TIH  LOSS Of' THE ' MONITOR."I

BY FRAN'CIS D. BUTTS, A SURVIVOR OiF THE W  NfITOR'S" CREW.



A T ilaylbreak on the '9th of December, 1862,
     at Fort Monroe, the Mfonritor hove short her
anchor, and by III (,'-lock ill the forenoon she was
under way for (harl-stoll, South Carolina, in
charge of Conrmander .1. P. Baukhead. The it/hode
Islamd, a piowerfiut side-whieel steamer, was tor be
our convoy, arid to hasten our speed she took us
ipi tow with two long I 2-inLch  hawsers. The
weather was heavy with dark, stormny-looking
clouds and a westerly wind. We pas.4ed out of the
Roads and rounded Cape Henry, proeeeding on our
course with but little change in the weather up
to the next day at noon, when the winld shifted to
the south-south-west aid irtereased to a gale. At
12 o'clock it was toy trick at the lee wheel, and
being a good hand I was kept there. At dark we
were about seventy miles at sea, arid directly )ff
Cape Hatteras. The sea rolled high and pitehed
together in the peculiar manner only seen at Hat-
teras. The R-hod   Is/ard steamed slowly and
steadily abead. The sea rolled over us as if our
vessel were a rock in the ocean only a few inches
above the water, and men who stood abaft on the
deck of the Mhode lsfod have told me that several
times we were thought to have gone down. It
seemed that for minutes we were out of sight, as
the heavy seas entirely submerged tire vessel. The
wheel had been temporarily rigged on top of the
turret, where all the officers, except those oti duty
in the engine-room, now were. I heard their
remarks, and watched closely the movements of
the vessel, so that I exactly understood our condi-
tion. The vessel was miakinig very heavy weather,
riding one huge wave, plunging through the next
as if shooting straight for the bottom of the ocean,
and splashing down upon another with stich force
that her hull would tremble, andl with a shock that
would sometimes take us off our feet, while a
fourth would leap upon us end break far above
the turret, so that if we bad not been protected by
a rifle-armor that was securely fastened arid rose.
to the height of a man's chest, we should have
been washed away. I had volunteered for service
on the .M1onitor while she lay at the Washington
Navy Yard itl November. This going to sea ill ant
iron-clad I began to think was the dearest part of
my bargain. I thought of what I had been taught
in the serviee, that a mart always gets into trouble
if he volunteers.
About 8 o'clock, while I was taking a mes-
sage from the captain to the engineer, I saw the
water pouring in through the coal-bunkers in sud-
den volumes as it swept over the deck. About
that time the engineer reported that the coal was
too wet to keep up steam, which had run down
from its uisual pressure of 8S4) pounds to 20. The

  b By the rorirtesy of thte S.idiers' and Salioirs Iistori-
cal -oiecty, of Rhode Island, we asre Iermitted to print
the foillwtng htutirest-ing paper condensed fro ne of
Its pamphlet.--EDIoroHs.
  \ The tirbothud nit communication from the Monitor



water in the vessel was gaining rapidly over the
small pumps, and I hearil the captaini orier the
chief engineer to start the truairt plintip, a very
powerful one of new iinvenitioni. This was done,
and I saw a stream of water eight inches itt diame-
ter spouting up from beneath the waves.
  About half-past 8 the firs.t signals of distress to
the Rhode 1Is/-ad were burned. She lay to, and we
rode the seal more confortably than when we were
being towed. The Rhode I.s/andl was obliged to
turn sliwly ahead to keep from drifting upon us
and toi prevent the tow-lines from being carught in
her wheels. At one time, when she drifted close
alongside, our captain shouted through his trum-
pet that we were sinking, and asking the steamer
to send us her boats. The .llonitor steamed ahead
again with renewed difficulties, all I was ordered
to leave the wheel and was kept employed as mes-
.,enger by the captain. The chief engineer re-
ported that the coal was so wet that he could not
keep up steam, and I beard the captain order him
to slow down and put all steam that could be
spared upon the pumps. As there was danger of
being towed under by our consort, the tow-lines
were ordered to be cut, and I saw James Feniwick,
quarter-guhnner, swept front the deck and carried
by a heavy sea leeward and out of sight itt attempt-
ing to obey the order. Our daring boatswain's mate,
John Stocking, then srcceeded in reaching the
bows of the vessel, and I saw him swelit by a heavy
sea far away into the darkness.
  About half-past 10 o'clock our anichior was let
go with all the cable, and struck bottom ill about
sixty fathoms of water; this brought us out of the
trough of the sea, and we rode it more comfortably.
The fires could rio longer be kept up with the wet
coal. The smnall pumps were choked rip with water,
or, ais the engineer reported, were drowned, and
the rosin pump hail almost stopped working from
lack of power. This was reported to the captain,
and he ordered me to see if there was any water
ill the ward-room. This was the first time I had
been below the berth-deek. I went forward, and
saw the water running itl through the hawsc-pipe,
an 8-inch hole, itt frill force, as itt dropping the
anchor the cable had torn away the packing that
bad kept this place tight. I reported mrly observa-
tions, and at the same time heard the chief engineer
report that the water had reached the ash-pits and
was gaining very rapidly. The captain order-ed hin
to stop the main engine and turn all steam ott the
pumps, which I noticed soon worked again.
  The clouds now began to separate, a moon of
about half-size beamed oult upon the sea, and the
RMode Is/ar, now a mile away, became visible.
Signals were being exchanged, , and I felt that

was by writing in chIik ot a brla-k-toard whinh w-as
held uni to s-low; the Jfriitor haldt io mast nun whirth to
heist thie regulr nairM erade used ioy the Rhoede ia/Md.
As night approached, the captain of the Ifomrior wrote,
while we could yet see, that if they were forced to



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