Battles of the American Civil War

8–9 March 1862 · Hampton Roads, Virginia

Inconclusive; Confederate tactical success, blockade maintained

On 8 March Virginia came down the Elizabeth River with Raleigh and Beaufort and was joined by the James River Squadron. The Union frigates near Fort Monroe got under way to meet her, but Minnesota, Roanoke and St. Lawrence all ran aground. Union shot bounced off Virginia's armour. She rammed and sank Cumberland, losing her ram in the process, then drove Congress aground and forced her to surrender. When Union troops ashore opened fire, Buchanan, who was himself wounded, had Congress set on fire with hot shot, and she blew up near midnight. About 250 Union sailors were killed that day, against two of Virginia's crew: the US Navy's worst defeat until the Second World War. That night Monitor arrived and anchored by the grounded Minnesota. On 9 March Virginia, now under Lt. Catesby ap R. Jones, came back to finish Minnesota and met Monitor instead. The two ironclads fought for hours, mostly at close range, without either piercing the other's armour. When a shell hit Monitor's pilot house and blinded Worden she drew off, and Virginia, believing she had won, returned to Norfolk. Each side claimed victory, but the battle showed that wooden warships were finished.

18–28 April 1862 · Mississippi River below New Orleans

Union victory; New Orleans falls

Porter's mortar schooners bombarded the two forts for six days. Then, at 3 a.m. on 24 April, Farragut took his fleet through a gap in the river barrier and ran past the forts in the dark, fighting through fire rafts and the Confederate river fleet. Only Varuna was sunk; about twelve Confederate vessels were destroyed. New Orleans, the South's largest city, surrendered, and the cut-off forts gave up a few days later.

11 January 1863 · Off Galveston, Texas

Confederate victory

Alabama appeared off the Union blockade of Galveston at dusk. When the gunboat Hatteras came out to investigate, Semmes lured her away from the fleet and sank her in a short fight at close range.

19 June 1864 · Off Cherbourg, France

Union victory

Worn out after nearly two years at sea, Alabama put into Cherbourg for repairs and was trapped there by Kearsarge. Semmes came out to fight, watched by crowds on the cliffs. The two ships circled each other for about an hour; Kearsarge's heavier, more accurate fire holed Alabama below the waterline and she sank. A British yacht, Deerhound, picked up Semmes and took him to England.

5 August 1864 · Entrance to Mobile Bay, Alabama

Union victory

Farragut led his fleet past Fort Morgan into Mobile Bay, the wooden ships lashed in pairs and the monitors alongside. The leading monitor Tecumseh hit a mine and sank in minutes, and the column faltered; Farragut took Hartford through the minefield, the moment remembered as "Damn the torpedoes!". Inside the bay the ironclad Tennessee fought the whole fleet alone until she was battered into surrender.