The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1898-04-04
FIGHT OF THE MONITOR
ENVY LIGHT ON THE FAMOUS EN-
GAGEMENT IN HAMPTON ROADS.

Major James @. Long of TIskilwa, ILL.,,
who Fought on tho Merrimac, Says
There Are Some Misapprehensions About
the Eight-.It Was Not Melodramatic
and "Was Draw"
On the morning of March 3, 1862,
hearts of the nation, north and south,
stood still while the Monitor fought
the Merrinac to a draw in Hampton
Roads. OF either crew there are few
survivors. The death of Admiral Wor-
den recently removed the last officer,
and the last man but one of the Moni-
tor while of the $40 men ON the Merri-
mac that day, not more than corpor-
ais guard are living now. One of
these men is Major James c. Long of
Tiskilwa. He is only 50 years old, and
so was only is when he went through
this historic battle that revolutionized
the naval architecture of the world.
But his recollection of the eventful day
is very clear and distinct.
Major Long was born at Chattanoo-
ga, Tenn. From her doorway his moth
er was able to see by day and night
most of the famous battle of Lookout
Mountain. At an early age he entered
Annapolis 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 midship-
mans berth. In this capacity he cerv-
ed on the Merrimac. A large proper
ton of the officers at Annapolis refus-
ed 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 armored to the water line, but
not below it. She drew twenty-th three
feet of water, but she had such a.
load on her upper works in the arnor
that she carried that she was topheayy
and could never have lived in 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-
fidence of her crew. says Major Long.
1--WE were afraid she might get 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
before, and which went down with her
flag up, her guns firing at us and her
crew cheering to the last. If the Moni-
tor had rammed us there or had been
able to depress her guns so as to land
a shot or two there, it would have been
no drawn battle.
"There are some singular misappre-
tensions about the fight says Major
Long. ''It is a general belief that these
two ships steamed about in Hampton
Roads, each manoeuvring to find the
other at disadvantage, sometimes
graphing, almost, and firing all the
times; that, in fact, their guns kept up
continuous roar. This was not so.
1.-THE Monitor arrived in Hampton
Roads on the night of March 3. On
that day the Merrimac had been de-
molishing the Federal wooden ships at
her pleasure. She was proof against
their projectiles, and could shatter
them with shot and ram at will. On
that day she sunk the Cumberland,
burned the Congress and left the Min
nesota aground, a picked prey for the
following day. On moving out to re-
new 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.
.'The fight lasted six hours, but it
was not melodramatic cannonading.
In the six hours the Monitor fired only
forty-one shots and the Merrimac only
forty-six, a. total of eighty-seven. The
Monitor carried two guns, the Merri-
mac eleven, SO that the pieces averag-
ed less than seven shots each. There
were times when several reports came
within the space Of a few minutes, but
this did not often happen.
eve had orders to fire whenever we
could bring q gun to bear, regardless
of other circumstances. The only
qualification Of this order was that the
shots be delivered at the shortest posi-
BILE range. Much time was consumed
in manoeuvring the ships, each trying
to get as much advantage as possible
while allowing the least to it's advers-
ary The Monitors two guns were
placed side by side, but were never fir
ed simultaneously, no matter how good
the opportunity. The Merrimac's
eleven guns were placed four on a side,
two at a bow and one commanding
the stern She might have fired broad
Sides but never did during the whole
engagement, principally because the
Monitor was so small target that the
broadside guns could not be brought
to bear on her at once.
providence or fate Or blind luck or
mans lack Of foresight, so arranged
the ammunition and armament of both
ships that neither one could win on
that day The Monitor had two
smoothbore shell guns, not adapted to
the high pressure produced by 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
from the ordinance department not to
exceed fifteen pounds of powder but
she used solid shot.
1.-THE Merrimac 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
another ironclad and as shells were
far more effective against wooden
ships than were solid shot, she carried
nothing else.
..r,I,o ,ac,,lf of those inadaptatiouc