the navy, and had been towed to the Roads, after encountering a heavy gale and rolling sea, by a steamship. It was her trial trip.
On his arrival, Worden reported to the flag-officer in the Roads, and learning the situation of affairs there, he  promptly prepared to meet the iron-clad monster from Norfolk the next morning-the Sabbath, That morning dawned brightly, and in the gray twilight (March 9, 1862), the Merrimac was seen sweeping out of the Elizabeth River on its destructive errand. The Monitor, like a little David, moved to meet the Confederate Goliath, whose commander looked with contempt upon the "floating cheese-box," as he called his strange antagonist-, but he soon found it to be a citadel, strong and well filled with destructive energy. Her revolving turret was invulnerable to the heaviest shot and shell thrown by her antagonist, and they glanced from the tower like pebbles from granite. The conflict that ensued was terrific. The ponderous missiles hurled from the Monitor soon bruised the Merrimac so fatally, that she fled up to Norfolk, her wounded commander confounded by the energy of his mysterious little antagonist. The Merrimac did not venture out again. The gallant Worden, who was regarded as the savior of his country at a critical moment, was severely injured by having cement around the " peep-hole " in the turret, through which he was watching his antagonist, thrown violently in his face by a heavy shot that struck that point. He was afterwards rewarded with the commission of Admiral.
The exploit of the Monitor seemed to promise safety to National vessels navigating the James River; and McClellan prepared to transfer the Army of the Potomac to Fortress Monroe,  which place he designed to make a base of supplies for his army while marching on Richmond. To secure Washington city, it was necessary to hold the Confederates in check in the Shenandoah Valley, where they were led by the zealous and gallant "Stonewall Jackson." He had been defeated by the dashing General Lander, at Blooming Gap, on the 14th of February; and when Johnston and his Confederates evacuated Manassas, Jackson had taken post at Winchester. General N. P. Banks was then in command of National troops near Harper's Ferry, destined for operations in the Shenandoah Valley; and when Jackson went further up that valley, he sent General Shields in pursuit. Shields soon turned back, and with a considerable body of troops encamped at Winchester. Jackson, reinforced, came down the valley in force, infantry and cavalry, and attacked Shields at Kernstown just west of Winchester. Shields had only about seven thousand men, and twenty-four heavy guns. The battle that ensued (March 22, 1862) was short and severe. Shields was badly wounded. The Confederates were defeated, and fled up the valley closely pursued by Banks, who remained in that region to watch the insurgents while McClellan should move upon Richmond.
It was not until April when the Army of the Potomac began its campaign on the Virginia Peninsula. General McClellan had transferred a larger part of that army to Fortress Monroe, leaving about seventy-three thousand troops for the defence of Washington. At the beginning of April there were one hundred and twenty-one thousand men at Fortress Monroe (exclusive of the forces of General Wool), and a large portion of these now moved, in two columns, up the Peninsula; one column under General Heintzelman marching near the York River, and another under General Keyes, near the James River. A comparatively small Confederate force, under General J. B. Magruder, had formed a fortified line across the Peninsula, in the pathway of the Nationals; and by skillful tricks, Magruder so deceived McClellan as to the number of the Confederates, that the invaders were kept at bay, below Yorktown, nearly a month, while their leader was calling for reinforcements to enable him to break through the opposing line. Yorktown was regularly besieged under the direction of General Fitz John Porter, though the number of the Nationals was ten times as large as that of the Confederates. An attempt to carry the intrenchments on the Warwick River, by a division under General Smith of Keyes's column, caused a sharp engagement. It failed; and finally Magruder fell back to a line of strong intrenchments in front of Williamsburg,
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