During the Civil War, the Union began the building of 76 ironclad war ships, commissioning 42 of them before May 1, 1865.

On the Confederate side, 59 ironclads were started, but only 24 were completed.

Very few Civil War ironclads were sunk by gunfire. Instead, the Confederate ironclads were purposely destroyed to prevent capture by Union forces. Of the total of 66 ironclads on both sides combined, only 12 were actually sunk by the enemy in battle.

None of them developed the legend like the battle between the Union's Monitor, parts of which were built in Troy, and the Virginia, also known as the Merrimac.

On the afternoon of March 8, 1862, a naval battle occurred that changed naval warfare forever. The first Confederate ironclad steamed down the Elizabeth River into Hampton Roads, Virigina to attack the woodensided U.S. blockading fleet anchored there. The Virginia, or Merrimac, originally a wooden ship sunk by the Union, but raised by the Confederates and converted into an ironclad ship, attacked the Union Navy fleet, comprising several ships armed with 204 guns and aided by land batteries.

By six o'clock, the sole Virginia had sunk the Cumberland, burned the Congress, forced the Minnesota ashore, and forced the St. Lawrence and the Roanoke to seek shelter under the guns of Fort Monroe. It left the Union fleet in shambles with plans on returning the next day to finish the job. The results of the first day's fighting at Hampton Roads proved the superiority of iron over wood, but on the next day it was to be iron vs iron as the U.S.S. Monitor arrived on the scene.

On March 9, the Virginia was greeted by the Monitor, an ironclad more heavily armored, with a revolving gun turret, and speedier and more agile in the water due to the inventive genius of its designer John Ericksson

For four to five hours the two ironclads battered each other, until a shell from the Virginia exploded on the eyeslit of the Monitor's pilot house, blinding the commander, Captain John L. Worden. Both ships retreated thinking they had won.

Lieutenant S. Dana Greene, an officer aboard the Monitor, described the first exchange of gunfire: "The turrets and other parts of the ship were heavily struck, but the shots did not penetrate; the tower was intact, and it continued to revolve. A look of confidence passed over the men's faces, and we believed the Merrimac would not repeat the work she had accomplished the day before."

The next day, a letter was sent to Maj. Gen George McClellan, commander of the Army, from Maj. Gen. John E. Wool, commander of Fort Monroe.

"GENERAL: Two hours after I sent my hurried dispatch to the Secretary of War last evening the Monitor arrived, and saved the Minnesota and the St. Lawrence, which were both aground when she arrived. "

Wool, a hero of two previous wars, and also from Troy, fired off another letter to his friend John Griswold and wrote "The Monitor saved everything inside and outside Fortress Monroe." Clearly both Trojans knew that they had a hand in preventing the further destruction of the Union Navy, clearly giving the win to the North.

As I mentioned in last month's column, it was two Trojans, iron magnates John A Griswold and John F. Winslow, along with inventor John Ericsson, and financier Cornielus Bushnell, that made the Monitor a reality. Trojans are very proud of the fact.

During the night of the battle at Hampton Roads, ironworkers who helped make the plates for the Monitor marched by torch light to downtown Troy in celebration. Today, several of the hull plates rolled but not used are on display at the Burden Iron Works Museum in the Burden Office Building operated by the Hudson Mohawk Industrial Gateway in South Troy. The bank room where the finances were developed in the old Manufacturers National Bank of Troy was removed when the old building was demolished on the corner of King and River and reassembled into their new bank building on the corner of Grand and Fourth. The room is still there to see. You can read Wool's quote to Griswold and see a depiction of the famous battle on the statue at Monument Square. Troy made a major contribution to the Civil War. You can even purchase models of both ironclads at Bill Mahmood's Web site (members.aol.com/WFMarabknt/ironclads.html) for a few bucks.

There are many first's associated with the USS Monitor. It was the first ship to have a revolving turret. It was the first ship where the officers and crew had to live entirely below waterline, and its was the first ship credited with having below waterline flushing toilets. Finally, The Monitor and it's grave site is the first U.S. National Marine Sanctuary.