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The Mariners' Museum and Park

John V. Quarstein

Director emeritus of the USS Monitor Center

John presents Civil War tours and lectures across the country and is the author of 18 books, with three more on the way. He leads the Museum’s Civil War and Hampton Roads Lecture Series and is now writing blogs and presenting online content via YouTube Live. John’s deep interest in all things related to the Civil War stems from his youth living on Fort Monroe, walking where heroes like Abraham Lincoln and R. E. Lee once stood. An avid collector of decoys, waterfowl/maritime art, and oriental rugs, John lives among them in his home, the 1757 Herbert House on Sunset Creek in Hampton, Virginia. On the National Register of Historic Places, this is the only house to have survived August 7, 1861, burning of Hampton.

Latest from John V. Quarstein

  • IRONCLADS STRIKE: CSS PALMETTO STATE AND CSS CHICORA

    • Civil War
    • Military
    • Military Conflict

    Something unusual occurred in the early morning darkness of January 31, 1863, when the Confederate ironclad rams, CSS Chicora and CSS Palmetto State, crossed the Charleston Bar and struck the Union ships guarding that blockade runners’ haven.

  • LAST DAYS OF USS MONITOR

    • Civil War
    • Military Conflict
    • USS Monitor

    After the ironclad’s showdown with CSS Virginia on March 9, 1862, USS Monitor was considered the ‘little ship that saved the nation.’

  • The Spanish Flu in Hampton Roads  

    • Hampton Roads History
    • Red Cross

    By mid-September 1918, the first cases of the Spanish Flu were reported, impacting the soldiers, sailors, and workers coming into the Hampton Roads community to support the war effort. Bases and ships had to be built, requiring more workers than Hampton Roads had ever seen before.

  • Commerce Raider CSS NASHVILLE

    • Civil War
    • Military Conflict

    CSS Nashville played an important role in the Confederate search for European recognition.

  • Up, Up and Away: Civil War Ballooning in Hampton Roads

    • Civil War
    • Hampton Roads History
    • Military Conflict
    • Technology

    The Civil War introduced many new technologies to achieve victory in a total war.

  • Battle of Port Royal Sound

    • Black History
    • Civil War
    • Military Conflict

    The Civil War’s second major amphibious operation was the capture of Port Royal Sound on November 7, 1861.

  • Battle of Galveston

    • Civil War
    • Military Conflict
    • Shipbuilding

    Major General John Bankhead Magruder arrived in Texas in late October 1862 and immediately sought to regain the laurels he had earned on the Virginia Peninsula.

  • Hampton Roads Invaded: The Anglo-Dutch Naval Wars

    • Hampton Roads History
    • Military Conflict

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