The Battle of Mobile Bay

Battle of Mobile Bay

In the early daylight of August 5, 1864, the Federal fleet began its attack on Fort Morgan. Farragut's plan was for the fleet to dash up the narrow ship channel directly under the guns of the fort. The wooden ships were lashed together in pairs with the Tecumseh and three other ironclad monitors leading the way. As the tiny Confederate fleet waits, only the monitor Techumseh is destroyed by the "torpedos" (mines).

USS Tecumseh, an iron-hulled, single-turret monitor, was launched 12 September 1863, at Jersey City, New Jersey. Although slated to strengthen Rear Admiral David G. Farragut's West Gulf Blockading Squadron for operations against Confederate fortifications guarding Mobile Bay, Tecumseh served temporarily with the James River service of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron. To guard Union shipping against Confederate forces, the Union Army and Navy worked closely together by blocking the channel to prevent Confederate warships from coming down the upper navigable reaches of the James. Tecumseh was instrumental during these operations, sinking four hulks and a schooner. Although Tecumseh was involved in a number of notable operations along the James River, its most famous battle would be its last--the Battle of Mobile Bay.
Tecumseh arrived off Mobile Bay on the evening of 4 August 1864. Shortly after 6 a.m. on 5 August, the 18-ship Union squadron crossed the bar at flood tide and moved into the bay with Tecumseh leading the van of monitors, which included USS Manhattan, USS Winnebago, and USS Chickasaw. The ironclads passed between the fortified headlands to starboard of the lightly-protected wooden steam frigates, taking the brunt of Confederate Fort Morgan's heavy guns. Just after 7 a.m., Tecumseh opened fire on the fort's batteries. Meanwhile, Confederate Admiral Franklin Buchanan's squadron, centered around the heavy ironclad ram CSS Tennessee, sortied to meet the attackers. When Tecumseh veered left to engage the Confederate ram, the Union monitor hit an underwater mine or torpedo. After a tremendous explosion, Tecumseh heeled over and sank rapidly with its captain and 92 crewmen. As Tecumseh rolled over, two shells fired from nearby Fort Morgan struck the sinking monitor.

Fort Morgan
Entrance to the Fort. The Seven flags represent France, Great Britain, the Alabama Militia, the United States, the Confederacy and the State of Alabama.

 
Entering the connecting tunnel under the Glacis. The floor of this tunnel was originally sand

 
View of the Sallyport from the tunnel. The Sallyport is the main entrance of the fort.

 
Fort Gaines
With the origin, the embrasures for rifles. The bastion, which contained a store of powder, and got a shelter for the troops in the event of bombardments, is accessible by this structure, which connects a tunnel crossing the ramparts with the bastion.

A combined Union force initiated operations to close Mobile Bay to blockade running. Some Union forces landed on Dauphin Island and laid siege to Fort Gaines. On August 5, Farragut's Union fleet of eighteen ships entered Mobile Bay and received a devastating fire from Forts Gaines and Morgan and other points.  After passing the forts, Farragut forced the Confederate naval forces, under Adm. Franklin Buchanan, to surrender, which effectively closed Mobile Bay. By August 23, Fort Morgan, the last big holdout, fell, shutting down the port. The city, however, remained uncaptured.

At Mobile, a small but powerful squadron of ironclads and gunboats, commanded by Adm. Franklin Buchanan,

Buchanan, FranklinImage, Source: b&w film copy neg.
1800–1874, American naval officer, b. Baltimore. Appointed a midshipman in 1815, Buchanan rose to be a commander in 1841. He was chief adviser to Secretary of the Navy George Bancroft in planning the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis and was its first superintendent (1845–47). In Sept., 1861, he took the rank of captain in the Confederate navy, commanding the Virginia (formerly the Merrimack) against the Union blockading squadron in Hampton Roads (March 8, 1863). Wounded in that engagement, he took no part in the battle of the Monitor and Merrimack the next day. Promoted to ranking officer in the Confederate navy, he was forced to surrender to David G. Farragut in the battle of Mobile Bay (Aug. 5, 1864).

achieved this defensive objective with great effectiveness by keeping a large Union blockading fleet at bay for three and one-half years. This tactic allowed scores of blockade runners to enter and leave Mobile Bay, almost with impunity.

