| Show TIlE JIOXITOU AND JIKRRI2EAC JU7rlI of the Baltic by an Officer of the Confederate Vessel Wrl From the article by CoL Jolm Taylor tll fIzht nil oHir of heMeiTimac during with the Monitor in the mir Century Irjr onV for Mar > h is qouted the fol log l hwT At lavbrelk we discovered ly an < lT US an1 the Minnesota a 1 0flrc to hi i craft which we knew at lOng IJPPI nwon > s Monitor which had ail flf uifiX1clfcd in 1 Hampton Roads Wffi V from different sources we ooll irI P a She LIVe C her < could not Possibly 1I10ll > < > raPPearince at a njoro 1111111 r I1 A whidl time for us Chandng our IlSlItt toil lvcra to destroy the Min leflt hllu v then the remainder of the HMred l but Fortress Monroe She ap lofty frjtt0 a pigmy compared with the I which she llerriz guarded Hut m RHco T V sone great element of her of tho J1ol11tor will hot attempt a description hls her build and are peculiari veIl Known After dlr an early breakfast we got un Way and nPJy Steamed out toward the and join ° peniner fire from our bow pivot iOiiig w delivered broadside our starboard < ttlri > ed at fhort range which was re gUns promptly Both from hr > r eleveninch Passed a ain Vessels then turned and Was fjrin still closer The Monitor and iiarh every seven or eight minutes Was every shot struck Our ship lie loss f of the Worse and worse and after hid smokestack lef eIigin Mr Rainsoy ita lI1eer reported that the So draught c city POOl that it was with rfffi ty he could great diIh tY lee the keep up steam Once or Ship Was Pn thebpttom Draw I ing twentythree feet of water we were confined to a narrow channel while the I Monitor with only twelve feet immersion could take any position and always have I us in range of her guns Orders were I given to concentrate our fire on the pilothouse pilot-house and with good result as we afterward I after-ward learned More than two hours had passed and we had made no impression Ion the enemy so far as we could discover dis-cover while our wounds were slight Several times the Monitor ceased firing I and AVC were in hopes she was disabled but the revolution again of her turret and the heavy blows of her leel1inch shot on our sidet soon undeceiATed us Coming down from the spardeck and observing a division standing at ease Lieut Jones observed Why are you not firing Mr Eggles I tonI ton-I Why our powder is very precious replied the Lieutenant and after two hours incessant firing I find that I can do I her about as much damage by snapping my thumb at her every two minutes and a half Lieut Jones now determined to run her down or board For nearly an hour we man uvered for a position Now go ahead now stop now astern the ship Aa a3 unwieldy as Noahs Ark At IIH ws opportunity red Go ahead f1 1 peed But before the ship gathered luadway the Monitor turned and our disabled ram only gave a glancing blow effecting nothing Again she came up on our quarter her bow against our side and at this distance fired twice Both shots struck about halfway up the shield abreast of the after Pivot and the impact forced the side boldly in two or three inches All tIle crews of the after guns were knocked over by the concussion concus-sion and bled from the nose or ears Another shot at the same place would have penetrated While alongside boarders were called away but she dropped astern before they could get on board And so for six or more hours the struggle was kept up At length the Monitor went over the middle ground where we could not follow but always maintaining a position to protect the Minnesota Min-nesota To have run our ship ashore on a falling tide would have been ruin We awaited her return for an hour and at 2 oclock pm steamed to Sewalls Point thoroughly worn out from the two days fight Although there is no doubt that the Monitor first retiredfor Captain Van Brunt commanding the Minnesota so states in his official reportthe battle was a drawn one so far as the two vessels engaged were concerned But in its general gen-eral results the advantage was with the Monitor Our casualties in the second days fight were only a few wounded The Monitor was well handled and saved the Minnesota and the remainder of the fleet at Fortress Monroe But her gunnery was poor Not a single shot struck us at the waterline where the ship was utterly unprotected and where one would have been fatal Or had the fire been concentrated on any one spot the shield would have been pierced or had large charges been used the result would have been the same Most of her shot struck us obliquely breaking the iron of both courses but not injuring the wood backing When struck at right angles the backing would be broken but not penetrated We had no solid projectiles projec-tiles except a few of large windage to be used as hot shot and of course made no impression on the turret But in all this it should be borne in mind that both vessels were on their trial trips both were experimental and both receiving their baptism of fire |
