Our Little Monitor , livre ebook

“Our Little Monitor ”
 
“Our Little Monitor ”

The Greatest Invention of the Civil War
Anna Gibson Holloway and Jonathan W. White
The Kent State University Press Kent, Ohio
© 2018 by The Kent State University Press
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 2016054989
ISBN 978-1-60635-314-1
Manufactured in Korea
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Holloway, Anna Gibson, author. | White, Jonathan W., 1979- author.
Title: “Our Little Monitor” : the greatest invention of the Civil War / Anna Gibson Holloway and Jonathan W. White.
Description: Kent, Ohio : The Kent State University Press, 2017. | Series: Civil War in the North | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016054989 (print) | LCCN 2016056728 (ebook) | ISBN 9781606353141 (hardcover : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781631012648 (ePub) | ISBN 9781631012655 (ePDF)
Subjects: LCSH: Monitor (Ironclad) | Hampton Roads, Battle of, Va., 1862. | Virginia (Ironclad) | United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Naval operations.
Classification: LCC E595.M7 H65 2017 (print) | LCC E595.M7 (ebook) | DDC 973.7/5--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016054989
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Contents
List of Tables and Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part 1: The Monitor in History and Memory
1 The Origins of the CSS Virginia
2 “The Navy Department Will Receive Offers…”
3 Building the Monitor
4 The Battles of Hampton Roads
5 “The Pet of the People”: The Monitor in Popular Culture
6 Aftermath of Battle
7 “The Monitor Is No More”
8 Discovery and Recovery
Part 2: A Documentary Record of the USS Monitor
9 The U.S. Gun Boat Currituck Escorts the Monitor to Hampton Roads, March 3–9, 1862
10 Firsthand Accounts of the Battle of Hampton Roads, March 8–10, 1862
11 President Lincoln’s Mailbag, March 10–17, 1862
12 An Engineer’s View from the Monitor , May 14–June 30, 1862
13 Repairing the Monitor: News Reports from October and November 1862
14 Two Surgeons Observe the Monitor ’s Final Moments, December 30, 1862, to January 11, 1863
Appendix: Specifications of the Merrimack and Virginia Before and After Conversion
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index
Tables and Illustrations
Table 1 Principal Monitor Companies
Table 2 Additional Monitor Suppliers
Frontispiece “Our Little Monitor” token, 1863
Fig. 1 Scott’s Great Snake
Fig. 2 Map of southeastern part of Virginia
Fig. 3 The USS Merrimack
Fig. 4 Destruction of the Navy Yard at Norfolk
Fig. 5 Map of military reconnaissance, Department of Virginia
Fig. 6 John Luke Porter’s original plan for an ironclad vessel
Fig. 7 Design for the CSS Virginia by John Luke Porter
Fig. 8 Design for the CSS Virginia by John Luke Porter
Fig. 9 The Merrimack in dry dock during her conversion
Fig. 10 Commander Catesby ap R. Jones
Fig. 11 Resignation letter from Franklin Buchanan to Abraham Lincoln
Fig. 12 Men who served aboard the Virginia
Fig. 13 Capt. Thomas Kevill of the 41st Virginia Infantry
Fig. 14 Commodore Joseph Smith
Fig. 15 Commodore Hiram Paulding
Fig. 16 Captain Charles Davis
Fig. 17 Cornelius Bushnell
Fig. 18 John Ericsson
Fig. 19 John Ericsson’s original design for an “impregnable battery and revolving cupola”
Fig. 20 Thomas F. Rowland
Fig. 21 A commemorative history of the Monitor and Virginia
Fig. 22 Horace Abbott
Fig. 23 Depiction of the launch of the Monitor
Fig. 24 Interior of the USS Monitor
Fig. 25 John Ericsson’s original presentation plans for the Monitor
Fig. 26 Transverse section of John Ericsson’s original presentation plans for the Monitor
Fig. 27 Dish from the Monitor
Fig. 28 Dent in turret bulkhead
Fig. 29 The Seth Low
Fig. 30 Paymaster William F. Keeler, standing
Fig. 31 Paymaster William F. Keeler, sitting
Fig. 32 The interior of the CSS Virginia
Fig. 33 Philadelphia Inquirer map of Fortress Monroe
Fig. 34 George Upham Morris, commander of the Cumberland
Fig. 35 “CSS Virginia Attacking USS Congress ,” by Alexander Charles Stewart
Fig. 36 Executive officer Samuel Dana Greene
Fig. 37 “The First Naval Conflict Between Iron Clad Vessels”
Fig. 38 “The Splendid Victory of the Ericsson Battery Monitor”
Fig. 39 Swedish-American depiction of the Battle of Hampton Roads
Fig. 40 Hand-colored wood engravings of the Battle of Hampton Roads
Fig. 41 “The ‘Monitor and Merrimac’: The First Fight between Ironclads”
Fig. 42 “Battle between Virginia and Monitor ,” by Thomas C. Skinner
Fig. 43 French political cartoon about ironclads
Fig. 44 Children’s story about the Battle of Hampton Roads
Fig. 45 Political cartoon of the Monitor thumbing her nose at Napoleon III of France
Fig. 46 Wartime playing card, an ace, featuring the Monitor
Fig. 47 Wartime playing card, a 10, featuring the Monitor
Fig. 48 Wartime playing card, an ace, featuring the Virginia
