Edward Alfred Pollard, The lost cause; a new Southern history of the War of the Confederates ... Drawn from official sources and approved by the most distinguished Confederate leaders.

About noon the Monitor, probably rather in consequence of an injury that had almost blinded the sight of her commander than of any serious damage to the vessel, ran into shoal water and declined the further prosecution of the contest. The captain of the Minnesota then supposed that his hour was come, and prepared to destroy rather than surrender his vessel. But it had been found impossible by the Virginia to get nearer the Minnesota than she had the day before, and supposing that her guns had already disabled the frigate, she retired slowly from the scene of contest and returned to Norfolk.

The results of this day were indecisive, although there can be no doubt of the retreat of the Monitor; but each vessel had given proofs of invulnerability, which left their claims to advantage in the contest undecided. The injuries of the Virginia in the two days fight were immaterial. Two of her guns had the muzzles shot off, the anchor and the flagstaffs were shot away, the smoke-jack and steam-pipes were riddled, the prow was twisted, and the armour somewhat damaged; but, with the exception of the injury done to her ram, she had suffered none other but what might be repaired in a few hours.

With reference to this wonderful contest in Hampton Roads the newspapers announced the conclusion that wooden ships were to be of no farther use in naval warfare, and that the great navies which France and Great Britain had built at such an immense cost were practically annihilated. Whatever haste there might be in this conclusion, the Government at Washington showed its early appreciation of the lesson in Hampton Roads. Almost immediately on the result of the action becoming known, a bill was introduced into the Senate to authorize the Secretary of the Navy to construct various iron vessels, both for coast and harbour defences, and also for offensive operations against the enemy's forts. The two combatants — the Virginia and the Monitor — which had given a sensation to the whole world, and turned the attention of every European government that had a strip of sea-coast to defend to the experiment of iron-clads, were never again engaged in contest. The first continued by her presence at Norfolk to guard the entry into James River, and was thought of such importance with respect to the Peninsular approach to Richmond that Gen. McClellan, who, as we shall see some months later, turned his design on Richmond in this direction, named as one of the preliminary conditions of the new campaign that this vessel should be “neutralized.” She was to be “neutralized” in a way little expected by the Confederate public.

We may find in the close of this chapter an apppropriate place for a summary account of some other naval events belonging to this period of time in our narrative.