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  • River Monitors

    • Civil War
    • Military
    • Military Conflict
    • Technology

    At the onset of the Civil War, General Winfield Scott noted that a Union victory could be achieved by controlling the Mississippi River. Scott believed the entire Mississippi Valley could be controlled using only 12 to 20 gunboats and 60,000 soldiers. More resources would eventually be needed; however, the Federals ultimately enabled, as President Abraham Lincoln said, the ‘Father of All Rivers to flow unvexed to the sea.’

  • Boring USS Monitor’s Dahlgren Guns

    Monitor’s guns are the largest guns to ever be bored, giving this significant conservation step its own mark in history. The removal of the marine material was the final mechanical cleaning step before the guns can be dried and put on display.

  • Naval Intelligence in Hampton Roads: 1861-1862

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

    There was no formal naval intelligence system established during the American Civil War. While a few examples exist of Northern sympathizers, free Blacks, like Mary Louvestre of Portsmouth, sent messages to various Union commanders about the Confederate ironclad construction effort.

  • USS Cumberland – Sink Before Surrender

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

    USS Cumberland, flagship of the US Navy’s Home Squadron, was dispatched to Gosport Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia, upon the sloop’s return from a brief cruise to Veracruz, Mexico.

  • The Capture of Hatteras Inlet

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

    The first combined operation of the Civil War was the capture of Hatteras Inlet. This inlet was used by Confederate gunboats and privateer merchantmen sailing around Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.

  • CSS ARKANSAS: THE YAZOO CITY IRONCLAD

    • Civil War
    • Military
    • Military Conflict

    By October 1861, there were five ironclads under construction in New Orleans, Cerro Gordo, Tennessee, and Memphis. It would be an extreme challenge to place these ironclads in the water as effective warships with limited industrial infrastructure. It was all about the questions of time, iron, workers, and engines!

  • ROLL, ALABAMA, ROLL! – SINKING OF CSS ALABAMA

    • Civil War
    • Military
    • Military Conflict

    CSS Alabama, commanded by Captain Raphael Semmes, had spent nearly two years capturing and destroying 65 Northern merchant ships and whalers. There were seven different expeditionary raids from the Eastern Atlantic to the Java Sea and back near where the vessel had been built.

  • Battle of Wassaw Sound and CSS Atlanta

    • Civil War
    • Military
    • Military Conflict

    CSS Atlanta was an ironclad transformation effort which used the iron-hull and Scottish-built engines of SS Fingal to fashion one of the Confederacy’s most powerful warships. The ironclad; however, had a deep draft which limited its operational area below Savannah

  • Beyond the Frame: Will They or Won’t They?

    • Art
    • Beyond the Frame
    • Civil War
    • Collections
    • Military
    • USS Monitor

    Looking at this work, “Rescue of the Crew of the USS Monitor by USS Rhode Island, December 31, 1862” by artist William Richardson Tyler is an experience best enjoyed over a few minutes, at least.

  • Ben Butler and the Contrabands

    • Black History
    • Civil War
    • Military
    • Military Conflict

    Frank Baker, James Townsend, and Shepard Mallory seeking their freedom, made their way onto Fort Monroe. Butler refused to return the runaways and called them ‘Contraband of War.’ Their decision helped transform the Civil War into a conflict between the states and a struggle for freedom.

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