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Summary:
The metal used to cast this bust of Abraham Lincoln was recovered from the sloop-of-war USS Cumberland, sunk by the ironclad CSS Virginia (also known as the Merrimac) in the famous Battle of Hampton Roads on March 8, 1862. Inventory# 21401 $3,750. Historical Background:
Cumberland served in the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron. As she lay at anchor in Hampton Roads, Va., her watchmen spotted ships approaching from the south. The CSS Virginia was steaming up the Elizabeth River. The Cumberland was helpless to stop the new ironclad Confederate warship. After exchanging a few shots, Virginia smashed her cast iron ram into the Cumberland. In desperate fighting, the Cumberland lost 121 men. At 3:35 p.m., her company was ordered to abandon ship. The Virginia continued to wreak havoc on the union’s wooden ships. The next day, the entire blockading squadron was saved only by the arrival of the first Union ironclad, the USS Monitor. The battle that day between the Monitor and the Merrimac (as it was still called by the North) was the first between two ironclads, forever changing naval combat. The Cumberland was not forgotten in Union memorials of the Battle of Hampton Roads. Poets and songwriters, including Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, wrote stirring pieces hailing her refusal to surrender in the face of certain defeat. When the wreck of the Cumberland was raised, metal on board was used to create another unique memorial. Lincoln Cast of Metal from the USS Cumberland [Abraham Lincoln]. Cast painted metal basrelief profile. 15” x 10” mounted to a 21” x 17” velvet-covered, oval, wooden plaque. Typed label on back explains that the metal from which this piece was cast was recovered from the Cumberland.
“The Bronze of which this bas-relief is made is historic, and was recovere[d] from the sloop-of-war “Cumberland” sunk by the Confederate iron-plated steam ram ‘Merrimac’ during the Civil War, at
Hampton Roads, near Norfolk, Va., March 8, 1862.” (From a typed note taped to the back of the relief)
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