A little Military History of the "View"

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After the siege of Yorktown began on April 5, 1862, Commodore Louis M. Goldsborough, commanding the Union fleet in Hampton Roads, felt that his first duty was to destroy the Merrimack or, at the very least, prevent her from running out into Chesapeake Bay and up to Washington.

Weeks dragged by with the Union fleet immobilized in Hampton Roads, watching the Merrimack. The naval deadlock in Hampton Roads was so serious that President Lincoln made a special trip to Fort Monroe, arriving May 6, 1862.

In conference with Commodore Goldsborough and Major General John E. Wool, commanding Fort Monroe, it was decided that the only way to eliminate the Merrimack from the situation was to capture the City of Norfolk which was the Merrimack’s base.

On May 8, the Union fleet, assisted by the rifled guns on Fort Wool, bombarded the Confederate batteries on Sewall’s Point to prepare for a landing. However, this projected landing was thwarted when the Merrimack steamed out from behind Sewall’s Point and placed herself before the batteries.

It was clear that a landing must be made at a place where the Merrimack could not interfere. Ocean View on the Chesapeake Bay shore was selected for the landing. Troops were landed at Ocean View on May 9, 1862, and advanced over-land to Norfolk where they were met by the mayor who formally surrendered the city to Major General John E. Wool on May 10, 1862.

The Navy Yard in nearby Portsmouth was found in flames, fired by the Confederates just before they evacuated Norfolk.

On May 11, the Merrimack was blown up by her crew off Craney Island to prevent capture. The Monitor did not long survive her Confederate antagonist. She sank in a storm off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, on December 31, 1862. The Battle of the Monitor and Merrimack was the first battle of ironclad warships.