Neither side on the morrow shirked the coming duel. From the outset the _Monitor_ was the better prepared. Her guns fired solid shot; the _Merrimac_ had only shell and grape, neither of which was calculated to do much harm to the _Monitor’s_ turret, whereas the blow of the _Monitor’s_ shot upon the sloping sides of the _Merrimac’s_ battery was bound to be delivered with terrific force, even though the blows were slanting. For another thing, the southern vessel was built of wood and had already suffered severely in the hard contest at short range with the battleships the previous afternoon; her engines were shaky, and her steering gear worked worse than before; and the experiences of some of her crew, coupled with the wounding of her commander, had not been such as to leave their confidence unshaken. The _Merrimac_ was now commanded by Commodore Tatnall, the hero of the episode in the Anglo-American attack some years before upon the Chinese forts at Peiho, when he justified the participation of the Americans by the famous remark that “blood is thicker than water.” Tatnall proved himself a worthy successor to Buchanan. When the _Merrimac_ sallied forth the next morning intending to complete the destruction of the northern warships, she found the _Monitor_ waiting for her. Notwithstanding the inferiority of his ammunition, Tatnall never hesitated for a moment. The firing between the two ships was mostly at short range, and by the time the battle was over both vessels had had enough of it. Neither side admitted defeat, but neither side had succeeded in destroying the other. The _Monitor_ was struck twenty-two times, and in return she fired forty-one shots. Precisely how many of these were effective on the southern ship is not known, but including the fight of the previous day, she was found afterwards to have no fewer than ninety-seven indentations on her armour. Her layers of plating were shattered, and the heavy wooden backing was splintered, but not one of the heavy shots of the _Monitor_ succeeded in penetrating the _Merrimac_. The backing only splintered where the heavy shot had struck direct blows. Nine of the Confederate shells struck the turret, and the pilot-house was struck twice, and the other projections and the deck also showed marks of the enemy’s fire. The result of the battle was that the _Monitor_ was able to resume hostilities and the _Merrimac_ was so badly crippled that she could not do so. The steering gear and anchor of the _Monitor_ were protected by the overhanging deck, and were out of reach of the _Merrimac’s_ fire. This arrangement was repeated with modifications in most of the northern monitors afterwards built, and greatly puzzled the Confederates until they discovered the method by which the vessels could be anchored or lift anchor without anyone appearing on deck.