As the day closed, sadness and gloom filled the hearts of the Federal officers in the fleet and Fortress. They felt assured that the powerful enemy that had just made such murderous work had only retired for the night to recruit, and then return to complete the destruction she had commenced, having the sailing vessels at her mercy. While despondency settled on many brows, and conjectures were rife as to where the Merrimac would direct her attention the next day, a gleam of hope arose. At eight o’clock in the evening a bright, movable light was discovered seaward, coming from the direction of Cape Charles beacon. It being known that the Ericsson Battery had left New York two days previous, surmises were rife that this light might proceed from her deck. The best night telescopes were brought into requisition, and in less than half an hour after it first hove in sight, the fact was circulated that the Ericsson Battery was coming up the Roads. The news spread like wildfire, and the ramparts in the fort were soon lined with troops. At nine o’clock the Monitor anchored off Fortress Monroe.
The next day, (Sunday, the 9th,) dawned fair and calm. The sun rose with almost cloudless splendor, a soft haze alone hung upon the water, so silvery and transparent that it hardly intercepted the view.
At half-past six o’clock, A. M., this haze cleared away. Looking towards Sewall’s Point there appeared the Merrimac and the rebel steamers Yorktown and Patrick Henry. They were stationary—the Merrimac to the right of the others, blowing off steam. Their appearance was the cause for a second alarm. The rebel craft seemed deliberating what to do—whether to move on and attempt the destruction of the Minnesota, which was aground, or to attack the Union fleet anchored near the Rip Raps. The appearance of the Merrimac on this second visit caused great precipitation in the removal of the Federal transport fleet to a safe harbor a mile or two up the Chesapeake. At seven A. M., a plan seemed to have been adopted, and the Merrimac steamed in the direction of the Minnesota, which was still aground. The Yorktown and Jamestown were crowded with troops, and steamed slowly after the Merrimac. The plan of the latter seemed to be to destroy the Minnesota, and then proceed to shell out the Union camp at Newport News, land and take possession of the camp with their own troops.
The Merrimac steamed along with boldness until she was within three miles of the Minnesota, when the Monitor emerged from behind the latter, and proceeded towards the Merrimac. At first the rebel craft seemed nonplussed, and hesitated, no doubt, in astonishment at the strange-looking vessel approaching her. The Merrimac then closed the distance between her and the Monitor until they were within a mile of each other. Both batteries stopped. The Merrimac fired a shot at the Minnesota, to which no reply was made. The rebel craft then fired at the Monitor; the latter replied, hitting the Merrimac near the water line. The Merrimac then commenced firing very rapidly, first from her stern gun at the Monitor, and then her broadside guns, occasionally firing a shot at the Minnesota. The fight went on in this way for an hour or two, both vessels exchanging shots pretty freely. Sometimes the Merrimac would retire, followed by the Monitor, and vice versa.
While the fight between the batteries was going on, one hundred solid nine-inch shot were sent up from Fortress Monroe on the steamer Rancocas to the Minnesota. At a quarter-past ten o’clock the Merrimac and Monitor had come into pretty close quarters, the former giving the latter two broadsides in succession. They were promptly replied to by the Monitor. The firing was so rapid that both craft were obscured in columns of white smoke. The ramparts of the fort, the rigging of the vessels in port, the houses and the bend were all crowded with sailors, soldiers and civilians. When the rapid firing alluded to took place, these spectators were singularly silent, anxious and doubtful of the result. Their impatience was soon removed by the full figure of the Monitor, with the stars and stripes flying at her stern, steaming around the Merrimac, moving with the ease of a duck on the water. The distance between the vessels was forty feet. In this circuit the Monitor’s guns were not idle, as she fired shot after shot at her formidable antagonist.
At eleven A. M., the Minnesota opened fire, and assisted the Monitor in engaging the Merrimac. She fired nine-inch solid shot with good accuracy, but with apparently little effect. The Merrimac returned the fire with shell, one of which struck and exploded the boiler of the gunboat Dragon, which was alongside the Minnesota, endeavoring to get her off. For the next hour the battle raged fiercely between the Merrimac on the rebel side and the Union vessels, the Monitor, Minnesota and Whitehall, but with no particular result. The Minnesota presenting the best mark, the Merrimac fired at her frequently, alternately giving the Monitor a powerful shot. The Merrimac made several attempts to run at full speed past the Monitor to attack and run down the Minnesota. All these attempts were parried, as it were, by the Monitor. In one of these desperate efforts the Merrimac ran her plow or ram with terrible force against the side of the Monitor; but it only had the effect of careening the latter vessel in the slightest degree.
The rebel boats Yorktown and Patrick Henry kept at a safe distance from the Monitor. The former vessel, at the beginning of the fight, had the temerity to come within range of the Monitor. The latter fired one shot at her which entered her pilot-house, carrying it away, when she retired out of range.
The fire raged hotly on both sides, the opposing batteries moving around each other with the skill, ease and dexterity of knights in a tournament. The Merrimac, though the strongest, did not move with the freedom of her antagonist; hence the Monitor had the advantage, taking choice of position. At a quarter before twelve o’clock, the Merrimac was in full retreat, heading for Sewall’s Point, and chased for a few minutes by the Monitor. The Merrimac had evidently suffered to some extent, and it was thought at one time that she was sinking. After she got safely under the guns of the rebel battery at Sewall’s Point, she stopped and signalled for help from her consorts, who were beating a retreat. Subsequently two tug-boats or gunboats went alongside, took her in tow, and proceeded to Norfolk. This ended the combat.
Toward the close of the engagement, Lieutenant Worden was standing in the pilot-house, when a percussion shell struck the turret, and exploded. The openings for sighting outside objects, through one of which Lieutenant Worden was looking, allowed the fine dust and splinters to enter, injuring his eyes. Almost immediately afterward the same thing occurred, and this second injury rendered him completely blind, and he was compelled to retire below. It was feared that he was permanently injured in this gallant encounter, but after careful treatment his sight was restored, and he was again ready for duty.
This remarkable encounter between two iron-clad vessels was regarded with the greatest interest throughout Europe, where its importance to the questions of naval architecture and warfare was fully appreciated and understood. It had not only a direct bearing upon the construction and working of floating batteries, but it demonstrated that a new engine of war had been introduced that might render valueless for effective defence all the land batteries against which these iron antagonists might be brought to bear.