But that was not all nor the worst of the panic. Assistant Secretary of War John Tucker wrote to Commodore Vanderbilt of New York to ask “for what sum you will contract to destroy the _Merrimac_ ... answer by telegraph, as there is no time to be lost.” Humiliating as such panics are, they must not be forgotten; they must be remembered because they are humiliating, in order that they may be avoided in future. By the time the _Congress_ was ablaze beyond remedy, five o’clock had come, and the ebb-tide had run so far that the _Merrimac_ could not go to look after the _Minnesota_, which was grounded some distance off toward Fortress Monroe. Moreover, another day was coming, and to the mind of Lieutenant Jones, who now commanded, he would much better return to Sewell’s Point for the night and take the others on the first of the flood-tide next day. That he would have destroyed them at leisure next day, had no new element come into the conflict, is now unquestioned. But a new and a remarkable element--the _Monitor_--was at hand. CHAPTER X FIRST BATTLE BETWEEN IRONCLADS A COMPARISON BETWEEN THE _MONITOR_ AND THE _MERRIMAC_ BY THE ENGLISH STANDARD OF 1812--IT ASTONISHED THE SPECTATORS TO SEE THE TINY _MONITOR’S_ TEMERITY--AFTER HALF A DAY’S FIRING IT WAS PLAIN THAT THE GUNS COULD NOT PENETRATE THE ARMOR--ATTEMPTS TO RAM THAT FAILED--THE _MERRIMAC_ A-LEAK--CAPTAIN WORDEN OF THE _MONITOR_ DISABLED WHEN THE _MERRIMAC’S_ FIRE WAS CONCENTRATED ON THE PILOT-HOUSE--WHERE THE _MONITOR’S_ GUNNERS FAILED--FAIR STATEMENT OF THE RESULT OF THE BATTLE--WORDEN’S FAITHFUL CREW--THE _MERRIMAC_ DEFIED THE _MONITOR_ IN MAY, BUT WHEN NORFOLK WAS EVACUATED SHE HAD TO BE ABANDONED AND WAS BURNED AT CRANEY ISLAND--LOSS OF THE _MONITOR_. As it happened, the gunners on the _Merrimac_, when firing red-hot shot at the _Congress_, aimed high, and the shot were lodged in the upper part of the hull. The flames quickly spread over the bulwarks and up the rigging, but were slow in eating down toward the magazine. For hours the flames illuminated the whole region, while now and again a gun that had been left loaded was fired by the growing heat. It was a scene that attracted thousands of eyes ashore and afloat until, soon after midnight, the fire arrived at the magazine, and the exploding powder hurled the huge mass of blazing timbers high in air. A thunderous roar shook all the region round about, and then “the stillness of death” followed.