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On the morning of March 9, 1862 the Virginia re-entered
Hampton Roads intent on destroying the last of the Federal
wooden warships. The Confederates were surprised to
see the “cheesebox on a raft” approach their ironclad
and opened fire. For the next four hours the two ironclads
dueled inconclusively until a shell hit the Monitor’s
pilothouse seriously wounding the warship’s commander,
Lt. John Worden. The two ironclads broke off action and the
first battle between ironclad warships was over. Both sides
claimed victory. The Monitor was successful in stopping
the Confederate ironclad from destroying the Federal fleet.
The Virginia, however, blocked the James River and closed
this approach to Richmond to the Union’s use. McClellan,
confident that the Monitor could defend Hampton Roads,
decided to move forward with his campaign and by midmarch elements of his 121,500-man army began to arrive at
Ft. Monroe.
Courtesy of The Mariners’ Museum
Crew of the USS Monitor
• First offensive operation organized by President
Abraham Lincoln, resulting in the capture of
Norfolk. May 10, 1862
March 9, 1862
• First battle between ironclad warships,
USS Monitor and CSS Virginia (Merrimack).
August 26–29, 1861
visithampton.com
10-2011
Abraham Lincoln
Jefferson Davis
Harriet Tubman
Cover Images
Top Fortress Monroe, February 1862, Courtesy of John Moran Quarstein
Bottom Courtesy of Ft. Monroe’s Casemate Museum
120 Old Hampton Lane, Hampton, Virginia 23669
open Mon – Sat 9 a.m. – 5 p.m., Sun 1 – 5 p.m.
(757) 727-1102 • (800) 800-2202
Hampton Visitor Center
• First amphibious operation launched from
Ft. Monroe to capture Hatteras Inlet, NC.
• First launching of a gas balloon in a combat
zone, July 27, 1861, and first launching of a
gas balloon from the deck of a warship, the
USS Fanny, August 3, 1861.
• First African American, Sam Ashe, to
serve in combat.
• First Union soldier, Private George
Tiebout, killed in combat.
• First Confederate infantryman, Pvt.
Henry Lawson Wyatt, killed in battle.
May 24, 1861
• First steps toward transforming the Civil War
into a conflict to end slavery occurred when
Major General Benjamin F. Butler declared
three runaway slaves as “Contraband of War.”
• First occupation of Virginia territory when Union
troops established Camp Hamilton on the Clark
and Segar farms. May 13, 1861
Courtesy of The Mariners’ Museum
Battle of the Ironclads
Hampton was left desolate: a heap of destruction and
waste. Nevertheless, one ironic outcome of the burning
was the establishment of the Grand Contraband Camp
atop the town’s ruins. The courthouse was repaired so that
it could serve as a school and a vibrant African American
community began to grow.
• Only pre-war fort in Virginia to be retained by
the Union throughout the war. April 17, 1861
HAMPTON’S
CIVIL WAR FIRSTS
Fort Monroe
Downtown Hampton, 100 West Queens Way
757-722-2567 • www.stjohnshampton.org
Open year-round: Mon, Wed, Fri & Sat, 9 a.m.–Noon. Guided
tours by appointment; no tours Sun or Thurs mornings. Closed
major holidays. Free admission. I-64, exit 267.
St. John’s Church
Downtown Hampton, 710 Settlers Landing Road
888-757-BOAT, 757-722-9102
www.misshamptoncruises.com
Tour length: 3 hours. Purchase tickets in the Hampton Maritime
Center. Call for tour schedule. Admission fee. I-64, exit 267.
Miss Hampton II Harbor Cruises
(to explore Fort Wool)
Hampton University, 11 Frissell Avenue
757-727-5308 • www.hamptonu.edu/museum
Open year round: Mon–Fri, 8 a.m.–5 p.m., Sat, Noon– 4 p.m.
Closed Sun. Closed major and campus holidays.
Free admission. I-64, exit 267.
