West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1885-04-03

| quired the entire guns crew and vastly
increased the work inside the turret
The effect upon one shut up in n
revolving drum is perpleXing. and it Is
not simple matter 10 keep the bear
! ings. White marks had been pl iced
upon the stationary deck Immediately
| below the turrct % indicate the dircc-
| ton of the starboard and por; sides,
and tho DOW and stern; but these marks
were obliterated early in the action. /
would continually ask the Captain:
How does the Merrimac bear?' He
| replied ON the starhoard beam. or
ON the port-quarter, rs the case might
be. Then the difficulty was to deter
mine the direction OF the starboard-
! beam or pOrt-quartcr, or any other
bearing. II finally resulted that when
a gun WAS ready for firing the tur-
ret would be started on is resoiv-
ing journey in search of the target. aud
when found it was taken 'on the
| lily. because the turret could not be ac-
curately controlled Once the Merri-
mac tried to ram us, but Worden
avoided the direct impact b. the skillful
use Of the helm, and she struck "A
| CHANGING blow which did no damage.
At the instant OF collision plante a
|
shot fair and square upon the forward
part of her casemate. Had the gun
been loaded with thirty pounds of pow
der. which was the charge subsequently
used with similar guns, IL is probable
that this shot would have penetrated
her armor; but the charge being limited
to hfteen pounds, in accordance with
! peremptory orders to that effect from
| the Navy Department, the shot re-
bounded without doing any more dam
| age than possibly TO start some of the
beams OF her armOr-backing.
" Soon after noon n shell from the
enemy gun, the muzzle not ten wards
distant. struck the forward side of the
! pilot-house directly in the sigh hole. or
slit, and eXplo led, cracking the second
! iron log and partly lifting the top. lcav-
/ ing an opening. Worden was standing
Immediately behind this spot and re-
ceived in his face the force OF the blow,
which partly stunned him. and. filing
his eyes with powder, utterly blinded
him The injury was known only TO
those in the pilOt-house and its immedi-
ate vicinity. The flood of light rushing
through the top of the pilot-house, now
| partly open, caused Worden, blind as
he was, to believe that the pilot house
was seriously injured, if not destroyed;
he therefore gave orders to put the h I'm
to starboard and sheer Off Thus tue
No nitor retired temporarily from the
| action, in order to ascertain the extent
OF the injuries she had received AT the
| same time Worden sent for me. and.
leaving Sinners. the only officer in the
turret | won't forward mt once. and
| found him standing at the foot of the
ladder leading to the pilot-house
lie was n gbastly sight, with his
eyes closed and the blood apparently
ru hing from every pore in the upper
part of his face. He told me that he
was seriously wounded, ana directed
me TO take command. | assisted i'm
leading him to a sofa in his cabin where
he was tenderly cared for by DIR
logue, and then / assumed command.
Blind and suffering as he was, Worden's
forutude never forsook him: he fire.
quently asked from his bed of pain OF
the progress of affairs and when told
/ that the Minnesota was saved he said:
Then | can die happy
when | reached my station i'm the
pilot-house | found that the iron lop
was fractured and the top partly open
but the steering gear was intact. and
The plot-hOuse was not totally de-
stroycd, as had te,n feared. In the
confusion of the moment resulting from
so serious an injury to the commanding
officer, the Monitor had been MOVING
without direction. Exactly how much
time elapsed from the moment that
Norden was wounded until | had
reached the pilot-housr and completed
the examination of the injury at that
point and determined what course TO
pursue in the damaged condition of the
vessel it is impossible to state: but il
could hardly have exceeded twenty
minutes at the utmost During this
time the Merrimac which was leaking
ably, had started i'm the direction OF
Elizabeth River; and. on taking INV sto-
ton IN the pilot-hOusc and turning the
vessel S head in the direction of the Mer-
rimac, i saw that she was a ready i'm
retreat. A few shots were fire at the
ret ring vessel and she continued ON TO
Norfolk. | returned with the Monitor
TO the side of the Minnesota. where prep
aralions were being made T. abandon
tue ship. which was still aground
Shortly afterward Worden was trans
feTed TO tug. and that night he was
carried TO Washington.
Zine fight was over. We OF the
Monitor thought and still think. that
we had gained great victory This
the Conlcdcratcs have denied. But it
has never been denied that the object
OF the Merrimac on the 9th OF March
was TO complete the destruction Of the
Union fleet IN Hampton Roads and that
IN this she was completely foiled and
driven of by the Monitor, nor has il
been dcniel that az the close Of the en-
gagement the Merrimac retreated 10
Norfolk, leaving the Monitor i'm pos
session Of the field"
The Confederate Omcer's Accou,t.
From the article by Colonel John T.
Wood, an officer OF TN, Merr mac dur
ing the fight with the Monitor in the
CENTURY War Series, is quoted the fol-
lowing: AT daybreak we discovered
lying between us and the Minnesota
strange -lOOking craft. which we knew
at once % be- Ericsson Monitor. which
had long been expected in Hampton
Roads, and OF which. from different
source. we had a good idea. She
could not possibly have made her ap-
pearance ~ % more inOpportune time
Tor uF, changing our plans. which were
10 destroy the Minnesota. and then fbe