cheese box on
a raft, silently drew near each other until within a hundred yards, when
the smaller opened with a shot to which the larger replied. The battle
was now between two ironclads. If the shots of the _Monitor_ glanced
harmlessly off of the _Merrimac_ those of the latter were equally
ineffective against the _Monitor_. The latter had the advantage of being
so much smaller that many of the shells of the _Merrimac_ missed her
altogether. Those which impinged against the pilot house or turret did
no harm, while the lesser boat was able to dart here and there at will,
dodging the _Merrimac_ and ramming her when she chose, though such
tactics accomplished nothing. All attempts to run down the _Monitor_
were vain. The novel battle continued for four hours, when the
_Merrimac_, unable to defeat her nimble antagonist, steamed back to
Norfolk and the strange contest--the first between ironclads--was over.

The _Monitor_ had proven her inestimable value and was held in reserve
by the Government for future emergencies. But the first battle between
the two proved the last. Some months later, when the Union troops
advanced upon Norfolk, the _Merrimac_ was blown up to prevent her
falling into the hands of the Federals, while at the close of the year
the _Monitor_ foundered in a gale off Cape Hatteras.

This fight marked an era in the history of naval warfare. The days of
wooden vessels were numbered. All nations saw that their warships to be
effective must be ironclad, and the reader does not need to be reminded
that such is the fact to-day respecting the navy of every civilized
nation.

During this memorable fight a shell from the _Merrimac_ lifted the iron
plate of the pilot house of the _Monitor_ and disabled Lieutenant Worden
by driving the fragments into his face, while he was peering out of the
peep-hole. He was compelled to give way to Lieutenant Green, who handled
the little ironclad throughout the remainder of the fight.

Lieutenant Worden never fully recovered from the injuries received in
his fight with the _Merrimac_. As soon as he was able to take an active
command he asked the privilege of doing so. In charge of the _Montauk_,
of the South Atlantic blockading squadron, he destroyed, while under a
heavy fire, the Confederate steamer _Nashville_ and participated in the
unsuccessful attack upon Charleston. He received the thanks of Congress
and was promoted to be a commander for his services with the _Monitor_.