For four long hours this terrible duel on which the safety of a nation hung, continued, but when the smoke of battle lifted, it revealed the Monitor uninjured and triumphant, and the Merrimac pierced in three places, wounded unto death. Compelled to signal for help, she was taken in tow by two tugs who helped the crippled giant back to Norfolk.

Just as the Merrimac was firing her last shot Lieutenant Worden was struck prostrate by the concussion of a hundred-pound shot, which hit the grating just in front of his eyes, filling them with powder and minute fragments of iron. When he "revived from the stunning blow he had received," his first question was, "Have I saved the Minnesota ?" "Yes," was the reply, "and whipped the Merrimac." "Then," he rejoined, "I care not what becomes of me.

When Lieutenant Wise visited the Monitor after the contest was ended, every thing was as serene on board the victorious craft as though nothing had happened. "One officer stood by the mirror leisurely combing his hair, another was washing some blood from his hands, while the gallant commander lay on a settee with his eyes bandaged, giving no signs of the pain that racked him."

Thousands of anxious spectators lined the shore from Newport News to Fortress Monroe, and from the Confederate fortifications across the James, watching with breathless interest the furious combat. "No tongue can tell the joy which thrilled the hearts of the National troops at the result. Cheer after cheer rose from the fleet and from the fortress, and rolled like reverberating thunder along the shores and over the bay."

The Merrimac had rendered her last service. She never recovered from the fatal blows dealt her by the guns of the Monitor, and months of repair did not restore her usefulness. But the brave little Monitor came out of this trial of fire unscathed. Of all the twenty-two shot which had struck her in every part, only one had produced a noticeable indentation.

This one, coming in contact with a huge iron beam, made a deflection in the beam of an inch and a half. A slight dent on the outside of the Monitor was the only evidence that the prow of the Merrimac had struck her in a vain attempt to ride her down.

The Rebels published no official account of the losses on board the Merrimac in this encounter, but a statement was made in the Norfolk Day Book, estimating their loss at nine killed and eleven wounded. The statement, however, was contradicted by some other Southern journals. Two or three million dollars worth of property was lost to the Government with the Cumberland and Congress, to say nothing of the loss of life.

Considering the fact that the construction of the Merrimac was known for months previous to her appearance, and that an accurate description of her was said to have been sent the War and Navy Departments, by General Wool, three weeks before she left Norfolk, on her mission of destruction, the apathy of the Naval Board is something to be wondered at. But the disaster which might have overtaken the nation through their negligence was happily averted by the private enterprise which launched the Monitor.

CHAPTER IX.

NEW BERN.

The City and its Connections.-Rebel Fortifications.-Assemblage of Gunboats at Hatteras.-The Advance Down Pamlico Sound.Slocum's Creek Landing.—The Long March. The Forest Camp Fires.-Attack on the Outer Fortifications.-Impetuous Bravery of Union Troops.-Heroic Charge Through an Embrasure.-The Old Flag Floats Over the Captured Fort.-Entrance into Newbern. Ten o'clock and All is Well. Battle of the Fleet.-Brilliant Advance of the Gunboats.-All Difficulties Conquered.-Victory and its Spoils.-The Sabbath Bells.

EWBERN is a city of about five thousand inhabit

NEW

ants, situated at the confluence of the Neuse and Trent rivers where the Neuse makes a broad estuary before entering Pamlico Sound. It is connected by rail with Goldsboro and Raleigh on the west, via North Carolina Rail Road, with Beaufort on the south, and is an important military post. The Confederates, appreciating this fact, had constructed in its defence fortifications of such strength that they imagined the Union troops had but to come within range of their batteries to be doomed to certain destruction. In order to capture this city and to act in concerted movement with the Army of the Potomac, General Burnside on the twelfth of March, 1862, had collected a formidable fleet and army at Hatteras and ordered all to be in readiness. to start that night at the appointed signal. He delivered a brief and stirring address to the soldiers, ask

ing their best efforts in this perilous enterprise, and in his order, he said,

"The General commanding, takes pleasure in announcing that the Army of the Potomac under General McClellan, is now advancing upon Richmond and was at the latest dates occupying Centreville, the enemy having evacuated all the advanced fortifications before Manassas, and those on the Potomac. He again calls upon his command for an important movement which will greatly demoralize the enemy and contribute much to the success of our brothers of the Potomac Army.”

From Hatteras the fleet sailed south-westward down Pamlico Sound, entered the mouth of the Neuse and anchored upon the western bank of that river, within a few miles of Newbern. The defences of Newbern unquestionably had been well planned and well built. A line of water batteries commanded the river and, reaching inland, connected with them, were field fortifications to prevent the enemy from advancing by shore. Six miles down the river the guns of the lower fort threatened the daring intruder, and from that point back to the city there extended a continuous chain of forts and batteries. Near the city a fort mounting thirteen heavy guns and bomb proof, was so arranged as to command both the water and the only land approaches on that side. In fact, the entire area for several miles before the city, was filled with forts, earthworks, ditches, rifle pits, and all the other mechanical appliances of warfare.

On the morning of the thirteenth the troops were landed at a point called Slocum's Creek, sixteen miles below Newbern. Abbott gives the following descrip

tion of the landing :-"The barges proceeded in regular battle array, regiment by regiment, towards the shore, every man ready to repel an assault, and the gunboats in the meantime shelling every spot in the vicinity where a foe might lurk. The men wading through the water held their muskets and ammunition under their arms to keep them dry. The barges grounded in the shoal water sixty yards from the shore. It was truly a picturesque scene, resembling a frolic rather than the dread realities of war, to see five thousand men with jokes and laughter and cheers, often up to their waists in water, and sometimes stumbling over some obstruction, all eager to see who would be the first to land. The ground was marshy; it had rained violently through the night; the path led through a fringe of forest draped in the funereal weeds of the Spanish moss. The wheels of the guns sank in the mire and were dragged along with much difficulty. A cold March wind swept over the drenched and shivering ranks, and notwithstanding all the endeavors to keep up good cheer, the hours were dark and dreary. Much of this suffering might have been and should have been avoided. One of the vessels contained a floating bridge to secure the landing of the soldiers dry shod. But the eagerness to get to shore very unwisely caused this precaution to be neglected or forgotten."

Until mid-day they marched along the marshy river banks without meeting the foe or any signs of one. At about that time however, they encountered some cavalry barracks, bearing evidence of very hasty leavetaking. Breakfasts, cooked, yet untasted, were left