THE BATTLE OF HAMPTON ROADS

NARENDRAN SAIRAM

HISTORY PAPER

MARCH 19th, 2009

"The Navy has both a tradition and a future--and we look with pride and confidence in both

directions."

-Admiral George Anderson, CNO, 1 August 1961.

 “If it weren't for the Civil War, I could own you.” My college comments jokingly in relevance

to my color. But little does he understand that his statement is true at the core. I would be a slave in

this country was it not for the Civil War. That being said, it is safe to say that the Civil war was one of

the most important wars in the history of the United States. Among the numerous battles of this war

and hundreds of heroic acts, there is one particular battle that is very important to note. A battle that

changed the face of naval warfare, modern trade and transportation. The Battle of Hampton Roads.

The Battle of Hampton Roads was the first battle between the first ironclads war ships of the

US. It took place between the Confederate ship CSS Virginia and Union ship USS Monitor. Once the

South had definitively established it's status as an enemy of the North, as a Confederacy instead of as

part of the Union, The North put in place a stratagem. The plan was to cut off all communications and

modes of help for the South.(“Battle of Hampton Roads, Confederate Military History.”)

At the time, the most profitable trade partner of the South at this time was Britain. The South

created most of its revenue by selling cotton to Britain. The North, planned to stop this trade by

blockading the ships of the Confederacy and patrolling the coast so that no British ship could enter the

south..

This plan was put into effect immediately and numerous Union ships began monitoring the the

Confederate coast. In response to this move, the Confederacy began making plans to defeat the North

in naval battles. The problem was that the south possessed neither the man power nor the technology to

defeat the ships of the technologically advanced, industrial North.

A feverish search began. A search for something to defeat the North. It was during this search

for a new way to defeat the Union Navy, that a new idea emerged.

One of the major Northern ports was Newport, Virginia. At this point in the war, Virginia was

still a Union state but many people speculated that it would soon secede. And what happened? Virginia

seceded and along with it, the North lost its port. In the Newport shipyard, the North had stationed a
ship. A ship that had proudly been called the 'Best Union war Ship.' But as Virginia seceded, the

northern troops in Newport, set fire to the shipyard, burning the 3200 ton ship. Two hundred and

seventy five feet in length, armed with forty guns, the USS Merrimac burned. (Trotter, William R. The

Fires of Pride A Novel.)

In desperate need of ships, the Confederacy, raised the dead USS Merrimac and rebuilt it. In

the July of 1861, Confederate Navy Secretary Stepehn Mallory, proposed a design for the rebuilding of

the USS Merrimac and on the third of February, a year later, the CSS Virginia sailed out of Newport,

two inch thick iron hulls shimmering and a battle ram sticking out of it's front. What had once been the

pride of the North was now the savior of the South. Once out on the open ocean, the CSS Virginia

initiated it's rampage, abrogating the Union ships that dared to cross its path, with ease.

Meanwhile the North was making it's own changes to it's ships. As soon the North learned of

the Confederacy's plans to make an armored ship, Federal Secretary of the Navy, Gideon Welles put

forth a proposition to the Congress for the North to build its own ships. On August 3rd, 1861, the

Congress approved the proposal and appointed a board, the Ironclad Board, to review and select a

design from the seventeen that were submitted. The Board selected the design of Swedish engineer and

inventor, John Ericsson. (Trotter, William R. The Fires of Pride A Novel.)

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. These were mounted in a

cylindrical turret, twenty feet in diameter, nine feet high, covered with iron eight inches thick. The

whole rotated on ball bearings, and was moved by a steam engine that could be controlled by one man.

By the time, the CSS Virginia sailed out from Newport, the USS Monitor sailed out from

Brooklyn.("Battle of Hampton Roads, Confederate Military History.")

 On the 8th of March, CSS Virginia sailed up the Elizabeth River, into Hampton Roads and

wreaked havoc. At the Hampton roads, were stationed two Union ships, USS Cumberland and USS

Congress. CSS Virginia rammed the USS Cumberland sinking the forty two gun warship without ever

retaining a scratch. She then proceeded to its next kill. An awestruck Union officer watched the one-

sided fight as the Merrimac fired "shot and shell into her[Congress] with terrific effect, while the shot

from the Congress glanced from her iron-plated sloping sides, without doing any apparent injury."

(Poyer, David. That anvil of our souls a novel of the Monitor and the Merrimack.)

After taking out the USS Congress and USS Cumberland, the Confederate ship retreated only

to return the next day to destroy the rest of the blockading squadron. On the ninth day of March, in the

year of 1862, the first naval battle of the United States Civil war broke out between the CSS Virginia

and the USS Monitor. Both pioneering pieces of technology went against another in a fierce battle.

(Trotter, William R. The Fires of Pride A Novel.)

As the Confederate ships returned tolling their bells of destruction, the USS Monitor arrived on

site. To the South the USS Monitor was just rumor. To them the USS Monitor looked like a joke

because of it's extremely small size. James Barron Hope said she looked like a "cheese-box."

The battle was described by many on site as the battle between the giant and the pygmy. While th CSS

Virginia was a good twenty two feet in length, the USS Monitor was only ten feet and thereby far

more maneuverable than the CSS Virginia.(Poyer, David. That anvil of our souls a novel of the

Monitor and the Merrimack.)

The CSS Virginia was also at another disadvantage. On the previous day, she had damaged her

ram while engaging the USS Congress and her damaged ram had no effect on the USS Monitor. The

ships engaged each other in a shower of hostile fire. Lieutenant S. Dana Greene, an officer aboard the

Monitor, described the first exchange of gunfire: "The turrets and other parts of the ship were heavily

struck, but the shots did not penetrate; the tower was intact, and it continued to revolve. A look of
confidence passed over the men's faces, and we believed the Merrimac would not repeat the work she

had accomplished the day before." (Trotter, William R. The Fires of Pride A Novel.)

The Confederate Military History say that the battle between the ironclads lasted a full three

hours during which both sides suffered no casualties and both ships were sailing at the end of three

hours. But it seems that after three hours the USS Monitor retreated deeper into harbor roads. The CSS

Virginia took this as a retreat and left the scene back to Norfolk.( "Battle of the Ironclads (Hampton

Roads) Official Records and Battle Description.")

The Battle of Hampton Roads, was a major breakthrough in the realm of modern naval warfare.

Both ships involved in this battle have their own characteristics with their advantages and like all

pioneering ideas these were flawed in their own ways. But nevertheless, the sailing of these ships led

to the floating of ships like the Titanic. This battle marked the transition from traditional wind powered

ships with their high masts and sails to steam powered ships. This change changed the face of naval

warfare and eventually the face of trade and transportation.

 BIBLIOGRAPHY

• "Battle of Hampton Roads, Confederate Military History." The American Civil War Home

Page. 19 Mar. 2009 <http://www.civilwarhome.com/CMHHampton%20Roads.htm>.

• "Battle of the Ironclads (Hampton Roads) Official Records and Battle Description." The

American Civil War Home Page. 19 Mar. 2009 <http://www.civilwarhome.com/ironclad.htm>.

• Poyer, David. That anvil of our souls a novel of the Monitor and the Merrimack. New York:

Simon & Schuster, 2005.

• Trotter, William R. The Fires of Pride A Novel. New York: Carroll & Graf, 2003.