| 4th | Top battles 1801%E2%80%931900: 1862 |
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and Richmond
, from international
trade.
for repairs and strengthening, and Monitor
to her station defending Minnesota. The ships did
not fight again, and the blockade remained in place.
Map of events of the Battle of Hampton
Roads. The commandant there, Captain Charles S. McCauley, though loyal to the Union, was
immobilized by advice he received from his subordinate officers,
most of whom were in favor of secession. Although he had orders
from (Union) Secretary of the Navy
Gideon Welles to move his ships to
Northern ports, he refused to act until April 20, when he gave
orders to scuttle the ships in the yard and destroy its facilities.
Nine ships were burned, among them the screw frigate . One (the old
frigate ) was towed away successfully. Merrimack burned
only to the waterline, however, and her engines were more or less
intact. The destruction of the navy yard was mostly ineffective; in
particular, the large drydock there was relatively undamaged and
soon could be restored. Without firing a shot, the advocates of
secession had gained for the South its largest navy yard, as well
as the hull and engines of what would be in time its most famous
warship. They had also seized more than a thousand heavy guns, plus
gun carriages and large quantities of gunpowder.
, at Old Point Comfort on the Peninsula
. They also held a small man-made island
known as the Rip Raps, on the far side of the channel opposite Fort
Monroe, and on this island they completed another fort, named
Fort Wool. With Fort Monroe went control of the lower
Peninsula as far as Newport
News
.
and Newport News and out of the range of the guns
at Sewell's Point and Craney Island. For most of the first
year of the war, the Confederacy could do little to oppose
them.| CSS Virginia (ex-USS Merrimack)]] When the Civil War broke out, Confederate Secretary of the Navy Stephen R. Mallory was an early enthusiast for the advantages of armor. As he saw it, the Confederacy could not match the industrial North in numbers of ships at sea, so they would have to compete by building vessels that would be individually superior to those of the Union. The edge would be provided by armor. Mallory gathered about himself a group of men who were able to put his vision into practice, among them John M. Brooke, John L. Porter, and William P. Williamson. When Mallory's men searched the South for factories that could build engines to drive the heavy ships that he wanted, they found no place to do it immediately. At the best facility, the Tredegar Iron Works  in Richmond, building engines from scratch would
take at least a year. Upon learning this, Williamson
suggested taking the engines from the hulk of Merrimack,
recently raised from the bed of the Elizabeth River. His colleagues
promptly accepted his suggestion and expanded it, proposing that
the design of their projected ironclad be adapted to the hull.
Porter produced the revised plans, which were submitted to Mallory
for approval. On July 11, 1861, the new design was accepted, and
work began almost immediately. The burned-out hull was towed into
the graving dock that the Union Navy had
failed to destroy. During the subsequent conversion process, the
plans were further modified to incorporate an iron ram fitted to
the prow. Her offense in addition to the ram consisted of 10 guns:
six smooth-bore Dahlgrens, and two and two Brooke rifles. The armor
plating, originally meant to be thick, was replaced by double
plates, each thick, backed by of iron and pine. The armor was
pierced for 14 gunports: four on each broadside, three forward, and
three aft. The revisions, together with the usual problems
associated with the transportation system of the South, resulted in
delays that pushed back the launch date until February 3, 1862, and
she was not commissioned until February 17, bearing the name
CSS Virginia.USS Monitor USS MonitorFederal Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles waited for Congress to meet until he asked them for permission to consider building armored vessels; Congress gave the permission he asked on August 3, 1861. Welles appointed a commission, which came to be known as the Ironclad Board, of three senior naval officers to choose among several designs that were submitted for consideration. The three men were Captains Joseph Smith and Hiram Paulding, and Commander Charles Henry Davis. The board considered seventeen designs, and chose to support three. First of the three to be completed, even though she was by far the most radical in design, was Swedish engineer and inventor John Ericsson's .. Ericsson's Monitor, which was built at Ericsson's yard on the East River in Greenpoint, Brooklyn  , incorporated many new and striking design
features, the most significant of which were her armor and
armament. Instead of the large numbers of guns of rather
small bore that had characterized warships in the past, Ericsson
opted for only two guns of large caliber; he wanted to use guns,
but had to settle for guns when the larger size were unavailable.
