The anniversary of the battle of Mobile Bay, where Admiral Farragut's fleet passed by Forts Morgan and Gaines and into Mobile Bay, Alabama, was last Thursday, August 5th. That was 1864, 146 years ago.
The successful passage and capture of the Confederate ironclad CSS Tennessee, however, did not mark the end of fighting in Mobile Bay. The fort's still remained in Confederate hands and had to be captured.
Fort Gaines soon surrendered. On August 9th, Union troops landed at Navy Cove to the east of Fort Morgan, cutting the fort off from relief and then began pushing entrenchments westward. By August 20th, they were within 200 yards of Morgan. After a major bombardment on August 22nd, the fort surrendered.
Fort Morgan had been designed to withstand a siege for two weeks, which was how long the fort's engineers expected it would take a relief column to arrive and drive off any attackers.
There was, however, to be no relief, plus, those engineers could never have guessed how much more powerful cannons and ships would be by the 1860s.
Another Confederate Fort Falls. --B-R'er
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