The article was published in Polish. Below is an English translation of its opening. Wersja polska
On the evening of 8 March 1862, as the battle-weary sailors of CSS Virginia settled down to sleep, the commander of the Union garrison at Fort Monroe, General John E. Wool, sent an alarming telegram to the Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton: “The Merrimack came down from Norfolk to-day, and about 2 o’clock attacked the Cumberland and Congress. She sunk the Cumberland, and the Congress surrendered. (…) The St. Lawrence just arrived. The Minnesota is aground. It is probable that both will be taken. Such is the opinion of Captain Marston and his officers. The Roanoke is under the protection of our guns. It is supposed that the Merrimack, Jamestown, and Yorktown will pass the fort to-night.” The situation changed radically at 10 p.m., however, when USS Monitor arrived in Hampton Roads. The Union ironclad immediately took up a position from which she could protect the grounded Minnesota.
