The Red Cloud chief., 1885-03-20
.nireI,Ls .n,ire hnn.. crex and ,a.Ly

the entire Gun : Gre" ana sarsy \
increased the work inside the turret.
The effect upon n shut up IN 3
revolving drum l. perPiexlng. ani It u
not 4 Simple matter . keep ih" b-saT-
mos. White marks bad been placed
uu,on .h.. stationary deck imm.d aiely /
ie.loy I'll. turret - indicaie the d.rec-
ton II the -iarszYlrd and port -it"-.
and the bpw and stern. but these mark
were ~obiIt.raicd -arly ia Ia. action
would continually AK IN. captain.
How doc. the Mcrrimac bear He
rcplied. I'm the s;artozrd beam. or
TN tho r~ort-quar'sT. a the ca~. Nigh:
10. Then the difficulty wa to deter
mine the direction oi tn. -,aEispsrd-
team or ~pprt-guartcr. or any other
bearing. IL finally resulted tha, when
a gun wa. ready for firing the tur-
re-, would be- started on is rcyo.y-
iny Journey in search %! tie target. and
when found IL VA taken on the
,v.' because the tu-rrt could rot -. ar
c~fir.,c'y controlled Once the Mcrri-
mac tried - ram u. bat oTdcn
avoided The dir-c. impact b. the ss!ll!ui
De II the helm. aud IA. struck a
yIancing blow which did no damage.
- IA. instant % collision ! planted a
solid northumberland -cighty-poInt
-hot fair aud square upon the onward
part 81 her ca-rma'e. Had II" gun
been loaded with thirty pound, q! :'pw-
de-. which was the cEaTg- subsequently
Used with similar gun il d, probable
that tl!, shot would have penetrated
her armor. but the charge being llm.'e,!
t. i5ftcrn pounds. IN arrDrianc" with
icrrTuptOry ort.r, 20 that eject from
TIA. Navy Department. the shot r
bounded without doing any NOR. dam
ace imam possibly to .'1r, some o! tie
beam IL hrr armpr- backing
soon after noon = -h-ll from th
| enemy gun. The muzzl" mo- tea yards
I distant. -tr Ick ;h" forward side 81 the
p.lo, hons" directly in the ~igh,-holr. or
/ Iii. ani .,p,o lei. cracking 10" >"ro.d
J ron loy and par,l. liit u" thr top. Lay
! M au opcuing. WDrI-n Va. standing
I imm .~.litt.ly behind this syol. and re-
| c.Il,l in his face ihr fore al I'- j!pw.
( which partly stunned hun aud. filing
I MS rtp- with powder. utterly III ui"!
him. The i4lUr. Wa known pulv -
/ those IN the plin'-hpI-c and il immr!i-
/ a.. vicinity. The Hood II Ilght rushing
through the top Di the p!ln'-hpu>". Row
partly oicu caused Wurlrn. blind a
. hc wa. to believe that the plo;-hou-'
wa- .~crinu-ly injured. ii not destroyed;
hr therefore gave orders 70 pat o." helm
80 -,arboari and sheer oil. Thu, ta'
II n.Iur ret RID temporarily from IL"
+ action. n order To ascertain the extent
g! Ia. iniuri". ~hr had received Al tn"
same tim, WDrl"n sent for ne. and.
leaving ~ mrT,. the only officer la the
turr-'. | won't forward at once. agd
found him standing a. the foot of Il,
/ Ia lt"r leading Ia the pll"i-hpu>".
lie was a gha,ll, sight. with III.
eyes closed and the blood apparently
II HING from every pore in the uppci
part If his face. iir told me that h'
Wa, seriously wounded. ana directed
me iu takr command. | assisted II
l- tding him Ia II sofa III his cabin. wh"r'
n" was tcndrrlv cared for 10y br
LoyIc. and then | assumed command
Blind and ~uilrring "a, hc was. Noidcn
f,rituhc never for>opk him; b" fire.
q~mrnlly asked from his bed of pain %
the progress of affairs. and when toll,
tha, the Mnn"~ota was saved hc sad
Then | can die happy.
when | reached nv station IN ti'
pllo,-h"I>c | found tha, the ron lo.
Wa fractured and the top partly open
bat the S~tccring-gcaT WAS intact. an,
TIA. pilot-houSr was not totally lie
>troycd. rs had lccn feared. Ia th'
coniG ion of the moment resulting from
- 9. gl. - q. ,t !,
officer. the Monitor had been mov,n.
without direction. Exactly how mIcl
time ELAPSED from the moment tha
Worirn vas wounded unit ! iia'
reached tn. pilot-hou>c and completed
the examination of the injury III tina
. oont and determined what course e
p pursue in tlr damaged condition of ~
;, vessel i, il impossible t. state, hat J
- could hardly have CNccedc! iwcni.
minutes ~ the utmost. pu inT tn
i'mr tn Mcrrimac. which WA lcahin,
lallv. hal started IN the direction u
Elizabeth River. aud, ON taking my ia
ton in III pilot house and turning tn
o vessels head in the direction OF thc Nci
. rimic. | saw that she was already /
= retreat. \ few shots were iirct NJ IN
b retiring vessel and She continued ON
No,t,l>. | returned with the Monito
20 To the SIDE 80 the Minnesota, where pref
10 ara'ipn- were bciuy made t. abando
- the ship. which wa still acrouu,
4, >hor'l, afterwarl Wordcn Wa iran
. irrrcd ;o a tug. and that night he VA
carried {" Washington.
= The fight Was over. We ~ III
e Monitor Thought aud still Think. tn.
Ne had gained 4 great victory. lh
j. the ~,on;rdcratc> have denied. Eat
- has never been denied that the obic,
e. II the Mcrrimac on the 9TH Of Mare
a. was Ia complete the destruction oi IL
L Unlon fleet IN Hampton Roads and III:
IN thfs SIC ~NU-sely ioil,i IN
c driven of by the Morir. q has
been denied that ut .tlo>c If the 81
gagemcnt the MctdeGc ~rr;reatci
e Norfolk. leaving the Mpn.toc III po
session of the field
The Confrd.rat. OmccS tcronat.
l. From the article by c. John
;. Wood, an officer of the pr mae du
d my the fight with the M4itor. in t!
Ccatarg War Series. ~ alu4cd the f.