Admiral John Lorimer Worden and the Battle of Hampton Roads. Notebook 2025-4

The historic marker on Route 9/Albany Post Road. In the background Scarborough Presbyterian Church.

If you’ve driven North on Route 9/Albany Post Road you might have noticed, just before the intersection with Scarborough Road, the blue historical marker below.  Since traffic along Route 9 moves quite quickly you might not have been able to read the text on the marker.  However, the sign marks the birthplace of a man who commanded arguably the most important warship in US history at one of the most important naval battles in US history.

 

John L. Worden's birthplace on the corner of what is now Route 9/Albany Post Road and Scarborough Road. According to a map dated 1891 in the BMSHS this property was owned by J. Warren Rogers and the house was called "Hillside". It later became the offices of Stein and Day publishers.  The original house no longer exists.

 

The man was John L. Worden (born March 12, 1818 – died Oct. 18, 1897, Washington, D.C.). He was a US naval officer who commanded the Union warship USS Monitor against the Confederate CSS Virginia (formerly USS Merrimack) during the US Civil War. It was the first ever battle between iron-clad ships.

Appointed a midshipman in 1834, Worden received his early naval training with the Brazilian squadron (1835-38).  He served on the Pacific Coast during the Mexican War (1846-48) and afterward in both the Mediterranean and home fleets. Brought to Washington early in 1861, he received orders in April to carry secret dispatches—regarding the reinforcement of Fort Pickens—south to the warships at Pensacola. During the return journey north, Worden was arrested near Montgomery, Alabama, and was held prisoner until being exchanged about seven months later.

USS Monitor at sea.

Though still ill as a result of his imprisonment, Lieutenant[ Worden accepted orders to command the new ironclad Monitor on January 16, 1862. He reported to her building site at Greenpoint in Brooklyn on Long Island and supervised her completion. He placed the new warship in commission at the New York Navy Yard on February 25 and two days later sailed for Hampton Roads. However, steering failure forced the ironclad back to New York for repairs. On March 6, she headed south again, this time under tow by Seth Low.

The famous engagement was the Battle of Hampton Roads and it took place over two days (8-9 March 1862).  On the first day the Virginia was opposed by conventional, wooden-hulled ships of the Union Navy. On that day, Virginia was able to destroy two Union ships and was about to attack a third, which had run aground when the action was halted by darkness and falling tide. So, Virginia retired to take care of her few wounded—which included her captain, Flag Officer Franklin Buchanan—and repair her minimal battle damage.

Determined to complete the destruction of the third ship, Virginia returned to the fray the next morning, March 9. During the night, however, the ironclad Monitor commanded by then Lieutenant Worden had arrived and had taken a position to defend Minnesota.

 

USS Merrimack (above left) was originally launched as a steam frigate in 1854. After the original ship was burned on April 20, 1861, it was rebuilt with iron siding in the American Civil War by the Confederacy and renamed the CSS Virginia (above right).

 

When Virginia approached, Monitor intercepted her. The two ironclads fought for about three hours, with neither being able to inflict significant damage on the other. The duel ended indecisively, Virginia returning to her home at the Gosport Navy Yard for repairs and strengthening, and Monitor to her station defending Minnesota. The ships did not fight again, and the blockade remained in place. During the battle Worden, stationed in the pilothouse was wounded in the face, however, and nearly blinded by a shell. Worden had an illustrious career, rising to the rank of Rear Admiral. He died 19 October 1897 in Washington, D.C and is buried in Pawling Cemetery, Pawling, NY.

CSS Virginia (formerly USS Merrimack) vs USS Monitor. Illustration possibly by Howard Gerrard.

The battle received worldwide attention, and it had immediate effects on navies around the world. The preeminent naval powers, Great Britain and France, halted further construction of wooden-hulled ships, and others followed suit. Although Britain and France had been engaged in an iron-clad arms race since the 1830s, the Battle of Hampton Roads signaled a new age of naval warfare had arrived for the whole world. A new type of warship called a monitor, was produced on the principle of the original. The use of a small number of very heavy guns, mounted so that they could fire in all directions (i.e. in a turret), was first demonstrated by Monitor but soon became standard in warships of all types.

 

John Lorimer Warden At the time of the battle he was a 44-year-old lieutenant with the sword presented to him by New York State.

 

 After the battle the state of New York celebrated their hero with the commissioning of a custom-made 37-inch (940 mm) gold-and-silver inlaid sword from Tiffany & Co. The handle was emblazoned with the Roman god of the sea, Neptune, and included a gold-plated sheath and gold embroidered belt made at the cost of $550. ($16,128 adjusted for inflation as of 2022.). In 1912, fifteen years after his death, Worden's family donated the sword to the Naval Academy, where it rested until 1931, when it was stolen. The subsequent naval investigation yielded no leads.

 The sword was missing for over six decades until 1998, when the FBI began an investigation into several dealers of the PBS show Antiques Roadshow. By 2002, three men were in jail for $1 million in memorabilia fraud. The FBI continued to delve further into the records of the appraisers, searching for more stolen items. The sword had been purchased by an appraiser and then resold to a collector. After the FBI verified the sword was stolen, it was confiscated and returned to the Naval Academy.

 Sources:

Karen Smith