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Section 3: The Battles (Study)
The most famous naval battle of the Civil War took place on March 8 and 9, 1862. Despite its great importance in the history of naval warfare, the battle itself was inconclusive.
The Virginia wreaks havoc on wooden Union warships
The battle began in the morning of March 8 when the Virginia steamed into Hampton Roads and was joined by the Patrick Henry, Jamestown, and Teaser.
The Union Navy had five warships at Hampton Roads in addition to several support vessels. The sloop-of-war USS Cumberland and frigate Congress were anchored in the channel near Newport News. The frigate St. Lawrence and the steam frigates Roanoke and Minnesota were near Fort Monroe. The latter three got under way as soon as they saw the Virginia approaching, but all three soon ran aground. St. Lawrence and Roanoke took no further important part in the battle.
Virginia, under the command of Captain Franklin Buchanan, headed directly for the Union squadron. The 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." 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. Virginia's bow ram got stuck in the enemy ship's hull, and as Cumberland listed and began to go down, she almost pulled Virginia under with her.
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, other Confederate warships 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.
During the battle, the Union warship Minnesosta, trying to join the battle, had run aground. Virginia began to attack Minnesota but with the falling tide and the onset of darkness Virginia postponed the attack and retreated into the safety of Confederate-controlled waters off Sewell's Point for the night.
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. He was therefore replaced by Lieutenant Catesby Roger Jones.
Monitor engages Virginia
By daybreak, Monitor, commanded by Lieutenant John L. Worden, arrived in Hampton Roads and took up a position near the grounded Minnesota and waited. When Virginia encountered Monitor, the first battle between ironclad warships commenced. Virginia and Monitor fought for about four hours, mostly at close range. Neither, however, could overcome the other. Like the Monitor, the Virginia’s weaponry was flawed. Buchanan, in the Virginia, had not expected to fight another armored vessel, so his guns were supplied only with shell rather than armor-piercing shot.
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. Monitor temporarily withdrew so that another officer, Lieutenant Samuel Dana Greene, could take over, and Virginia interpreted this as a retreat. Although Minnesota was still aground, the falling tide meant that she was out of reach. Furthermore, Virginia had suffered extensive damage. Convinced that his ship had won the day, Jones ordered Virginia 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.
Spring 1862 — a standoff at Hampton Roads
Virginia 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. Monitor, not severely damaged, remained on duty. 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 vessels declined the opportunity to fight in water not of their own choosing, and Virginia in particular, was under orders to minimize risk. 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 March 9.
Destruction of the combatants
The end came first for the 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 18 feet (5.5 m), and that only under favorable circumstances. She was trapped and could only be captured or sunk by the Union Navy. Rather than allow either, Confederate Captain Josiah Tattnall 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.
The Monitor likewise did not survive the year. Due to the weight of her armor and turrets and because she rode low in the water, the Monitor was not a seaworthy vessel except in protected waters. She was ordered to Beaufort, North Carolina, on Christmas Day, to take part in the blockade there. While she was being towed down the coast (under command of her fourth captain, Commander John P. Bankhead), the wind increased and with it the waves. The Monitor 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 USS Rhode Island, but 16 went down with her when she sank in the early hours of December 31, 1862.