Monitor vs Merrimack

1. Name of Battle: Monitor vs. Merrimack. Also known as the battle of the ironclads.
2. Dates of Battle: March 8-9, 1862
3. Geography (location, terrain, weather): Location is at off Sewell's Point, near the mouth of Hampton Roads, Virginia. Terrain is at Hampton Roads and is at sea naval battle. Weather was fine in the beginning, but at 10 ‘o clock there were heavy storms and bad weather.

5.   Objective: The battle was taking place because the Confederacy wanted to break the Union blockade on their trade with the European countries. The south wanted Virginia to continue its international trade with other countries, and the North wanted to continue on its first part of the Anaconda plan.

7. Strategies: How did each side plan to the battle? The south’s strategy was to wreak havoc on the Union warships to shut down the blockade. They used the CSS Virginia, an ironclad warship, to do so. The North found out about the CSS Virginia and decided to ask for permission to create a similar ship (and ironclad ship). In March 9^th, one day after the battle had begun, the ship called Monitor approached and CSS Virginia in the end retreated.

8. This was the first battle in which two ironclad ships engaged in combat.  

United States of America/Union	Confederate States of America
Commanders: John L. Wordern	Franklin Buchanan and Catesby R. Jones
Ships: For the Union the ship was the Monitor.	Ship was the captured Merrimack and then converted into an ironclad and was renamed Virginia after being converted from the Merrimack.
Troop Strength: 1 ironclad, 5 wooden frigates.	1 ironclad, 2 wooden warships, 1 gunboat, 2 tenders.
Casualties and losses: 261 killed, 108 wounded, 1 frigate sunk, 1 sloop-of-war sunk, 1 frigate damaged.	77 killed, 17 wounded, 1 ironclad damaged.