Norfolk Highlights 1584 - 1881
By George Holbert Tucker
Chapter 46
Lincoln Plans the Recapture of Norfolk
Abraham Lincoln never set foot in Norfolk, but he visited the area
briefly in 1862 and helped plan the campaign that resulted in taking
the city from the Confederate forces.
McClellan's army was in the first stages of the Peninsula campaign,
and the CSS Virginia (the former USS Merrimack) and the Monitor had
just locked horns on March 9, 1862, in Hampton Roads. At that point,
Lincoln decided to visit Fort Monroe, "to ascertain by personal
observation whether some further vigilance and vigor might not be infused
into the operation of the Army and Navy."
As the presidential party, consisting of Lincoln, Secretary of State
Salmon P. Chase, Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, and Brigadier General
Egbert Ludovickus Viele left Washington on May 5, 1862, news arrived
that the Confederate forces had withdrawn from Yorktown. The trip down
the bay on the Coast Guard cutter Miami was rough and it was not until
around nine o'clock the next night that Fort Monroe was reached.
After an early breakfast, the presidential party visited the Monitor
and then went over to the Rip Raps. Just then the Virginia steamed into
sight off Sewells Point, and as it was surmised that she might again
engage the Monitor, the party took time off to see a fight that never
took place.
That night it was decided that Norfolk must be captured in order to
deprive the Virginia of her supply base. And the next morning a bombardment
of the Sewells Point batteries was begun. But the sudden appearance
of the Virginia put an end to the attack. It was then realized that
a successful landing could only be made on the south side of Hampton
Roads in a spot out of range of the Virginia's guns. And on May 9, 1862,
Secretary Chase, Gen. John E. Wool, and others conducted a reconnaissance
operation off Ocean View.
Returning to Fort Monroe, they found Lincoln in consultation with a
pilot familiar with Norfolk area waters. The party then set out again,
this time including Lincoln, who refused to permit an attack on Confederates
that could easily be seen on the beach. That night, six thousand troops
were ferried across to Ocean View on the Old Bay Line steamer Adelaide.
No resistance was made. In the meantime, panic reigned in Norfolk where
the Confederate forces, under General
Benjamin Huger, were preparing to evacuate the city and burn the
Gosport Navy Yard.
Lincoln, Chase, Stanton, and General Wool came over to Ocean View early
the next morning but found that the troops had already begun their march
toward Norfolk. Chase and Wool followed them, but Lincoln and Stanton
returned to Fort Monroe to await the results. Little resistance was
encountered by the troops, but upon reaching Indian Pole Bridge (now
the site of the Granby Street Bridge), they found that it had been fired
by the retreating Confederates and a detour had to be made.
Mayor William Wilson Lamb and other members of the Norfolk Council
were awaiting them on Princess Anne Road with a flag of truce, and General
Wool accepted the surrender of the city and rode back into Norfolk with
Mayor Lamb and Secretary Chase in the mayor's carriage.
After Mayor Lamb had explained the surrender to a crowd at the Court
House, three cheers were given for Jefferson Davis and three groans
for Lincoln. Later that evening, when General Wool and Secretary Chase
returned to Fort Monroe, they went straight to Lincoln's room.
"Norfolk is ours!" Wool announced. Stanton was so delighted
with the news that he hugged the general. The next morning as the presidential
party was about to embark on the USS Baltimore to return to Washington,
Commodore Louis M. Goldsborough announced that the Virginia had been
blown up by her men off Craney Island. Lincoln then visited Norfolk's
inner harbor to see the still-burning Navy Yard. Anchoring off Norfolk,
he and his party discovered that the Monitor and other United States
vessels had preceded them.
After a brief stop at Fort Monroe, the Baltimore proceeded back to
Washington. In the words of Secretary Chase, "So ended a brilliant
week's campaign by the President."
 Chapter
47
The Hanging of Dr. Wright
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