CHAPTER VI.
ERICSSON'S Monitor, as described by Professor Soley, "consisted of a small iron hull, upon which rested a large raft, surmounted by a revolving turret. The hull was 124 feet long and 34 feet wide. The raft projected at the bow and stern, its total length being 50 feet greater than that of the hull. Its overhang amidship was 3 feet 8 inches wide, gradually increasing toward the bow and stern. The raft was 5 feet deep, and was protected by a side armor of five 1-inch iron plates backed with oak. The deck was covered with two ½-inch plates, over timber laid on heavy wooden beams. The turret was armored with eight 1-inch plates, and its roof was protected by railroad iron; in it were two 11-inch Dahlgren guns. The pilot house, in front of the turret, was built of square iron bars, notched together, with a bolt through the corners. On the top of the pilot house was an iron plate, 1 ½ inch thick, set in a ledge without fastenings."
When the victors of March 8th retired that night, they hoped to accomplish a great work on the following day. The Minnesota was aground, the Roanoke and St. Lawrence had retired below Old Point, and the enemy was known to be greatly demoralized. How much, was not realized. No mortal man could have surmised what was afterward learned, but the Confederate naval officers intended to destroy the Minnesota, and then see what
47
