RESERVIST MAGAZINE A LIGHT ON YESTERYEAR Learning from the past to secure future readiness: A Civil War Naval “Staff Ride” Story by Cmdr. Jonathan B. Bernhardt There are specific dates in history where one day, one event changes warfare (and sometimes history itself) forever. From these events, warfare fundamentally changes and nations must adapt and meet this new threat or new weapon (e.g., the first use of gunpower in battle, the airplane, and first test and use of atomic weapons). For Coast Guard reservists, as well as those from the other services assigned to the Joint Staff South in Suffolk, Virginia, one of those era-changing events happened only yards from our installation: the battle of Hampton Roads (also known as the Battle of the Ironclads) between USS Monitor and the Confederate ship Virginia (formerly, the USS Merrimac) in Spring 1862 during the Civil War. The reservists of the Joint Staff South, including the staff of Coast Guard Reserve Unit JSS, work side-by-side on joint exercises and training with combatant commands, allies and partners. As part of regular professional development at Joint Staff South, we look to historical events to help inform our current and future state and how to better prepare for the challenges ahead. The staff ride concept (an in-depth look at a past battle, operation or campaign) helps the team to understand those events, decision points, leadership decisions and technology and how these lessons from the past can intersect with current or future conflicts. It dates back to the late 19th century when European officers attempted to study strategy and tactics of past victories, then apply them to their own planning (most 38 RESERVIST � Issue 1 • 2022 notably in pre-World War I Germany). Army officers in the U.S. started to conduct staff rides in earnest after World War II. Our 2021 staff ride included a variety of modifications to ensure safety amid the ongoing pandemic. Over the course of 2021, we featured virtual lectures on the battle of Hampton Roads to orient students to the geographic and historical landscape, as well as a visit to the Mariners’ Museum in Newport News, Virginia, in September which houses artifacts from the battle. Two days that changed naval warfare forever Before March 1862, the seas were ruled for centuries by wooden ships under sail (and more recently assisted by steam power) with cannon in mostly fixed positions. Not much had changed in ship construction and tactics in hundreds of years. A sailor of the 1860s could have easily fallen in with a ship’s crew in Nelson’s era in the Napoleonic Wars, the American Revolution, and probably back to the 1600s, as there had been little change in basic ship construction, handling, or daily shipboard life. That fundamentally changed when the ironclad Monitor steamed into the Chesapeake Bay, headed to Hampton Roads on the night of March 8, 1862, and took up station amidst the immediate casualties of the first Union naval engagement with 40-gun frigate Virginia earlier that day. The Congress, the Cumberland, and the Minnesota had all taken damage or been sunk by the Virginia, and Union naval commanders worried
