We were then shown the injury to the pilot-house. The mark of the ball was plain upon the two upper bars, the principal impact being upon the lower of the two. This huge bar was broken in the middle, but held firmly at either end. The farther it was pressed in, the stronger was the resistance on the exterior. On the inside the fracture in the bar was half an inch wide. Captain Worden’s eye was very near to the lookout crack, so that when the gun was discharged the shock of the ball knocked him senseless, while the mass of flame filled one side of his face with coarse grains of powder. He remained insensible for some hours. “Have you heard what Captain Worden’s first inquiry was when he recovered his senses after the general shock to his system?” asked Captain Fox of the President. “I think I have,” replied Mr. Lincoln, “but it is worth relating to these gentlemen.” “His question was,” said Captain Fox, “‘Have I saved the _Minnesota_?’ “‘Yes, and whipped the _Merrimac_!’ some one answered. “‘Then,’ said Captain Worden, ‘I don’t care what becomes of me.’” “Mr. President,” said Captain Fox, “not much of the history to which we have listened is new to me. I saw this battle from eight o’clock until mid-day. There was one marvel in it which has not been mentioned--the splendid handling of the _Monitor_ throughout the battle. The first bold advance of this diminutive vessel against a giant like the _Merrimac_ was superlatively grand. She seemed inspired by Nelson’s order at Trafalgar: ‘He will make no mistake who lays his vessel alongside the enemy.’ One would have thought the _Monitor_ a living thing. No man was visible. You saw her moving around that circle, delivering her fire invariably at the point of contact, and heard the crash of the missile against her enemy’s armor above the thunder of her guns, on the bank where we stood. It was indescribably grand! “Now,” he continued, “standing here on the deck of this battle-scarred vessel, the first genuine iron-clad--the victor in the first fight of iron-clads--let me make a confession and perform an act of simple justice. I never fully believed in armored vessels until I saw this battle. I know all the facts which united to give us the _Monitor_. I withhold no credit from Captain Ericsson, her inventor, but I know that the country is principally indebted for the construction of this vessel to President Lincoln, and for the success of her trial to Captain Worden, her commander.” XVII FARRAGUT’S CAPTURE OF NEW ORLEANS (1862) WITH SOME NOTES ON THE BLOCKADE