The Battle of Gloucester Point, Virginia was an uncertian exchange of cannon fire between a shore battery on the York River which was taken by Virginia forces and the Union gunboat USS Yankee. The action occurred on May 7, 1861, three weeks after the start of the American Civil War at Fort Sumter in the harbor at Charleston, South Carolina on April 14, 1861. The Gloucester Point engagement is notable as the earliest exchange of gunfire between the Union Navy and the well trained Rebel forces after the U.S. Army surrendered Fort Sumter to the Confederates and as the earliest reported Civil War military engagement in Virginia. Like other early engagements between Union gunboats and Confederate shore batteries, the battle at Gloucester Point was part of the Union Navy effort to blockade the Southern States in general and the Chesapeake Bay in particular. The engagement also was part of the effort by Confederate forces to deny the use of rivers in Virginia to Union military and commercial traffic.
The Battle of Hampton Roads, often referred to as either the Battle of the Monitor and Merrimack or the Battle of Ironclads, was the most noted and arguably most important naval battle of the American Civil War from the standpoint of the development of navies. It was fought over two days, March 8–9, 1862, in Hampton Roads, a roadstead in Virginia where the Elizabeth and Nansemond Rivers meet the James River just before it enters Chesapeake Bay adjacent to the city of Norfolk. The battle was a part of the effort of the Confederacy to break the Union blockade, which had cut off Virginia's largest cities, Norfolk and Richmond, from international trade.
The major significance of the battle is that it was the first meeting in combat of ironclad warships. The Confederate fleet consisted of the ironclad ram CSS Virginia and several supporting vessels. On the first day of battle, they were opposed by several conventional, wooden-hulled ships of the Union Navy. On that day, Virginia was able to destroy two ships of the Federal flotilla, USS Congress and USS Cumberland, and was about to attack a third, USS Minnesota, which had run aground. However, the action was halted by darkness and falling tide, so Virginia retired to take care of her few wounded which included her captain, Flag Officer Franklin Buchanan and repair her minimal battle damage.
The major significance of the battle is that it was the first meeting in combat of ironclad warships. The Confederate fleet consisted of the ironclad ram CSS Virginia and several supporting vessels. On the first day of battle, they were opposed by several conventional, wooden-hulled ships of the Union Navy. On that day, Virginia was able to destroy two ships of the Federal flotilla, USS Congress and USS Cumberland, and was about to attack a third, USS Minnesota, which had run aground. However, the action was halted by darkness and falling tide, so Virginia retired to take care of her few wounded which included her captain, Flag Officer Franklin Buchanan and repair her minimal battle damage.