Historians consider several developments in naval technology over the course of the war. They discuss ironclad gunboats, Confederate efforts to break the Union Blockade, and spar torpedo boats. This event was part of a symposium on Technology and the Civil War hosted by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.

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Craig Symonds of the U.S. Naval Academy talks about the war’s Western Theater river operations in 1862. Symonds details the strategies employed by the Union to win several key battles, and credits those victories to the cooperation and combined tactics of General Ulysses S. Grant and Naval Flag Officer Andrew H. Foote. The Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College hosted this event.

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The Mariners’ Museum in Newport News, Virginia hosted a Civil War Navy Conference in early March to mark the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Hampton Roads, when for the first time, ironclads battled during the Civil War. In this session, author and Naval Academy history professor Craig Symonds talks about the War along the Atlantic Coast.

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Author and professor David Mindell talks about the technology of the USS Monitor, and the experience of its crew aboard one of the first ironclads. He spoke in early March at the Mariners’ Museum annual Civil War Navy Conference. This year’s conference marked the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Hampton Roads where, for the first time, ironclad warships met in battle.

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The Mariners’ Museum in Newport News, Virginia hosted a Civil War Navy Conference in early March to mark the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Hampton Roads, when for the first time, ironclads battled during the Civil War. In this session, David Alberg of the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary talks about the recovery and identification of human remains from the USS Monitor, the Union ship that faced off with the CSS Virginia near Hampton Roads in 1862. We also hear from genealogist Lisa Stansbury.
 

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David Gerleman, an assistant editor at the Papers of Abraham Lincoln project, talks about some of the ideas and suggestions offered by Northerners for fighting the Confederate ironclad, the Merrimac. He spoke in early March at the Mariners’ Museum annual Civil War Navy Conference. This year’s conference marked the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Hampton Roads where, for the first time, ironclad warships met in battle.

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The National Park Service rededicates Arlington House, the Robert E. Lee Memorial. As the nation marks the 150th anniversary of the Civil War and after a six-year restoration effort, Americans can once again see the house much as Lee knew it.

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Historian Frank O’Reilly of the National Park Service discusses the Battle of Chancellorsville, which was fought from April 30th to May 6th, 1863, in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. The fighting resulted in more than 30 thousand total causalities. Historians widely consider the Battle of Chancellorsville to be Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s greatest victory.

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Scholars discuss the contributions of U.S. Colored Troops during the Civil War and how they are remembered at various battle sites. The panel also takes a critical look at the characterization of black troops in the 1989 film “Glory,” which focuses on the 54th Massachusetts – one of the first all-black units to fight for the Union. This event was part of a conference at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania.

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Civil War scholars give a historical perspective on the physical and mental battlefield trauma suffered by soldiers in fighting the bloodiest war in American history. More than 625,000 Americans died in the Civil War, and some historians believe the death toll exceeded 700,000. This event was part of a conference at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania.

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