Hampton University Museum
Downtown Hampton, 120 Old Hampton Lane
757-727-1610 • www.hampton.gov/history_museum
Open Mon–Sat, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Sun, 1–5 p.m.
Closed major holidays. Admission fee. I-64, exit 267.
Hampton History Museum
Ft. Monroe, Casemate 20, Bernard Road
757-788-3391
Open daily year round. 10:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m.
Closed Thanksgiving, Dec. 25, and Jan. 1.
Free admission. I-64, exit 268.
Casemate Museum
★Virginia★
Hampton
Sites in
Hampton
Museums & sites
Civil War
Experience HAMPTON’S
The success of these amphibious actions prompted Major
General George Brinton McClellan to plan to bring his
Army of the Potomac to the Peninsula and, using Ft.
Monroe as his base, move against Richmond. On March
8, 1862, just as McClellan was sharing the merits of
his plan with the President, the Confederate ironclad,
CSS Virginia (Merrimack) emerged from the Elizabeth
River and steamed across Hampton Roads to attack
the Union wooden warships. The Virginia had been
reconstructed from the steam frigate Merrimack which
had been partially burned when the Federals abandoned
Gosport Navy Yard in Portsmouth on April 20, 1861. The
Confederate ironclad mounted ten cannon. The Virginia
rammed and sank the war sloop USS Cumberland and
shelled the USS Congress into a burning hulk. President
Lincoln viewed this engagement as the greatest calamity
since Bull Run. Others felt that McClellan’s Peninsula
Campaign should be abandoned.
5
• First land battle at Big Bethel. June 10, 1861
This engagement also witnessed these
other Civil War firsts:
DUEL OF IRON
The Union’s continued control of Ft. Monroe enabled
the Federal fleet to use the waterways around Hampton
as a base for its blockade of the Southern coastline. The
Civil War’s first amphibious operation was launched
from Ft. Monroe on August 26, 1861 when Flag Officer
Silas Horton Stringham’s squadron left Hampton Roads
with Ben Butler’s division en route to the capture of
Hatteras Inlet, North Carolina on August 29, 1861.
Ft. Monroe quickly became the base for several other
major amphibious operations resulting in the capture
of Port Royal Sound, SC; Roanoke Island, NC; and New
Orleans, LA.
The American Civil War descended upon the
town of Hampton with a blaze of historic firsts.
Hampton’s location near Ft. Monroe placed it
in harm’s way at the war’s onset and resulted
in its destruction. Nevertheless, the forts
and buildings that did survive are witnesses
to the great changes that the Civil War and
Reconstruction brought to our nation.
After dark on August 7, 1861 Phillips’ men set the town
afire. Sergeant Robert Hudgins II of the Old Dominion
Dragoons remembered, “As the smoke ascended toward
the heavens I was reminded of the ancient sacrifices
on the altar to many deities and I thought how my little
home town was being made a sacrifice to the grim god
of war.”
Bethel Church. General Butler decided to strike against
the advanced Confederate positions. Butler organized two
converging columns from Ft. Monroe and Camp Butler
under the overall command of Massachusetts militia
general Ebenezer W. Pierce. The Union troops marched at
night and these various units, forming the 7th New York,
erroneously fired into the ranks of the 3rd New York. It
was the Civil War’s first friendly fire incident. The Federal
commander burned Little Bethel Church and marched on
to Big Bethel.
of the war’s outbreak and realized that his command needed
more space and fresh water. Consequently, on May 13, 1861
Dimick led the 4th Massachusetts across Mill Creek which
bordered Ft. Monroe and occupied the Clark and Segar
farms, establishing Camp Hamilton in present day Phoebus.
One local volunteer confronted Dimick and demanded, “By
what right, sir, does your army cross that bridge and invade
the sacred soil of Virginia?” Dimick reportedly snapped, “By
God, sir, might makes right!”
