John H. Burroughs

Who is John H. Burroughs?

John H. Burroughs was a naval engineer and shipwright who played an important role in the construction of the Confederate ironclad warships CSS Virginia and CSS Richmond, and who later served as Superintendent of the Gosport Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, Virginia, while it was under occupation by Union forces during the American Civil War.

Burroughs was a native of Mathews County, Virginia, and spent most of his career at the Gosport Yard. His skills required him to play an important role in ironclad warship construction at the yard in 1861 and 1862. Yet, as a staunch and open Union sympathizer, he was said to have spent the early part of the American Civil War under constant guard by Confederate authorities.

Once Union forces overran the Yard in 1862, Burroughs was named Superintendent there.