afternoon of March 8, Monitor approached Cape Henry, Virginia, while inside Hampton Roads, the Confederacy's own ironclad, CSS Virginia, wrought havoc with the Union Navy's wooden blockading fleet. During that engagement, the Southern warship sank both the sloop and the frigate , as well as severely damaging the steam frigate before retiring behind Sewell's Point. Arriving on the scene too late to participate in the engagement, Worden and his ship set about assisting the grounded Minnesota. The battle of the ironclads At daybreak on the 9th, Virginia emerged once more from behind Sewell's Point to complete her reduction of the Federal fleet at Hampton Roads. As the Confederate ironclad approached Minnesota, Worden maneuvered Monitor from the grounded ship's shadow to engage Virginia in the battle that revolutionized naval warfare. For four hours, the two iron-plated ships slugged it out as they maneuvered in the narrow channel of Hampton Roads, pouring shot and shell at one another to almost no visible effect. Three hours into the slug fest, Worden received facial wounds when a Confederate shell exploded just outside the pilot house that partially blinded him. He relinquished command to his first officer, Samuel D. Greene. About an hour later, Monitor withdrew from the battle temporarily and, upon her return to the scene, found that Virginia, too, had withdrawn. The first battle between steam-driven, armored ships had ended in a draw. Other wartime commands After the battle, Worden moved ashore to convalesce from his wounds. During that recuperative period, he received the accolade of a grateful nation, the official thanks of the United States Congress, and promotion to commander. Late in 1862, he took command of the ironclad monitor Montauk and placed her in commission at New York on December 14, 1862. Later in the month, Worden took his new ship south to join the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron off Port Royal, South Carolina. On January 27, 1863, he led his ship in the bombardment of Fort McAllister. A month later, newly promoted Captain Worden took his ship into the Ogeechee River, found the Confederate privateer Rattlesnake (formerly CSS Nashville), and destroyed her with five well-placed shots. His last action came of April 7, 1863, when Montauk participated in an attack on Charleston, South Carolina. Post-war career and last years Not long after the Charleston attack, Capt. Worden received orders to shore duty in conjunction with the construction of ironclads in