Lakers vs. Celtics... Yankees and Red Sox... Clemson and Carolina... There are plenty of great rivalries around today, but before any of those matches went on, there was the original Great American Match... Welcome to the next installment of our Civil War Rewind series, where we mark the great and not so great events of the War that defined so much of what America is today - exactly 150 years after it happened..
Today, we are going to talk about the Battle of Hampton Roads, more popularly known as the Monitor vs the Merrimack (aka CSS Virginia)... It was one of those great short moments, much like Ali-Frazier, that left you wanting to see the two battle again and again. But they never did, and that's what makes this battle so great. Long considered a second class Navy to the British, French and even Spanish, BOTH the North and South put forth the modern era in Naval armorment - and scared the living crap out of every other Navy in the world.
While navies don't play the largest role in warfare today, back in the Civil War, it was almost everything. The rule was, whoever ruled the water ruled the country - and the North owned it all. They had a 1000 mile blockade from Virginia to New Orleans. With it, they stopped almost all supplies intended for the South. Some blockade runners were able to sneak past them (at great risk and profit), the Confederacy was kept in check. It all changed in one day..
The first great battleship was the CSS Virginia. It originally was the Merrimack, but the South ingeniously added metal plates over it's body, along with a 1500 lb ramming spear. Until then, all ships were wooden, and the Virginia quickly made it's impression felt. On March 8, 1862 , the Virginia crept into Newport News, and made a beeline for the side of the USS Cumberland. Without firing a shot, it rammed the spear into the Cumberland's bow with such force that it actually entangled the two for a while. The Virginia managed to tear itself away from the Cumberland, but the it's ramming spear broke off... Flag Officer Franklin Buchanan then set it's sights on the USS Congress. The Congress was in such fear, it literally grounded itself on purpose on a nearby shoal. Then the Virginia opened fire with it's 12 cannons, until the Congress sank as well. It raised the white flag, and Buchanan then was injured by a musketball shot from onshore.. For one day, the South had the world's greatest navy....
The idea of a ironclad vessel wasn't totally a revolutionary idea. The North had been actually working on one for a while as well. Many ideas were gievn, but the Navy wanted one man to do it. Unfortunately, he was not in a agreeable mood with the government. John Ericsson was the premier builder of the day, but he felt he was shistered by the US on previous work. Eventually, he changed his mind, and came up with a totally new and strange vessel...
As you can see from the picture, the Monitor was a flat top ship with a turret with only 2 guns on it. It was best described by a seaman aboard the Monitor as "A Shingle With a Cheesebox sticking out from it"....However, that turret actually spun, so the Monitor could attack from just about ANY angle, whereas the Virginia still had to go sideway on a target. By the time the Virginia was kicking ass in Hampton Roads, the Monitor was ready to go, and on it's way. Destiny only had to wait one day...
The next morning, the Virginia, now captained by Catesby Jones, caught sight of the USS Minnesota, and prepared to take it on . As it neared it's target, it noticed the strange vessel on it's side. Like a kid tapping the shoulder of another kid beating up his little brother, the Monitor came to Minnesota's defense, and the battle was on... Lt. John Worden quickly opened fire on the larger but less nimble Virginia. The battled for for several hours, but neither was able to damage the other's ship. They often just sat side-by-side, firing cannon shots with wreckless abandon - all to no avail. The Virginia even once tired to sink the smaller Monitor by running it over, but it wasn't able to maneuver well enough....
After all this fighting and loss of life, the Monitor finally decided to call it a day, and it headed for shallower waters for an advantage. The Virginia didn't fall for the trick, and headed back to Norfolk port... The greatest navy battle of all time was done, with no apparent victor. It was the bloodiest sea battle for the US Navy, and would remain so until Pearl Harbor, with 261 dead, and 108 injured - mostly from the first day.
It was a great fight, and other battles were expected, but eventually, the North moved into the area, and rather than give the Virginia up to them, the South burned it off the coast. More importantly, it entered both navies into the first class categories, and insured that no one would ever try to land on US soil again, like they did in the War of 1812. The US mainland has been safe ever since... and it happened 150 years ago this week. Our next post will be coming in the next week, so keep an eye out for it. Thanks again for reading what is our favorite recurring post..
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1 comment:
hence, the Monitor-Merrimack Bridge.
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