CIVIL WAR
epoch-making events
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THE DRAMA BEGINS
When Virginia left the Union on April 17,
1861, Northern and Southern leaders alike
recognized the Peninsula as an extremely
strategic location. The Virginia Peninsula,
bordered by the James and York rivers and
the Chesapeake Bay, was one of three major
approaches to the Confederate capital at
Richmond. The port town of Hampton, the
largest community on the lower Peninsula,
was in the path of the opposing armies and
would quickly become the scene of several
significant events.
The Union’s ability to maintain control of
Fort Monroe during the secession crisis
provided the Federals with an important
strategic footing in Confederate territory.
Built on Old Point Comfort on the very tip
of the Virginia Peninsula from 1819 to 1834,
Ft. Monroe was the largest moat-encircled
masonry fortification in North America
and was designed to mount 412 cannons.
It was the only fort in the Upper South
not to fall into Confederate hands when
the war erupted. Ft. Monroe commanded
the entrance to Hampton Roads and the
lower Chesapeake Bay. Virtually overnight
it became a major base for the Federal fleet
and infantry operations.
Less than three miles from Ft. Monroe
was the historic port town of Hampton
founded in 1610. The town consisted of
approximately 2,000 people and 500
buildings and was “but a quiet village of
comfortable, old fashioned houses set back
amidst large gardens, under locusts, poplars,
willows and aspens. It had been the home of
dignified ease and charming repose.”
In April 1861 Ft. Monroe was commanded by
Lt. Colonel Justin Dimick. Dimick welcomed
over 2,000 reinforcements within three weeks
The Peninsula, 1861
The camp was not fortified due to the protection provided
by the guns of Ft. Monroe. Many soldiers moved beyond
the confines of the camp and converted former President
John Tyler’s summer house, Villa Margaret, into barracks.
Tyler’s wife, Julia, asked Northern authorities to protect her
property, but to no avail.
2
Battle of Big Bethel
Courtesy of John Moran Quarstein
3
THE FIRST BATTLE
BEN BUTLER
AND THE
CONTRABANDS
The Contraband of War Decision
Courtesy of Ft. Monroe’s Casemate Museum
The rapid increase of
Union troops assigned
to Ft. Monroe prompted
General Winfield Scott
to assign Major General
Major General Benjamin
Benjamin Franklin Butler as
Franklin Butler, USA
Courtesy of Ft. Monroe’s Casemate Museum
commander of the newly
created Union Department
of Virginia headquartered at Ft. Monroe. Butler, an astute
criminal lawyer and pre-war Democratic politician,
had already achieved fame when he thwarted the
secessionist movement in Maryland. Butler arrived at Ft.
Monroe on May 22, 1861. The next day he sent Colonel
John Wolcott Phelps and the 1st Vermont into Hampton.
While just a reconnaissance mission, the Confederates
attempted and were unable to block the Union advance.
On that day Virginians were to vote on the Ordinance
of Secession. The Federals closed the local polls and
then they returned to Ft. Monroe. The citizens of
Hampton were appalled at the Union aggression and
overwhelmingly voted to secede from the Union.
Militia, sent Major John Baytop Cary to retrieve his three
men, using the Fugitive Slave Law as justification. Butler,
realizing that slavery was at the very core of the conflict
and that such laborers were being used to build nearby
Confederate fortifications, rejected his request. General
Butler believed that since Virginia considered itself
independent and was at war with the United States, he
had no “constitutional obligation” to return the slaves.
Butler added that his troops would take possession of
whatever property they required. Since slaves were
considered “chattel property,” Butler called the escaped
enslaved men ”contraband of war.” Ft. Monroe quickly
became a magnet for those seeking freedom, and Butler
began using them to support Union operations. A
contraband community was established outside Camp
Hamilton known as “Slabtown.” The first schools for
African Americans in the South were established by
the American Missionary Association. Reverend C. L.
Lockwood and local pre-war African American educator
Mary Peake provided reading and other classes.
The Union expedition not only
proved that the Union could
march at will wherever they
wished on the Peninsula, it
also had far reaching political
implications which would change
the Civil War’s purpose.
