March 2012 marks the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Hampton Roads. On March 8, 1862, the CSS Virginia destroyed the USSCumberland and the USS Congress in a battle that showed the supremacy of iron over wood. The following day the Union ironcladMonitor met the CSS Virginia in a battle, which, though fought to a draw, changed the very nature of naval warfare not only in America, but worldwide.

On March 9-11, The Mariners' Museum marks the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Hampton Roads
in grand style, with a weekend of activities.

March 9 – 11, 2012
The Civil War Navy Conference features award-winning authors Harold Holzer and Craig Symonds.
The two full days of sessions are focused on Civil War Naval history, technology, literature, art and popular culture.

March 9, 2012
Student Living History Day brings Civil War history to life with educational and entertaining activities focused on the famed battle between the ironclads USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia.

March 10 & 11, 2012
Weekend family activities are highlighted by the introduction of Ironclad BattleQuest, a fun, interactive family adventure game that takes you through indoor and outdoor activities.

Activities on the front lawn are free and open to the public
All activities free to Members or with Museum Admission
**Bank of America employees and customers get in for half price**

NEW for 2012: Ironclad BattleQuest

During this year's Battle of Hampton Roads Weekend, Union and Confederate “spies” will abound as families explore the encampment, uncover secrets about the USS Monitor AND CSS Virginia, hold audience with Abraham Lincoln, and experience Civil War food before reporting back to their “commanding officer.” These are just a few of the assignments families will complete as they become Civil War spies in Ironclad Battle Quest!

The adventure begins when participants receive secret orders and a ditty-bag to hold top-secret information they collect along the way. After enlisting in the Union or Confederate Navy, families infiltrate the enemy's camp, avoid being spotted by double agents while playing period games, and decipher a map of Hampton Roads. Participants will successfully complete the spy adventure when they deliver the required information to headquarters and pose for souvenir photographs.

Participation in Ironclad BattleQuest is free for Members or with Museum admission on Saturday and Sunday, March 10 and 11.

Award-winning authors Harold Holzer & Craig Symonds are the conference headliners

The Mariners' Museum, along with its partners at NOAA's Monitor National Marine Sanctuary, The Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond, The American Studies Department of Christopher Newport University in Newport News and the Hampton Roads Naval Museum in Norfolk issued a call for papers in the summer of 2011 for the Civil War Navy Conference to be held during the 10th Battle of Hampton Roads Weekend in Newport News on March 9 – 11, 2012. Papers were considered in the areas of Civil War Naval history, technology, literature, art, and popular culture as well as papers in Civil War underwater archaeology and conservation.

The Mariners' Museum has engaged several noted Civil War historians to speak during the three-day event.

Friday, March 9 at 7 p.m.

Award-winning Lincoln scholar Harold Holzer will present Victory Without the Gaud:
The Battle of Hampton Roads and the Transformation of Civil War Art.
Ferguson Center on the campus of Christopher Newport University
FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Saturday, March 10 at 10 a.m.

United States Naval Academy professor and Civil War Naval scholar Craig Symonds will present
The War Along the Atlantic Coast.
The Mariners' Museum
FREE with museum admission

Sunday, March 11at 10 a.m.

Local Virginia historian and preservationist John Quarstein will present his research for his latest book,
The Monitor Boys: The Crew of the Union's First Ironclad as well as information from his reissued work
CSS Virginia: Mistress of Hampton Roads.
The Mariners' Museum
FREE with museum admission

Saturday, March 10 Sessions

Search for and Discovery and Identification of the USS Monitor Wreck Aboard the R/V Eastward
Dr. Robert Sheridan, Professor Emeritus, Rutgers University

"Where's the Starboard Beam?"  Commanding the Tin-Can From Inside an Iron Box
Francis DuCoin, Independent Historian & volunteer, USS Monitor Conservation Project

"Iron Coffin: War, Technology, and Experience Aboard the Monitor"
Dr. David Mindell, Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Frances and David Dibner Professor of the
History of Engineering and Manufacturing, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

A Brotherhood Adrift: Confederate Sailors
Laura June Davis, Doctoral Candidate, University of Georgia

"Sink the Merrimac!": Northern Plans, Schemes, and Inventions to Destroy the Rebel Ram
Dr. David Gerleman, Assistant Editor, Papers of Abraham Lincoln Project

Naval Station New York: The Heart of the Union Anaconda
William Whyte, Doctoral Candidate, Lehigh University

Union Combined Operations in the Spring of 1862: An Examination of Leadership and Unity of Effort –
J. Michael Moore, Curator, Lee Hall Mansion

Pumping YOU Up: Conservation and Replication of the Worthington Steam Pumps from the USS Monitor
Will Hoffman, Conservator, The Mariners' Museum

Palmetto Iron: The Construction of the CSS Chicora and CSS Palmetto State, 1862
Charles Wexler, Doctoral Candidate, Auburn University

The Monitor and Beyond: Updates from the Graveyard of the Atlantic
David Alberg, Joe Hoyt, Monitor National Marine

Join local historians John Quarstein and J. Michael Moore for a motorcoach tour of Civil War sites on the Peninsula. Stops include Fortress Monroe, Lee Hall Mansion, Endview Plantation and Gloucester Point, among others. Lunch will be served at the beautiful Boxwood Inn at Lee Hall. Quarstein was the recipient of the National Trust for Historic Preservation's 1993 President's Award for Historic Preservation Award, and is the author of several books on Virginia history, including his latest, Sink Before Surrender, which chronicles the story of the Confederate ironclad CSS Virginia and her crew. Moore is the curator of Lee Hall Plantation in Newport News and is the co-author of The Peninsula Campaign of 1862: A Military Analysis.

The bus leaves The Mariners' Museum at 9 AM on Friday, March 9. Seating is limited.
Cost is $100 for Members and $120 for Non-Members

Click here    to register online or call (757) 591-5124.