the control of the sea by
the Union forces. The regular United States navy--unlike the regular
army, which was divided--was fully under the control of the Federal
Government, and was able to blockade the Southern ports. Davis had
attempted to meet this menace by issuing letters of marque to
privateers; but this could be little more than an irritant to the
dominant power. It so happened, however, that a discovery had recently
been made which was destined to revolutionize the whole character of
naval war. Experiments in the steel-plating of ships had already been
made in England and in France, but the first war vessel so fitted for
practical use was produced by the Southern Confederacy--the celebrated
_Merrimac_. One fine day she steamed into Hampton Roads under the guns
of the United States fleet and proceeded to sink ship after ship, the
heavy round shot leaping off her like peas. It was a perilous moment,
but the Union Government had only been a day behind in perfecting the
same experiment. Next day the _Monitor_ arrived on the scene, and the
famous duel between the first two ironclads ever constructed commenced.
Each proved invulnerable to the other, for neither side had yet
constructed pieces capable of piercing protection, but the victory was
so far with the North that the hope that the Confederacy might obtain,
by one bold and inventive stroke, the mastery of the sea was for the
moment at an end.

Meanwhile all eyes were fixed on McClellan, who was busy turning the mob
that had fled from Bull Run into an army. His work of organization and
discipline was by common consent admirable; yet when the time came when
he might be expected to take the field, that defect in his quality as a
commander showed itself which was to pursue him throughout his
campaigns. He was extravagantly over-cautious. His unwillingness to
fight, combined with the energy he put into bringing the army into an
efficient state and gaining influence over its officers and men, gave
rise to the wildest rumours and charges. It was suggested that he
intended to use the force he was forming, not against Richmond but
against Washington; to seize supreme power by military force and
reconcile the warring States under the shadow of his sword. It is
certain that there was no kind of foundation for such suspicions. He was
a perfectly patriotic and loyal soldier who studied his profession
diligently. Perhaps he had studied it too diligently. He seems to have
re