Fort Monroe was the largest stone fort built in the U.S. between 1819 and 1834, home to the Artillery School from 1824 to 1906, the Coast Artillery School from 1907 to 1946, and other major commands. Fort Wool was a man-made island built on shoals by the U.S. Army beginning around 1819, with some construction supervised by Lt. Robert E. Lee; it later served as a presidential retreat for Andrew Jackson and John Tyler, a prison camp during the Civil War, and is now a park operated by the City of Hampton. Engineer Wharf was built to unload supplies, construction material, workers, and troops, became the starting point for several major Union Army expeditions during the Civil War, and was where state prisoner Jefferson Davis was brought ashore in May 1865. The Battle of Ironclads took place here on 9 March 1862, when USS Monitor and CSS Virginia, formerly USS Merrimack, fought for four hours without a clear victory for either vessel. Craney Island held Confederate batteries until a successful Union Army and Navy campaign in May 1862, after which the ironclad CSS Virginia (Merrimack) was destroyed there by its crew, and it is now a restricted area controlled by the U.S. Navy. Newport News Point was the site of a large Union Army settlement called Camp Butler and the starting point for the James River Expedition and other campaigns to capture Richmond.
