In a further reflection of the impact of the appearance of the Confederate ironclad C.S.S. Virginia off Virginia the week before, the Massachusetts legislature voted unanimously to fund the construction of ironclad steam vessels of their own, for the protection of the Commonwealth's harbors and coastline. Similar alarm at the vulnerability of the northern coast manifest itself in New York and Philadelphia but soon faded with the containment of the Confederate Navy. (By John Osborne)
Frank Moore, ed., The Rebellion Record: A Diary of American Events, with Documents, Narratives, Illustrative Incidents, Poetry, Etc. (New York: G.P. Putnam, 1862), IV: 59.