Portsmouth Naval Hospital
Administering to Both the Union and Confederacy
This is the site of the Portsmouth Naval Hospital which served both the Union and the Confederacy during the Civil War. The Portsmouth Naval Hospital, the U.S. Navy’s first hospital, was founded in 1827 by Secretary of the Navy Samuel L. Southard. Architect John Haviland created Building No. One’s impressive Greek Revival design which features an embellished Doric portico of 10 columns. The facility opened in 1830. The hospital was built on the site of the Fort Nelson of the Revolutionary War and War of 1812 era, which was a fortification made obsolete by the construction of Fortress Monroe across Hampton Roads on Old Point Comfort. Materials salvaged from the fort’s demolition were used in the construction of the hospital building.
When Virginia left the Union the hospital was used by the Confederacy until Portsmouth was abandoned by Southern forces on May 10, 1862. The Union maintained the hospital through out the remainder of the War supporting the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron.
In the hospital grave yard is a memorial to the 337 dead of USS Cumberland and USS Congress killed when these vessels were sunk on March 8, 1862, by the CSS Virginia. Fifty-eight Confederates are also buried there.
Marker is on Crawford Parkway 0.1 miles east of Court Street, on the right when traveling west.
Courtesy hmdb.org
