The Double-Turreted Monitor Onondaga Off the Exchange Landing

 In the year 1864 the scene was no longer so peaceful at Aiken's Landing, once used as a place of exchange. Union vessels occasionally steamed as far up the river as this point. The queer-looking craft in the center of the river is the double-turreted monitor Onondaga. It was no longer safe for women and children to stay in A. M. Aiken's dwelling on the hill; shells from the warship might come hurtling ashore at the slightest sign of Confederates. After the success of the first monitor, several other ironclads were built after the same pattern. They were suitable for river service and harbor defense. The Onondaga rendered valuable aid to the army while Grant centered his operations against Richmond at City Point.