These were mounted in a cylindrical turret, in diameter, high,
covered with iron thick. The whole rotated on a central spindle,
and was moved by a steam engine that could be controlled by one
man. A serious flaw in the design was the pilot house from which
the ship would be conned, a small structure forward of the turret
on the main deck. Its presence meant that the guns could not fire
directly forward, and it was isolated from other activities on the
ship. Despite the late start and the novelty of construction,
Monitor was actually completed a few days before her
counterpart Virginia, but Virginia was activated
first.BattleCommandThe Confederate chain of command was anomalous. Lieutenant Catesby ap Roger Jones had directed much of the conversion of Merrimack to Virginia, and he was disappointed when he was not named her captain. Jones was retained aboard Virginia, but only as her executive officer. Ordinarily, the ship would have been led by a captain of the Confederate States Navy, to be determined by the rigid seniority system that was in place. Secretary Mallory wanted the aggressive Franklin Buchanan, but at least two other captains had greater seniority and had applied for the post. Mallory evaded the issue by appointing Franklin, head of the Office of Orders and Detail, flag officer in charge of the defenses of Norfolk and the James River. As such, he could control the movements of Virginia. Technically, therefore, the ship went into the battle without a captain.On the Union side, command of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron was held by Flag Officer Louis M. Goldsborough. He had devised a plan for his frigates to engage Virginia, hoping to trap her in their crossfire. In the event, his plan broke down completely when four of the ships ran aground (one of them intentionally) in the confined waters of the roadstead. On the day of battle, Goldsborough was absent with the ships cooperating with the Burnside Expedition in North Carolina. In his absence, leadership fell to his second in command, Captain John Marston of . As Roanoke was one of the ships that ran aground, Marston was unable to materially influence the battle, and his participation is often disregarded. Most accounts emphasize the contribution of the captain of Monitor, John L. Worden, to the neglect of others. [[Image:Cumberland rammed by Merrimac.png|thumb |
| alt=Print: Cumberland rammed by Virginia |
Sinking of Cumberland by the ironclad
Virginia]]March 8: Virginia wreaks havoc on wooden Union warshipsThe battle began when the large and unwieldy CSS Virginia steamed into Hampton Roads on the morning of March 8, 1862. Captain Buchanan had tried to lead everyone but a trusted few to believe that this was merely a shakedown run, but most of the crew were aware that he intended to attack if at all possible. Virginia was accompanied from her moorings on the Elizabeth River by Raleigh and Beaufort, and was joined at Hampton Roads by the James River Squadron, Patrick Henry, Jamestown, and Teaser. When they were passing the Union batteries at Newport News, Patrick Henry was temporarily disabled by a shot in her boiler that killed four of her crew. After repairs, she returned and rejoined the others.At this time, the Union Navy had five warships in the roadstead (see map), in addition to several support vessels. The sloop-of-war and frigate were anchored in the channel near Newport News. Frigate and the steam frigates Roanoke and were near Fort Monroe. The latter three got under way as soon as they saw Virginia approaching, but all three soon ran aground. St. Lawrence and Roanoke took no further important part in the battle. Virginia headed directly for the Union squadron. The battle opened when Union tug Zouave fired on the advancing enemy, and Beaufort replied. This preliminary skirmishing had no effect. Virginia did not open fire until she was within easy range of Cumberland. Return fire from Cumberland and Congress bounced off the iron plates without penetrating. Virginia rammed Cumberland below the waterline and she sank rapidly, "gallantly fighting her guns as long as they were above water," according to Buchanan. She took 121 seamen down with her; those wounded brought the casualty total to nearly 150. Ramming Cumberland nearly resulted in the sinking of Virginia as well. The ram on her bow got stuck in the enemy ship's hull, and as Cumberland listed and began to go down, she almost pulled Virginia down with her. Virginia broke free, however, the ram broke off as she pulled back . Buchanan next turned Virginia on Congress. Seeing what had happened to Cumberland, Lieutenant Joseph B. Smith, captain of Congress, ordered his ship grounded in shallow water. By this time, the James River Squadron, commanded by John Randolph Tucker, had arrived and joined Virginia in the attack on Congress. After an hour of unequal combat, the badly-damaged Congress