Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1898-06-02
9Ks MONITOR AND THE Ea1nlo



nnce the Monitor met the Merrimac
~ nsnAp'ou noaus, ounusy lAornns'
naisn ., LOU. anu lousn' ns' ~ q
s.ans'u' VI 'he cohpara'',e'.
en,aA gre" Vi the MONITOR posMo'y
wv, W.. ole .'an Is CIV since 'tuniifal
,oIaeh ; oea'h' w tne larger crew
W 'ne Merr'ihac' a'V men 'nere are
1 a mere ha'diui' perhaps d
AV1en III al,
one VI 'nese survivor" ~. IS MAJOR
$50 - Lons % SALIVA H. ne
wac oorn al Chattanooga ishh'' anu
was sent IN early life TO Annapolis
10, a. asaneHiy, ne e'a as most OF 'ne
oaue's u'o' ana ioi'o"ed tAe oiiicef 70
"nvni nf ie'' mosl a''acneu. some
y. 'nese men look the oath OF allegl'
d sm.e, W. many OF mem rallleu 10 'ne
ueaense Oh 'ne oogth, Young Longs
essoo,a''o"s were all IN the soaln'
p m ne eh''reo N'e soufAefh navy
ne was IN the night on board the
'e u
oh saturday, March s, the Merri-
mac ATTACKED the Federal feet, as has
Iecehtly oeen recalled by articles OF
1ae late Admira. Worden and Others,
SINKING the Cumberland, capturing
anu burning the Congress and leav-
lns ene Minnesota aground, an easy
prey ior the next days work. The
feaerai fleet raint shot and shell on
Tue Merrlmac, but, except in those
rare eases IN which these projectiles
entered her open ports, they did no
ualhage'
on the hrst day the crew of the
Merrimae saw little of the fight, ex-
cep' their end OF it. That was con-
nneu 10 the working Of the eleven
.aiee rine guns they carried and the
liaIn,euVering OF the ship.
Inc coming OF the Monitor chang
I'll tne aspect OF affairs for the tri.
unipnant Merlin g She had had
o'efy thihg her own way. She had
Se' the telegraph wires flashing with
. ., 'nat draped the North in
gloom ana made the South blaze with
uoanres' Inc remaining ships of the
r = Meet she had counted hers to
hhish az her convenience, when this
new Zoe appeared. She was an ele-
meht OF uncertainty. The Merrimac
hnew ner own limitations and capa.
ollities' and she knew what the
WOODEN SHIPS OF the Federal feet
coulo 40 and whert they were weak
que knew nothing, however, of the
MONITOR she had gone into action
miOli no sol'd shot, preferring shells
~ 1Ur use against the wooden ships
. hese shells' however, were poor ma
@rlai 70 use against an iron turret,
me 'na' OF the Monitor. AS 1t proved
'iey were almost useless.
~ seem that rate or Providence, or
o,inu luck, mad ordered that both
sn4ps sho"ld De so deficient in the
na.'er OF armament or ammunition
~ 10 De able to do little damage, II
any' Inc Monitor had just enough
1he advantage to satisfy the Merri-
niac that success was not to be
'nought OF as 1t had been.
The Monitor was well handled ~
says Major Long, "and she was we'll
fought. She didn fire as many shots
as we did, but we were a larger tar
get, and she did more hittjnr ord
more execution.
We fired no broadsides. We had
orders to load and fire at will wben-
ever we could bring a Gun 70 hear
Our guns had no lateral tronverse
and could not be hauled from side 10
side, to enable their runners 70 catch
sight of their enemy. They had 10
wait till they found their enemy in
front of them. The large part Of the
action was at rather short range
however, so we generally had one
gun or another that could sigbt tho
target. There was no loafng Al
times the firing was pretty fast, Our
upper works were struck again and
again. Our smoAcs,ack, which was
very large, was smuly riddled This
rntrr1rr1ru WIN tnc furnace draught
to large extent, but did not disable
u.s. Some shots entered our ports,
though the interior damage was
slight.
i was engaged on the gundeck
most OF the time till the signal officer
was wounded Then ! was ordered to
assume his duties He had been taken
10 the hospital, and ! followed him
there to get the signal book. The
doctors had one man on an operating
table and the officer whom | was to
relieve was struggling in the hands