Charles King Mallory
Courtesy of the
Hampton History Museum
Courtesy of John Moran Quarstein
Three enslaved men, Shepard
Mallory, James Townsend and Frank
Baker, escaped to Ft. Monroe. The
slaves’ owner, Colonel Charles
King Mallory of the 115th Virginia
Courtesy of Hampton University Museum and Ft. Monroe’s Casemate Museum
Ruins of Hampton
As the burning Congress set an eerie glow across Hampton
Roads, the USS Monitor arrived in the harbor. The Monitor
was an entirely new concept of naval design created by
Swedish-American inventor John Ericsson. Its revolving
turret housed two 11-inch Dahlgren guns and the
ironclad’s decks were virtually awash with the sea.
Courtesy of the Hampton History Museum
Neither Butler nor La Mountain noticed that Magruder,
recently promoted to brigadier general for his victory
at Big Bethel, advanced down the Peninsula to threaten
the Union positions with a 5,000-man force. On
August 6, Magruder learned that the Federals intended
to use the town of Hampton to house Union soldiers
and contrabands. Magruder recognized that, due to
its proximity to Ft. Monroe, the Confederates could
never hold Hampton.
Consequently, Magruder,
with an agreement
from the local soldiers
in his command,
decided to burn
Hampton. Magruder
organized a force
under the command
of Hampton resident
Captain Jefferson Curle
Phillips to complete this
“loathsome yet patriotic
act” prompted by ”the
foulest desecrations
of these houses and
homes of our Virginia
people by their former
Captain Jefferson Curle Phillips,
Yankee occupants.”
Old Dominion Dragoons, CSA
the Confederate forces surrounding the Federal enclave
on the tip of the Peninsula. He sent for aeronaut Jack
La Mountain and his two hydrogen gas balloons. La
Mountain’s first successful flight was from Ft. Monroe
on July 31, 1861. After another ascension on August 1,
La Mountain suggested that he needed to get closer to
Norfolk to observe the Confederate batteries. On
August 3, 1861 La Mountain made the first balloon flight
from the deck of a warship, the USS Fanny.
A More Desolate Sight continued
General Butler had not come to Ft. Monroe to free
slaves; rather, Butler strove to contest the construction
of Confederate fortifications across Hampton Roads at
Sewell’s Point, Craney Island, and Pig Point. On May 27,
1861, the Union general sent three regiments of New York,
Massachusetts, and Vermont volunteers to occupy Newport
News Point to blockade the James River. The Federals
built an entrenched camp named Camp Butler. This action
prompted pro-Confederate Hamptonians to abandon their
homes and find shelter elsewhere. Consequently, on June 3,
1861, Union troops occupied the virtually empty town.
Southern fortunes on the Peninsula
were at low ebb when Colonel
John Bankhead Magruder
assumed command on May 24,
1861 at Yorktown. Magruder was
brevetted lieutenant colonel for
his gallant conduct during the
Mexican War. Known as “Prince
John,” Magruder quickly set
himself to the enormous task of
Major General John
organizing Confederate troops and
Bankhead Magruder, CSA
fortifications on the Peninsula.
Courtesy of John Moran Quarstein
Many units from Hampton
mustered into Magruder’s command including the Wythe
Rifles and the Old Dominion Dragoons. Magruder also
received reinforcements such as Montaque’s Battalion, the
Richmond Howitzers and the 1st North Carolina Regiment.
So supported, Magruder decided to establish a forward
position at Big Bethel Church where the Hampton-York
Highway crossed the northwest branch of the Back River,
commonly known as Brick Kiln Creek, on June 6, 1861. The
Confederates built fortifications and began to probe towards
the Union lines along Newmarket Creek.
The Federals became aware of the Confederate presence
near Hampton when two skirmishes occurred near Little
The Grand Contraband Camp
Major General Daniel
Harvey Hill, CSA
Courtesy of
John Moran Quarstein
Major Theodore
Winthrop, USA
Courtesy of
The Casemate Museum
Lt. John T. Greble,
2nd U.S. Artillery
4
Courtesy of Ft. Monroe’s
Casemate Museum
Meanwhile, Magruder was warned
of the Federal approach by Hannah
Nicholson Tunnel, who had rushed
toward the Confederate lines when
she observed the Federal advance.
