Join us for a virtual lecture with author and historian John V. Quarstein, director emeritus of the USSMonitorCenter. Quarstein will give a presentation on how the development of ironclads had a role in naval intelligence during the Civil War.

This lecture is also part of ourHampton Roads History Lecture Series.

Viewers are welcome to send any comments or questions to John, and he will answer them following his talk.

About the presentation:

As the North and South began to build ironclads, rumors were leaked about the various ship construction programs. There was not an effective naval intelligence service during the Civil War. Yet, one successful participant was Major William Norris, CSA. Another was seamstress and Union spy Mary Louvestre, a free Black, of Norfolk. She sent secret messages to Union commanders at Fort Monroe about the USSMerrimack’s transformation into the ironclad CSSVirginia. The Union nor the Confederacy needed to rely on such clandestine information as northern and southern newspapers provided ample material, usually in a boastful manner. All antagonists had to do was to obtain a copy ofThe New York TimesorMobile Registerto find all they needed to know about ironclad development.