Flag Officer Josiah Tatnall was furious when he learned in the early morning hours of May 11, 1862, that his chief pilot William Parrish had changed his opinion regarding moving the CSS Virginia out of harms way up the James River. Originally Parrish felt that if the draft of the Virginia could be reduced to 18 feet he could get the ship within 40 miles of Richmond. But now, after two days of westerly winds had dropped the water level in the James River, that was no longer the case. Tatnall’s crew had been working feverishly to lower the draft (raise the boat in the river) and had done so by about three feet but now that was all for naught. But that wasn’t the worst consequence of the failed enterprise. With the ship riding three feet higher, part of her wooden hull, as well as part of the propellor and rudder were now above the water level of the river! The sun would soon be up and there was no way to add enough weight back to lower the vessel. Tatnall was out of options he would now have to destroy the ship.

He ran her hard aground near Craney Island and began the slow process of ferrying the men to the island. The Virginia only had two small rowboats, as a result it required about three hours get all the men ashore. Hardin B. Littlepage, a midshipman, took the ship’s flags with him in his knapsack upon leaving. Tatnall left the ship. Lieutenants Jones and Wood, along with eight sailors, began the process of preparing to blow up the Virginia. Elsberry White and Charles Oliver uncapped the powder in the magazine. The other men spread powder and othef flammable materials (tar, oil, fat, grease, and wood) over the deck. Jones and Wood, were to light the powder along the deck and were the last to leave. The crew then began a 22-mile march to Suffolk. An hour and a half into the trip they heard a terrific explosion, the magazines had detonated. Tatnall noted the time on his watch it was a little before 5:00 AM. They made it to Suffolk safely later that day and from there boarded a train for Richmond.

The explosion was so loud that it was heard for miles around in every direction. Flag Officer Goldsborough received a report from Lieutenant Franklin that the Virginia had exploded. He ordered Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge to take the tugboat Zouave and examine the area of Craney Island and the mouth of the Elizabeth River himself. He also sent a second tugboat, the Dragon, under Commander Ludlow Case, for the same purpose. Selfridge confirmed that this was indeed the case. With the Virginia now no more, Goldborough sent a large group of ships led by the Zouave and Monitor to explore down the Elizabeth River and examine the state of affairs there. As they sailed past Craney Island they could see pieces of the Virginia floating in the water. They passed formidable works on both sides of the river that were unoccupied. As the Monitor came around a bend in the Elizabeth River a little below Portsmouth the men could see the Stars and Stripes waving atop the Naval hospital.

After receiving confirmation from Selfridge of the Virginia’s destruction Goldsborough sailed to Fort Monroe to inform the president. Lincoln had planned to return to Washington that morning on the Baltimore but now he wanted to see for himself the wreckage of the Virginia and view Norfolk from the water. The president, Chase, Stanton, Major General Wool, and Flag Officer Goldsborough boarded the Baltimore and headed toward the Elizabeth River. They arrived off Norfolk’s wharfs around 10:00 AM. With Norfolk, Portsmouth, and the navy yard in Union possession, Lincoln wanted to make sure and maximize any momentum offered by the triumph. He summoned Lieutenant Jeffers and ordered the Monitor to steam up the James River toward Richmond the next day. Lincoln, Chase and Stanton then returned to Washington arriving there the following morning. During the day more Federal regiments arrived at Ocean View including the 29th MA, the 20th IN, the 10th NY and the rest of the 1st DE. The 1st DE were selected to serve as the provost guard for Norfolk and established their headquarters at the jail. Captain Phineas Davis, commander of the Richardson Light Battery, would serve as provost marshall.

Goldsborough reported to Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles that nearly everything at the navy yard was destroyed. The only building still intact was the officers’ quarters. They could salvage a large number of iron tanks, timber, old guns, and a lot of machinery. The dry dock gates were destroyed, and the pier ends partially blown up but the dry dock itself made of stone was in good shape. On Craney Island General Wool found 39 large caliber guns, overall they captured approximately 200 cannons.

The press gave Lincoln credit for planning the expedition even though Wool and Goldsborough in their reports did not. Wool and Goldsborough like many Union commanders at this time in the war moved slowly, lacked initiative, and planned poorly. Lincoln’s presence served to mitigate those weaknesses at Norfolk. The loss of the Gosport Navy Yard and the CSS Virginia were significant setbacks for the South. Although it is true that the Confederacy deemed Norfolk no longer defensible after the fall of Yorktown, there would not have been any way for Federal forces to know that the Confederates would have abandoned the navy yard and the Virginia without even a fight. The “Norfolk Expedition” also continued President Lincoln’s education as Commander-in-Chief. Rather than learning chiefly from books as he did up until May of 1862 he now had hands on experience reconnoitering a landing spot for troops, and planning a military action. In many ways his abilities as a military leader exceeded those of Wool and Goldsborough, especially when it came to a grasp of the big picture. This education would come in handy as he navigated a series of failed generals in the eastern theater, until he finally brought a man who had failed at everything in life, except for winning Civil War battles out west, to Washington in 1864.

Sources

Lincoln Takes Command The Campaign to Seize Norfolk and the Destruction of the CSS Virginia by Steve Norder

A Trip with Lincoln, Chase and Stanton by Egbert Ludovicus Viele (link)