Magruder and Colonel D.H. Hill
of the 1st North Carolina prepared
their defenses and at 9 a.m. on June
10, 1861, the Union troops arrived
on the field of battle. The Duryea’s
Zouaves made two piecemeal
assaults against the Confederate
fortifications. A third attack was
supported by the 3rd New York.
Because of a cannon malfunction,
the Confederates were forced to
abandon their one-gun battery.
Just as the Zouaves occupied the
battery, a counter-attack organized
by D. H. Hill recaptured this
position. The battle now shifted to
the east. Major Theodore Winthrop
and Lt. Colonel Peter Washburn
organized a final assault against the
left flank of the main Confederate
redoubt. The new England Battalion
forded the creek; yet, their assault
was repulsed. Winthrop was shot
dead by Sam Ashe, an African
American with the 1st North
Carolina. Winthrop’s death ended
the engagement and the Federals
fell back beyond Newmarket
Creek. The battle truly ended when
Lieutenant John Greble was killed
while “nobly serving his gun.”
A MORE DESOLATE SIGHT
The Federals were embarrassed by their defeat and the
Confederates gained a false hope that they could win the
war despite the odds against them. Big Bethel was soon
followed by the Union defeat at First Manassas on
July 21, 1861 which forced Butler to send reinforcements
to Washington, D. C. Butler then became concerned about
Courtesy of Hampton University Museum and Ft. Monroe’s Casemate Museum
Civil War Sites in Hampton
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VILLA MARGARET
Once the summer home of former President John
Tyler, Villa Margaret was occupied by Union
soldiers and looted. The building was also used as
a contraband school. It was located on land now
occupied by Hampton University. Marker Located
Mill Creek
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HAMPTON COURTHOUSE
The Elizabeth City County Courthouse was badly
damaged during the August 7, 1861 burning
of Hampton. It was repaired and became the
largest contraband school in Hampton. Marker
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ST. JOHN’S CHURCH
Originally constructed in 1728, St. John’s Church
was badly damaged during the burning of Hampton
on August 7, 1861. One of the first “contrabands,”
Shepard Mallory, etched his name into one of the
bricks on the south outer wall of the Church. The
churchyard contains many graves of Confederate
soldiers and veterans. Of particular note is the grave
of Hannah Nicolson Tunnell, who was known as
the “Paul Revere” of the Confederacy when she
warned the Confederates of the night advance
of the Union strike force en route to Big Bethel
and the placement of the Elizabeth City County
Confederate Soldier monument. Marker Located
across from St. John’s Church on Queen’s Way at
Hampton History Museum, 120 Old Hampton Lane.
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Battle of the Ironclads
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1
Courtesy of The Mariners’ Museum
2
The Burning of
Hampton & the GRAND
CONTRABAND CAMP
An ironic outcome of the burning of Hampton was
the establishment of the Grand Contraband Camp
atop the town’s ruins. It was the largest contraband
camp on the Peninsula. Markers Located at
ake
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Hampton Roads
Courtesy of John Moran Quarstein
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PHOEBUS
Ft. Monroe: The Key to the South, 1860
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This live oak tree was once part of the “Slabtown”
contraband camp. Several schools were
established nearby. It is under the limbs of this
tree where the first reading of the Emancipation
Proclamation occurred in Virginia. Marker
Located in front of the courthouse, 101 Kings Way,
Downtown Hampton.
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at the Hampton Maritime Center, 710 Settlers
Landing Road, Downtown Hampton.
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Hampton’s re-birth from the ashes of war was thanks to
these and many other people. All of them recognized
that despite the destruction wrought by war, the concepts
of freedom, equality and education that the Civil War
brought to the nation made Hampton a symbol of
post-war revitalization.
