Civil War celebration

Posted: Sunday, June 18, 2006

GAINESVILLE - Two small-scale replicas of the first ironclads battled on Lake Lanier Friday during the Georgia Division Sons of Confederate Veterans' 109th reunion.

The battle ended up much like the Civil War original - neither ship was sunk, just as both the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia survived the March 9, 1862, clash.

But as a result of that historic battle between ironclads, wooden ships became obsolete.

"It changed naval history, how they fought and how ships were built," said Jerry Franklin, who helped pilot the Richmond replica on the north Georgia lake. The Richmond was used because the Virginia replica is being restored.

The Union's Monitor and the Confederacy's Virginia, which was built on the salvaged hull of a Union ship, the USS Merrimack, fought to a draw in the Battle of Hampton Roads, near Newport News, Va. Their four-inch iron armor and 24-inch solid oak backing stood firm even as the ironclads exchanged 450-pound cannonballs.

"Most people are unaware of the scope of naval activity during the war," said Bruce Smith, executive director of the Port Columbus National Civil War Naval Museum. "The Confederate Navy alone had more than 20 ironclad ships in commission and the U.S. Navy had more than 70 by the war's end."

Similarly on Friday evening, replicas of the two battleships made several passes and fired black-powder cannons within 10 feet of each other.

Noise and heat were less intense than in the original battle, said Franklin, a crew member with the National Civil War Naval Museum in Columbus.

"They would have blood running out of the ears" because of the magnitude and proximity of the cannons, he said. "We get some of the feel of those battles with the maneuvering we have to do to set up for the next pass."

The three-day veterans' event in Gainesville honors the memory of Gen. James Longstreet, who lived in Gainesville, and Sidney Lanier, a Confederate prisoner of war after whom Lake Lanier is named.

Trending this week:

