e you see the scar, two
and a half inches deep in the wrought iron, a perfect mold of the shell.
If anything could test the turret, it was that shot. It did not start a
rivet-head or a nut! It stunned the two men who were nearest where the
ball struck, and that was all. I touched the lever--the turret revolved
as smoothly as before. The turret had stood the test; I could mark that
point of weakness off my list forever.

"You notice that the deck is joined to the side of the hull by a right
angle, at what sailors call the 'plank-shear.' If a projectile struck
that angle what would happen? It would not be deflected; its whole force
would be expended there. It might open a seam in the hull below the
water-line, or pierce the wooden hull, and sink us. Here was our second
point of weakness.

"I had decided how I would fight her in advance. I would keep the
_Monitor_ moving in a circle just large enough to give time for loading
the guns. At the point where the circle impinged upon the _Merrimac_ our
guns should be fired, and loaded while we were moving around the
circuit. Evidently the _Merrimac_ would return the compliment every
time. At our second exchange of shots, she returning six or eight to our
two, another of her large shells struck our 'plank-shear' at its angle,
and tore up one of the deck-plates, as you see. The shell had struck
what I believed to be the weakest point in the _Monitor_. We had already
learned that the _Merrimac_ swarmed with sharpshooters, for their
bullets were constantly spattering against our turret and our deck. If a
man showed himself on deck he would draw their fire. But I did not much
consider the sharpshooters. It was my duty to investigate the effects of
that shot. I ordered one of the pendulums to be hauled aside, and,
crawling out of the port, walked to the side, lay down upon my chest,
and examined it thoroughly. The hull was uninjured, except for a few
splinters in the wood. I walked back and crawled into the turret--the
bullets were falling on the iron deck all about me as thick as
hail-stones in a storm. None struck me, I suppose because the vessel was
moving, and at the angle, and when I was lying on the deck my body made
a small mark, difficult to hit. We gave them two more guns, and then I
told the men, what was true, that the _Merrimac_ could not sink us if we
let her pound us for a month. The men cheered; the knowledge put new
life into all.

"We had more exchanges, and then t