Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1891-06-26


I ~ s Thiss q s7s :as p' r
- which he gave an
account of the fight
between the Union Monitor and the
Confederate iron clad Merrimac, March
8, 1862. Captain White served on the
Merrimac as junior engineer, and his
story is decidedly at variance with the
accepted version. The Merrimac stuck
for while on the middle ground of
Hampton Roads, and it was there, ac-
cording to Captain White, that most of
the damage was done by the Monitor.
Ut what happened after the Merrimac
was once more afloat Captain White
says;
I'VE caught and did run into the
Monitor, and came near running her
under the water; not that we struck
her exactly at right angles, but with
our starboard bow drove against her
with determination of sending her to
the bottom, and so near did we come to
accomplishing our object that from the
ramming and the shot of our rifle gun
that blinded her commander, she with
drew to shoal water near the Mime
sofa, whence we could not follow
never again to offer or accept battle
from the Merrfmac. After waiting on
the ground Of victory, without any
signs of her return, for possibly an
hour or more, we steamed up to the
navy yard, receiving the shouts and
huzzahs Of the thousands of our people
that had Witnessed our great victory.
l wish to emphasize the facts just re-
lated of the purposed collision with the
Monitor and our desire to repeat it,
and of her withdrawal from the field
and her refusal then or thereafter to
engage in battle with the Merrimac,
Notwithstanding that this statement is
in positive contradiction of the theory
accepted at the North, and even pub
lished in the school histories of to-day"
| Captain White also relates as con-
| firmatory of his story that he visited
the Monitor and Merrimac cyclorama
in New York, and called the attention
of the lecturer to some erroneous state
ments regarding the fight, but the lee
turer, while admitting that he was
wrong, said he had to misrepresent the
facts sin order to make his show popu-
lar" And again Captain White re-
turns to the charge, and says the Mer-
rimac, after undergoing repairs and
having improvements made to her,
went down to Old Point and offered
battle to the Monitor and all the great
wooden war-ships Of the United States
Navy, including the Vanderbilt, which
ship had been specially brought for
ward to accomplish our destruction, {"
but neither the Monitor nor any one
of the large ships the United States
Government had ordered there would
come out from under the guns of Fort
ress Monroe"
At the time of the engagement
George s. Geer, of this city, was an
engineer on The Monitor. Mr.. Geer
was shown the above extracts from
Captain Whites speech. upon which
he commented as follows:
at is true that the Merrimac did run
into the Monitor, but instead of COM
ing near running us under water, as
Captain White states, the blow was
hardly preceptible on board our vessel.
! Captain White would have his readers
infer that the ramming and shot of the
Merrimac's ride-gun, which blinded
Worden, occurred about the same time,
but such is not.the case. The Merri-
mac rammed us half an hour after the
action began, and fully an hour elapsed
before the shot was fired that caused
our commanders injuries.
GAS to the statement that the Moni-
tor withdrew to shoal water near the
Minnesota, whence we could not follow
never again to offer or accept battle
with the Merrimac, it is entirely con-
trary to the facts. We chased the
/ Merrimac into the Elizabeth River I'M
til recalled by a signal from the Min
nesota, the commander of which, Wor-
denis superior officer, feared to have
us 90 further on account of the line of
torpedoes which the Confederates had
extended across the river. The Mer-
rimac made as rapid progress as she
could in her sinking condition to Nor
folk, where she underwent repairs.
1--WE lay in Hampton Roads month
| inviting her to come out of the Eliza
beth River, but she declined to accept
the challenge. Three days in success
sion we came out and steamed around
in open water so as to give her an OPP
portunity for an engagement. She
! would come down the Elizabeth as far
as the torpedo line, and then when we
advanced she would retreat toward
Norfolk, in her endeavor to lure us on
to the torpedoes. Had the choice been
with the crew we would have followed
her up the river, torpedoes or no tor
pedoes, but we were acting under
direct orders from the President and
were compelled to keep in Hampton
Roads.
sAt any rate we accomplished our
purpose in the end. We intimidated
the Merrimac and kept her from COM
ing out until finally to prevent her
from falling into Union hands she was
blown up"
Abiding to Captain Whites address
Madison Covert, Of West Troy, writes
to the Troy Times as follows:
II was not aware before that the old
rebel craft had so beautifully done up
the little cheese box on raft as
described by Captain White. I was a
member of the One Hundred and
Twenty-sixth Regiment New York
Volunteers, and was down on the
|