Fort Bowyer (Gasque, Baldwin County, Alabama)
Gasque, Baldwin County · Alabama · War of 1812
History & Significance
After seizing Mobile from Spanish hands in April 1813, the United States began constructing Fort Bowyer under the command of Colonel John Bowyer, who completed the work in June 1813. The fort, which initially had 14 guns, was made of sand and logs and fan-shaped, with the curved face facing the ship channel into Mobile Bay.
On the landward side there was a bastion, flanked by two demi-bastions. After initial abandonment, General Andrew Jackson sent 160 U.S. Army regulars and approximately a dozen cannon under Major William Lawrence to reoccupy and repair the fort in August 1814.
During the First Battle in September 1814, Americans repulsed the British land attack on September 14. After two hours of bombardment, HMS Hermes ran aground and lay helpless under fire from the fort, with its crew abandoning the vessel and setting it on fire.
Recognizing the fort's strategic importance, General Jackson ordered it strengthened, and its garrison comprised 370 officers and men of the 2nd Infantry Regiment, with Jackson proclaiming "ten thousand men cannot take it." During the Second Battle in February 1815, the British surrounded and bombarded the fort's seaward side with warships and landed approximately 5,000 men east of the fort.
Royal Engineer Colonel Burgoyne constructed a siege line from which cannons could bombard the fort's undefended side. After holding out for five days against overwhelming force, Lawrence surrendered.
The battle took place after the Treaty of Ghent had been signed but before news had reached that part of America. News arrived on February 13, and when the treaty's ratification was confirmed, the British withdrew. Between 1819 and 1834 the United States built a new masonry fortification, Fort Morgan, on the site of Fort Bowyer.
Key Facts
Map
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🧳 Visiting
What you’ll see when you visit:
- War of 1812 earthen and stockade fortification on Mobile Point
- Two British attacks—one repelled in 1814, one successful in 1815
- Historic site predating the more substantial Fort Morgan
- Mobile Bay strategic defensive position
- Interpretive context of post-treaty conflict during War of 1812
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Bowyer
- https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/fort-bowyer/
- https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/battles-fort-bowyer-war-1812
- https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=225072
- https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=187342
- https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=118334