Almost everyone here has that same image in their minds when they think of the Civil War at sea--that first duel of ironclads--the Yankee cheese box on a raft versus the slope-sided, ungainly ex-Merrimack. a scuttled U.S. Navy ship which the Confederates raised and converted into an ironclad and renamed the CSS Virginia.  After all, the once U.S. Navy sloop of war had--just hours before--set the Congress afire, rammed and sank the Cumberland, and run the Minnesota aground.  The following day she was headed out to finish off the grounded vessel when the Monitor, her low-freeboard decks nearly awash, popped into view and saved the day, fighting the Virginia to a draw.

What was the medical aftermath of that now legendary combat? On the Union side, three men were injured on the Monitor.  One was the acting master whose knee came into contact with the turret at the same instant one of Virginia’s heavy shot struck it.  Knocked senseless by the impact, he regained consciousness ten minutes later.  Another seaman in the turret was knocked unconscious in a similar manner.  Acting Assistant Surgeon Daniel Logue described this sailor’s injury as a “concussion of the brain.”  His circulation remained depressed and it became necessary to administer stimulants.  When the patient regained consciousness, Dr. Logue watched for a reaction and then applied “cold affusion to the head.”