surrendered. While the surviving crewmen of Congress were being ferried off the ship, a Union battery on the north shore opened fire on Virginia. In retaliation, Buchanan ordered Congress fired upon with hot shot. Congress caught fire and burned throughout the rest of the day. Near midnight, the flames reached her magazine and she exploded and sank. Personnel losses included 110 killed or missing and presumed drowned. Another 26 were wounded, of whom ten died within days. Although she had not suffered anything like the damage she had inflicted, Virginia was not completely unscathed. Shots from Cumberland, Congress, and Union troops ashore had riddled her smokestack, reducing her already low speed. Two of her guns were disabled and several armor plates had been loosened. Two of her crew were killed, and several others were wounded. One of the wounded was Captain Buchanan, whose left thigh was pierced by a rifle shot. Meanwhile, the James River Squadron had turned its attention to Minnesota, which had left Fort Monroe to join in
the battle and had run aground. After Virginia had
dealt with the surrender of Congress, she joined the James
River Squadron despite her damage. Because of her deep draft and
the falling tide, however, Virginia was unable to get
close enough to be effective, and darkness prevented the rest of
the squadron from aiming their guns to any effect. The attack was
therefore suspended. Virginia left with the expectation of
returning the next day and completing the task. She retreated into
the safety of Confederate-controlled waters off Sewell's Point for
the night.March 9: Monitor engages Virginia[[Image:TerrificCombatBetweenMonitor&Merrimac2.png|thumb |
| alt=Print: Terrific Combat between Monitor and Merrimac; Currier and Ives, publisher. |
| Ironclads engaged in terrific combat by Currier and Ives]] Both sides used the respite to prepare for the next day. Virginia put her wounded ashore and underwent temporary repairs. Captain Buchanan was among the wounded, so command on the second day fell to his executive officer, Lieutenant Catesby ap Roger Jones. Jones proved to be no less aggressive than the man he replaced. While Virginia was being prepared for renewal of the battle, and while Congress was still ablaze, Monitor, commanded by Lieutenant John L. Worden, arrived in Hampton Roads. The Union ironclad had been rushed to Hampton Roads in hopes of protecting the Union fleet and preventing Virginia from threatening Union cities. Captain Worden was informed that his primary task was to protect Minnesota, so Monitor took up a position near the grounded Minnesota and waited. The next morning, at dawn on March 9, 1862, Virginia left her anchorage at Sewell's Point and moved to attack Minnesota, still aground. She was followed by the three ships of the James River Squadron. They found their course blocked, however, by the newly arrived Monitor. At first, Jones believed the strange craft to be a boiler being towed from the Minnesota, not realizing the nature of his opponent. Soon, however, it was apparent that he had no choice but to fight her. 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. Monitor s 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 . The battle finally ceased when a chance shell from Virginia struck the pilot house of Monitor and exploded, driving fragments through the viewing slits into Worden's eyes and temporarily blinding him. As no one else could see to conn 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 some damage that would 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, with orders only to protect Minnesota and not to risk his ship unnecessarily, Greene did not pursue. Thus, each side misinterpreted the moves of the other, and as a result each claimed victory. [[Image:Ironclads battle 7.jpg|thumb |
| alt=Print: First Battle of Iron Ships of War, lithograph by Henry Bill (1862) |
First Battle of Iron Ships of War by Henry Bill. Shown
are the USS Monitor, CSS Virginia, , CSS Jamestown, , and ]]Confederate
Secretary of the Navy Stephen
Mallory wrote to Confederate President Davis of the action:The conduct of the Officers and men of the squadron … reflects unfading honor upon themselves and upon the Navy. The report will be read with deep interest, and its details will not fail to rouse the ardor and nerve the arms of our gallant seamen.It will be remembered that the Virginia was a novelty in naval architecture, wholly unlike any ship that ever floated; that her heaviest guns were equal novelties in ordnance; that her motive power and obedience to her helm were untried, and her officers and crew strangers, comparatively, to the ship and to each other; and yet, under all these disadvantages, the dashing courage and consummate professional ability of Flag Officer Buchanan and his associates achieved the most remarkable victory which naval annals record. In Washington, belief that