A Fortress Monroe dispatch to the Philadelphia Inquirer says :
“It is not improper to state, while the eyes of the whole North are upon the Monitor, that her officers and crew are aware of the responsibility resting upon them, and that the greatest vigilance is constantly exercised. The round iron tower floats in such a position as to command the exit from Elizabeth river, and from a slender tube at one end of the ‘Yankee Cheese Box’ a jet of steam issues continually. The crew pace the iron clad deck, almost on a level with the surface of the water, and the glance of the watch sweeps the shores of Virginia from the unromantic ‘Pig Point’ to the rebel batteries at Craney island.
I visited this morning the wreck of the Cumberland. The masts project about thirty feet above the water, within rifle shot of Newport News. The rigging is not damaged, the ‘tops’ being complete. An American ensign float from the mast-head. Report says that it was placed there by command of General Mansfield, and that it will remain as long as the gales will permit the frame of the vessel to hold together. Of the Congress nothing is visible but a few dark beams projecting a few feet above the surface, and scattered over an area as large as that originally occupied by the frigate. The boats belonging to the vessels which were destroyed are on the beach at Newport News. They are eight in number.”
Cleveland Morning Leader, Cleveland, OH