![]() ![]() ![]() The 40-gun ship of the line Merrimac, one of the most powerful in the U.S. It was also home to a number of important warships. On the north bank of the river were the important ports of Newport News and Hampton, dominated by the impregnable Fortress Monroe, which remained in Union hands throughout the war.īut on the south bank, at Norfolk, was the Gosport Navy Yard.It contained one of only two naval dry docks in the nation, a vast store of gunpowder and some 1,200 assorted cannons. Control of it meant control of all shipping to and from Richmond, Petersburg, Suffolk, Portsmouth and Norfolk. Between Cape Henry and Cape Charles, the broad mouth of the Chesapeake offered a chance for Confederate merchant vessels to break into the open sea and reach friendly ports in Europe - provided the swift Confederate blockade runners could draw off the Union warships on patrol there. ![]()
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