they fortified Island number Ten, in the Mississippi opposite the old town of New Madrid, Missouri. General Pope advanced against this place with a body of Western troops, while Commodore Foote descended the Mississippi river with his gunboats. Pope captured New Madrid, and for twentythree days Island number Ten was besieged. On the 7th of April, the Confederates attempted to escape; but Pope had cut off the retreat, and the enemy numbering five thousand was captured. On the 6th of June, the City of Memphis was taken by the fleet of Commodore Davis.

Early in the year General Curtis pushed forward into Arkansas and took position at Pea Ridge, among the mountains. Here he was attacked on the 6th of March by twenty thousand Confederates and Indians, under Generals McCulloh, McIntosh and Pike. A hard fought battle ensued, lasting for two days. The Union troops won the fight, and two Confederate generals, McCulloh and McIntosh, were killed and their men compelled to retreat to Texas.

After the destruction of the Navy Yard at Norfolk, the Confederates had raised the frigate Merrimac, one of the sunken ships, and plated the sides with iron. The vessel was sent to attack the Union fleet at Fortress Monroe. She approached to where two valuable vessels, the Cumberland and Congress, lay. Soon her fatal character and mission became evident. She was recognized as the famous iron clad steamer and battering ram Merrimac.

heavy guns at aim, but they

They glanced

As this dangerous monster silently approached the Cumberland, that vessel discharged a volley of her the stranger. The balls indeed reached their did not produce the slightest perceptible effect. from her iron sides and deck, leaving no trace of their contact. The Congress also added the compliment of her artillery to that of the Cumberland, but with an equally harmless result. The Rebel craft seemed to defy and scorn their attacks; for she continued steadily to approach, her ports all silent and shut, but under the impetus of a powerful head of steam. At length she steered with direct aim and increased velocity toward the

Cumberland. She struck her amidships with her iron beak, making a fearful gash in her side. She then fired a volley into the wounded vessel, drew off a short distance and repeated the ferocious assault. It was enough to seal her fate; the Cumberland had been fatally disabled, and was instantly in a sinking condition. During the progress of this attack, two Rebel steamers, the Yorktown and the Jamestown, had descended the James river, and engaged the Union vessels on the other side.

The Merrimac, having thus destroyed the Cumberland, turned her prow and addressed herself to the Congress. This vessel was unable to make any effective resistance, her crew having been discharged the day before, and several companies of the naval brigade being only temporarily on board. When her commander saw the hopelessness of resistance, the wooden vessels being entirely at the mercy of the iron batterer, he struck his colors to avoid the destruction which had overtaken the Cumberland. The Jamestown then approached, received on board the officers of the Congress as prisoners, and gave the crew an opportunity to escape in the boats. The vessel was then fired by the Rebels. Immediately after this achievement, the Merrimac, the Yorktown and Jamestown, commenced an attack in concert on the batteries of Newport News, to which that fort responded with vigor. Meanwhile the Congress burned to the water's edge, and, before sinking, blew up, The Cumberland also sank. The loss of life in both ships was considerable, inasmuch as a large number of the crews of both were unable to escape in the boats.

The Merrimac, having completed her intended achievements, returned in triumph to Norfolk, capturing in her passage several small vessels.

This sudden demonstration of

noteworthy incidents which Never before had the effi

naval power was one of the most had yet occurred during the war. ciency of ironclad steam batteries been so clearly demonstrated. It was now evident that the colossal wooden vessels which had for ages been the pride and the terror of European fleets; could be henceforth rendered harmless by the use of ships of much

smaller proportions, if incased in iron, if propelled by steam, and if armed with the sharp iron beaks which had been familiar to the naval architecture of the Ancient Greeks and Romans.

Fortunately for the honor and safety of the Union cause, the private enterprise of an eminent citizen had constructed a vessel on the same principle; and that vessel, by an equally propitious accident, arrived in the vicinity of this disaster a few hours after its occurrence. The Ericsson ironclad steamer, Monitor, reached Fortress Monroe at nine o'clock on the night of the 8th of March.

The next morning she proceeded out into the channel and invited the exulting enemy to an engagement. The offer was accepted, and soon the Merrimac, the Yorktown and Jamestown, attempted to renew the triumph of the preceding day. A desperate combat of five hours duration ensued. The wooden vessels of the Rebels quickly found it expedient to retire y ing the iron bound monsters confronting each other. Then a most singular and novel spectacle was exhibited. During several hours the vessels fought fiercely, butting and grappling each other. They repeatedly discharged their heavy guns against each other's sides; but, while the shot of the Merrimac rebounded harmlessly from the impenetrable covering of her antagonist, the greater calibre of the guns of the Monitor forced their thunderbolts through the sides of the Rebel craft and severely damaged her. The Monitor was commanded with great skill and fortitude by Lieutenant J. S. Worden, who was wounded during the engagement. At its termination the Merrimac was towed back to the port of Norfolk, apparently disabled, and evidently with much less exultation than had characterized her return to her berth on the preceding day. The presence of the Monitor in Hampton Roads secured the Union vessels, which were enforcing the blockade of James river from the future attacks of the Merrimac; and, fortunately, without the laurels which had so suddenly sprung up to decorate the brows of the Confederate naval heroes.

The Merrimac, whose sudden onslaught on the Federal