On March 8, 1862, the day before her battle with the U.S.S. Monitor, the Confederate ironclad ram Virginia, formerly the U.S.S. Merrimack, engaged and sank in the James River two powerful Union sailing ships of war, the U.S.S. Cumberland and the U.S.S. Congress, and also silenced Union shore batteries on the bluffs at Newport News. Despite the gallant defense of these vessels, that day's action vividly demonstrated the superiority of metal over wood. The victory was a high point in the hopes of the Confederacy. The sinking of these powerful wooden warships was witnessed with dismay by Federal forces at Camp Butler, which then included the site of this park. The length of anchor chain from the U.S.S. Cumberland displayed here was recovered from the river bottom in 1909.
