ABSTRACT
Sailors’ laundry waved from the riggings of five union warships. They had been blockading the James River for days with no real fighting, so the sailors had washed their clothes and hung them out to dry. As soon as the ship came into range, the Union warships fired on the floating barn, but the cannonballs bounced off the Confederate ship like rubber balls. At the end of the day, Virginia had destroyed three of the blockade ships and sent two others running for cover. The Virginia and its crew pulled back at night with plans to return in the daylight to finish the fight. Frustrated sailors tried using hand guns to shoot in the portals. In the end, it was considered a draw and both ships backed off.