Monitor had vanquished Virginia was so strong that Worden and his men were awarded the Thanks of Congress: Resolved . . . That the thanks of Congress and the American people are due and are hereby tendered to Lieutenant J. L. Worden, of the United States Navy, and to the officers and men of the ironclad gunboat Monitor, under his command, for the skill and gallantry exhibited by them in the remarkable battle between the Monitor and the rebel ironclad steamer Merrimack. Spring 1862 — a standoff at Hampton RoadsVirginia remained in drydock for almost a month, getting repairs for battle damage as well as some minor modifications to improve her performance. On April 4, she was able to leave drydock. Buchanan, still recovering from his wound, had hoped that Catesby Jones would be picked to succeed him, and most observers believed that Jones's performance during the battle was outstanding. The seniority system for promotion in the Navy scuttled his chances, however, and the post went to the 67-year old Commodore Josiah Tattnall. Monitor, not severely damaged, remained on duty. Like his antagonist Jones, Greene was deemed too young to be kept as captain, so he was replaced. The day after the battle, he was relieved by Lieutenant Thomas O. Selfridge; two days later, Selfridge was in turn relieved by Lieutenant William Nicholson Jeffers.Each side considered how best to eliminate the threat posed by its opponent, and after Virginia returned each side tried to goad the other into attacking under unfavorable circumstances. Both captains declined the opportunity to fight in water not of their own choosing; Jeffers in particular was under positive orders not to risk his ship. Consequently, each vessel spent the next month in what amounted to posturing. Not only did the two ships not fight each other, neither ship ever fought again after that day. [[Image:Destruction of Merrimac, May 11, 1862.png|left|thumb |
| Destruction of the rebel monster Merrimac
off Craney Island, May 11, 1862, by Currier and Ives]] The end came first for Virginia. Because the blockade was unbroken, Norfolk was of little strategic use to the Confederacy, and preliminary plans were laid to move the ship up the James River to the vicinity of Richmond. Before adequate preparations could be made, the Confederate Army under Major General Benjamin Huger abandoned the city on May 9, without consulting anyone from the Navy. Virginia s draft was too great to permit her to pass up the river, which had a depth of only , and that only under favorable circumstances. She was trapped and could only be captured or sunk by the Union Navy. Rather than allow either, Tatnall decided to destroy his own ship. He had her towed down to Craney Island, where the crew were taken ashore, and then she was set afire. She burned through the rest of the day and most of the following night; shortly before dawn, the flames reached her magazine, and she blew up.  Monitor likewise did not survive the year. She was ordered to Beaufort, North Carolina  on Christmas Day, to take part in the blockade
there. While being towed down the coast (under command of
her fourth captain, Commander John
P. Bankhead), the seas began to
build up and she took on water. Soon the water in the hold gained
on the pumps, and then put out the fires in her engines. The order
was given to abandon ship; most men were rescued by , but 16 went
down with her when she sank in the early hours of December 31,
1862.Who won?The victory claims that were made by each side in the immediate aftermath of the Battle of Hampton Roads, based as both were on misinterpretations of the opponent's behavior, have been dismissed by present-day historians. They agree that the result of the Monitor-Merrimack encounter was victory for neither. As the combat between ironclads was the primary significance of the battle, the general verdict is that the overall result was a draw. All would acknowledge that the Southern fleet inflicted far more damage than it received, which would ordinarily imply that they had gained a tactical victory. Compared to other Civil War battles, the loss of men and ships for the Union Navy would be considered a clear defeat. On the other hand, the blockade was not seriously threatened, so the entire battle can be regarded as an assault that ultimately failed.Evaluation of the strategic results is likewise disputed. The blockade was maintained, even strengthened, and Virginia was bottled up in Hampton Roads. Because a decisive Confederate weapon was negated, some have concluded that the Union could claim a strategic victory. Confederate advocates can counter, however, by arguing that Virginia had a military significance larger than the blockade, which was only a small part of the war in Tidewater Virginia. Her mere presence was sufficient to close the James River to Federal incursions. She also imposed other constraints on the Peninsula Campaign then being mounted by the Union Army under General George B. McClellan, who worried that she could interfere with his positions on the York River. Although his fears were baseless, they continued to affect the movements of his army until Virginia was destroyed. Impact upon naval warfare[[File:Monitor officers2.jpg|thumb|alt=Photo: Officers of USS Monitor |
