Worcester morning daily spy., 1898-03-09
FIGHT OF The MONITOR.
One Who Was on the Merrimac Describes
the Contest.
{ From the Chicago Record)

death of Admiral Worden recently, re-
moved the last officer and the last man
| but one of the Motitor, while of the $40
men on the Merrlmac that day, not
more than cOrporaIs guard are living
now. One Of these men is Mai James
| c. Long of Tiskilwa He is only 50 years
old, and so was only 16 when he went
| through this historic battle that revolu-
| tlonlZed the naval architecture of the
| world. But his recollection of the event.
| ful day is very clear and distinct.
Maj. Long was born at Chattanooga,
/. Tenn. From her doorway his mother
was able to see by day and night most
| OF the famous battle Of Lookout Noun
tain. At an early age he entered An
napolis Naval Academy, and upon the
outbreak Of the war he followed the lead
OF the officers who sided with the south
and was placed in a midshipman's
| berth. In this capacity he served on
the Merrimac A large proportion of the
| officers at Annapolis refused to fight the
| old flag, though some of them were men
Of southern birth; but most of the
southerners there espoused the cause of
! the confederacy
The Merrimac was the old United
States frigate of that name rebuilt, She
was remodeled so that she was really
only floating battery, declares Major
Long. She was armored to the water
| line but not below it. She drew 20 feet
| of water, but she had such a load upon
her upper works in the armor that she
| carried that she was topheavy and
could never have lived in q rough sea.
She was steam vessel, of course, but
| inclined to be unwieldy and slow and
awkward in the handling
She did not enjoy the unlimited con-
hdence Of her crew." says Major Long.
| "Wewere afraid that she might get a ram
or shot below the armor belt and in
that event we understood that our
chance of escape would be small We
should have had no more chance of
making land than had the crew of the
! Cumberland, which we sunk the day be-
fore, and which went down With her flag
up, her guns firing at us and her crew
| cheering to the last. If the Monitor had
| rammed us there or had been able to de-
press her guns SO as to land a shot OF
two there, it would have been no drawn
battle
There are some singular misappre-
nehslons about the fight" says Major
Long. 1T is a general belief that these
two ships steamed about in Hampton
Roads, each maneuvering to find the
other at disadvantage, sometimes
graphing almost, and firing all the
tlme; that, in fact, their guhs kept up a
continuous roar. This was not So
'Ihe Monitor arrived in Hampton
roads on the night of March 8. On that
DAY the Merrimac had been demolishing
1 the FEDERAL wooden ships at her plea
sure. Sire was proof against their proiec
tiles and could shatter them with Shot
and ram at will. On that day she sunk
the Cumberland, burned the Congress
and left the Minnesota aground a
picked prey for the following day. on
! moving out to renew her work the next
morning she found herself opposed by
| the Monitor and the battle ensued; the
| wooden ships, the helpless victims of the
day before, being simply spectators.
Ihe light lasted six hours, but 1t was
not melodramatic cannonading In the
six hours the Monitor fired only forty
| one shots, and the Merrimac only forty
six, total Of eighty-seven. The Moni-
tor carried two guns, the Merrimac
eleven, so that the pieces averaged less
than seven shots each. There were times
when several reports came within the
space of few minutes, but this did not
often happen.
I'VE had orders to fire whenever we
could bring a gun to bear, regardless
of other circumstances. The only quail
ifieation Of this order was that the shots
be delivered at the shortest possible
range Much time was consumed in
maneuvring the ships, each trying to
get as much advantage as possible
sary, The Monitor,s two siins ware
niacad side M itstGi NV siGe hnt nv rn suis mea
fired si,nnIta naoflsiv no n,atfer bon-
good the onnortunitv The Werrinoa c,,
eleven guns were placed four on side,
two at the bow and one commanding
the stern. She might have fired broad
sides, but never did during the whole
Monitor was SO small target fhat fhe
broadsida euns could nor he hrouobt 10
bear on her at once
"providance ar FATE ar hind luclx or
mans luck Of foresight. so arranged the
ammunition and armament Of both
ships that neither one could win on
that day. The Monitor had two smooth
bore shell guns. not adapted to the
high nressllre produced nv the use of
solid shot and which possibly. would
have been dangerous if solid shot were
used. unless the powder charge were
modified. She was under orders from
the ordnance department. not to exceed
fifteen pounds of powder, but she used
solid shot
"The Merrmac had fine armament
of large calibre rifles. and could burn
any amount of powder in them, but she
had not expected to do battle with an.
other ironclad. and as shells were far
more effective against wooden ships
than were solid shot, she carried moth
ing else.
"The result of these inadaptations
was a singular inefTiciency in both ships.
The Monitor could peg solid shot at the
Merrinac. but at only about half the
proper velocity Some of these shot
fartsd o,r seams and we had some bant
arr,oy Mates b,i+ nnna of ffasa ini,,rias,
were serious n hapnened that none Of
the Monitors iightniTg struck i1s twice
IN the same nlaee on the other hand
the Merrimac while able 70 Ioad nowde,,
eno,,erh ~ oit,a ber sbeils H. hio.,,e,.