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The Battle of Hampton Roads (U.S.S. Monitor vs. C.S.S. Virginia) |
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| March 8-9, 1862 |
On 8 March the Confederate ironclad C.S.S. Virginia (10 guns - Flag Officer Franklin Buchanan and LT Catesby ap Roger Jones) - formerly the Union frigate U.S.S. Merrimack, captured at the Norfolk Navy Yard and hastily armor-plated and heavily armed - steamed out of Norfolk, VA. The Confederate ironclad attacked and destroyed two Federal wooden warships (U.S.S. Cumberland - 24 guns and U.S.S. Congress - 50 guns) of the U.S. blockading squadron. It was the "worst defeat in the 86 year history of the U.S. Navy!" The next day (9 March) the new Union ironclad U.S.S. Monitor (2 guns - LT John L. Worden and LT Samuel D. Greene) - small, uniquely armored and equipped with a 2-gun revolving turret - arrived at Hampton Roads from New York. Monitor engaged the surprised Virginia in a 5 hour indecisive battle of maneuver - the first between ironclads. A new era of naval warfare had begun! When Norfolk fell to the Union (May 1862), the unseaworthy Virginia was stranded and finally scuttled by her crew. Monitor, also unseaworthy, sank in a gale off Cape Hatteras, NC (December 1862) while under-tow enroute south for blockade duty. Estimated Casualties: Union - 240+, including Cumberland and Congress; Confederate - 25+.
Notes:
Numbers in parentheses reflect estimated strength of armies or units.
Estimated casualty figures are totals for killed, wounded, missing in action, and taken prisoner.
Alternative names of battles and campaigns appear in parentheses.
Military and naval rank abbreviations in text: LT - Lieutenant, CPT - Captain, MAJ - Major, LTC - Lieutenant Colonel, CDR - Commander (Navy), COL - Colonel, BG - Brigadier General, MG - Major General, RADM - Rear Admiral (Navy), LTG - Lieutenant General, VADM - Vice Admiral (Navy), and GEN - General.
Army Organization: Although authorized and actual strength and the rank of the commanding officer often varied, the standard military unit during the War was the infantry regiment (1,000 men, COL commanding) which was comprised of 10 companies (100 men each, CPT commanding). 3-4 Regiments = 1 Brigade (3,000-4000 men, BG commanding). 3 (sometimes 4) Brigades = 1 Division (9000-12,000 men, BG or MG commanding). 2-4 (usually 3) Divisions = 1 Corps (18,000-24,000+ men, MG - North and MG or LTG -South commanding). 2 or more Corps = An Army (usually 20,000-100,000+ men - MG, LTG, or GEN commanding). 2 or more Armies = An Army Group (usually 100,000+ men - MG, LTG, or GEN commanding).
Sources:
Atlas for the American Civil War, The West Point Military History Series, 1986.
Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era, by James M. McPherson. 1988.
Battlefields of the Civil War, by Roger W. Hicks and Frances E. Schultz. 1989.
The Centennial History of the Civil War, 3 Vols., by Bruce Catton. 1961-65.
The Civil War (Series), Editors of Time-Life Books. 1983.
The Civil War: A Narrative, 3 Vols., by Shelby Foote. 1958-1974.
The Civil War: An Illustrated History, by Geoffrey C. Ward with Ric Burns and Ken Burns. 1990.
The Civil War Battlefield Guide, Ed. by Frances H. Kennedy. 1990.
The Civil War Day by Day: An Almanac, by E.B. Long with Barbara Long. 1971.
The Encyclopedia of Military History, Second Rev. Ed., by R. Ernest Dupuy and Trevor N. Dupuy. 1986.
West Point Atlas of American Wars, Vol. I, Ed. by Vincent J. Esposito. 1959.
Who Was Who in the Civil War, by Stewart Sifakis. 1988.
Photographs courtesy of The Generals of the American Civil War Website.
