From the December 14, 2020, Yellowhammer "Permanent conservation project announced for Baldwin County's Fort Blakely Battlefield" by Sean Ross.
The Conservation Fund, American Battlefield Trust and the University of South Alabama this week announced a new project for about 60 acres of the historic Fort Blakely Battlefield in Baldwin County (near Mobile).
The groups have committed to protecting this site where U.S. Colored Troops fought and won a battle in the closing days of the Civil War.
Many have called this battle "The Last Stand of the Confederacy" because it was fought as hostilities drew to a close. On April 9, 1865, the same day Robert E. Lee was surrendering his Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House, in less than a half hour the fort was overrun by Union troops, including some 5,000 black soldiers.
This encounter marked one of the heaviest concentrations of United States Colored Troops in the war.
About 40% of the 2,000 acre battlefield is protected by the State of Alabama However, probably the most significant quarter of the battlefield was not protected until now.
--Old Secesh
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