The boat would have foundered had not the weather been unusually favorable, but she reached Hampton Roads on the night of March 8 and took a position beside the _Minnesota_, ready and eager for the terrific fray of the morrow.

The _Monitor_ carried two 11-inch Dahlgren guns and fired solid shot.
[Illustration: THE BATTLE BETWEEN THE "MERRIMAC" AND "MONITOR."] When the _Merrimac_ steamed back the _Monitor_ moved out from her position and boldly advanced to meet her.

The huge monster and smaller craft, whose appearance suggested the apt comparison of a cheese box on a raft, silently drew near each other until within a hundred yards, when the smaller opened with a shot to which the larger replied.

The battle was now between two ironclads.

If the shots of the _Monitor_ glanced harmlessly off of the _Merrimac_ those of the latter were equally ineffective against the _Monitor_.