![]() ![]() "I don't know why they kept it there," she said. ![]() "My guess is they just had plenty else to worry about." Peninsula Campaignīy marketing all the sites, museums and various resources together, "the Peninsula could be a top 10 (Civil War) destination," said Quarstein, who works for The Mariners' Museum. Along with museums and living history events at Endview and Lee Hall Mansion, there are more than 20 sites dedicated to the Civil War on the Peninsula and a dozen in Newport News, Quarstein said. Quarstein rattles off events in the Peninsula Campaign rapid fire, with interjections of, "Oh my gosh," still in awe of all there is to take in. The Union plan: an amphibious operation - the largest of the war - to capture the Confederate capital in Richmond via a 70 mile march up the Peninsula. The Army of the Potomac, led by McClellan, ferried down to Fort Monroe for the campaign, a force of more than 121,000 soldiers. ![]() Meanwhile, the Confederate side of 13,000 literally dug in and built a heavily-armed 12-mile defensive wall that cut across the Peninsula from the York to the James rivers. The ironclad CSS Virginia defended the James River, and big guns at Gloucester Point waited for ships to enter the York River. The Battle of Hampton Roads in the James pit the Virginia against the USS Monitor and fought to a stalemate. The first ever battle of ironclads would forever change naval warfare. The Monitor turret sits in The Mariners' Museum, just off the river. ![]()
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