At 2:00PM, the Congress was 500 yards away and the gunners could see the Virginia's gun ports and opened fire with solid shot. The volley bounced off of the Virginia without any substantial damage to the structure or injury to the crew. At about 2:20pm, Virginia opened fire with her forward gun on the USS Congress and killed or wounded at least a dozen Union sailors. Soon the frigate herself fired a full 20-gun broadside against the Virginia. Cumberland Captain Smith watched the action and recorded his volley to have "bounced off the ironclad like rubber balls". Virginia replied with a broadside of her own around 300 yards out from the Congress. The shells killed or wounded most of the gun crew with shot and wood splinters making the gun deck a slaughterhouse of sorts. The paymaster onboard the Congress was the brother of Admiral Buchanan and neither was aware the other was in the battle. All onboard felt the Virginia would give the Congress another broadside but she continued past without additional firing. The Congress was burning but the crew was fighting the fires and Captain Smith felt his ship might sink so he had the tug Zouave come along side to provide aid. She ran aground in 17 feet of water watching the Virginia approach the Cumberland.
Around 3:00PM, the Virginia was on a ramming course for Cumberland's amidships. Cumberland opened fire with a broadside of 9-inch smoothbore shot at the Virginia who herself returned fire with her bow guns and acted her stern battery towards the Northern shore batteries on Newport News Point. The cannon of the Cumberland and the shelling from Newport News rained heavy fire on the Virginia but caused minimal damage to her davits and rails. The firefight lasted about twenty minutes and the shore battery could see their solid shot ricochet off of the Virginia's casement. Buchanan was able to rake the Cumberland with accurate fire as she swung on her chain trying a turn to present a new broadside. Onboard Cumberland, the carnage, blood and body parts were everywhere with more casualties caused from large splinters. Buchanan ordered Lt. Ramsay to disengage the engine and subsequently commanded all to "Hang On!" as the Virginia pierced the Cumberland with her 1,500lb bow ram. Though the ram was now buried deep inside the sloop, the Cumberland continued to fire on the Virginia. The wounded men below decks knew they were trapped as the Virginia backed out. The ram had broken off inside of the sloop and water began to rush inwards, drowning the fallen wounded. Buchanan gave the order to ram her again to make the hole even larger. As Virginia pulled out of the Cumberland for the second time, Cumberland fired broadside-after-broadside into the Virginia, destroying two of the her smoothbore cannons and killing three of the gun crew while wounding twelve. As the smoke cleared, the crew of the Cumberland saw their shells had done little direct structural damage the Virginia - their realization was such that they became one of the first sailors to know that wood could not stand against iron from this moment onwards.
Onboard the Cumberland, the order was given to abandon ship - every man for himself - their duty was officially over. Lt. Selfridge was the last to go over the side and the sloop sank quickly with her masts above water and her "Stars and Stripes" still aloft and blowing in the wind at 3:30pm. To continue the battle, Virginia had to complete a 180-degree turn to now face the Union fleet. This turn alone took about 30 minutes. During that time, her crews continued to fire at the Union shore, destroying General Mansfield's headquarters and dock installations. The focus of all union ships and shore batteries was now squarely directed on the Virginia, allowing the James River squadron to steam past the federal guns at Newport News.
The USS Minnesota ran aground trying to aid the Cumberland and placing herself in jeopardy. Virginia, having now completed her turn, approached Congress and, at around 4:00PM, fired a broadside into her stern. Onboard, Congress Captain Smith was killed by a large wood splinter to his head and men lay dying all over the ship. After continuous firing, the Congress surrendered around 5:00pm, hoisting up the white flag. Virginia ceased fire and had tugs come along side to take the crew as prisoners and burn the ship where it rested.
Onshore, General Mansfield did not honor the surrender of USS Congress and gave orders to fire on the Confederate tugs. The tugs withdrew under the ensuing heavy fire, leaving the wounded crew onboard the Congress. Buchanan had witnessed the shore opening fire and ordered Virginia to again fire on the Congress with hot shot to set her ablaze. Watching the action, Buchanan was struck by a musket ball in the groin and was taken to safety below deck - Lt. Jones took over his command. It could be seen that the Congress was now completely ablaze - fire and men were jumping overboard while many wounded were left onboard to die. Paymaster Buchanan was unhurt and swam to shore.
Virginia moved towards the grounded USS Minnesota and the USS St. Lawrence. Virginia fired at both ships and damaged the St. Lawrence at a distance of 900 yards. As darkness closed in and with the tide going out, Virginia was forced to disengage from the battle and return to the mouth of the Elisabeth River to anchor there for the night. On this day, the Virginia was the most powerful warship in the world and proved the day of wooded sailing warships was over - for the moment, the Southern Confederacy ruled the sea.
The Battle day two: Sunday March 09, 1862
Early Sunday morning, acting Captain Lt. Jones inspected Virginia before steaming into the bay against the USS Minnesota. He counted about 100 cannon ball hits to the Virginia caseworks, the railing, sanctions and davits - a small crane had been shot away - the smoke stack was almost severed from the superstructure and she lay leaking from the bow where the ram had been dislodged during her actions with the Cumberland. After the crew had breakfast (which included two shots of whiskey) the Virginia made steam to get underway once more. As dawn broke, both sides scanned the shores looking for the other. In the distance sat the USS Minnesota still aground but beside her was a flat, shingled-shape with a cheese box on top, sans a smoke stack and no visible guns nor sails. Lt. Jones surmised that this must be the USS Monitor - the United States Navy's first commissioned ironclad warship. At 8:00AM, crowds had gathered onshore to witness the day's battle. Captain Van Brunt aboard the Minnesota and saw the Virginia approaching, ordering his crew to battle stations. A mile from the Minnesota, Virginia began firing - though both sides lay claim to have fired first. Just then, the USS Monitor steamed out to meet the CSS Virginia. The clash of the titans was about to begin - the first sea battle between ironclads.
