Gage of battle of April II, ‘62, and the forlorn hope.
From March 9th to April 11th the
Merrimac lay at the navy-yard.
New guns took the place of those that had been destroyed, and a supply of bolts of wrought and chilled iron for her guns was put
[
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aboard.
A new prow of steel and wrought-iron was fitted to her stem.
A course of two-inch iron for one hundred and eighty feet was put on her hull below the casemate.
The revolution of the turret of the
Monitor, which effectually closed her gun-port when the gun was being loaded, suggested the necessity of adopting some plan to protect those of the
Merrimac.
The attempt was made to fit them with wrought-iron shutters, but the device was not satisfactory, and but few of her ports were so protected.
These changes brought the ship a foot deeper in the water, making her draught now twenty-three feet.
Commodore Buchanan being still disabled by his wounds,
Commodore Josiah Tatnall was placed in command.
There was at no time any question in the minds of the
Confederate authorities, or amongst the officers of the
Merrimac, but that the enemy must again be offered battle at the earliest moment.
On April 1st the
Secretary of the Confederate Navy wrote
Commodore Tatnall: ‘You will leave with your ship and attack the enemy when, in your judgment, it may seem best.’
On April 4th: ‘Do not hesitate or wait for orders, but strike when, how, and where your judgment may dictate.’
The
Secretary of the United States Navy had, on March 10th, telegraphed: ‘The President directs that the
Monitor be not too much exposed,’ in the same breath in which her victory was claimed.
The Confederate
Secretary and the
Confederate naval officers well knew the many defects and vulnerability of the
Merrimac.
So doubtful were we of success in the next engagement that upon certain information of the exterior and interior structure of the
Monitor, which
Secretary Mallory had obtained, we organized an expedition of the smaller gunboats in the fleet—the
Beaufort,
Raleigh, and two others—known as
