The Hagerstown Civil War Round Table will feature a talk by John Quarstein entitled "Last Days of USS Monitor ." USS Monitor was an ironclad warship built for the Union Navy during the American Civil War and completed in early 1862, the first such ship commissioned by the Navy. Monitor played a central role in the Battle of Hampton Roads on 9 March under the command of Lieutenant John L. Worden, where she fought the casemate ironclad CSS Virginia (built on the hull of the scuttled steam frigate USS Merrimack) to a stalemate. The design of the ship was distinguished by its revolving turret, which was designed by American inventor Theodore Timmy. The remainder of the ship was designed by Swedish-born engineer and inventor John Ericsson, and built in only 101 days in Brooklyn, New York on the East River beginning in late 1861. Monitor presented a new concept in ship design and employed a variety of new inventions and innovations in s hip building that caught the attention of the world.
The event is at 7:30 pm on Thursday, March 23, 2023 at Homewood Suites, 1650 Pullman Lane Hagerstown, MD. Dinner at 6:30 pm, open to non-members as well as members, is $30 (reservations required by March 16) and the talk at 7:30 pm is $5 for non-members, both payable at the meeting. For more information visit https://sites.google.com/view/hagerstowncwrt/home, search for: Hagerstown Civil War Round Table, email hagerstowncwrt1956@gmail.com, or call Dennis Graham at 240 625 4216.
John V. Quarstein is Director emeritus of the USS Monitor Center in Newport News, Virginia. John presents Civil War tours and lectures across the country and is the author of 18 books, with three more on the way. He leads the Museum’s Civil War and Hampton Roads Lecture Series and is now writing blogs and presenting online content via YouTube Live. John’s deep interest in all things related to the Civil War stems from his youth living on Fort Monroe, walking where heroes like Abraham Lincoln and R. E. Lee once stood. An avid collector of decoys, waterfowl/maritime art, and oriental rugs, John lives among them in his home, the 1757 Herbert House on Sunset Creek in Hampton, Virginia. On the National Register of Historic Places, this is the only house to have survived August 7, 1861, burning of Hampton.
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