Hampton Roads
a broad, deep arm of Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of James river, between Hampton and Norfolk, Va.; with Newport, Old Point Comfort, Fort Monroe, Fort Wool, and Thimble Shoal Lighthouse at or near the entrance to the bay. Since the Civil War the locality has become popular as a summer and winter resort and as a stopping place for Northern invalids on their way to and from Florida. Its attractions include the beach, bathing places, and promenades of Old Point Comfort, the famous Fort Monroe, the old village of Hampton, National Home for Disabled Soldiers and Sailors, United States National Cemetery, and unsurpassed facilities for short excursions, fishing and yachting. In 1861 the Confederates seized the United States frigate "Merrimac" at Norfolk, covered her hull with railroad iron, and under the name of "The Virginia" sent her to attack the United States vessels lying in Hampton Roads in 1862. She rammed the frigate "Cumberland," which sank in 45 minutes; forced the "Congress" on the Shoal, where she was disabled, set on fire, and blown up, but was prevented by her draught from getting within striking distance of the "Minnesota." On the following morning she reappeared to attack the "Minnesota," but was suddenly confronted by the new Union iron-clad "Monitor," just arrived from New York, which fought her so effectually that she withdrew from the fight, steamed up the river, and refused to come out a second time to meet the "floating Yankee cheese-box."
HAMSTRING. At the back of the knee-joint the tendon of the biceps muscle forms the outer hamstring, and the sartorius (tailor's muscle), with the tendons of the gracilis , semi-tendinosus, and semi-membranosus, the inner hamstring, with the two heads of the gastrocnemius muscle between. The hamstring muscles extend the hip and flex the knee.