This Month in the Civil War: Fort Blakely, the End of the Confederacy

From the American Battlefield Trust 2023 April calendar.

APRIL 2, 1865

**  Battle of Fort Blakely, Alabama.

APRIL 2, 1865

**  Union breakthrough at Petersburg, Virginia.

APRIL 3, 1865

**  Union forces occupy Richmond, Virginia.

APRIL 5, 1862

**   Siege of Yorktown, Virginia begins and lasts for 28 days.

APRIL 6, 1862

**  Battle of Shiloh, Tennessee begins.

APRIL 8, 1864

**  Battle of Mansfield, Louisiana (Red River Expedition).

APRIL 9,1865

**  Robert E. Lee surrenders to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia.

--Old Secesh

Civil War Events in April: Siege of Fort Blakely Begins, Richmond Occupied, Battle of Shiloh

From the April 2022 American Battlefield Trust calendar.

APRIL 2, 1865

**  Battle of Fort Blakely, Alabama begins.

APRIL 2, 1865

**  Union Breakthrough at Petersburg, Virginia

APRIL 3, 1865

**  Union forces occupy Richmond, Virginia

APRIL 5, 1862

**  Siege of Yorktown, Virginia, begins and lasts 28 days

APRIL 6, 1862

**  The Battle of Shiloh begins

APRIL 8, 1864

**  Battle of Mansfield, Louisiana (Red River Expedition)

APRIL 8, 1864

**  The U.S. Senate passes the 13th Amendment.  Abolishes slavery.

--Old Secesh

American Battlefield Trust & Fort Blakely, Alabama

From the American Battlefield Trust April 2022 calendar.

FORT BLAKELY, ALABAMA

126 acres saved

The battlefield at Fort Blakely (located east of Mobile) is a history-laden landscape in which 16,00 Federals, composed of nearly one-third U.S. Colored Troops (USCT) overran Confederate defense in a raging contest on April 9, 1865 -- the same day Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered  the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Courthouse.

The Trust and its partners, including the Conservation Fund and Historic Fort Blakely State Park, have saved 126 acres at Fort Blakely.

(The Union forces numbered 45,000 against 4,000 Confederate defenders.  Not too surprising how this ended.)

--Old Secesh

Preservation at Alabama's Fort Blakely-- Part 2: Sixty Acre Site

This newly acquired land is arguably the most important part of the whole battlefield as this is where the U.S. Colored Troops overran the Confederates.  The 60-acre site, known as Blakely Bluff is expected to contain valuable archaeological evidence related to the black experience.  The protection of this land will allow the University of South Alabama greater opportunities for field work at the site.

Writer Bill Finch who promotes Gulf Coast  conservation says:  "The involvement of black troops in critical U.S. battles like Fort Blakely  is largely untold.  Between the Revolution and the Civil War, more than 200,000 black troops fought for the U.S. prior to  being granted full citizenship.

"Today's accomplishment protects  one of the last critical pieces of  the war's most poignant battles,  prefiguring the nation's long battle for civil rights that followed.  The result is  one of the region's largest, best-preserved  and most significant Civil War parks."

This newly acquired land will reportedly restrict future development of the property as well.

Black troops also contributed to the Union victory at the Battle of Forks Road outside Wilmington, North Carolina in February 1865.

--Old Secesh

Preservation to Be Done at Alabama's Fort Blakely-- Part 1: 'The Last Stand of the Confederacy'

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

Illinois' John C. Black-- Part 7: First of Five Pairs of Brothers Receiving Medals of Honor in the War

As with many Medals of Honor earned during the war, he did not receive it until more than 30 years later, October 21, 1893.  His brother was also a Medal of Honor recipient, also receiving his much later, October 2, 1893.

This made them the first pair of five pairs of brothers to receive the Medals for Civil War service.

John Black, or Charlie as he was called, was promoted to colonel on December 31, 1862, and participated in the capture of Arkansas Post, the Vicksburg Campaign and the capture of Fort Blakely, Alabama, near the end of the war.

He also frequently held command of various brigades in the department of the Gulf.  At the end of the war, he resigned hos commission and received an honorable discharge on August 15, 1865.  In recognition of his years of meritorious service, particularly at Fort Blakely, Black received a brevet promotion to the rank of Brigadier General of Volunteers in March 1866, with rank dating to April 9, 1865.

--Old Secesh

Where the Civil War Ended: Blakely Park, Alabama-- Part 2

The first memorials were erected at Fort Blakely in the 1990s, one honors five Missouri units which fought at the battle.  Showing the division caused by the war, three were Confederate and two were Union.

More United States Colored Troops fought at the action than at most any other fight during the war.  It is the only location where a full division of black troops, about 5,000, fought.

The location of the fort, on the Blakely River, is also where another 19th century town was located, one that rivaled Mobile at one time as the major place on the bay.  There was also a French colonial plantation and Indian sites dating back 2,500 years.

Here's Hoping the Site Continues.  --Old Secesh

Where the Civil War Ended: Blakely Park, Alabama-- Part 1

From the March 9, 2011, Mobile (Al) Press-Register "Blakely Park, where the Civil War ended, still faces threats" by Gary Busby.

Blakely is known as the site of the last major engagement of the war, but it is not well-known.  That makes it vulnerable to modern-day threats like budget cutting.  The Civil War in Mobile was the subject of a symposium held last weekend at the Historic Blakely State Park and East Point Baptist Church.

Some 50,000 troops on both sides took part in the fight for Mobile's eastern defenses at Spanish Fort and Fort Blakeley in 1865.  It was vastly overshadowed by Lee's surrender to grant in the same week in April and then the Lincoln assassination.

In the 1980s, Blakely became a state historical park with around 3,500 acres.  But, since then, its budget has been drastically cut.  In 2011, close to $170,000 was cut from the budget.

More to Come.  --Old Secesh