Gustavus Vasa Fox came on board at the dinner hour, expecting to find a disabled vessel and lists of killed and wounded. However, following the battle, routine on the vessel carried on as usual. These men had made history and changed forever the role of a fighting sailor. Regardless of which side of the conflict a person was on, the public could not get enough information about the vessels and their officers and crew. ![]() The Macon Daily Telegraph from Georgia reported on the "perfect success" of the resurrected Merrimac, which "dashed among the Federal craft like a porpoise in a shoal of herrings, scattering, sinking, burning and destroying everything within her reach." The appearance of the Monitor was downplayed, the Union ironclad described as the "curious and formidable nondescript, Erricsson's floating battery," upon which the Virginia inflicted considerable damage. (Courtesy US Navy Historical Center)Ĭonfederate newspapers naturally told a different story. ![]() Gideon Welles, 14th US Secretary of the Navy from Mar. Stimers have handled her with great skill. His first telegram that evening was to Gideon Welles reporting on the events of the day, adding that, though her commanding officer was wounded in the battle, "the Monitor is uninjured and ready at any moment to repel another attack." A second telegram went out a few moments later, from Fox to John Ericsson in New York, letting the inventor know that "your noble boat has performed with perfect success, and Lt. Gustavus Vasa Fox, Assistant Secretary of the Union Navy, had been one of the many thousands to witness the battle. ![]() On the evening of March 9, the news of the battle between the two ironclads had arrived via telegraph in Washington, DC, New York City, and beyond. Fox, Assistant Secretary of the Navy from Aug.
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