Produced by Graeme Mackreth and The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) [Illustration: Courtesy of the Century Co. THE "MONITOR" THE "MERRIMAC" THE ENCOUNTER AT SHORT RANGE, MARCH 9, 1862.] THE MONITOR AND THE MERRIMAC BOTH SIDES OF THE STORY TOLD BY LIEUT. J.L. WORDEN, U.S.N. LIEUT. GREENE, U.S.N. OF THE MONITOR AND H. ASHTON RAMSAY, C.S.N. CHIEF ENGINEER OF THE MERRIMAC ILLUSTRATED HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS NEW YORK AND LONDON MCMXII COPYRIGHT, 1912, BY HARPER & BROTHERS PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA PUBLISHED MARCH, 1912 CONTENTS CHAP. PAGE Introduction vii I. THE MONITOR AND THE MERRIMAC 1 _Told by Lieutenant Worden and Lieutenant S.D. Greene of the Monitor_ II. THE MERRIMAC AND THE MONITOR 25 _Told by H. Ashton Ramsay, Major C.S.A., Chief Engineer of the Merrimac_ III. THE LAST OF THE MONITOR 67 _By an eye-witness, Rear-Admiral E.W. Watson, U.S.N._ INTRODUCTION This is the first-hand story of what was done and seen and felt on each side in the battle of the _Monitor_ and the _Merrimac_. The actual experiences on both vessels are pictured, in one case by the commander of the _Monitor_, then a lieutenant, and the next in rank, Lieutenant Greene, and in the other by Chief-Engineer Ramsay of the _Merrimac_. Clearly such a record of personal experiences has a place by itself in the literature of the subject. It is quite unnecessary to dwell upon the various controversies which this battle has involved. As to the first use of armor, we know that France experimented with floating armored batteries in the Crimean War, and England had armored ships before 1862. As to the invention of the movable turret, which has been a bone of contention, the pages of Colonel Church's _Life of John Ericsson_ and other books are open to the curious. The struggle of Ericsson to obtain official recognition, the raising of money, the hasty equipment of the _Monitor_, and the restraining orders under which she fought form a story supplementary to the battle, but of peculiar interest. The _Monitor_ was ordered to act on the defensive. It was her mission first to protect the wooden ships. That explains certain misconceptions of her cautious attitude. And the fact that the powder charges for her Dahlgren guns were officially limited to fifteen pounds, although thirty and even fifty pounds were used with safety afterward, invites speculation upon the results if she had fought with a free hand.