The South depended on the Merrimac to break the blockade. The Merrimac was a wooden war vessel which had been covered with a double coat of iron. It had a great iron beak with which it could ram wooden vessels. The Merrimac moved to attack the Union fleet, which was stationed in Hampton Roads. The shot fired from the Union vessels and from the shore batteries had no more effect on the iron coat of the Merrimac than hail on a tin roof. She sank one wooden war vessel and set another on fire. What was to hinder her from going up the Potomac and bombarding Washington?
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
From a rare photograph taken by Alexander Hesler in Chicago, 1860, and loaned by the Chicago Photogravure Company, who own the original
Battle between ironclads
But Lincoln placed his hope in the Monitor. This strange craft, "looking like a cheese box on a raft," reached Hampton Roads that night and took position to defend the Union fleet from the Merrimac. The next morning the two ironclads met in battle. It was a battle of giants. "Why do you stop firing?" asked an officer of one of the gunners on the Merrimac. "I can do her as much damage by snapping my thumb at her every two minutes and a half," was the reply.
It was a drawn battle. Washington was safe. The South could not break the blockade. This battle between the Merrimac and the Monitor changed the navies of the world. Wooden war vessels now gave place to iron vessels.
McClellan in the East
Meantime great battles were also being fought on land. In the East the Union army under General McClellan had been hurled back in an attack on Richmond. The Confederates under General Lee, in an attempt to invade the North, had been forced to retreat.
Grant in the West