The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 42, July 1938 - April, 1939 Page: 156

Southwestern Historical Quarterly

the North to the extent of rendering a service to the South in its
struggle for independence.
The chief service of this volume is to give point and direction
to the palpable inconsistencies of an impetuous and erratic editor.
Through a judicious use of the Greeley manuscripts, Professor
Fahrney discloses a fairly consistent policy modified at times to
meet changing public sentiment. Despite the fearless aggressive-
ness often attributed to Greeley, the author emphasizes the fact
that the Tribune, sensitive to public opinion, to a large extent
reflected the alternating hope and despair that swept over the
North during the long, disheartening struggle.
The reader turns in vain to discover some comprehensive induc-
tions to permit him a clear perception of the hopes and fears,
struggles and disappointments of this eccentric editor who was
the Tribune. Well documented and adequately indexed, this volume
must be added to the growing list of new and unpartisan accounts
to untangle a confused era.
HAROLD SCHOEN.
Amarillo Junior College.
The Confederate Ironclad "Virginia" ("Merrimac"). By Harri-
son A. Trexler. (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press,
1938. Pp. viii, 95. Price $2.00.)
Professor Trexler has intelligently used a mass of published
documents and secondary works, supplemented by the Charles
Ellet manuscripts, to present a straightforward and interesting
account of the famous Confederate ironclad Virginia.
The steam frigate Merrimac, officially christened the Merrimaclk,
was built by the Federal Government in 1856. In 1861, when
Virginia seized the Gosport Navy Yard, she was burned to the
water line and sunk to avoid capture. The Confederate Govern-
ment raised the hull of the vessel, converted her into an ironclad,
and renamed her the Virginia. The engines and steering gear had
been seriously injured by the salt water, so that the vessel had
little speed and was incapable of accurate manoeuvering. On March
8, 1862, the Virginia steamed into Hampton Roads to achieve a
momentous victory over the Union fleet. In less than two hours
she sank the men-of-war Cumberland and Congress, a transport

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