THE BATTLE OF HAMPTON ROADS. i9 



the greatest rapidity, till it now numbers over sixty of all denominations of vessels. 

 The late Emperor of the French gave a great impetus to the movement; and other 

 foreign nations speedily following in his wake, it clearly behoved England to be able to 

 cope with them on their own ground, should occasion demand. Then there was the 

 " scare" of invasion which took some hold of the public mind, and was exaggerated by 

 certain portions of the press, at one period, till it assumed serious proportions. Leading 

 journals complained that by the time the Admiralty would have one or two ironclads in 

 commission, the French would have ten or twelve. Thus urged, the Government of the 

 day must be excused if they made some doubtful experiments and costly failures. 



But apart from the lessons of the Crimea, and the activity and rivalry of foreign 

 powers, attention was seriously drawn to the ironclad question by the events of the day. 

 It was easy to guess and theorise concerning this new feature in warfare, but early in 

 1862 practical proof was afforded of its power. The naval engagement which took place 

 in Hampton Roads, near the outset of the great American civil war, was the first time 

 in which an ironclad ship was brought into collision with wooden vessels, and also the 

 first time in which two distinct varieties of the species were brought into collision with 

 each other. 



The Southerners had, when the strife commenced, seized and partially burned 

 the Merrimac, a steam-frigate belonging to the United States navy, then lying 

 at the Norfolk Navy-yard. The hulk was regarded as nearly worthless,* until, looking 

 about for ways and means to annoy their opponents, they hit on the idea of armouring 

 her, in the best manner attainable at the moment; and for awhile at least, this 

 condemned wreck, resuscitated, patched up, and covered with iron plates, f became the 

 terror of the enemy. She was provided with an iron prow or ram capable of inflicting 

 a severe blow under water. Her hull, cut down to within three feet of the water-line, 

 was covered by a bomb-proof, sloping-roofed house, which extended over the screw and 

 rudder. This was built of oak and pine, covered with iron ; the latter being four and a 

 half inches thick, and the former aggregating twenty inches in thickness. While the 

 hull was generally iron-plated, the bow and stern were covered with steel. There were 

 no masts nothing seen above but the " smoke-stack " (funnel), pilot-house, and flagstaff. 

 She carried eight powerful guns, most of them eleven-inch. " As she came ploughing 

 through the water/ 7 wrote one eyewitness of her movements, "she looked like a huge 

 half-submerged crocodile." The Southerners re-christened her the Virginia, but her older 

 name has clung to her. The smaller vessels with her contributed little to the issue of 

 the fight, but those opposed to her were of no inconsiderable size. The Congress, Cumberland, 



* The report of the Chief Engineer and Naval Constructor of the Confederate Service, in regard to the con- 

 on of the Merrimac into an armoured vessel, distinctly stated that from the effects of fire she was " useless 

 for any other purpose, without incurring a very heavy expense for rebuilding." 



t The official reports state that she was plated, many popular accounts averring that she was only covered 

 with "railroad iron." The information presented here is drawn from the following sources: "The Kebellion 

 Record," a voluminous work, edited by Frank Moore, of New York, and which contains all the leading official 

 war-documents, both of the Federals and Confederates ; the statement of Mr. A. B. Smith, pilot of Iho Cumberland, 

 one of the survivors of the fight ; the Baltimore American, and the Norfolk Day Hook, both newspapers published 

 near the scene of action. There is great unanimity in the accounts published on both sides. 



