As the month of January, 1862, came on, the Confederates learned from their spies that the _Monitor_ was rapidly nearing completion, and the number of men at work on the _Merrimac_ was doubled. They had already been pushing the work as fast as daywork could do it, but with the added force, the _Merrimac_ rapidly assumed the form where she might be placed in commission. The collecting of a crew proved a matter of some trouble, for the people of the South were all soldiers rather than seamen; but by visiting the various armies, Captain Buchanan was able to select a thoroughly good crew for the work--men who could fix the boilers, steer the ship, and work the guns to the best advantage. The fact that many of them did not know a royal halliard from futtock shroud was of no importance, for, like the latest of warships, the _Merrimac_ had neither halliards nor shrouds. With the arrival of the crew the eagerness of the officers to try their ship increased. She had never steamed a mile in her new form--she had never steamed at all save only to turn her shaft at the dock to see whether the engines would work or not; but this did not matter. The men were fore and fit, and on Saturday, March 8th, they would show what the ship was good for. A glance at the map shows that the waters of the James River come down from the northwest, those of the Nansemond come from the southwest, and those of the Elizabeth come up from the south to unite in Hampton Roads, and flow out to the northeast to empty into Chesapeake Bay. Old Point Comfort, with Fortress Monroe, guarded the north side of the mouth of Hampton Roads, but away south, on the route to Norfolk, was Sewell’s Point, where the Confederates had erected strong batteries that completely commanded the channel running south from Hampton Roads to Norfolk. Over on the northwest corner, so to speak, of Hampton Roads lay Newport News Point, which was held by the government; so the government ships were in the habit of anchoring along the northerly side of Hampton Roads all the way from Fortress Monroe to Newport News, a distance of seven miles. They were in plain sight of the Confederate batteries on Sewell’s Point, but far out of range, for it is a wide stretch of water. [Illustration: Hampton Roads. _From “The Navy in the Civil War.”_]