EAD
HAMPTON VETERANS
CEMETERY
Located adjacent to Emancipation Oak on
Emancipation Drive, Hampton University campus.
64
E. PEMBROKE AVE.
Ha
Many former Confederates also played a key role in
Hampton’s post-war re-development. John H. Willis,
a member of the 32nd Virginia Infantry, became
superintendent of schools and guided new educational
opportunities for Hampton’s students. Another former
Confederate, architect C. Taylor Holtzclaw became a major
builder. Many of the houses he constructed still stand today
within Hampton’s historic neighborhoods.
295
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Other Northern businessmen came south to Hampton.
Perhaps the most significant was James Sands Darling. J.S.
Darling and Son became the largest oyster packing firm
in the world and made the Hampton Bar oyster famous.
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One community leader was Samuel Chapman Armstrong.
Armstrong was born in the Kingdom of Hawaii to
missionary parents. He joined the US Army and became
a colonel commanding the 8th US Colored Troops.
Armstrong was brevetted brigadier general on March 13,
1865. Shortly thereafter, he accepted leadership of the
Peninsula headquarters of the Bureau for Refugees,
Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands at Ft. Monroe. The
Freedmen’s Bureau thrived under Armstrong’s guidance
and had a positive effect on Hampton. The purpose of the
Freedmen’s Bureau was to bring some relief to the newly
freed men and women and others set adrift by the upheaval
of the war. Armstrong wrote in 1866, “we issue 18,000
rations to those who would die of starvation were it not for
this, and keep their children at school, and get them work
and prevent injustice.” Armstrong’s interest in education
prompted him to establish a school in 1868 for African
Americans named Hampton Normal and Agricultural
Institute, now Hampton University.
Even though Hampton was virtually a wasteland in 1865,
many people joined together to re-build the town. Former
Union soldiers like Jacob Heffelfinger, James McMenamin
and Harrison Phoebus combined their ingenuity, enterprise
and capital with Hampton’s untapped resources and revitalized Hampton. Heffelfinger operated a lumber yard
and was instrumental in the reconstruction of St. John’s
Church. McMenamin perfected the canning of crabmeat
which earned Hampton’s nickname of “Crabtown.”
Harrison Phoebus, whose legacy is seen in the Phoebus
community, acquired the Hygeia Hotel and turned Old
Point Comfort into one of America’s greatest resorts.
Phoebus prompted the C & O Railroad to make Old Point
Comfort Milepost 0. He also convinced nine steamship
lines to make Old Point Comfort a regular port of call.
These new transportation links brought more people which
caused the creation of beach resorts like Phoebus, Buckroe,
Grand View and Bay Shore. One of the directors of Bay
Shore, Alexander Gardiner, was one of fourteen African
American Medal of Honor recipients and was a former
USCT soldier. Bay Shore was the first African American
beach resort in the South. Phoebus and Gardiner were
among the many who transformed Hampton into a major
tourist destination by 1900.
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Confederate president Jefferson Davis attempted to
continue the conflict after the fall of Richmond; however,
he was captured in Georgia and taken to Ft. Monroe for
imprisonment. Davis was eventually charged with three
crimes: treason against the United States, maltreatment
of Union prisoners of war, and complicity in the
assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. A casemate
was specially prepared to serve as Davis’ cell. Strict
Once the war was over, efforts were initiated to revitalize
the destroyed town. Union veterans and businessmen,
former Confederate soldiers and African Americans recreated the community’s social and economic fabric.
RICHMOND
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DAVIS IN CHAINS
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precautions were taken to ensure that Davis could not
escape. The initial conditions of his imprisonment were
harsh, in many ways like solitary confinement. He was
chained and shackled on May 23, 1865. Nevertheless,
thanks to the intercession of Ft. Monroe’s chief medical
officer, Lt. Colonel John J. Craven, the chains were removed
within a few days. Eventually, Davis was moved
to better quarters in Carroll Hall and released on bail on
May 13, 1867.