Fig. 49 Wartime playing card, a 10, featuring the Virginia
Fig. 50 Sheet music for the “Monitor Polka”
Fig. 51 Sheet music for “Oh! Give Us A Navy of Iron”
Fig. 52 Sheet music for the “Monitor Grand March”
Fig. 53 A Monitor float in a Grand Army of the Republic parade
Fig. 54 Naval veterans with a Monitor parade float in an 1892 veterans’ parade
Fig. 55 Monitor parade float in 1918
Fig. 56 Reenactor portraying John Ericsson in a 1983 parade
Fig. 57 Carte de visite of the Monitor at the Pittsburgh Sanitary Fair in 1864
Fig. 58 Catalog for Monitor flour
Fig. 59 Trade card advertising Iron Clad Enameled Iron Ware
Fig. 60 Advertisement for a General Electric Monitor-top refrigerator
Fig. 61 Tourist’s photograph of the USS Canonicus at the Jamestown Exposition
Fig. 62 Memorial Day postcard
Fig. 63 Postcard featuring the Battle of Hampton Roads
Fig. 64 Decoration Day postcard
Fig. 65 Coffee trade card featuring the Battle of Hampton Roads
Fig. 66 Tobacco card featuring the Battle of Hampton Roads
Fig. 67 Advertisement for Monitor Blend Whiskey
Fig. 68 Advertisement for Seagram’s Gin
Fig. 69 Political cartoon, “A Bobtail Bull in Fly-Time”
Fig. 70 Fireman George Geer
Fig. 71 Martha Geer, ca. 1860
Fig. 72 Martha Geer, ca. 1862
Fig. 73 Embarkation of Fort Monroe, May 10, 1862 , by G. Kaiser
Fig. 74 Stereograph of a 12-pound rifled cannon of the CSS Teaser
Fig. 75 The Maratanza as she appeared immediately after the capture of the Teaser
Fig. 76 Captain William N. Jeffers
Fig. 77 The turret of the Monitor , showing dents from the Virginia
Fig. 78 Stereograph of the Monitor crew on deck
Fig. 79 The Monitor crew relaxing on deck
Fig. 80 Stereograph of the officers of the Monitor (version 1)
Fig. 81 Stereograph of the officers of the Monitor (version 2)
Fig. 82 “The Wreck of the Iron-Clad ‘Monitor,’” from Harper’s Weekly
Fig. 83 “Loss of the ‘Monitor,’” from Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper
Fig. 84 Postwar illustration of the sinking of the Monitor
Fig. 85 Silverware discovered during excavation of the turret
Fig. 86 Advertisement from the Hartford Daily Courant
Fig. 87 Original photomosaic of the Monitor wreck site
Fig. 88 Drawing of the Monitor wreck site
Fig. 89 The red signal lantern from the Monitor
Fig. 90 Photomosaic created prior to turret recovery
Fig. 91 Forensic facial reconstruction of the older sailor
Fig. 92 Forensic facial reconstruction of the younger sailor
Fig. 93 Glass fragment discovered during excavation of the turret
Fig. 94 Engine register of the Monitor
Fig. 95 Goodyear rubber buttons from sailors’ uniforms
Fig. 96 Burial of two recovered Monitor sailors at Arlington National Cemetery
Fig. 97 U.S. Navy personnel preparing to drape flag over coffin
Fig. 98 Sketches of the Virginia and Monitor by H. E. Coleman
Fig. 99 Explosive pill to drop down a smokestack
Fig. 100 Design for an iron bore
Fig. 101 A suggested improvement to the pilothouse
Fig. 102 A plan for cradling and tipping the Virginia
Fig. 103 A plan for sinking the Virginia (scene 1)
Fig. 104 A plan for sinking the Virginia (scene 2)
Fig. 105 Grappling hooks for grabbing the Virginia
Fig. 106 A spiked grapple for puncturing the Virginia
Fig. 107 A lasso to throw around the Virginia
Fig. 108 Design for a ship with a casemate and two turrets
Fig. 109 Design for an ironclad ship called the Annihilator
Fig. 110 Design for a large ironclad vessel
Fig. 111 Design for throwing smoke at the Virginia
Fig. 112 Design for an iron-penetrating projectile
Fig. 113 Design for a spiked projectile
Fig. 114 Design for a new artillery shell
Fig. 115 Design for a submarine battery, featuring a scene from the Battle of Hampton Roads
Fig. 116 Design for a steam-powered spike
Fig. 117 Design for a ram with a spike
Fig. 118 Design for an explosive ram
Fig. 119 A retractable saw
Fig. 120 A torpedo buoy (scene one)
Fig. 121 A torpedo buoy (scene two)
Fig. 122 A torpedo ram
Fig. 123 A spar torpedo
Fig. 124 Pole bearing a torpedo
Fig. 125 Design for an underwater cannon
Fig. 126 Second design for an underwater cannon
Fig. 127 An underwater cannon that hangs by a chain
Fig. 128 Design for a retractable underwater cannon
Fig. 129 Design for an underwater battery on a platform
Fig. 130 Chief engineer Isaac Newton
Fig. 131 Cartoon of Abraham Lincoln and the Monitor ’s underwater toilet
Acknowledgments
Anna Gibson Holloway’s Acknowledgments
If someone had told me twenty years ago that I would one day trade in wooden ships for ironclads, and square sails for steam, I would have told them that they were crazy. Clearly they did not know me well—I mean, my world revolved around sixteenth- and seventeenth-century vessels.
That was before I met the Monitor .
This curious little ironclad and the men who built her, served on her, and died with her, as well as the men and women who discovered, recovered, and now maintain and conserve her have become as muc