The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1895-01-06
HISTORIC WATERS OF VA.
More About The Battle Of Hampton Roads
and The Monitors,
Is VIEWED BY AN EYE WITNESS
And Told IN Reports By Ex-Governor
Camerop-sesnes In Norfolk the Night
Aner the Fret Naval Fight.

initial achievement was spent III t0'V'N
ing and in sansuine anticipation OF
practical humiliation Of tie feder"i Snip
ming i'm Hampton Roads on the morrow
Tho tests 10 which the monster irohc@d
b.J hoen subtcctcd during the engage
,osrt ~ the Nh seemed 10 establish her
ipV,,IDcrabiiitv against any means OF az
tack i'm possessiun OF tho enemy Noou-
On sbips had been proved to he no more
tbau papcr shells in her path, While the
unumclIng she had endured without III
t,-,. from, The concentrated fire OF FED
oral shlus and land batteries using the
booyi,s, ordnance then known TO either
branch OF the service. justified the opin-
ION that the guns at Fortress Monroe
would prove no obstacle TO her passage
into Chesapcake Bay. whence voyage
No the Potomac, with Washington as IT'S
destination. would be among the delight
mi possibilities. II there was any sleep
az an Am the Confederate cantonments
;hst night. il was broken by dreams so
vivid as 10 mock the closed eyehdS-
dreams either IN rehearsal of the lurid
triumph already witnessed, or i'm glow
ing PORTRAYAL Of greater glory yet TO be
won. Around NY own camp fire the
most modest representation was OF
naval campaign which included the bat
ter,rr down Of the granite cascmates at
gdrcwaY TO the sea.
Across the water all was gloon and
anxiety. The Federal commanders on
ship and shore were stricken with the
paralysis Of helplesspcss IN the presence
Of a danger which set at naught all pre-
Nipue experience. one short hour %
conflict with the maritime monster had
served to rcvolutionize al preconceived
ideas OF naval warfare. They had seen
al thcir appliances for defence. upon
W lch the lessons Of q life.ime had taught
them 10 rely with confidence, brushed
aside or beaten down as mere CObWtbS,
and their most Wanted engines of Of
fence had proven to be no more than an
annoyance 10 the pondcrous armor of
their strange antagonist Small won
der. then, that the bTaycst and most sue
cessful among them. in looking upon the
havoc which a brief aft moon had
wrought should have felt diSmayed, or
that. gazing across the still harbor 10
the ominous shadow OF the destroyer,
swinging 20 her anchors of Sewers
Point they should have awaited the
coming dawn with gloomy approximations
so far as this days sad lesson teaches,
wrote one gallant officer, who afterwards
died in harness on a Well-fought field,
we have nothing with which either 10
resist or TO injure This terrible Rebel ma
chine She crashes through all obstacles
as a reaping machine through wheat
straw. and ore had as well fire pop
guns at q rhinOccros as TO waste our
uowdcr and ban upon her metal hide.
There was no physical fear in the lack
OF hope which such language expressed,
hut courage Itself was dishoartcncd by
sense Of Impotence like that which OPP
presses the landsman IN a storm at sea.
rho lore 81 West Point and Annapolis
was ~ no avail in such a crisis The
conditions were no. only new. but OUTSIDE
Of the rau.c OF TaSt conjecture. In
tho lreearce Of "a hybrid adversary, in
eiinct with motion, impervious 10 missiles
and dealing devastation from dozen
fiery mouths. they were practically as
naked OF defence and rs barc-handed of
weapons as Il Tribe o. savages So, in
the light Of the blazing Congress, soon 10
ascend in sparkling fragments to the SHY,
the commanding qeneral as ne 'bltie1ly
Thought of ,the morrow" sent off 10
Washington the last expression or Il Jus-
ifable despair. There seems ne
wrote. ITO be no competent human agency
10 avert the complete disaster "llich
threatens us
Meantime the wires were busy between
the scene Of conflict and Washington
III orders were flying in every direction.
8, y. NJ. on the Nth g. \. ON As
6i-tant Secretary, tolcgraphcd 10 Secreta-
r,. of the Navy Welles: Consulting with
General Wool. I have ordered the frieates
ont Of Hampton koads-St. Lawrence TO
the Potomac. Roanoke ana Minnesota, 70
New York. the latter being disabled.
cannot see that anything more can he
done by the Navy The War Depart
mcnt wired Henry B. HenVlck as fol-
lows. An armOr-clad vessel belonging
10 tha Rebels has issued from Norfolk
and threatens 10 sweep our whole ilotiha
from Chesapeake lay. IL Is OF the
last Importance 10 capture or destroy the
Nerrimac. and the whole wealth and
newer Of the United States Wnl be AT
command for that purpose. Call meet
iug of from three to nine persons, al
Nour discretion. to devise the best plan
of speadily accomplishing the object. You
viii bear in mind that every hours delay
may result in inC1lCulabic damage &c
the United States The oommandli5
officers at all the military posts on the
Atlantic seaboard received instructions to
urepare for attack. General Warren
at Baltimore was warned boy General Nc
Clc,lan to be IN readiness. Arrange
mcnts were made 10 sink distractions in
the channel OF the Potomac below Wash
ineton. \ dispatch was sent 10 Cor
nelius Vanderbilt by Secretary stanton
asking. "FOt what sum YOU will con-
tract to destroy tn" Mcrrimac, on TO pre-
vent her coming ont IRON Norfolk "a
big lob which the veteran contractor
was i'm no hurry to undertake. These
specimens will suffice 10 show the fever Of
CONSERVATION and oi inefficient activity
which had seized upon the Federal au-
thoritics Iu; fate was about TO inter
posc i'm their behalf. by one OF those mis-
called accidents. which prove upon how
small! hinges the results Of war and the
dcstinics of nations turn.
During the months in which the Con-
federates had been busy transforming
tie old-fasthioned McrrimaC into the novel
Virginia. the Union Sympathzcrs in Nor
fsik had found means to notify the Fed
cral Government OF the ordeal In prepd-
ration Tor its shipping in Hampton Roads.
though the authorities, neither of the
War or Navy Departments, seemed 10
have formed any adequate idea OF the
formidability of the new machine until
after the havoc wrought by her on
slaught Of the Sth For, previous 10
that. they seemed To have agreed in the
opinion that strengthening of the shore
batteries increase of the number and
calibre of the guns in them, and the adj
ditiOn OF other wooden shAos 10 the fleet
OF that character then lying about For
trcSs Monroe, Would control the opera
tons Of any single vessel. however pow
erful. Sun. invention had not been idle
In the North, while the Confederate en-
gineers were inaugurating new era IN
III.