A history of the United States for schools . isavowed the act of Captain Wilkes and gave up theprisoners. This was in the highest degree creditableto President Lincoln and to the people of the UnitedStates, who heartily approved his conduct. The affair created much bitter feeling in Englandand America, and the feeling afterward grew more bit-ter when fast Confederate cruisers were allowed to slipout of British ports to prey upon American most famous of these privateers was the ^ , , ? Confeder- Alabama, which did great damage. After a ate cruis- while, the British government was w
A history of the United States for schools . isavowed the act of Captain Wilkes and gave up theprisoners. This was in the highest degree creditableto President Lincoln and to the people of the UnitedStates, who heartily approved his conduct. The affair created much bitter feeling in Englandand America, and the feeling afterward grew more bit-ter when fast Confederate cruisers were allowed to slipout of British ports to prey upon American most famous of these privateers was the ^ , , ? Confeder- Alabama, which did great damage. After a ate cruis- while, the British government was warned by the United States minister that this sort of thing would 386 THE FEDERAL UNION. Ch. XV. not be endured, and thereafter means were found of pre-venting such cruisers from going out. 142. A Revolution in Naval Warfare. Events hap-pened on the water in March, 1862, which were calcu-lated to make foreign powers think twice before ven-turing into a quarrel with the United States. TheConfederates had seized the navy yard at Norfolk, in. THE FIGHT BETWEEN THE MONITOR ANU THE Virginia, and having found there the United StatesThe frigate Merrimac, had transformed her into an Mernmac. ij-Qnclad ram with sloping sides and iron Hampton Roads, the United States had a fleet offive wooden warships, probab\y equal in strength to anyfive ships in the world. On the 8th of March, the Mer-rimac attacked this fleet. Their shot bounded harm-lessly from the Merrimacs sloping iron sides, whilewith her terrible beak she rammed one of them, theCumberland, and broke a great hole in her. The un-fortunate Cumberland sank, and but few of her menwere saved. Then the Merrimac attacked the Congress, 1 After Halsalls painting, now in the Capitol at Washington. § 142. SLAVERY AND SECESSION. 387 drove her aground, and forced her to surrender. Nightcame on, and before destroying the other three ships,the black monster waited for the morrow. The tele-graph carried the news all over the
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