cipitous in our front, but sloping gradually to the northward. On this eminence the enemy during the night had planted batteries which commanded our forces, and also at the right base of this hill, batteries and large bodies of infantry were posted. At the edge of some timber to the left, supports of infantry were disposed, while beyond the road, to the extreme left, were posted their cavalry and infantry.

At sunrise our right and center with their batteries, opened fire upon the enemy, while Sigel, having learned the exact position of the enemy's batteries, advanced with the left wing to take the hill, forming his line of battle by changing front so as to face the right flank of the enemy.

Sigel then ordered the Twenty-Fifth Illinois into position along a fence in open view of the Confederate batteries, which immediately opened fire upon them. One of our batteries, consisting of six or seven guns, several of which were rifled twelve-pounders was at once thrown into line one hundred paces to the rear of our advanced infantry, on a rise of ground.

The Twelfth Missouri then wheeled into line with the Twenty-Fifth Illinois on their left, and another battery of guns similarly arranged a short distance behind them. But the crushing array was not yet complete, for still another regiment and another battery wheeled into position, until thirty pieces of artillery, fifteen or twenty paces distant from each other, formed one unbroken line, with the infantry lying down in front. As each piece circled into position, its fire was discharged at the enemy, and the fire of the entire line was so effective as to silence every

Confederate battery, one by one. "Such a terrible fire no human courage could stand. The crowded ranks of the enemy were decimated, their horses shot at their guns, and large trees literally demolished ; but the Rebels stood bravely to their posts. For over two hours did the iron hail fall, until one by one the Rebel pieces ceased to play. Onward crept our infantry; onward came Sigel and his terrible guns. Shorter and shorter became the range. No charge of theirs could face that iron hail or dare to venture on that compact line of bayonets. They turned and fled. The center and right were ordered forward, the right turning the left of the enemy and cross-firing on his center. This final position of the enemy was in the arc of a circle. A charge of infantry by the whole line completely routed them, and they retreated through the deep, impassable defiles of Cross Timber, towards the Boston Mountains, closely pursued by the cavalry."

The Union loss at this battle was two hundred and twelve killed, nine hundred and seventy-two wounded, one hundred and seventy-six missing. The enemy's loss was reported at two thousand. General Herbert, Colonel Stone, Adjutant General, and Colonel Price were taken prisoners. Ben. McCulloch, General McIntosh, and General Stark were among the killed. General Price was wounded.

On the ninth of March, General Van Dorn asked permission to bury the dead of the seventh and eighth. General Curtis granted permission, but in the letter accompanying it complained that in some cases the Union dead had been scalped and mangled. General

Van Dorn replied, expressing a desire to repress the savage horrors of war, and stated that numbers of Confederate prisoners who had surrendered, were reported to have been murdered in cold blood by the Germans. General Curtis replied that he had no knowledge of any such atrocities committed by German soldiers under his command.

A strange feature of this contest was the employment of the wild hordes of Indian tribes under the leadership of McCulloch and McIntosh. They rushed to the fray with savage war-whoops and hideous yells, and the cleft skulls lying in pools of blood after the battle, showed that their barbarian mode of warfare had not been forgotten. McCulloch met his fate on the first day of the battle, leading the advance on the left. A minie ball penetrated his left lung, and he died of the wound at about eleven o'clock that night. His career as a soldier was a checkered one. His military glory beginning among the assembled ranks of Texan Rangers on the banks of the Guadaloupe, twenty-six years before, now went down in blood. San Jacinto and Buena Vista had witnessed his bravery, but the field of Pea Ridge witnessed his fall, fighting against country-against liberty. It was a bloody engagement, lasting fifteen hours,—the greater part of two consecutive days being spent in battle. But northern Arkansas was cleared of Confederate troops, and the forces of Van Dorn and Price were sent to the support of Beauregard at Memphis.

CHAPTER VIII.

MERRIMAC AND MONITOR. The Projection of the Monitor.-Ericsson's Visit to Washington.-The Merrimac Launched.-Arrival off Newport News.-Attack on the Cumberland-Heroism of the Crew.-No Surrender.-Sublime Bravery. Sinking of the ill-fated Frigate.-The Burning of the Congress.-Despair of the Fleet.-The Speck of Light on the Waves.-Arrival of the Monitor.-The Merrimac Again Appears.— The Strange Looking Antagonist.-The Fight Opens.-Fierce Conflict. The Baptism of Fire.-Four Hours of Battle.-The Merrimac Signals for Help.-The Monitor Victorious.-Our Fleet Saved.Cheers of the Multitude.

PERHAPS no single event of our last war decided

issues of greater moment to the nation than the naval engagement between the Merrimac and Monitor. Had the Merrimac been successful, every other craft on the high seas, at home or abroad, would have been at her mercy. Going about like some wild monster of the deep, with her iron tusk and her coat of mail, impervious to shot or shell, she could have destroyed whole fleets and sent them whirling to the bottom. New York city would have been unsafe, every city on the coast would have been unsafe, and the probable ravages of this iron Leviathan can hardly be properly estimated. What might have happened but for the Monitor, who can tell? But the Monitor, Providentially can we believe otherwise ?-proved to be our David of the seas who slew the iron-clad Goliah and saved to us our navy.

Instigated and pushed forward by private enterprise, she was successfully launched in the face of all adverse prediction, and arrived off Newport News barely in time to arrest the Merrimac on her errand of wholesale destruction.

C. S. Bushnell, Esq., a capitalist of New Haven, Connecticut, learning of Captain Ericsson's plan for an invulnerable sea battery, was the prime mover in the building of the Monitor. That gentleman insisted on taking the model to Washington, in company with Ericsson, and submitting the new and strange diagrams to the Government Naval Board. After persistent efforts he was successful in obtaining a guarantee of payment when the Monitor should demonstrate her ability to do all that was promised concerning her.

The steam frigate Merrimac, scuttled and sunk at the burning of the Norfolk navy yard, was considered one of the finest ships in the American navy. She mounted forty guns and was estimated at four thousand tons burden.

"This magnificent structure was raised by the Rebels and cut down, leaving only the hull, which was exceedingly massive and solid. Over this they constructed a sloping shield of railroad iron, firmly plated together, and extending two feet under the water. Its appearance was much like the slanting roof of a house, set upon a ship's hull like an extinguisher,— the ends of the vessel fore and aft, projecting a few feet beyond this roof. The gun-deck was completely inclosed by this shield, and nothing appeared above it