“It has never been denied that the object of the Merrimac on the 9th of March was to complete the destruction of the Union fleet in Hampton Roads, and that in this she was completely foiled and driven off by the Monitor; nor has it been denied that at the close of the engagement the Merrimac retreated to Norfolk, leaving the Monitor in possession of the field.”
The reader is likely to think that “retreat” is a strong word to use under the circumstances, especially as the ebb-tide and not the Monitor made the Merrimac leave. Nevertheless, there was also the leak in the Merrimac’s bow to be considered. That leak was “alarming,” according to Jones, and the Merrimac got it in battle by ramming the Monitor.
But while the controversy over the result of the battle is interesting, it is in no sense practical. It is certain that neither crew was whipped, whatever happened to the ships. The bravery on both sides must excite the pride of every American. But the one point of the battle that is of practical consideration is the gunnery.
Says Lieutenant Wood: “The Monitor was well handled, and saved the Minnesota and the remainder of the fleet at Fortress Monroe. But her gunnery was poor. Not a single shot struck us at the water-line, where the ship was utterly unprotected, and where one would have been fatal. Or had the fire been concentrated on any one spot, the shield would have been pierced; or had larger charges been used, the result would have been the same.” Here are statements of fact that ought never to be forgotten. The haymakers of the lost Wasp came back from the mists in which they disappeared to mock at the gunnery displayed in the Civil War, and especially in this battle, for they, in a battle at night, laid their guns by the sissing line of foam cast off by the Avon’s bow, and so struck the water-line and sank the ship in spite of the utmost efforts of three crews to save her.
Group of Officers on Deck of the Monitor.
From a photograph.
In her battle with the Monitor the Merrimac was floating with her unarmed bow, seventy feet long, more than a foot out of water, instead of a-wash, as was originally intended. Had one shot from the Monitor struck the Merrimac at the water-line’s junction with the armor, she would have gone down. And yet Greene elevated instead of depressing his guns. The gunnery of the Merrimac was better than that of the Monitor, for it was concentrated at the last on a vulnerable point—the pilot-house—and so Worden was disabled (he was the only one badly hurt in this fight), and the Monitor, for the time, was driven away. The battle between the Monitor and the Merrimac did not result in a glorious victory, but it was an unparalleled lesson in naval warfare.
As a part of the history of the two famous ironclads, and as a portrayal of the heart of the typical naval seaman of that day, the following letter, written to Captain Worden while he was under the surgeon’s care in Washington, must be given:
“To Captain Worden.
“Hampton Roads, April 24th, 1862.
“U. S. Monitor.