n stood at quarters, while the officers eagerly conned
the approaching ironclad.

The _Congress_ was the first to open fire; and as her volleys flew, the
men on the _Cumberland_ were astounded to see the cannon-shot bound oft
the sloping sides of the ram as haildrops bound from a window-pane. The
ram answered, and her rifle shells tore the sides of the _Congress_; but
for her first victim she aimed at the _Cumberland_, and, firing her bow
guns, came straight as an arrow at the little sloop of war, which lay
broadside to her. It was an absolutely hopeless struggle. The
_Cumberland_ was a sailing ship, at anchor, with wooden sides, and a
battery of light guns. Against the formidable steam ironclad, with her
heavy rifles and steel ram, she was as powerless as if she had been a
row-boat; and from the moment when the men saw the cannon-shot bound
from the ram's sloping sides they knew they were doomed. But none of
them flinched. Once and again they fired their guns full against the
approaching ram, and in response received a few shells from the great
bow rifles of the latter. Then, forging ahead, the _Merrimac_ struck her
antagonist with her steel prow, and the sloop of war reeled and
shuddered, and through the great rent in her side the black water
rushed.

She foundered in a few minutes; but her crew fought her to the last,
cheering as they ran out the guns, and sending shot after shot against
the ram as the latter backed off after delivering the blow. The rush of
the water soon swamped the lower decks, but the men on the upper deck
continued to serve the guns, and fired them until the deck was awash,
and the vessel had not ten seconds of life left. Then, with her flags
flying, her men cheering, and her guns firing, the _Cumberland_ sank. It
was shallow where she settled down, so that her masts remained above the
water. The glorious flag for which the brave men aboard her had died
flew proudly in the wind all that day, while the fight went on, and
throughout the night; and next morning it was still streaming over the
beautiful bay, to mark the resting-place of as gallant a vessel as ever
sailed or fought on the high-seas.

After the _Cumberland_ sank, the ram turned her attention to the
_Congress_. Finding it difficult to get at her in the shoal water, she
began to knock her to pieces with her great rifle guns. The unequal
fight between the ironclad and the wooden ship lasted for perhaps half
an hour. By that time the c