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Watching the Merrimac
By R. E. Colston, Brigadier-General, C.S.A.
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Joseph
B. Smith, commander of the USS Congress
From the Collections of The Mariners' Museum
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The Merrimac, taking no notice
of the land batteries, concentrated her fire upon the ill-fated
Congress. The latter replied gallantly until her commander,
Joseph B. Smith, was killed and her decks were reeking with
slaughter. Then her colors were hauled down and white flags
appeared at the gaff and mainmast. Meanwhile, the James River
gun-boat flotilla had joined the Merrimac.
Through my field-glass I could see the
crew of the Congress making their escape to the shore
over the bow. Unable to secure her prize, the Merrimac
set her on fire with hot shot, and turned to face new adversaries
just appearing upon the scene of conflict.
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USS
Minnesota
From the Collections of The Mariners' Museum
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As soon as it was known at Fort Monroe
that the Merrimac had come out, the frigates Minnesota,
Roanoke, and St. Lawrence were ordered to the
assistance of the blockading squadron. The Minnesota,
assisted by two tugs, was the first to reach the scene, but
the Cumberland and the Congress were already past
help. As soon as she came within range, a rapid cannonade commenced
between her and the Merrimac, aided by the Patrick
Henry and the Jamestown, side-wheel river steamers
transformed into gun-boats. The Minnesota, drawing nearly
as much water as the Merrimac, grounded upon a shoal
in the North Channel. This at once put an end to any further
attacks by ramming; but the lofty frigate, towering above the
water, now offered an easy target to the rifled guns of the
Merrimac and the lighter artillery of the gun-boats.
A shot from her exploded the Patrick Henry's boiler,
causing much loss of life and disabling that vessel for a considerable
time.
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Confederate
batteries at Sewall's Point, Virginia
From the Collections of The Mariners' Museum
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In the meantime the Roanoke and
St. Lawrence were approaching, aided by steam-tugs. As
they passed Sewell's Point, its batteries opened fire upon them,
and they replied with broadsides. Just at that moment the scene
was one of unsurpassed magnificence. The bright afternoon sun
shone upon the glancing waters. The fortifications of Newport
News were seen swarming with soldiers, now idle spectators of
a conflict far beyond the range of their batteries, and the
flames were just bursting from the abandoned Congress.
The stranded Minnesota seemed a huge monster at bay,
surrounded by the Merrimac and the gun-boats. The entire
horizon was lighted up by the continual flashes of the artillery
of these combatants, the broadsides of the Roanoke and
St. Lawrence and the Sewell's Point batteries; clouds
of white smoke rose in spiral columns to the skies, illumined
by the evening sunlight, while land and water seemed to tremble
under the thunders of the cannonade.
The Minnesota was now in a desperate
situation. It is true that, being aground, she could not sink,
but, looking through the glass, I could see a hole in her side,
made by the Merrimac's rifle shells. She had lost a number
of men, and had once been set on fire. Her destruction or surrender
seemed inevitable, since all efforts to get her afloat had failed.
But just then the Merrimac turned away from her toward
the Roanoke and the St. Lawrence. These vessels
had suffered but little from the distant fire of the Sewell's
Point batteries, but both had run aground, and had not been
floated off again with great difficulty, for it was very hazardous
for vessels of deep draught to manŠuvre over these comparatively
shallow waters. When the Merrimac approached, they delivered
broadsides and were then towed back with promptness. The Merrimac
pursued them but a short distance (for by this time darkness
was falling upon the scene of action, the tide was ebbing, and
there was great risk of running aground), and then steamed toward
Norfolk with the Beaufort leaving her wounded at the
Marine Hospital.
And now followed one of the grandest
episodes of this splendid yet somber drama. The moon in her
second quarter was just rising over the waters, but her silvery
light was soon paled by the conflagration of the Congress,
whose glare was reflected in the river. The burning frigate
four miles away seemed much nearer. As the flames crept up the
rigging, every mast, spar, and rope glittered against the dark
sky in dazzling lines of fire. The hull, aground upon the shoal,
was plainly visible, and upon its black surface each port-hole
seemed the mouth of a fiery furnace. For hours the flames raged,
with hardly a perceptible change in the wondrous picture. At
irregular intervals, loaded guns and shells, exploding as the
fire reached them, sent forth their deep reverberations. The
masts and rigging were still standing, apparently almost intact,
when, about 2 o'clock in the morning, a monstrous sheaf of flame
rose from the vessel to an immense height. A deep report announced
the explosion of the ship's powder-magazine. Apparently all
the force of the explosion had been upward. The rigging had
vanished entirely, but the hull seemed hardly shattered; the
only apparent change in it was that in two places two or three
of the port-holes had been blown into one great gap. It continued
to burn until the brightness of its blaze was effaced by the
morning sun.
Go to Main Category:
The Battle of Hampton Roads: March 8 & 9, 1862
Go to other documents in this category:
"The Battle of March 8, 1862" -
H. Ashton Ramsey
"The Men of the Cumberland" -
Rev. R.T.S. Lowell
"In the Monitor Turret" - S.D.
Greene
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