ljplicease | rt: virginia

Yesterday's post brought us back to the year 2005 via flashback. Today we go all the way back to 1862 and the Battle of Hampton Roads. It is an interesting event historically as it was the first conflict between two “ironclad” warships, the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia (often referred to as the Merrimack in the North). Neither warship is intact anymore, the Virginia was scuttled by the Confederacy to keep it from falling into enemy hands and the Monitor was lost in a storm. However, bits and pieces of both vessels can be found in Richmond and Newport News, Virginia. I had been meaning to track them down for a while, and when I realized Jasper was going to be in Raleigh, it seemed like a good weekend to do both.

Our first stop was the Museum of the Confederacy, located in downtown Richmond and consists of two buildings: the museum itself and Jefferson Davis' house while he was “president” of the Confederacy until they retreated from Richmond. The house is referred to as the “White House” of the South, but as you can see from the photograph, it is actually quite grey. The inside of the building is lovingly kept and contains a treasure trove of beautiful artifacts. The tour of the house reminded me a little of visiting George Washington's Mt. Vernon, Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, or even Andrew Jackson's Hermitage. The tour guide of course proudly proclaimed his ancestor who fought for Lee during the Civil War. The outside of the house was stained and stunk a little of defeat, and the building is surrounded on three sides by a much more impressive and modern looking hospital. When you visit them, the (Union) President's homes seem to hark back to a different time. In contrast, this home and its location give the impression of looking back in the face of modernity.

There was also a place to park your horse. Speaking of George Washington, there was a portrait (probably several) of George Washington in the Grey House and the tour guide explained that they viewed this federal president of the United States of America as a sort of father of the Confederacy because he fought against the Brits in the Revolutionary War and they view the Civil War as a second revolution. I am not surprised by this point of view but I do object strongly to re-purposing historical figures for your own political ends without having anyway to seek permission from the dead. Andrew Jackson, as much as I loath him, expressed pro-union views when asked while he was President, although his pro-slavery views might have suggested a pro-confederate point of view before anyone bothered to ask him.

Another artifact that the tour guide noted was a deck of card that featured the past Presidents, First Ladies and Vice Presidents in place of King, Queen and Jack respectively. The guide was asking me if I saw anything strange about the cards and I didn't really understand what he was talking about, until he explained that they came from a time not all that long after the Revolutionary War and they were still anti-King. To me, I've seen the most-wanted Iraqi playing cards and heard about freedom fries so it didn't seem that remarkable that politics would make their way into the playing cards.

The museum had some old uniforms and a glorious painting of Lee and Stonewall Jackson. The first thing that caught my eye was the flags hanging from the roof though. You may notice the following states that did not secede are included: Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri. I have some sympathy for the South. History is frequently written by the victor, and most of the history of the Civil War I learned in high school was written with a northern bent to it. Places like this though, definitely do go out of their way to write the opposing history. I do believe the Civil War was an invasion of the South by the North, and I do believe that they had the right to secede from the Union, but although the issue of slavery was a thorny one, I find it impossible to justify Southern policy regarding slavery, and they do seem to skip over that.

(The Virginia state capitol building, just down the road was gleaming white and much more impressively sized)

Outside of the museum is what we actually came to see: the anchor of the CSS Virginia. I joked to Lena that we could leave now that we had seen what we had come for, but got the combo pass and saw the museum and got the Grey House tour instead. On the plaques and inside the museum when you read about the Virginia and the Battle of Hampton Roads, you might be mistaken into believing that it was a Confederate victory.

The drive shaft for the Virginia could also be seen outside the museum.

After Richmond we headed down to Raleigh to see Jasper, and the next day we were in Newport News Virginia to see the Mariner's Museum. The jewel in the collection is of course the turret and other exciting artifacts that have been recovered from the USS Monitor. I first heard about the recovery from an episode of Nova which detailed the loss of the ship in bad weather and its recovery more than a century later. Parts of the museum look brand new. Pictured is a mock up of part of the Virginia as she might have looked during her construction.

Although the Virginia inflicted much more damage during the Battle of Hampton Roads, the Monitor was a much more innovative design and is more interesting historically. The most striking is the rotating turret which is the basic design used by warships for decades. The innovative four bladed screw is probably as important. The museum has a full mock up (pictured) that you can walk on and touch, which was great, because it gave me an impression of just how large the ship was. When you see drawings of the ship it always seems much smaller.

Pictured is a mock up of the turret as it appeared when it was recovered from the ocean floor. You can see the real turrets in a tank of water as scientists work to preserve it.

Lena liked the mock up of the Captain's Quarters.

The real anchor could be seen inside the museum. This is the anchor from the mock up.

The museum had at least three theatres. Each was dedicated to a different aspect of the Monitor story:

the loss of the Monitor
the Battle of Hampton Roads and
the recovery of the Monitor's turret

The first two were surprisingly well put together and gave you a sense of being there, despite the fact they consisted mostly of static pictures. The presentation of the Battle of Hampton Roads ends with the Southerns celebrating a Confederate Victory and the North celebrating a Union victory. Although the Virginia did more damage to Union warships in the action, the Monitor prevented her from breaking the blockade, handing the Union an important tactical victory. The presentation seemed, not surprisingly, more balanced than that of the Museum of the Confederacy.