he sloping roof of the _Merrimac_, so, in turn, the
_Merrimac's_ broadsides passed harmlessly over the low deck of the
_Monitor_, or rebounded from the round sides of her iron turret. When
the unwieldy rebel turtleback, with her slow, awkward movement, tried
to ram the pointed raft that carried the cheese-box, the little vessel,
obedient to her rudder, easily glided out of the line of direct impact.

Each ship passed through occasional moments of danger, but the long
three hours' encounter ended without other serious damage than an injury
to Lieutenant Worden by the explosion of a rebel shell against a crevice
of the _Monitor's_ pilot-house through which he was looking, which,
temporarily blinding his eye-sight, disabled him from command. At that
point the battle ended by mutual consent. The _Monitor_, unharmed except
by a few unimportant dents in her plating, ran into shoal water to
permit surgical attendance to her wounded officer. On her part, the
_Merrimac_, abandoning any further molestation of the other ships,
steamed away at noon to her retreat in Elizabeth River. The forty-one
rounds fired from the _Monitor's_ guns had so far weakened the
_Merrimac's_ armor that, added to the injuries of the previous day, it
was of the highest prudence to avoid further conflict. A tragic fate
soon ended the careers of both vessels. Owing to other military events,
the _Merrimac_ was abandoned, burned, and blown up by her officers about
two months later; and in the following December, the _Monitor_ foundered
in a gale off Cape Hatteras. But the types of these pioneer ironclads,
which had demonstrated such unprecedented fighting qualities, were
continued. Before the end of the war the Union navy had more than twenty
monitors in service; and the structure of the _Merrimac_ was in a number
of instances repeated by the Confederates.

The most brilliant of all the exploits of the navy during the year 1862
were those carried on under the command of Flag-Officer David G.
Farragut, who, though a born Southerner and residing in Virginia when
the rebellion broke out, remained loyal to the government and true to
the flag he had served for forty-eight years. Various preparations had
been made and various plans discussed for an effective attempt against
some prominent point on the Gulf coast. Very naturally, all examinations
of the subject inevitably pointed to the opening of the Mississippi as
the dominant problem to be solved; and on January