The Portland daily press., 1898-03-09

which Commander Worden was lookin
was the only one that inflicted damage o.
consequence, and 1T hurt the man, not
the Monitor.
If the Merrimac had used solid shot,
as did the Monitor, there is little reason
to doubt that she would have won. The
Monitors turret could hardly have stood
the hammering. If the Monitor, on the
other hand, had carried guns equal to
those we had, SO that she could have
hurled her solid shot with the greatest
possible force, she would have cut US to
pieces. Her projectiles would have sliced
through our armor aud dismoupted our
guns, killed our men and wrecked our
machinery. But none of these things
were to be.
"Tnis was one of the worlds great
naval battles in which both sides wore
tho same uniform. The men on the Mer-
rimac were largely from the United
States Navy, and still wore the blue. An
other reason for retaining this color was
the fact that it alone seemed to stand the
action of salt water; at least no satiSf2c-
tory substitute had been found for it.
"The similarity of uniforms complicated
our plans in the event of our boarding
the Monitor and taking her by hand
hand fight as we expected to do. In such
a mix.up there would Re little chance to
distinguish friend from foe. We prepared
to board, however, and marked ourselves
by tying on white sasheS or white clothes
around our left arms. L wore sash.
Once we might have boarded the Monitor
1t was when we made feeble effort to
ram her and failed, our commander fear
ing the effect of hard shock on the Mer-
rimao's frame and stopping against the
Monitor with a gentle bump that hurt no
one. We slid apart, firing a shot or two,
butnnthere.waS no raInming and no board
Ing.
ggss' During the progress of the fight we
learned to get our bodies out OF the way
ofEthe Monitors fire. We soon grew ex-
pert as Judging her intentions, and could
tell WHEN shot was coming and about
where it was likely to hit US. We cleared
our ports whenever she was about to pay
us one of those compliments. Our poor
old smokestack, however, couldn't dodge
and it was riddled with shot, large and
small-in addition to the perforations
perpetrated by the feet the day before
till it was mostly holes, This interfered
with our furnace draught considerably,
but did no vital damage.
''I was out on deck but once. Our
pilothouse, well forward on our low free
board, had been taken away as needless
and cumbrous affair, and the commander
occupied hatchway where 1t had stood,
thrusting his head above the deck now
and then to keep a survey of the scene.
crept out of port and carried word OF
some kind to him. A Yankee gunner on
one of the ships came near saving me the
trouble of q return to my station, missing
me not over four feet with small piece
at good long range. had been feellng
very brave, but lost no time getting un-
der cover.
"It is another erroneous impression that
the Monitor was all that saved Washing
ton and New York and the other Federal
seaports from tie Merrimao. The aaNerri--
mac could never have reached any of
them. She dared not try the short ocean
voyage and she drew too much water:
besides while she must have eventually
suecumbed to the pounding she would
have got from the Federal fleet. She
could never have lived through the pun
ishment of the guns of Fortress Monroe ii
she had tried to go to Washington, and
the shallow Potomac would never have let
her get there. She would have failed IN
the same manner to reach New York.
'sShe could not even have defended the
Confederate capital against the Monitor II
the Monitor had chosen to go there The
Monitors light draught would have per-
mitted her to proceed up the James River
and to she'll Richmond into ruins. For
some reason she did not embrace this
chance, and in the meantime the Confed-
crates blocked the river with distractions
and torpedoes, and that movement there
after became impossible. The Merrimac
was a terror to wooden ships. but she was
not ship herself, in the full sense of the
term-nothing more than a floating bat
etery."
Major Long was in the blockade rum
ming service Of the Confederaoy and did
duty in it's navy in other capacity-part
of the time in engineering work-till he
was captured. near the close of the war.
Soon after his release at the close Of hos
tilities he got place in the engineer
corps of the United States and he is there
still. He is now assistant engineer in
charge of the eastern section of the Henne
pin Canal.