19th Century Folk Art Model of One of the On Board Cannons of the CSS Virginia / Merrimac

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19^th Century Folk Art Model of One of the On Board Cannons of the CSS Virginia / Merrimac – This early, well-crafted cannon model depicts one of the guns on board the CSS Virginia on the day of its fateful clash with the USS Monitor, March 9, 1862. The tube is made of cast brass or bronze and is seemingly operable – the fuse hole enters into the breech of the tube; the tube is a smoothbore type. The tube is the so-called “soda bottle” shape and may be representative of either one of the Virginia’s 9” Dahlgren guns or one of its Brooke rifles. The heavy tube rests upon an oak naval style carriage that exhibits four, solid oak wheels. Significantly, engraved in mid-19^th century style, is the following:

“Merrimac

March 9^th

1862”

March 9, 1862 was the date of the momentous encounter between the CSS Virginia and the USS Monitor, ending in a draw, but ceasing the days of military navy dependence on wooden ships.

This model may have been constructed from the salvaged remains of the CSS Virginia, as were many CSS Virginia, souvenir items made of these salvaged elements, in the latter quarter of the 19th century. Local Norfolk newspaper articles, published in the 1870s, describe, in considerable detail, the activities of the primary salvor of the Virginia, a Captain William West. West conducted the last salvage efforts to obtain extant remains of the Virginia, which many historians now believe were the most thorough; apparently, he raised whatever was left of the wreck and placed it in the dry dock where the ironclad was originally constructed; there, the ship’s remains were broken into souvenirs and relics, as well as scrap. We had a finely crafted, folk-art model, several years ago, of the entire CSS Virginia, which also appeared to have been constructed from the salvaged remnants of the Confederate ironclad.

Both the wood carriage and brass or bronze tube of this cannon model remain in excellent condition; the barrel is approximately 9” in length.

The C.S.S. Virginia was originally the U.S.S. Merrimack, a 40-gun frigate launched in 1855. The Merrimack served in the Caribbean and was the flagship of the Pacific fleet in the late 1850s. In early 1860, the ship was decommissioned for extensive repairs at the Gosport Navy Yard in Norfolk, Virginia. The vessel was still there when the Civil War began in April 1861, and Union sailors sank the ship as the yard was evacuated. Six weeks later, a salvage company raised the ship and the Confederates began rebuilding it.

The Confederates covered the ship in heavy armor plating above the waterline and outfitted it with powerful guns. Rechristened the Virginia upon its launch in February 1862, it was a formidable vessel. It’s commander, Franklin Buchanan, was the only full admiral in the Confederate Navy during the Civil War.

On March 8, 1862, it cruised down the Elizabeth River and sunk the U.S.S. Cumberland before running aground the U.S.S. Congress and setting her on fire off Hampton Roads in southeastern Virginia.

Battle of Hampton Roads: March 9, 1862

The next day, the U.S.S. Monitor steamed into the Chesapeake Bay to protect the rest of the Union’s wooden fleet, including the U.S.S. Minnesota. The Monitor had set sail only three days earlier from Brooklyn under the command of Lieutenant John L. Worden. Designed by Swedish engineer John Ericsson, the vessel had an unusually low profile, rising from the water only 18 inches. The flat iron deck had a 20-foot cylindrical turret rising from the middle of the ship; the turret housed two 11-inch Dahlgren guns. The Monitor had a draft of less than 11 feet so it could operate in the shallow harbors and rivers of the South. It was commissioned on February 25, 1862, and arrived at Chesapeake Bay just in time to engage the Virginia. At dawn on March 9, Worden told the Minnesota’s captain, “I will stand by you to the last if I can help you.”

The battle between the Virginia and the Monitor began on the morning of March 9 and continued for four hours. The ships circled one another, jockeying for position as they fired their guns. However, the cannon balls simply deflected off the iron ships. In the early afternoon, the Virginia pulled back to Norfolk. Neither ship was seriously damaged, but the Monitor effectively ended the short reign of terror that the Confederate ironclad had brought to the Union fleet.

The CSS Virginia had six 9-inch Dahlgren smoothbores, two 7-inch Brooke rifles, two 6.4-inch Brooke rifles, and two 12-pounder howitzers. The Virginia was designed to be an ironclad warship that would destroy wooden ships.

• Dahlgren smoothbores: The 9-inch Dahlgren was the standard broadside gun for the Navy’s new frigates and sloops of war in the late 1850s. The Virginia’s Dahlgrens were safe to fire and could send solid shot and shell against an enemy.
• Brooke rifles: The Brooke rifles fired solid shot that could pierce up to eight inches of armor plating.