The Merrimac and the Monitor

We boarded the USS Valiant for blockade duty. It was nice to be on the sea, fresh salty air and sea creatures down below. The boys were calm and beautiful. All we did was witness a few Sea Battles. The CONFEDERATE'S IRONCLAD the MERRIMAC always won. We weren't much against IRON. It was pleasing to see the new use of IRON in action. They did the job quick. The MERRIMAC sliced through any UNION wooden ship that defied it. But one day the NORTH came up to the challenge. We had the MONITOR, our IRONCLAD, a cheese box on a raft kind of thing. We saw the Battle. They shot and shot at each other. The Cannon Balls just bounced off of the IRON, and no one was the winner. This went on for hours. Finally, the MONITOR shot off the smokestack of the MERRIMAC, and the SOUTH'S pride took off like a DANDY on a CATFISH. Night was coming and the two BLACK hulks sulked in the rising sea as they parted in the dark.

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