486 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



it was impossible — that two sheets were out of one of the boilers. It now 

 appeared, from the reports of the g'uns, that it was a running fight. The 

 commodore ordered his executive officer to call the men to quarters, and load 

 the guns, which was done; and, in a short time the gun-boat Tyler came ia 

 sight firing her stern guns, and then came the ram. She ran close in to 

 the Louisiana shore, firing her long guns at the Tyler. Then she headed 

 out in the river, and came on down through the fleet, firing right and left. 

 The ram Lancaster had a stcampipe shot away. About this time Commo- 

 dore Porter ordered all hands below. I went with the rest, and saw no 

 more of the ram until she got opposite the Essex. I was looking out of 

 one of the ventilating port-holes, in the steerage cabin, to see the effects of 

 the shots from the Essex on her. I saw some of the 10-inch and 11-inch 

 shots fired from some of the vessels of the fleet strike her. When they 

 struck, a blaze of fire, like that from a sky-rocket, issued from her sides. 

 When she got opposite the Essex two guns were fired simultaneously, and 

 the concussion was so great as to throw me down, whereby I lost observa- 

 tion of their effect. I immediately went below on the gun-deck, and saw 

 the shot from the stern guns of the Essex strike her. 



Commodore Porter sent me back to St. Louis next day with instructions 

 to hurry up the rams LaFayette and Choctaw, which instructions I obeyed. 

 Commodore Porter sent for a tug to tow him after the ram, but could'nt 

 get them to undertake the job. 



The Iron Clad Monitors. 



Mr, B. S. Osbon. — Mr. Chairman, it has been my fortune on several occa- 

 sions to be on the monitor style of gunboats during action, and I can say 

 that they behaved remarkably well, and, with the exception of the want of 

 fresh air, they are all that is cltiin^ed for them. With the improvements 

 experience has suggested I have no doubt they will be the most formidable 

 vessels afloat. In order to show what they have actually endured I will 

 read an extract from a copy of the official report of Commander John L. 

 Worden, U. S. N., to Rear Admiral Dupont, in the action between the first 

 Monitor and the Merrimac. 



" We were struck by projectiles forty-eight times, to wit: sixteen times 

 on the turret, three on the pilot house, seven on the smoke stack, seven 

 on the side armor, eight on deck armor, once in gig, once in cutter, twice 

 on boat spars, once on spare anchor, and had two flag staffs shot away." 



After giving a thrilling account of the action and the sensations he expe- 

 rienced on board of this iron clad, Mr. Osbon proceeded to elucidate points 

 of particular iuterest to the engineer and builder as follows: 



I respectfully submit the following observations upon the effects of the 

 shot upon this vessel. Upon the side armor above and near the water-line 

 the plates were indented from one to two inches, bolt heads broken, the 

 plates sprung apart at the upper edges, over the point of impact from one- 

 eighth to three eighths of an inch, and where the point was near the ends 

 of the plates they were in some cases cracked or split. 



Upon the upper edge of the side armor and above the water-line, about 

 midships, the indentations were in some cases greater, from one to three of 

 the plates fractured or bent, and in one case driven under the edge of the 



