Over the last few weeks you learned that the turning point of the Civil War - the famous battle between the North's ironclad Monitor and South's Virginia (Merrimac) - had the "Made in Troy, NY" stamp all over it. But, as Paul Harvey often says, "Now for the rest of the story."

Troy's General John Wool, John Griswold (Wool's nephew) and John Winslow are often referred to in the history books, but you learned last week the names of the six Trojans who actually rolled the protective iron shields that beat back the guns of the Virginia. This week you will learn the names of three more Trojans who actually took part in the battle aboard the Monitor on that historic day of March 9th, 1862!

George Spencer Geer was born in Troy around 1836 and married his sweetheart Martha Clark Hamilton on October 3, 1858 in New York City. On February 18, 1862, the blue eyed, brown hair Geer, standing at 5 feet 7 1/2 inches, enlisted as a first-class fireman in the Navy at New York City for a three-year term. By March, 1862, he was assigned to the USS Monitor, where he served as the fireman until the ship sank in a storm on December 31, 1862. He survived and went on to be assigned as third assistant engineer on January 19, 1863, to the USS Galena (parts of which were also made in Troy). Geer went on to other ships and was honorably discharged on December 1, 1865. He worked on commercial steamers after that and while on a business trip on October 9, 1892, in Charleston, S.C, he died at the age of 56. He was sent home to Troy and buried in Oakwood Cemetery. George's wife continued to live at 171 Congress Street. She never remarried and died at the age of 85 on January 30, 1924.

William Henry Ives lived at 60 River Street in 1859. He worked as a fireman at the age of 12, on the Steamer John Mason running between Troy and Albany. However, he was working as an engineer for the Albany Iron Works when John Griswold promised him he could go to battle as the Monitor's engineer. It was Ives who directed the "energy of its powerful boilers" during the fight with the Virginia. After the war, he became rich in the invention of felt for steam pipes but lost his fortune and spent the rest of his life farming. He is buried in New Mt Ida Cemetery.

Robinson Woolen Hands was the 3rd Assistant Engineer on board the Monitor during its historic fight. However, very little is known of him. Some records indicate he was the second assistant engineer (Mark T. Sunstrom was also listed as 3rd assistant engineer). Hands was one of the four officers who went down with the Monitor when it sank on New Year's Eve off the coast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. There is a grave marker in his honor at the New Mt. Ida Cemetery.

In the annual report of the Secretary of the Navy for 1862, the following was written about the epic battle between the Monitor and Virginia (Merrimac):

"The fierce conflict between these two ironclads lasted for several hours. It was in appearance an unequal conflict, for the Merrimac was a large and noble structure, and the Monitor was in comparison almost diminutive. But the Monitor was strong in her armor, in the ingenious novelty of her construction, in the large caliber of her two guns, and the valor and skill with which she was handled. After several hours' fighting the Merrimac found herself overmatched, and, leaving the Monitor, sought to renew the attack on the Minnesota; but the Monitor again placed herself between the two vessels and reopened her fire upon her adversary. At noon the Merrimac, seriously damaged, abandoned the contest and, with her companions, retreated toward Norfolk.
Thus terminated the most remarkable naval combat of modern times, perhaps of any age. The fiercest and most formidable naval assault upon the power of the Union which has ever been made by the insurgents was heroically repelled, and a new era was opened in the history of maritime warfare. "

The government is now raising the Monitor remains and building a museum to house it. The two Troy foundries that made it, the Albany and Rennselaer Iron Works, now lay in almost complete ruins. Is that a fitting legacy?