Monitor’s crewmen enjoy some rare recreational time on deck, where they frequently slept to avoid broiling temperatures and overcrowding below decks. (Library of Congress)

The only recreation available occurred on deck, when the weather allowed. One photo shows members of Monitor’s crew outside on deck covered in smoke near a stove with pots and pans. The sailors were preparing a meal next to the turret.

During the March 9 Battle of Hampton Roads, Monitor dueled with the Confederate ironclad CSS Virginia, which had been stalking USS Minnesota. The two vessels pounded each other for two hours, after which Captain Worden decided to replenish Monitor’s ammunition before returning to battle. Worden himself was wounded shortly thereafter when a Confederate shell struck one of the ironclad’s viewing slits. At that juncture, the Federal vessel broke off contact.

Author Nathaniel Hawthorne, who visited Monitor after the Battle of Hampton Roads, was frightened by what he saw and called it ‘the strangest-looking craft I ever saw, a giant rat-trap.’ He continued, ‘There is no remoteness of life and thought, hermetically sealed seclusion, except, possibly, that of the grave, into which the disturbing influences of war do not penetrate.’

Following the engagement with Virginia, the crew was able to take it easy for a while. After the battle, Northern military leaders decided that they did not want to expose their precious ironclad to Confederate shells for a time. The Monitor Boys, however, were eager to proceed to Norfolk, where they hoped to win a final and decisive victory. For some time, however, there was no opportunity to show off Monitor’s fighting ability. Life on board soon settled into a monotonous routine. Keeler expressed the crew’s frustration, writing, ‘I believe the Department is going to build a big case to put us in for fear of harm coming to us.’

Another source of frustration was the frequent change of command after Worden was wounded at Hampton Roads. During 10 months’ service Monitor had no fewer than five different commanders. Immediately after Worden’s wounding, Lieutenant Samuel Dana Greene took command. He hoped to continue in that position. In a letter to his mother, he proudly wrote:

The fight was over, & we were victorious. My men & myself were black with smoke and powder. All my underclothes were perfectly black with smoke, and my person in the same condition….I felt proud and happy then, Mother, and felt fully repaid for all I had suffered….I was Captn. & first lieut. and had not a soul to help me.

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Replaced shortly after the battle, Greene was saddened and disappointed. But he was only 22 years old, and before coming to Monitor he had never served in a higher position than midshipman. After the battle he was criticized for not continuing the fight with Virginia. He faithfully stayed on, however, until the end, when Monitor foundered off Cape Hatteras.

On April 24, 1862, while Monitor was positioned near Fort Monroe, the ship’s crew sent a letter to Lieutenant Worden, who was then still recovering from his wounds:

To our Dear and Honored Captain. These few lines is from your own Crew of the Monitor with their Kindest Love to there Honored Captain, Hoping to God that they will have the pleasure of Welcoming you Back to us Soon, for we are all ready able and willing to meet Death or anything else, only give us back our captain again. Since you left us we have had no pleasure on Board of the Monitor. We remain until Death your Affectionate Crew,
The Monitor Boys

After the historic battle at Hampton Roads, Monitor and her crew became the center of attraction for visitors of all kinds, from President Abraham Lincoln, congressmen and newspaper reporters to family members and friends. When the vessel was moored in Hampton Roads, in the James River or at Fort Monroe people made every effort to see the ‘monster.’ The president came twice, in May and July of 1862, and had much praise for the ship and the Monitor Boys.

In July photographer James Gibson arrived from New York to take stereographic pictures of the ironclad and her crew. Gibson was part of a team employed by Mathew Brady, who orchestrated a series of famous photographs of the Civil War. Some pictures capture the crew and officers lined up before the turret, and others show the effects of the projectiles that hit the iron plating.

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