Courtesy of Ft. Monroe’s Casemate Museum
G
N. KIN
One major effort was made to resolve the war via a
mediated peace treaty. Lincoln traveled to Ft. Monroe in
late January 1865. On February 3, Lincoln and Secretary
of State William H. Seward met with Confederate Vice
President Alexander Stephens, Senator Robert M.T.
Hunter, and Confederate Assistant Secretary of War John
Campbell. They talked for four hours. The Confederate
insistence on independence, and the Union demand that
the seceded states lay down their arms and return to the
Union were irreconcilable. The conference was a failure.
Two months later, Richmond was captured and the war
was basically over.
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Union operation against Fox Hill, 1861.
ARMISTEAD AVE.
HAMPTON ROADS PEACE
CONFERENCE
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Courtesy of Ft. Monroe’s Casemate Museum
The Union occupied the Chesapeake Female
College in May 1861 and turned it into a 6,000
bed facility. The hospital closed in 1866, however,
it was re-opened as the Hampton Soldiers Home
in 1868. Present Site of Hampton Veterans
This is the final resting place of numerous
Union soldiers and veterans.
www.VirginiaCivilWar.org
Confederate President Jefferson Davis imprisoned at Ft. Monroe.
HAMPTON MILITARY HOSPITAL
Administration Medical Center.
5.
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Ft. Monroe continued to serve as an important base for
Union operations in Virginia and along the Southern
coast. The large Union presence in Hampton resulted in
the establishment of the Chesapeake Military Hospital.
The pre-war Chesapeake Female Seminary was taken
over as the main hospital building and other facilities
were constructed to treat Union and Confederate
wounded. Another hospital was created nearby in 1862,
the United States General Hospital, Hampton. A special
facility was established to treat United States Colored
Troops. Underground Railway heroine Harriet Tubman
served as this hospital’s chief patron. A horse-drawn
railway was built to transport the wounded and sick
from the Old Point Comfort wharves to these hospitals.
The medical complex was very efficient in caring for
the thousands of injured and ill who came for treatment
during the course of the war. The Chesapeake Hospital
was converted in 1870 into the Southern Branch of the
National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers. The
Soldier’s Home cared for Union veterans until 1946,
when the last local Civil War veteran, Private Charles
Woodcock, died. Today the facility is known as the
Hampton Veterans Administration Medical Center.
495
.
7
UNION OCCUPATION
95
WASHINGTON
DC
KECOUGHTAN
RD.
While on Ft. Wool, Lincoln became very disappointed
as he watched the Confederate ironclad emerge from the
Elizabeth River and force the Union warships to withdraw.
Lincoln was furious by what he viewed. The President
then went in a small boat to survey a landing site on
Ocean View. On May 9, 1862, General Wool began to
ferry troops from Ft. Monroe across water to Ocean View,
an area of Norfolk which was occupied by the Federals
on the next day. This circumstance left the CSS Virginia
without a base so her crew ran the ironclad aground on
Craney Island and set her ablaze. Lincoln was asleep in
Old Quarters No. 1 at Ft. Monroe when he was awakened
with news of Norfolk’s capture and then watched the huge
ironclad explode. Lincoln returned to Washington with
the entire Hampton Roads region under Union control.
4.
BALTIMORE
14
LASALLE AVE.
On April 4, 1862, McClellan
started the Army of the
Potomac toward Richmond
only to be stopped by
General Magruder’s WarwickYorktown Line. The Union
general decided to besiege
the Confederate fortifications.
The weeks of delay prompted
President Lincoln to refer to
President Abraham Lincoln
McClellan as the “Virginia
Courtesy of The Mariners’ Museum
Creeper” and decided to go
to Ft. Monroe to force greater action. Lincoln arrived on
May 6, 1862 and was advised that McClellan had fought
the Battle of Williamsburg, and finally the Union army
was on the march toward the Confederate capital. While
pleased with McClellan’s apparent progress, Lincoln was
dismayed that the US Navy still hesitated to open the
James River because of the presence of the CSS Virginia
in Norfolk. Consequently, Lincoln organized a twoprong naval assault. The Monitor and several other ships
bombarded the Confederate batteries at Sewell’s Point
while another Union ironclad, the USS Galena, attacked
Confederate forts defending the James River. Lincoln went
to Fort Wool to observe the action. Ft. Wool, originally
named Fort Calhoun, was constructed as a companion fort
to Ft. Monroe to close the harbor entrance. Unfortunately,
it was never completed as designed. Also called the Rip
Rap battery, it was renamed Ft. Wool in honor of the
commander of the Union Department of Virginia Major
General John Ellis Wool.
