The Confederate then decided to build themselves ironclads, heavily armored with iron ships. With these, they stole the Union's ship, Merrimack, and turned it into an ironclad they named the Virginia. In early 1862, in Hampton near Chesapeake, the Unions ships were waiting for the Confederate's. When the Confederates arrived, the fight begun quickly. By nightfall, Virginia had sunk two boats while getting some minor damage. A Swedish engineer had built his own ironclad ship name Monitor though. When the Virginia returned back to Hampton Roads on March 9,1862, the Monitor was waiting. After hours of fighting, neither ship was damaged much and the Union forced the Confederates to withdraw. This saved the Union fleet and ensured the continuation of the blockade. This caused the war on sea to a close.
Near Shiloh, Mississippi, on April 6,1862, the Confederates started the Battle of Shiloh, catching Grant by surprise. Grant knew the Confederates were about to win, so he retreated. That night Grant and the soldiers were making a strategy. The next night, the Confederates were in retreat. The Unions were to exhausted to go after the Confederates, but they had won the Battle of Shiloh, giving them a better chance to control the Mississippi River.
The plan of capturing the Mississippi River was to capture New Orleans and they would call up Union force to join Grant's army advancing to North. The only problem was that the two forts guarded the approach to New Orleans from the Gulf of Mexico.
This job was given to General David G. Farragut, a Union naval leader from Tennessee. After attempting to try to destroy the forts, he failed, so he decided to sail past them. On April 24, 1862, Farragut ordered his warships to advance. The Confederates fought hard to stop Farragut from reaching New Orleans, but Farragut cleared the forts and moved on. When they reached New Orleans on the 25th, the city surrendered.