She steered straight for the Minnesota; but when she was almost
there, to her astonishment a strange-looking little craft
advanced from the side of the big wooden frigate and boldly
barred the Merrimac's path. For a moment the Confederates could
hardly believe their eyes. The Monitor was tiny, compared to
their ship, for she was not one fifth the size, and her queer
appearance made them look at their new foe with contempt; but the
first shock of battle did away with this feeling. The Merrimac
turned on her foe her rifleguns, intending to blow her out of the
water, but the shot glanced from the thick iron turret of the
Monitor. Then the Monitors guns opened fire, and as the great
balls struck the sides of the ram her plates started and her
timbers gave. Had the Monitor been such a vessel as those of her
type produced later in the war, the ram would have been sunk then
and there; but as it was her shot were not quite heavy enough to
pierce the iron walls. Around and around the two strange
combatants hovered, their guns bellowing without cessation, while
the men on the frigates and on shore watched the result with
breathless interest. Neither the Merrimac nor the Monitor could
dispose of its antagonist. The ram's guns could not damage the
turret, and the Monitor was able dexterously to avoid the stroke
of the formidable prow. On the other hand, the shot of the
Monitor could not penetrate the Merrimac's tough sides.
Accordingly, fierce though the struggle was, and much though
there was that hinged on it, it was not bloody in character. The
Merrimac could neither destroy nor evade the Monitor. She could
not sink her when she tried to, and when she abandoned her and
turned to attack one of the other wooden vessels, the little
turreted ship was thrown across her path, so that the fight had
to be renewed. Both sides grew thoroughly exhausted, and finally