At the first peep of dawn, on the morning of the 9th of March, the Confederate squadron was under way, having in view for its first object the destruction of the _Minnesota_, that frigate being still aground near Newport News. As the daylight increased, the _Minnesota_ was discovered in her old position, but no longer alone and unsupported. Close alongside of her there lay such a craft as the eyes of a seaman does not delight to look upon; no masts, no smokestack, no guns--at least nothing of the sort could be seen about her. And yet the thing had a grim, pugnacious look, as if there was tremendous power of some sort inherent in her, and ready to be manifested whenever the occasion required it. The _Monitor_ (for it was that famous vessel) promptly steamed out to meet the _Virginia_, as the latter vessel bore down on the _Minnesota_, and the celebrated combat between these iron-clads was joined immediately. It was the first action that had ever been fought between armored vessels, and as such will ever be remembered and commented upon. The combat resulted in a drawn fight as far as the _Virginia_ and _Monitor_ was concerned, but it established the power of iron-clad steamers as engines of war, and completely revolutionized the construction of the navies of the world.
That the combat between the _Virginia_ and the _Monitor_ was an indecisive action is clear. The _Monitor_ received the most damage in the fight, and was the first to retire from it into shoal water, though the fight was afterwards renewed. On the other hand, the _Virginia_ did not accomplish her object, which was the destruction of the _Minnesota_, and she did not accomplish it in consequence of the resistance offered by the _Monitor_. The two vessels held each other in check, the _Virginia_ protecting Norfolk, and the _Monitor_ doing the same for the Federal wooden fleet in Hampton Roads and the Chesapeake waters. The injuries received by the _Virginia_ in ramming the _Cumberland_, on the previous day, were probably greater than those inflicted on her by the _Monitor_; in neither case were they severe enough to disable or force her to withdraw from action.
On her return to Norfolk harbor, the _Virginia_ was accompanied by the _Patrick Henry_ and the other vessels of the Confederate squadron. The Confederate wooden steamers had taken no part in the action between the _Virginia_ and the _Monitor_, except to fire an occasional shot at the _Monitor_, as she passed, at very long range; no wooden vessel could have floated a quarter of an hour in an engagement at close quarters with either of the two iron-clads.