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The expansionist ideals of Manifest Destiny pushed the United States into conflict with Mexico, with disputes over Texas and the Rio Grande sparking the Mexican-American War. During this period, young naval officer John L. Worden sought active duty, earning promotion and serving aboard USS Southampton, where he played a key role in supplying and supporting American operations along the Pacific coast and in Baja California.
After the Battle of Hampton Roads, USS Monitor —“little ship that saved the nation” — seemed perfect. But this illusion was shattered after the James River Flotilla's defeat at Drewry's Bluff. Lt. William Jeffers wrote a detailed report lodging his complaints about the vessel, from intolerable ventilation to questionable design choices, leading to a harsh rebuke from inventor John Ericsson.
The Battle of Drewry’s Bluff was a dramatic Confederate victory. Richmond was under immediate threat of being captured or at least shelled and destroyed by the Union flotilla, but the cannoneers at Drewry’s Bluff prevented the capital from capture.
History lovers have been transfixed for decades by the clash of the ironclads that erupted at the Battle of Hampton Roads. But one question remains unanswered for many: Why do some people refer to CSS Virginia as Merrimac? And what's more: Why is Merrimac sometimes spelled with a "k" at the end and sometimes without?
USS Monitor was the strangest warship many sailors had ever seen. While all the enlisted men were volunteers, as soon as some arrived on board, they immediately deserted to “parts unknown.” When the ironclad was repaired in the Washington Navy Yard, the sailors were granted liberty. Many did not return. Not only was Monitor unseaworthy, it was also very uncomfortable, prompting many to desert.
After a gun demonstration at a swanky event turned deadly, the US Navy had no interest in revisiting the production of large shell guns. But when John A.B. Dahlgren, known as the “Father of Naval Ordinance,” developed a new style of naval shell gun known as the Dahlgren gun, these weapons would eventually be mounted onto Monitor and taken into battle against CSS Virginia.
The Confederate ironclad that fought in Hampton Roads on March 8-9, 1862 had a mixed armament of shell guns, rifled guns, hot shot guns, howitzers, and a ram. This ship was designed to destroy Union wooden warships using these weapons, and successfully did so on March 8. Confederate Secretary of the Navy Stephen Russell Mallory and Naval Scientist Lieutenant John Mercer Brooke were two of the masterminds behind the outfitting of the well-equipped ironclad.
Catesby ap Roger Jones was one of the Civil War’s most distinguished and respected ordnance officers. He joined the US Navy in 1836 and served aboard USS Merrimack during its first cruise, joined the Confederate Navy when Virginia left the Union, and commanded CSS Virginia during that ironclad’s fight with USS Monitor. After serving as Virginia’s executive officer through the Battle of Drewry’s Bluff, he was promoted to commander and would eventually be placed in command of the Selma Guns Works, producing much-needed Brooke rifles and shell guns for the Confederate Navy.
