President Lincoln had been receiving reports that the Confederates were constructing the Virginia, an ironclad ship. Secretary of the Navy Giddeon Welles suggested the Union built several too. Welles sosught designs from various firms. When the Ironclad Board met and accepted a design offered by Swedish engineer John Ericsson. The board thought the design too radical, but Mr. Lincoln did not agree. After much discussion, Ericcson's design of a flat ship with a rotating turret was accepted. That first ship was to be called the Moniter.
Meanwhile, in my excitement to raise troops for the Lamon brigade, I attempted to solicit men from Colonel Rowley's area of Pennsylvania. The assistant adjutant general refused my request, saying that my men were to come only from Virginia. The decision greatly irked me, but I pushed on to complete the task at hand, while secretly attempting to recruit additional men from Illinois.
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