The Virginia had some problems as she entered battle against another ironclad. Firstly, she had chosen to leave behind the majority of her cast iron solid shot because the canister shot, hot shot and exploding shells were the best choice for attacking wooden ships. Secondly, two of her 9-inch smoothbore cannons had been damaged the day before, reducing her overall firepower to an extent. Observers looking at the two ironclads felt the Virginia was the more powerful of the two based on size with the Monitor being the smaller. The two combatants moved to within 100 yards and opened fire. Lt. Jones ordered concentration fire on the Monitor's turret feeling that damage might stop the mechanism from revolving. The Virginia and Monitor fired volley after volley at one another - the smoke was thick making vision poor.
The men on the Minnesota could hear the cannon and see the flashes, knowing full well their fate if the Monitor was sunk. Below decks on the Virginia, the engine crew was as busy as the gun crew above it was; men shoveled coal into the sixteen furnaces that belched heat, smoke, and steam - all this helping to increasing the onboard temperature upwards of 140-degrees. The Virginia continued having trouble turning and the Monitor, at times, seemed the more agile breed, able to maneuver and fire off shots against the Virginia's blind spots. However, both the ships turning in such close quarters with the fog of war added in forced collisions with one another at least five times. Virginia's Brooke rifles fired conical shells weighing 68lbs and put 4-inch dents in the Monitor without having caused much damage to the iron plates. Master Stodder, a crewman on the Monitor operating the turret, leaned against the inside when a shell hit, knocking him off of his feet and supplying a dastardly concussion just from the vibration. After two hours, both ships knew they were not damaging one another. There was little in the way of proper referencing through the smoke other than targeting one another's muzzle flashes.
Ultimately, the Monitor ran out of ammunition on the gun deck and was forced to replenish from storage below decks. Captain Worden disengaged from the Virginia so the crew could go on deck to bring up the powder and shot. The Virginia saw this and started maneuvering towards the USS Minnesota and - once she was two miles away - the pilot ran her aground fearing the Frigate's guns. The Monitor had replenished her ammunition and was chasing Virginia to place itself between her and the Minnesota or to ram her screw. Monitor got below Virginia's guns and fired point blank into her while Virginia tried to free herself from the sand bank. When she did ultimately slip off the bank, Virginia rammed the Monitor and spun the vessel around. The tide was going out and Virginia could not get close to the USS Minnesota any longer so she turned towards Sewell's Point and safety. The Monitor listed back towards the Minnesota and crews from both sides were naturally hailed as heroes.
In four hours of stalemate battle, the Monitor was hit 23 times and the Virginia 20 times. The Confederacy felt they had won the battle with two Northern warships destroyed and two others damaged plus hundreds of Northern sailors killed and wounded. Virginia had only three killed and fifteen wounded. The North felt they had won the battle, however. The Southern population and press railed against the North's claim and Washington sent orders to the Monitor to stay away from the Virginia. The Confederacy felt they controlled more of Hampton Roads than they had before the arrival of the Virginia.
Improvements were therefore made the Virginia, stem to stern, including new iron bolts to hold the plates in place, as well as a new improved ram and the gun ports were finally attached. Her new commander, Flag Officer Josiah Tattnall, was assigned to the vessel and, on April 11th, 1862, Virginia steamed down the Elizabeth River to attack Union troop transports at Hampton Roads. When she appeared, the transports ran for cover and the Monitor began to steam up the Chesapeake. This was a ruse to lure Virginia in after the Monitor and surround her in deep water to ultimately bombard her to infinity. Virginia did not take the bait but instead successfully took on three transports and steamed back up the Elizabeth.
The Final Voyage
On May 3rd, 1862, President Lincoln watched the Union fleet move in to fire on the Southern fort at Sewell's Point. Soon after the shelling started, the Virginia steamed out of the Elizabeth River and the Union fleet retreated along with the Monitor. The Union forces had another card up their sleeve by attacking Norfolk with overwhelming force and to threaten Richmond. The Confederate Army had retreated and Northern troops surrounded Sewell Point and were on both sides of the Elizabeth River - CSS Virginia had just lost her base. Virginia then moved up the James River towards Richmond to attack the Northern fleet; however she started to drag bottom due to her deep draft. Lt. Jones had to lighten the ship to keep her off the bottom so iron plate was removed, now making her ever susceptible to Union cannon fire. The decision was made to destroy her so she would not be captured by Union forces. Cannons were removed and the vessel was set on fire. Once her magazine caught, she exploded into history. Her crew made it to shore and felt that their land forces let them down by retreating from the area around Hampton Roads.
Virginia Leaves a World Changed
The fighting legacy of the CSS Virginia was effectively over. In the process, the Virginia and the Monitor had made and all of the navies of the world instantly obsolete. Gone were the days of wooden ships fitted with their fragile sails. Fighting men would now have to find a new home in their iron floating tubs known as ironclads. Needless to say, the actions of these two ships resulted in both the North and South committing to the building of more ironclads.
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