital of the Union would
in all probability have been at her mercy.
In short, it is difficult to assign limits to
her destructive power. But for the timely
arrival ofthe Monitor in Hampton Roads,
the skill and indomitabc courage of her
daring commander, Admiral (then Lieu
tenant Worden, and her officers and
crew, our whole fleet of wooden ships,
and probably our whole sea coast, would
have been exposed to the terrible and
devastating assaults of the Mcrrimac.
The following extract from speech of
Edward Everett at dinner given by the
merchants of Boston to the Naval Com
mittee, shortly after the memorable CHI
gagemcnt, gives an eloquent description
Of tkn al 10 o,,,,I l,nN g
modern tines
If there is an incident in the history Of the war
which more than any other deserves to be referred
to a direct inicrposition of an over.ruing Provl-
dencc It is the arrival Of tho heaycn directed lit.
tic vessel at Fortress Monroe, after her rough un-
comfortable voyage from New York, on the even.
Ing Of the Sth of March, 1867 at the close of day
of havoc, had almost said of terror. The mind
recoils from the contemplation of the state Of
things which would have existed had the ravngus
of the Merrimuc been renewed on the morning of
the 9th. But the avenger was at hand. Amer an
nll but sleopless voyage from New York Of hny.
six hours, In vessel whose construction, whose
engnery whose armament whose capacity for
offensive or defensive service were all untried,
the gallant Wordcn, at suuri'c the nextmorning,
bore calmly down 10 the encounter with his gignn-
tic adversary amidst the wrecks of her yesterdays
devastatlOns (the topmas,s ofthe sunken Cumber-
land neefing lnourniully above the waters, the
Congress burned to the waters edge, the Mime
sofa, marked out as the next victim, helplessly
ngrourd) wen tfound and round hm-to use the
graphic language ofan eyewitness, "as cooper
goes round Il cask and drove him crippled and
discounted back to his harbor never more to
leave it until he went up self destroyed in frag-
ments to the sky.
The victory of the Monitor is one of
the most brilliant in our history and has
never been surpassed in the annals of
naval warfare. In view, therefore, of its
great importance and the inestimable
value Of its results, the prayer of the
memorial, sustained rs il is by so numer-
Gus an array of precedents, should be
granted and the bill taken up and
passed. No one who has any patriotic
feeling will grudge this tribute to the
brave men whose valor and skill have
reflected imperishable glory upon the
country, sanctioned as it is by immemo-
rial and imprescriptible usage.