Due to the combination of the naval action at Elizabeth City on February 10, the Battle of New Bern on March 14, the Battle of South Mills on April 19, and other Union landings during the Peninsula Campaign, Confederate authorities determined Huger could not hold Norfolk. On April 27 he was ordered by Gen. Joseph E. Johnston to abandon the area, salvaging from Gosport Navy Yard as much usable equipment as he could, and join the main army. On May 1 Huger began to evacuate his men and ordered the destruction by fire of the naval yards at both Norfolk as well as nearby Portsmouth. Ten days later Union forces occupied the Gosport Yards. Military historian Webb Garrison, Jr. believed Huger did not leave the area properly, stating: "...the evacuation of Norfolk was handled poorly by Confederate Gen. Benjamin Huger—too much property was left intact." Also lost as a result was the famous Ironclad warship "CSS Virginia", scuttled by her own crew when she could not stay in the James River, get past Union Naval forces at its mouth, nor survive at sea even if it did. The Union would control the facilities at Norfolk for the rest of the war, and the Confederate Congress soon began to investigate Huger's part in the defeat at Roanoke Island. He led his soldiers to Petersburg, where he remained until summoned by Johnston at the end of May.