As Virginia crossed the Roads, looking (as one witness described her) "like the roof of a very big barn belching forth smoke as from a chimney on fire", the Union ships called their crews to quarters and prepared for action. We are a Christian high school football team made up of homeschooled and private schooled young men, ages 13-18 from the Virginia Peninsula, and Southside Hampton Roads. Duel of Iron details the battle of Hampton Roads fought on March 8 th and 9 th, 1862. The battle lasted two days, with Franklin Buchanan commanding Virginia and John L. Worden captain of Monitor – although neither man was officially in overall command. On March 8, 1862 the CSS Virginia was commandeered by Flag Officer Franklin Buchanan to take on the USS Cumberland off the coast of Newport News, Virginia. As it were… Grant would personally lead the Army of the Potomac against Confederate general Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia. Early on March 8, Buchanan sent Virginia into Hampton Roads with the intention of mounting an immediate attack. Virginia fought to a draw off Hampton Roads, Virginia. The Battle of Hampton Roads was short and contrary to its name, not on any road at all. Your email address will not be published. Monitor positioned herself to protect the immobile Minnesota, and a general battle began. New York: Fordham University Press. ISBN 0-8232-2481-3. Battle Of Hampton Roads summary: The Battle of Hampton Roads, aka the Battle of the Ironclads (Monitor and Merrimack), was fought March 8-9, 1862 near Hampton Roads, Virginia. Her casualties, less than two-dozen, were removed and command passed from the injured Buchanan to Lieutenant Catesby ap R. Jones, who would take Virginia out the next day to deal with the Minnesota. As the Confederates began to take off her crew, several men on both sides were hit by gunfire from ashore, among them the Virginia's Commanding Officer, Captain Franklin Buchanan, who ordered Congress set afire with hot shot. At mid-day on 8 March 1862, CSS Virginia (formerly USS Merrimack, and persistently mid-identified by that name or as "Merrimac") steamed down the Elizabeth River from Norfolk and entered Hampton Roads. On March 9, 1862, one of the most famous naval battles in American history occurred as two ironclads, the U.S.S.Monitor and the C.S.S. Colloquium on Contemporary History 1989-1998, DANFS - Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Needs and Opportunities in the Modern History of the U.S. Navy, Permitting Policy and Resource Management, "Ex Scientia Tridens": The U.S. With Bankhead's arrival, a new logbook was started. On April 19, 1861, shortly after the outbreak of hostilities at Charleston Harbor, US President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a blockade of ports in the seceded states. Published: 2006-01-31. These naval forces were led by Admiral Franklin Buchanan who had commanded CSS Virginia (10) during the Battle of Hampton Roads. Hampton Roads Significance. Today, she expected to inflict a similar fate on the grounded steam frigate Minnesota and other enemy ships, probably freeing the lower Chesapeake Bay region of Union seapower and the land forces it supported. After an hour's battle, in which Congress' crew suffered heavy casualties, she raised the white flag of surrender. Off Sewell’s Point, near the mouth of Hampton Roads, Virginia. The Battle of Hampton Roads Timeline. THE FIGHT AT HAMPTON ROADS OF MARCH 9. Battle of Hampton Roads A decade ago naval warfare changed forever in the two-day Battle of Hampton Roads between the Elizabeth and James River. 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