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Tag Archives: CSS Virginia
Sink Before Surrender: The CSS Virginia Gets Underway
In the dawn of that fateful Saturday, March 8, 1862, the CSS Virginia lay alongside the Gosport Shipyard quay on the west bank of the Elizabeth River across from Norfolk, Virginia, and just upriver from Hampton Roads. The storm passed … Continue reading
ECW Weekender: View from the Ramparts – Fortress Monroe, Virginia
In the gathering dusk of Saturday, March 8, 1862, a young Union telegrapher, John Emmet O’Brien, stood on the ramparts of Fortress Monroe on Old Point Comfort dominating the entrance to Hampton Roads, Virginia. He looked to the right and … Continue reading
Around We Go: In the Monitor Turret
Lieutenant Samuel D. Greene, USN, had a problem. He was encased within a dim, claustrophobic, metal drum—20 feet in diameter—behind eight layers of bolted and riveted 1-inch-thick iron plates in charge of two immense 11-inch Dahlgren shell guns, each 13 … Continue reading
Sunk In The Mill Pond: The Fate of the Ironclad Models
The model vessels floated quietly on the millpond water. On the bank, the boys aimed their toy cannon. They’d finally found a target that wouldn’t shoot back and would keep them from getting a scolding. Or so they thought… After-all, … Continue reading
Posted in Navies, Personalities
Tagged CSS Virginia, Henry Wise, John S. Wise, model ships, toy cannon, USS Merrimack
6 Comments
Watching the “Merrimac”
One of the joys of a historian is finding that perfect eye-witness account of momentous events, one that puts you alongside our ancestors and sees through their eyes. The following is just such a viewpoint. “IN March, 1862, I was … Continue reading
Ironclad Superweapons of the Civil War: USS Monitor and CSS Virginia
The clash of the ironclads USS Monitor and CSS Virginia in Hampton Roads on March 9, 1862 is considered a revolutionary event in naval warfare, but neither vessel quite lived up to the ambitious expectations of its sponsors. On a hot … Continue reading
The Historic Harbors
A couple of weeks ago I attended a leadership retreat where a speaker touted the longtime importance of Hampton Roads as a harbor and host to very important events in American history. This got me thinking: what are the most … Continue reading
Posted in Antebellum South, Battlefields & Historic Places, Economics, Navies, Ties to the War
Tagged Bataan, Charleston Harbor, Corregidor, CSS Shenandoah, CSS Virginia, Ellis Island, Fort Moultrie, Fort Sumter, George Dewey, Hampton Roads, Hawaii, Japan, Liverpool, Manila, New York City, New York Harbor, Normandy, Operation Torch, Pearl Harbor, Philippines, Portsmouth, Statue of Liberty, Tokyo, Tokyo Bay, U.S. Navy, USS Monitor, World War I, World War II
20 Comments
ECW Weekender: The USS Monitor Center
Have you ever been aboard a Civil War ironclad, or two? You can come close in The USS Monitor Center nestled in a beautiful setting at The Mariners’ Museum & Park, Newport News, Virginia. The Monitor Center is the official … Continue reading
Civil War Echoes: Pearl Harbor
Today 75 years ago the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, catapulting the United States into World War II – a conflict that turned out to be the country’s bloodiest save for the Civil War. Many of the U.S. ships in Pearl … Continue reading
Posted in Battlefields & Historic Places, Battles, Leadership--Federal, Navies, Ties to the War, Western Theater
Tagged Admiral David G. Farragut, Antietam Campaign, Battle of Antietam, Battle of Gettysburg, Battle of Mobile Bay, Battle of the Wilderness, Battle of Wilderness, Bennet Place, blockade, California, CSS Virginia, David Dixon Porter, David Farragut, Early's invasion of Maryland, Fall of New Orleans, Fort Fisher, Japan, Medal of Honor, Monitor, Monitor and Merrimac, New Orleans, Pearl Harbor, Roger B. Taney, St. Louis, Tennessee, USS Cumberland, USS Monitor, West Virginia, West Virginia statehood, World War II
5 Comments
Duel in Mobile Bay
Early in the morning of August 5, 1864 (150 years ago today), Union Admiral David G. Farragut’s fleet steamed north toward Mobile Bay, in an effort to run Confederate defenses and block the eastern Confederacy’s last major port on the … Continue reading
