Editing USS Monitor (section)

==Crew==
The original officers at the time of ''Monitor''{{'}}s commissioning were:
{|style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border: none;"
|+'''Officers of USS ''Monitor'' at commissioning'''<br>(25 February 1862)
|-
|colspan="2" style="text-align:center;"|Lieutenant [[John Lorimer Worden]], Commanding Officer
|-
|Lieutenant [[Samuel Greene (naval officer)|Samuel Greene]], [[Executive officer#Military|Executive Officer]]
|{{nbsp|3}}Third Assistant Engineer, Robinson W. Hands
|-
|[[Master (naval)|Acting Master]], [[Louis N. Stodder]]
|{{nbsp|3}}Fourth Assistant Engineer, Mark T. Sunstrom
|-
|Acting Master, J.N. Webber
|{{nbsp|3}}Acting Assistant Paymaster, William F. Keeler
|-
|First Assistant Engineer, Isaac Newton Jr.
|{{nbsp|3}}Acting Assistant Surgeon, Daniel C. Logue<ref name=Quarstein40/>
|-
|Second Assistant Engineer, Albert B. Campbell
|
|-
|}

[[File:John Lorimer Worden (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|alt=Engraving showing Commander Worden likeness in 1862|Commander Worden in 1862]]

''Monitor''{{'s}} crew were all volunteers and totaled 49 officers and enlisted men. The ship required ten officers: a commander, an executive officer, four engineers, one medical officer, two masters and a paymaster.<ref name=Quarstein40>[[#Quarstein10|Quarstein, 2010]], p. 40</ref> Before Worden was allowed to select, assemble, and commit a crew to ''Monitor'', the vessel had to be completed.<ref name=Quarstein40-41/>

Four of the officers were [[line officer]]s and responsible for the handling of the vessel and operation of guns during battle, while the engineering officers were considered a class unto themselves.<ref name=Quarstein40-41>[[#Quarstein|Quarstein, 2010]], pp. 40–41</ref> In ''Monitor''{{'s}} turret, Greene and Stodder supervised loading and firing of the two {{convert|11|in|adj=on|spell=in}} Dahlgrens. Each gun was crewed by eight men.<ref>[[#Konstam|Konstam, 2002]], p. 68</ref> In Worden's report of 27 January 1862 to Welles, he stated he believed 17 men and 2 officers would be the maximum number in the turret that allowed the crew to work without getting in each other's way.<ref>[[#Rawson|Rawson and Woods, 1897]], p. 534</ref>

[[File:MonitorCrew.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|right|alt=photo showing original Officers of Monitor in 1862|USS ''Monitor'' officers on deck, posed by her armored gun turret, while the ship was in the James River, Virginia, 9 July 1862. The US Navy Library identifies them as:<br />'''Top row, left to right''': <br />
Second Assistant Engineer Albert B. Campbell · Third Assistant Engineer Mark Trueman Sunstrom · Acting Assistant Paymaster William F. Keeler · Lieutenant L. Howard Newman (Executive Officer of USS ''Galena'') <br />'''Middle row, left to right''':<br /> Acting Master [[Louis N. Stodder]] · Master's Mate George Frederickson · Acting Volunteer Lieutenant William Flye · Acting Assistant Surgeon Daniel C. Logue · Lieutenant [[Samuel Greene (naval officer)|Samuel Greene]]. <br />'''Seated on deck in front, left to right''':<br /> Third Assistant Engineer Robinson W. Hands · Acting Master E.V. Gager.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://ibiblio.org/hyperwar/OnlineLibrary/photos/images/h61000/h61931l.htm |title=Navy Photograph NH # 61931 |access-date=9 March 2019 |archive-date=16 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221116001911/https://ibiblio.org/hyperwar/OnlineLibrary/photos/images/h61000/h61931l.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><br />A similar photograph shows ''Monitor'' officer First Assistant Engineer Isaac Newton.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://ibiblio.org/hyperwar/OnlineLibrary/photos/images/h00001/h00575l.htm |title=Navy Photograph NH# 575 |access-date=9 March 2019 |archive-date=16 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221116001909/https://ibiblio.org/hyperwar/OnlineLibrary/photos/images/h00001/h00575l.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>]]

''Monitor'' also required petty officers: among them was Daniel Toffey, Worden's nephew. Worden had selected Toffey to serve as his captain's clerk. Two black Americans were also among the enlisted men in the crew.<ref>[[#Quarstein|Quarstein, 2010]], p. 44</ref>

Living quarters for the senior officers consisted of eight separate well-furnished cabins, each provided with a small oak table and chair, an oil lamp, shelves and drawers and a canvas floor covering covered with a rug. The entire crew were given goat-skin mats to sleep on. Lighting for each living area was provided by small skylights in the deck above, which were covered by an iron hatch during battle. The officer's wardroom was located forward of the berth deck where officers would eat their meals, hold meetings or socialize during what little spare time they had. It was well furnished with an oriental rug, a large oak table and other such items. Ericsson had personally paid for the costs of all the officer's furnishings.<ref>[[#Quarstein10|Quarstein, 2010]], p. 50</ref>

Many details of ''Monitor''{{'}}s history and insights of everyday crew life have been discovered from correspondence sent from the various crew members to family and friends while serving aboard the ironclad. In particular the correspondence of [[George Spencer Geer|George S. Geer]], who sent more than 80 letters, often referred to as ''The Monitor Chronicles'',{{efn|See [[#Bibliography|Bibliography:]] Marvel, William, ed. (2000). ''The Monitor Chronicles: One Sailor's Account&nbsp;...''}} to his wife Martha during the entire time of ''Monitor''{{'}}s service provide many details and insights into every chapter of the ironclad's short-lived history, offering a rare perspective of a sailor's experience on the naval front during the Civil War. The letters of Acting Paymaster [[William Frederick Keeler|William F. Keeler]] to his wife Anna also corroborate many of the accounts of affairs that took place aboard ''Monitor''. The letters of Geer and Keeler are available for viewing and are housed at the [[Mariners' Museum]] in Virginia.<ref>[[#Geer|George S. Geer, 1862, letters to wife Martha]]</ref> Other crew members were interviewed later in life, like [[Louis N. Stodder]], one of the last crew members to abandon ''Monitor'' minutes before she sank in a storm at sea,<ref name="Still, 1988, p. 20">[[#Still88|Still, 1988]], p. 20</ref> who was the last surviving crew member of ''Monitor'' and lived well into the 20th century.<ref>[[#Thulesius|Thulesius, 2007]], p. 138</ref>