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.

Just hours away from reinforcing Ft. Sumter and hours away from saving Gosport Navy Yard, USS Pawnee eventually became a valuable blockader. This steam screw gunboat was involved in several major operations with the Atlantic Blockading Squadron, North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, and South Atlantic Blockading Squadron until the war’s end.

Able, courageous, and experienced, Franklin Buchanan was perhaps the most aggressive senior officer to join the Confederate Navy. His strategic flair, discipline, and heroic qualities made him respected and admired by all those around him. After being put in command of CSS Virginia, Buchanan led efforts that resulted in the Confederacy’s greatest naval victory before being appointed as the first Admiral in the Confederate Navy and selected to command the naval defenses in Mobile Bay, Alabama. As Admiral, he oversaw the construction of multiple ironclads and was on board CSS Tennesee during its battle against David Glasgow Farragut’s Union Fleet in 1864.

Major changes to 19th-century seaboard weaponry forced the transition from wooden ships to armored vessels. By the dawn of the 20th century, every major warship would be made of steel – steam-powered and armed with rifled guns – a new way of waging war at sea.

The brig-of-war USS Somers is one of the most ill-fated ships in US naval history. Its story is filled with powerful politicos, mutiny at sea, executions, and famous authors.

The Union flotilla steamed downriver after its repulse at Drewry’s Bluff to City Point, Virginia. Commander John Rodgers, the flotilla’s leader, recognized that his ships, USS Monitor, USS Galena, USS Naugatuck, USS Port Royal, and USS Aroostook, were needed to support Major General George B. McClellan’s operations against Richmond.

Just as the smoke cleared from the scene of the first Confederate victory at Big Bethel, onto the battlefield rapidly marched what would become one of the most colorful, daring, and poorly disciplined units of the Army of the Peninsula: Coppens’ Battalion.