Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-02-09
WEDNESDAY. FEBRUARY 9, 1898.
HISTORY AS SHE is SPOKE.

In the United States Senate Monday
Mr.. Chandler. OF New Hampshire. gave
the country another shining example OF
'history as she is spoke" and his re-
marks, ere this. have become embalmed
In that model OF light literature, the Con-
gressional Record. where they stand as
a brilliant illustration of history as she
is writ or print" In presenting to the
Senate memorial TO pay the officers and
crew Of the Monitor 500 each, lin the
nature of prize money" and in recognition
of the Monitors practical destruction Of
the Merrimac" Wirginia) Mr.. Chandler
said that the result Of the contest be-
tween the ships was that the Merrimac
never again entered a naval battle having
been so completely disabled in the en-
counter with the Monitor as to be prac-
tically useless.
Mr.. Chandler could not easily have
gotten further away from the truth of
history. The facts in the case, as we
have them from an ex-Confederate naval
officer who served on the Merrimac dur
Ing her entire career, are as follows:
1. On the 9th of March, 1862 day of the
first and only engagement between the
vessels), the Monitor twice retired from
the contest and took refuge in shoal
water, where the Merrimac could not
reach her. Upon the Monitors last re-
tiremsnt, the Merrimac waited for fully
an hour upon her, in order to resume the
engagement. after which time the Con-
federate ship proceeded to Norfolk for
repairs. the Monitor still showing no
disposition to re-engage.
2. On April the II. 1862, the Merrimac
again visited Hampton Roads. and in the
presence of two foreign war vessels-the
Rinaldo British) and the Gassendi
(French)-offered battle TO the Monitor,
and the Stevens iron battery, from
a. NJ to p. NJ. Failing to bring them
TO an issue. the Merrmae sent in two
of her tenders to Hampton bar and cut out
and captured three Federal transports,
almost under their guns.
g. On May s, 1862. the Merrimac was
again in Hampton Roads, and drove the
Monitor. Naugatuck and six other United
States war vessels from Smelling the
Confederate battery at Sewelrs Point. to
within one and half miles Of Old Point
and seeing no disposition on the part
of any of the Federal vessels TO engage
her, she retired 70 her anchorage.
4. The Confederate army abandoned
INOIlOik may AO loOl Inc McTIlDldc
was burned that night off Crany Island
by her crew, her draught of water being
too great to admit of her going up James
river.
This refutation Of Mr.. Chambers as
sertion. in addition to being based on per-
sonal recollection and experience. is fully
sustained by contemporaneous confede-
rate and Federal reports, which may
readily be found in BATTLES and Leaders
of the Civil War" Volume l.; 1.-THE Re-
bellion (so-called) Records" printed by
the United States Government. Series l..
Volume J., and other accessible authori-
ties.
Furthermore, we think that had Mr..
Chandler taken the trouble of indulging
in a little investigation of this matter,
ne would have found that the petition
(Worden) had been submitted to Congress
before, and that the evidence against the
plea he now advances was so conclusive
that a Republican Congress dismissed
the question.
AS 20 the mere matter of giving each
OF the officers and crew OF the Monitor
$780, we care nothing. AS veterans OF the
United States navy, the Monitors officers
and crew are certainly more entitled to
receive that gratuity, or recognition, than
are thousands to receive the pensions
they draw. But to reward them with
''prize money for accomplishing the "prac-
teal destruction OF the Merrlmac," and
SO 'cnmpletely disabling" that vessel as
10 render her practically useless" ana
prevent her from "again entering naval |
engagement" would be to grossly falsify |
history. Mr.. Chandler was correct in |
stating that the fight between the Monitor |
and the Merrimac marked the change in !
the construction from wooden to ironclad |
vessels. and was one of the most Inn
portant events Of the civil war, but for /
the rest he turned his back on ihcontro-
yertible facts.