Although employed by the British and French navies against Russian forts during the Crimean War (1853-1856), ironclad vessels had not engaged each other in a full-scale naval duel before the CSS Virginia, (built upon the salvaged hull of the USS Merrimack) fought the USS Monitor near Hampton Roads, Virginia, March 9, 1862. Occurring one day after the Virginia had caused the U.S. Navy to suffer the worst day in its eighty-six year history (the Confederate ironclad destroyed two wooden vessels and caused the others to run aground), the bruising, but indecisive Monitor/Virginia battle heralded a new era in naval warfare.

The soon to be legendary clash led to "monitor fever" in the North, which produced dozens of variations of the original Monitor. Union ironclads were particularly active on the western rivers-- especially in the Mississippi River basin below Cairo, Illinois. Production of ironclads remained a Confederate priority throughout the war, but, because of a lack of adequate shipyards and material, fewer than two dozen of the approximately 50 ironclads intended for the Confederacy became available for service.

Caption by Margaret Wagner, Publishing Office, Library of Congress

Medium : 1 print : lithograph

Created/Published : Kurz & Allison, Art Publishers, Chicago, Ill. USA, 1889

Creator : Kurz & Allison, Art Publishers, Chicago, Ill. USA

Housed in the Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress

Availability: Usually shhips in one week

Product #: cph3g01752