[CIVIL WAR]. ERICSSON, JOHN. Autograph letter signed ("J.Ericsson"), a draft, to the Editor of the New York World, New York, 8 January 1862. 1 page, folio, lined paper. AN EARLY MENTION OF THE U.S.S. Monitor BY HER DESIGNER. Ericsson takes pains to correct a press error: "Permit me to correct the erroneous impression produced by your notice of my iron clad battery [the Monitor], that I am superintending its construction in behalf of Messrs. Bushnell & Co. The fact is, I am constructing the battery for the United States Government to my own plans approved by a special board of Naval Officers, under an agreement with the Secretary of the Navy dated October 4th 1861. I have associated with me a few loyal and spirited citizens who have joined in the enterprise under a conviction that an impregnable floating battery will prove an important auxiliary at the present crisis."