| Officers of the original USS Monitor, photographed
during the American Civil
War]] Both days of the battle attracted attention from all the world's navies. USS Monitor became the prototype for the monitor warship type. Many more were built, including river monitors, and they played key roles in Civil War battles on the Mississippi and James rivers. The US immediately started the construction of ten more monitors based on Ericsson's original larger plan, known as the Passaic-class monitors. However, while the design proved exceptionally well-suited for river combat, the low profile and heavy turret caused poor seaworthiness in rough waters. Russia, in fear of being drawn into the American Civil War, launched ten sister ships, as soon as Ericsson's plans reached St. Petersburg. What followed has been described as "Monitor mania". The revolving turret later inspired similar designs for future warships, which eventually became the modern battleship. The vulnerability of wooden hulls to armored ships was noted particularly in Britain and France, where the wisdom of the planned conversion of the battle fleet to armor was given a powerful demonstration. Another feature that was emulated was not so successful. Impressed by the ease with which the Virginia had sunk the Cumberland, naval architects began to incorporate rams into their hull designs. The first purpose-built ram in the modern era was the French armored ram Taureau (1863), whose guns were said to have "the sole function of preparing the way for the ram." The inclusion of rams in warship hull design persisted almost to the outbreak of World War I, despite improvements in naval gunnery that quickly made close action between warships almost suicidal, if not impossible. Commemorating the battle: VirginiaThe name of the warship that served the Confederacy in the Battle of Hampton Roads has been a continuing source of confusion and some contention. She was originally a screw frigate in the United States Navy carrying the name USS Merrimack. All parties continued to use the name after her capture by secessionists while she was being rebuilt as an ironclad. When her conversion was almost complete, her name was officially changed to Virginia. Despite the official name change, Union accounts persisted in calling the Merrimack by her original name, while Confederate sources used either Virginia or Merrimac(k). The alliteration of Monitor and Merrimack has persuaded most popular accounts to adopt the familiar name, even when it is acknowledged to be technically incorrect.A CSS Merrimac did actually exist. She was a paddle wheel steamer named for the victor (as most Southerners saw it) at Hampton Roads. She was used for running the blockade until she was captured and taken into Federal service, still named Merrimac. Her name was a spelling variant of the river, namesake of USS Merrimack. Both spellings are still in use around the Hampton Roads area. A small community in Montgomery County  near the location where the iron for the
Confederate ironclad was forged is now known as Merrimac . Some of the iron mined there and used in the
plating on the Confederate ironclad is displayed at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth . The anchor of the Virginia sits on
the lawn in front of the Museum of the
Confederacy [33971] in Richmond.Commemorating the battle: MonitorAfter resting undetected on the ocean floor for 111 years, the wreck of Monitor was located by a team of scientists in 1973. The remains of the ship were found upside down off Cape Hatteras , on a
relatively flat, sandy bottom at a depth of about . In 1987,
the site was declared a National Marine
Sanctuary, the first shipwreck to receive this
distinction.Because of Monitor s advanced state of deterioration, timely recovery of remaining significant artifacts and ship components became critical. Numerous fragile artifacts, including the innovative turret and its two Dahlgren guns, an anchor, steam engine, and propeller, have been recovered. They were transported back to Hampton Roads  to the
Mariners' Museum in Newport News, Virginia , where for
several years they were treated in special tanks to stabilize the
metal. The new USS Monitor Center at the Mariners'
Museum officially opened on March 9, 2007, and a full-scale replica
of USS Monitor, the original recovered turret, and many
artifacts and related items are now on display. Some artifacts from
CSS Virginia are also on display.NotesAbbreviations used in these notes:
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