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John V. Quarstein

Director emeritus of the USS Monitor Center

John presents Civil War tours and lectures across the country and is the author of 18 books, with three more on the way. He leads the Museum’s Civil War and Hampton Roads Lecture Series and is now writing blogs and presenting online content via YouTube Live. John’s deep interest in all things related to the Civil War stems from his youth living on Fort Monroe, walking where heroes like Abraham Lincoln and R. E. Lee once stood. An avid collector of decoys, waterfowl/maritime art, and oriental rugs, John lives among them in his home, the 1757 Herbert House on Sunset Creek in Hampton, Virginia. On the National Register of Historic Places, this is the only house to have survived August 7, 1861, burning of Hampton.

Latest from John V. Quarstein

  • Naval Intelligence in Hampton Roads: 1861-1862

    • Civil War
    • Hampton Roads History
    • Military
    • Military Conflict

    There was no formal naval intelligence system established during the American Civil War. While a few examples exist of Northern sympathizers, free Blacks, like Mary Louvestre of Portsmouth, sent messages to various Union commanders about the Confederate ironclad construction effort.

  • USS Cumberland – Sink Before Surrender

    • Civil War
    • Hampton Roads History
    • Military
    • Military Conflict

    USS Cumberland, flagship of the US Navy’s Home Squadron, was dispatched to Gosport Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia, upon the sloop’s return from a brief cruise to Veracruz, Mexico.

  • The Capture of Hatteras Inlet

    • Civil War
    • Hampton Roads History
    • Military
    • Military Conflict

    The first combined operation of the Civil War was the capture of Hatteras Inlet. This inlet was used by Confederate gunboats and privateer merchantmen sailing around Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.

  • CSS ARKANSAS: THE YAZOO CITY IRONCLAD

    • Civil War
    • Military
    • Military Conflict

    By October 1861, there were five ironclads under construction in New Orleans, Cerro Gordo, Tennessee, and Memphis. It would be an extreme challenge to place these ironclads in the water as effective warships with limited industrial infrastructure. It was all about the questions of time, iron, workers, and engines!

  • ROLL, ALABAMA, ROLL! – SINKING OF CSS ALABAMA

    • Civil War
    • Military
    • Military Conflict

    CSS Alabama, commanded by Captain Raphael Semmes, had spent nearly two years capturing and destroying 65 Northern merchant ships and whalers. There were seven different expeditionary raids from the Eastern Atlantic to the Java Sea and back near where the vessel had been built.

  • Battle of Wassaw Sound and CSS Atlanta

    • Civil War
    • Military
    • Military Conflict

    CSS Atlanta was an ironclad transformation effort which used the iron-hull and Scottish-built engines of SS Fingal to fashion one of the Confederacy’s most powerful warships. The ironclad; however, had a deep draft which limited its operational area below Savannah

  • Ben Butler and the Contrabands

    • Black History
    • Civil War
    • Military
    • Military Conflict

    Frank Baker, James Townsend, and Shepard Mallory seeking their freedom, made their way onto Fort Monroe. Butler refused to return the runaways and called them ‘Contraband of War.’ Their decision helped transform the Civil War into a conflict between the states and a struggle for freedom.

  • Battle of Memphis

    • Civil War
    • Military
    • Military Conflict

    The Union needed to open the river to the sea to maintain the commerce of the Midwest. This contest along the ‘father of all rivers’ was a tremendous struggle. Victory would be achieved with new and improved ship designs and industrial superiority.

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