two wooden Union frigates, the USS Cumberland and the USS Congress. The Union ships were escorted by some gunboats and backed by shore batteries. Buchanan wrote later: "The general order under which the gunboat squadron went into action required that, in the absence of all signals, each commanding officer was to exercise his own judgment and discretion in doing all the damage he could to the enemy and to sink before surrendering." To support the CSS Virginia in this action, Capt. John Randolph Tucker, commanding the rest of the James River Squadron, ran past the shore batteries to join the battle, with the CSS Teaser "puffing with all the energy of a short-winded tug." They arrived just as the CSS Virginia had managed to sink the USS Cumberland. The squadron immediately joined in the battle with the CSS Virginia against the Union blockade and shore batteries. One eyewitness described the "little Teaser... pushed her way in between the Patrick Henry and Jamestown, and advancing close to the shore fired her one gun in face of the battery of sixty guns. Probably her insignificance saved her, for now every shot seemed concentrated upon the [Virginia]..." The Confederate squadron now concentrated their fire on the USS Congress and forced its surrender. When the Confederate ships charged with accepting the surrender and escorting the captured officers were fired upon by Union shore batteries, Buchanan then ordered another boat to burn her, with Webb's Teaser as cover. When they were also fired upon, Buchanan then ordered his men to destroy the USS Congress using "hot shot and incendiary shell". The arrival of the USS Monitor on the following day resulted in the "world's first battle between ironclads". Neither the CSS Virginia, nor the USS Monitor suffered major damage. However, the Monitor's arrival forced the Confederate ships eventually to retreat without having broken the blockade. Webb was reported later as "slightly wounded" during the battle. Buchanan took pride in his gunboats: "Their judgment in selecting their positions for attacking the enemy was good; their constant fire was destructive, and contributed much to the success of the day." The Confederate Congress also "thanked" Webb. "Special duty" During 1862–1863, Webb was stationed at Charleston station for "special duty." This term was typically used for a secret activity. In this case, Webb was made commander of the "Special Expedition", a squadron of small boats manned by sixty officers