The Merrimac and the Monitor. Ill
be prepared to come out in a very few days. If she should over- come the Monitor we would lose Newport News, an important po- sition. &c.
On March 15, 1862, six days after ihe engagement, Hen. John Tucker, Assistant Secretary of War, telegraphed Commodore C. Vanderbilt at New York as follows :
The Secretary of War directs me to ask you for what sum you will destroy the Merrimac, or prevent her from coming out from Nor- folkyou to sink or destroy her if she gets out. Answer by tele- graph, as there is no time to be lost.
It has been stated in behalf of the petitioners that General Robert E. Lee and General J. Bankhead Magruder were doubtful of the success of the Merrimac (or Virginia.)
Let us see how this is. In volume 9 (series i) of the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion, page 64, General R. E. Lee, in a dispatch to General John B. Magruder from Richmond, dated March 13, 1862 (four days after the engagement), says :
As regards the steamer Virginia, the Secretary of the Navy in- forms me that she went into the dock upon her arrival at Norfolk, with orders that neither labor nor expense should be spared upon her repair. It is hoped that she will be out at an early day.
In same volume, same page, will be found a dispatchffrom General J. Bankhead Magruder to General S. Cooper, Adjutant and Inspec- tor General, dated Yorktown, March 13, 1862, as follows :
When will the Virginia be out ? The disposition of my troops and the nature of my operations depend upon the answer to this question. Answer by telegraph.
To which Adjutant- General Cooper replies (see same volume, page 65), under date of March 14, 1862, as follows:
It is impossible to say when the Virginia will be in position. It is supposed in a day or two.
It is also said that " General Magruder's apprehensions were shared by his superiors at Richmond." We have just shown the opinion of the adjutant and inspector general of the Confederate army, and we here give extract from a letter from General Benj. Huger, commanding at Norfolk, to Hon. Judah P. Benjamin, Secre- tary of War, dated March 13, 1862, as follows :
