Trent's Reach

The famous battle between the ironclad ships Monitor and Virginia (or Merrimack) was in March 1862. After that, the Union navy used ironclads in offensive operations, but the Confederates not so much.
However, on today's date in 1865, three ironclads led an 11-ship Confederate fleet down the James River with the objective of destroying Grant's US Army base at City Point.
The Union had shore batteries at various points, including Trent's Reach where the main battle took place. It also, of course, had ships to defend the river, but fewer than previously or subsequently because many had gone to help capture Fort Fisher in Carolina. And of the ships it did have ready to deploy, only one, the Onondaga, was ironclad.
Four of the Confederate ships, including two ironclads, went aground, and Grant energetically prodded the US Navy into putting its fleet into action. The result was that the Confederates lost two ships, had two others badly damaged, and were forced to retreat.
The offensive got the attention of Lincoln, who dispatched Admiral David Farragut to the scene. The aging war hero, who had been largely inactive since his great victory at Mobile Bay the previous August, arrived after the fighting at Trent's Reach was done.  He inspected the Onondaga, as one Irish crew member reported.
Farragut, the sailor said, "who looks hale and hearty, smiled approvingly on the heroes of Dutch Gap, as he paced the deck of our 'Iron Leviathan.' He had a short stay, but was evidently well pleased."