West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1885-04-03
MONITOR AND MERRIMAC.
Union and Confederate Accounts
Of Their Fight.
The Union omcor,s stnrr.

The Union Onlccr's Story.
The late Commodore S. ID. Greene.
in the Century War Series, writes of the
fight between the vessels Monitor and
Merrimac. from which is taken the fol-
lowing:
ut was at the close of this dispiriting
trial trip Cher voyage from New York.
In which all hands had been exhausted
IN their efforts to keep the novel craft
ahoat, that the Monitor passed Cane
Henry at four p. m. on Saturday.
March g. At this point was heard the
distant booming of heavy guns, which
our Captain rightly judged to be an en-
gagement with the Merrmac. twenty
miles away. He at once ordered the
vessel stripped of her sea-rig, the tur-
ret keyed up, and every preparation
made for battle. As we approached
Hampton Roads we could see the fine
old Congress burning brightly, and soon
pilot came on board and told of the
arrival OF the Merrimac the disaster To
the cumberland and the Congress. and
the dismay of the Union forces. The
Monitor was pushed with all haste and
reached the Roanoke Captain Mars
TOM, anchored in the Roads. at nine u
m The dreary night dragged SLOWLY
on; the officers and crew were mn ami
alert, TO be ready for any emergency
At daylight on Sunday the Merrin1c
and her consOrts were discovered ot
anchor near Sewalrs Point. At about
half-past seven O'Clock the enemy's yes
sells got under way and steered in the
direction of the Minnesota. AT the
same time the Monitor got under way.
and her officers and crew took their sta
tons for battle
''Worden took his station i'm the pilot
house and by his side were Howard
the pilot, and Peter Williams. Ouare err
master who steered the We sci through
out the engagement My place was in
the turret, to work and fight the Guns:
with me were Stodlard and Sinners
and sixteen b-awny men, eight to each
gun.
''Worden steered direct for the enc
my vessels, IN order TO meet and en-
gage them as far as possible from the
Minnesota. As he approached The
wooden vessel, quickly turned and left
Our Captain, to the 'astonishmeDt' of
captain Van Brunt (as he states in nj
official report), made straight for tbe
Merrmac, which had already com
menced firing; and when h came with
IN short range he changed his cour.e so
as to come alOnside Of her, stoned the
engine, and gave the order Commence
hrng. l trced up IN pore. ran ont
the gun. and taking deliberate aim
pulled the lock string The Mcrrimac
was quick To reply, returning a rafting
DrOadside tor she had ten guns TO our
lWo), and the battle fairly began. The
turreJ andpther parts of the shin were
heavily struck, but the shots did not
penetrate; the tower was intact. and il
continued 20 reyolyc. a look OF CON
hdence passed over the mems faces
and we believed the Merrimac ,yoi,IJ
not repeat the work she had accom-.
piished the day before.
'lhe light continued with the cx-
change Of brOadsides as fast az tho
guns could he served and AT very short
range, the distance between the 'ye-.oIs
frequently being not more than "a fe,,,
yards. WOrden skillfully mancuyered
ms quick-turning vessel. irving 10 find
some Vulnerable point in hf- adver4orr
once be made a dash at her stern. hon.
ing ~ disable his screw which be thinks
be missed by not more than two fcef
Our shots ripped The iron of the Ncrri-
mac while the reverberaGon OF her
shots against the tower caused ANYTHING
but plea ant sensation While SfoI-
dafd. who was stationed the machine
which controlled the revolving motion
ot the tuTct was incaudousiy Ioap,po,
against The side of the tower LARGO
shot struck in the vicinity and disabled
him
the engagement continued the
working Of the turrct wa n0taltogetb-
or satisfactory 10 was difficult TO START
~ revolving OF, when once started To-
stop Do on count Of the .mpcrfecGon.
oi the novel machinery. which was now
undergoing Or first trial Sinners was
Pr active. muscular man. aud did h.a
utmost To- control the motion of the tor.
ret but in spite 0i Die effort. i wa.
dihcuIf i no impO- -ibie 20 secure sc
curaie firing The conditions were very
different from those Of an ordinary
broadsIde gun, under which we had
been trained on wooden sFips. Nv
only view of ODE world outside Of tho
tower was over Tire Wullle. Of lHe Guns.
which cleared the porte by % few inches
only. When thc guns were run iu the
portfolios were c0fere by heavy IRON
pendu.ums. pierced with small holes to
allow the iron rammer aud sponge
handles 60 prO'ru while they were In
use 70 hOmt these peudul1ms re-