13
Carousel Park, 602 Settlers Landing Road and
across the street, Downtown Hampton.
11.
MARY PEAKE
The Elmerton Cemetery contains the final resting
place of African American educator Mary Peake.
Peake operated a school for contrabands until her
death in 1862. Marker Located adjacent to Elmerton
Cemetery on N. King Street, near the intersection
with E. Pembroke Avenue, Downtown Hampton.
1.
FORT MONROE
The only pre-war fort to remain under Union
control when the war erupted, Ft. Monroe would
become known as “Freedom’s Fortress.” The fort
would become a major Union base for army
and navy operations throughout the war. Marker
1c.
located at Casemate Museum, Casemate 20,
Bernard Road.
1a.
1b.
CASEMATE MUSEUM
This museum tells the Ft. Monroe
story from 1607 to 2011. One of this
institution’s major features is the casemate
cell where former Confederate president
Jefferson Davis was held prisoner in 1865.
QUARTERS 17
Built in 1819, Quarters 17 is where
Lieutenant Robert E. Lee and his wife,
Mary Custis Lee, lived from 1831 to 1834.
Their first child, George Washington Custis
Lee, was born in this building.
1d.
OLD QUARTERS NO. 1
Located at the East Gate, this 1819 building
was home and office to Ft. Monroe’s
commanding officer. It is here where
General Butler made his “Contraband of
War” decision. President Abraham Lincoln
also used the house to organize the capture
of Norfolk in May 1862.
2.
Originally known as Fort Calhoun or the Rip Raps
Battery, this pre-war masonry fort was renamed Ft.
Wool in honor of Major General John Ellis Wool
who commanded the Union Department
of Virginia during the Battle of the Ironclads and
the 1862 Peninsula Campaign. President Lincoln
used the fort during his effort to capture Norfolk
in May 1862. Marker located on top Ft. Monroe
12.
walls at the flagstaff bastion, overlooking the
harbor channel and FT Wool. Ft. Wool can be toured
through the miss hampton Harbor tour.
ENGINEER’S WHARF
This pier was one of several wharves that
existed on Old Point Comfort during the
war. Ft. Monroe’s location at the entrance
to Hampton Roads enabled it to serve as
the base for every
major amphibious
operation during
the conflict.
FORT WOOL
3.
Marker Located in the parking lot on
Water Street overlooking Mill Creek,
Phoebus.
Camp Hamilton, 1861
Courtesy of Ft. Monroe’s Casemate Museum
The Hampton Roads harbor was the scene of
the March 8-9, 1862 Battle of the Ironclads.
Over 25,000 soldiers and citizens watched this
engagement that revolutionized naval warfare. On
April 11, the CSS Virginia (Merrimack) endeavored
to engage the USS Monitor. As the two ships
steamed back and forth threatening each other, the
CSS Jamestown captured three Union merchant
ships. Marker Located overlooking the Hampton
Roads waterfront, where Chesapeake Avenue
meets East Avenue, Olde Wythe.
CAMP HAMILTON
Now known as Phoebus, Camp
Hamilton was established in May
1861 and would remain active
throughout the war as a Union base.
BATTLE OF THE IRONCLADS
13.
BATTLE OF BIG BETHEL
14.
FOX HILL
This park contains remnants and monuments
associated with the Civil War’s first land battle, the
June 10, 1861 Battle of Big Bethel.
This watermen village was raided by an Union
amphibious operation on June 26, 1861.