The little _Monitor_, the _Galena_, and the _Stevens_ steamed straight
up to within six hundred yards of the battery of the fort and opened
with their eleven-inch guns. The _Galena_ and the _Stevens_ were
iron-clad steamers with thin armor.
For four hours the guns thundered. The batteries poured a hail of shot
on the _Monitor_. They bounded off her round-tower and her water-washed
decks like pebbles. The rifled gun on the _Stevens_ burst and disabled
her. The _Galena_ was pierced by heavy shot and severely crippled,
losing thirty-seven of her men. As the _Monitor_ was built, it was
impossible to make effective her guns at close range against the high
bluff on which the Confederate battery was placed.
At eleven o'clock the crippled fleet slowly moved down the river and
Richmond was saved.
* * * * *
When Johnston in his retreat up the Peninsula reached the high ground
near the Chickahominy river, he threw out his lines and prepared to give
McClellan battle. He dispatched a messenger to the President at Richmond
informing him of this fact. The Cabinet was in session. A spirited
discussion ensued. The Secretary of War and the whole council were
alarmed at the prospect of battle on such an ill chosen position.
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