A history of the United States . ments in protecting vessels with iron had, indeed, beenmade by the British and the French, but without much success. command of the Army of the Cumberland ; fought successfully the great bat-tle of Stone River; was defeated by Bragg at Chickamauga; was supersededaud put on waiting orders in the West; resigned in 1867; Minister to Mexico,1868-1869; congressman from California, 1881-1885; Register of United StatesTreasury, 1885-1893. 382 THE CAMPAIGNS OF 1862. [§486 In the latter part of 1861, however, an event occurred whicheffected a complete revolution in the
A history of the United States . ments in protecting vessels with iron had, indeed, beenmade by the British and the French, but without much success. command of the Army of the Cumberland ; fought successfully the great bat-tle of Stone River; was defeated by Bragg at Chickamauga; was supersededaud put on waiting orders in the West; resigned in 1867; Minister to Mexico,1868-1869; congressman from California, 1881-1885; Register of United StatesTreasury, 1885-1893. 382 THE CAMPAIGNS OF 1862. [§486 In the latter part of 1861, however, an event occurred whicheffected a complete revolution in the construction of war Confederates had secured at Norfolk the abandoned andpartly destroyed frigate Merrimac. They decided to cut offthe top of the vessel and build upon it a sort of Mansardroof so heavily plated with iron and so sloping that it couldthrow off the heaviest cannon shot. They also fitted up theship with an iron prow, or beak, put in powerful engines,and filled the space within the roof with heavy guns. At. Confederate Bam. about the same time, Brigadier General A. W. Ellet, an engi-neer in the Union army, devised and built in the West a fleetof steam rams of similar construction, which did great execu-tion at the battle of Memphis. 485. First Success of the Merrimac. — On the 8th of March,1862, the Merrimac sailed out from Norfolk into HamptonEoads. She there met a Union fleet, consisting of five of thelargest ships and a number of smaller vessels. The battle wasone-sided, and was soon over. The Merrimac with its prow sankthe Cumberland and then drove the other vessels ashore andset several of them on fire. The whole fleet would have beendestroyed had not darkness come on. The guns of the woodenships made no impression whatever on the Merrimac. Atnight this destructive Confederate boat withdrew to Norfolk,intending to finish its work the next morning. § 480] THE WORK OF THE NAVY. 383 486. The Merrimac and the Monitor. — Fortunately for theNorth, whe
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