opened upon her with my stern guns and made a signal to the Monitor to attack the enemy," Van Brunt added. After fighting for hours, mostly at close range, neither could overcome the other. The armor of both ships proved adequate. In part, this was because each was handicapped in her offensive capabilities. Buchanan, in Virginia, had not expected to fight another armored vessel, so his guns were supplied only with shell rather than armor-piercing shot. Monitors guns were used with the standard service charge of only of powder, which did not give the projectile sufficient momentum to penetrate her opponent's armor. Tests conducted after the battle showed that the Dahlgren guns could be operated safely and efficiently with charges of as much as . However, despite this, as the two Ironclads circled each other during the fight, the Monitor was about to penetrate the Virginia’s armor, but a misfiring of its weapons caused it to lose the advantage. At 10 AM that morning, the Virginia grounded. The Monitor opened fire on its vulnerable adversary, yet the Virginia was able to scrape off the shore and rejoin the fight. Later during the battle, Acting Master Louis N. Stodder and officers Stimers and Truscott were inside the gun turret, discussing the course of action. Stodder was leaning against the turret's inside wall when it took a direct hit. Stodder was knocked unconscious and taken below, where it took him an hour to regain consciousness. Stodder thus became the first man injured during the battle. He was replaced by Stimers. The battle finally ceased when a shell from Virginia struck the pilot house of Monitor and exploded, driving fragments of paint and iron through the viewing slits into Worden's eyes and temporarily blinding him. As no one else could see to command the ship, Monitor was forced to draw off. The executive officer, Lieutenant Samuel Dana Greene, took over, and Monitor returned to the fight. In the period of command confusion, however, the crew of Virginia believed that their opponent had withdrawn. Although Minnesota was still aground, the falling tide meant that she was out of reach. Furthermore, Virginia had suffered enough damage to require extensive repair. Convinced that his ship had won the day, Jones ordered her back to Norfolk. At about this time, Monitor returned, only to discover her opponent apparently giving up the fight. Convinced that Virginia was quitting,