THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC. 31 a grand and glorious spectacle ! But in this fatal shock the Merrimac had broken her spur. Was this her reason for not even attempting to sink the Congress ? It is at least certain that she confined herself to an artillery duel with the latter frigate. Encumbered with the dead and the dying the Congress set her sails, ran ashore, hauled down her flag, and burst into flames. In attempting to capture part of her crew, the sailors of the Merrimac were exposed to a musketry fire from the shore, and a ball struck her brave and skillful commander, Captain Buchanan. Meanwhile, the federal squadron united in Hampton Roads, got under weigh to come to the help of their unfortunate companions in the James river: but this squadron could afford them but little help. It was composed of three frigates, of which one alone, the Minnesota, was in a condition to be of any service ; this vessel was a screw frigate of the size of the Merrimac, but she was not iron-clad. The two others, the Roanoke, a screw fritrate which had lost her mainmast and the St. Lawrence, an old sailing frigate, were only good to be destroyed. Both of these vessels, after fruitless off rts to reach the scene of action, and after partially running aground, gave up the attempt and returned to their anchorage. As to the Minnesota, which might have had some chance against the Merrimac, not with her guns, but by using her superior speed to run her aboard and sink her by the shock, she drew six feet of water more than the Merrimac, and obeyed her helm very badly when she had no more than one foot of water under her keel, and so she, too, ran aground in a very dangerous situation. There is no doubt that if the Merrimac bad attacked her here she would have shared the fate of the Cumberland and the Congress. The Merrimac, probably to avenge her captain, remained off the camp of Newport News, shelling that and the batteries, and then returned to Norfolk, where she went in for the night, probably intending to come out the
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