Fort Morgan (Mobile Point, Baldwin County, Alabama)
Mobile Point, Baldwin County · Alabama · War of 1812, Civil War
History & Significance
After the War of 1812, the United States began a program to strengthen its seacoast defenses, with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers taking over construction under Captain René Edward De Russy using enslaved laborers. Skilled masons, many of which were enslaved African Americans, built the fortification which contains more than 46 million cubic yards of bricks.
Eight days before Alabama declared secession, Colonel John B. Todd attacked the fort with four companies of Alabama volunteers, capturing it before dawn on January 3, 1861. The fort's star shape was designed to control the main ship channel into Mobile Bay with heavy artillery concentration, supported by extensive land defenses to withstand siege.
The introduction of rifled artillery and steam-powered warships made masonry fortifications obsolete, a fact demonstrated on August 5, 1864, when Farragut's fleet passed with the loss of only one ship. Following the Civil War, the Endicott Board recommended five modern concrete gun batteries constructed between 1895 and 1904, housing 19 guns and mortars that were manned during the Spanish-American War and World War I. The United States Department of War transferred Fort Morgan to Alabama in 1946, and the fort was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960.
Key Facts
Map
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🧳 Visiting
What you’ll see when you visit:
- Pentagonal masonry fort at Mobile Bay's mouth, built 1819–1834
- Civil War battle site (1864 Battle of Mobile Bay)
- Period barracks, gun emplacements, and casemates
- Exhibits on War of 1812 and Civil War history
- Waterfront setting with views across Mobile Bay
Sources
- https://ahc.alabama.gov/properties/ftmorgan/ftmorgan.aspx
- https://ahc.alabama.gov/FtMorganHistoryFacts.aspx
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Morgan_(Alabama)
- https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/fort-morgan-museum-and-state-historic-site/
- https://www.battlefields.org/learn/civil-war/battles/mobile-bay
- https://www.nps.gov/articles/fort-morgan-and-the-battle-of-mobile-bay-teaching-with-historic-places.htm
- https://armyhistory.org/a-tale-of-two-forts/
- https://www.nps.gov/articles/fort-morgan.htm