The vast quantity of war material and supplies brought in by these fast, sleek vessels contributed greatly to the effectiveness of Southern armies and, no doubt, prolonged the war. Although military victory was virtually impossible for the Confederacy after Gettysburg, a negotiated peace settlement remained a possibility.

The South's obstinacy, together with mounting Union casualties and the wartime suppression of civil liberties, resulted in widespread discontent throughout the North. So great was the unrest that President Lincoln faced possible defeat in the November election of 1864. If Lincoln lost, the Democrats, prompted by a strong peace faction, were prepared to negotiate with the Confederates.

In the spring of 1864, Ulysses S. Grant, the newly appointed general-in-chief of all Northern armies, knew that time was running out for the Union. Only a succession of victories would keep Lincoln in the White House and prolong the war until the South was ready to stop fighting. Grant did something that somehow had eluded his predecessors: He developed a plan for a coordinated, simultaneous offensive by all Union forces - army and navy - to bring the South to its knees. Grants objectives were twofold: a thrust into the South's heartland via Atlanta and Mobile; and continuous, unrelenting pressure on Robert E. Lee's army in Virginia.

The only advantage the Confederates had was the 180 mines that blocked the channel, their effectiveness attested to by the loss of the powerful ironclad Tecumseh. During the Civil War, it had been demonstrated that forts and earthworks could damage ships, but the had difficulty sinking them, particularly if ships were moving. As such, Farragut was reasonably certain that he could withstand the fire of Fort Morgan and pass into the bay, which was after all, his primary objective. The mines, however, caused him concern even though he had a good reason to believe that most of them were duds.

When the Confederate ram Tennessee surrendered around 10:15 a.m., following its final, single-handed foray against 17 ships, the Battle of Mobile Bay ended. Just as the Germans would do 52 years later after their defeat at Jutland, the Confederacy took solace in the damage and casualty comparisons; two Union ships sunk (Tecumseh and Philippi), totaling 2,411 tons, compared with the Confederate loss of one ship sunk (Gaines)

CSS GAINES was hastily constructed by the Confederates at Mobile, Ala., during 1861-62, from unseasoned wood which was partially covered with 2- inch iron plating. GAINES resembled CSS MORGAN except that she had high pressure boilers. Operating in the waters of Mobile Bay, under the command of Lt. J. W. Bennett, CSN, she fought gallantly during the battle of 5 August 1864 until finally run aground by her own officers to avoid surrender to the Union forces.

and two captured (Selma and Tennessee), totaling 2,456 tons - an even swap. A comparison of killed and wounded, however, overwhelmingly favored the Confederacy - 13 to 145 killed and 20 to 170 wounded, for an overall casualty exchange of one to 10.

But the winner of a battle is the side that commands and holds the territory after the last shot is fired. By this standard, Mobile Bay was an undisputed Union victory. Neither the dramatic escape of the Confederate gunboat Morgan

CSS MORGAN was a partially armored gunboat built at Mobile, Ala. in 1861-62. She operated in the waters around Mobile from the time of her completion early in 1862 to the close of hostilities. One reference of October 1862 gave her name as ADMIRAL.

MORGAN, Comdr. G. W. Harrison, CSN, took an active part in the battle of Mobile Bay on 5 August 1864. Situated well to the right of the Confederate line of battle as the enemy proceeded up the channel she was able to deliver a telling broadside raking fire against USS HARTFORD and others. Toward the end of the engagement she was pursued by USS METACOMET but succeeded in driving her off. MORGAN, attempting to avoid capture, then turned toward shallow water, grounded briefly, but continued on her perilous route and reached the guns at Fort Morgan. She dispatched a boat which effected the destruction of a Union gunboat PHILIPPI below the fort. Captain Harrison then saved MORGAN by boldly running the gauntlet up to Mobile. Although hotly pursued and shelled by cruisers for a large part of the 26-mile star-light voyage, she reached the outer obstructions near Mobile at daybreak and that afternoon was permitted to pass through.

 nor the brief defiance of Fort Morgan offset the presence of nearly 40 Union warships, transports and supply vessels that now moved freely around the waters of Mobile Bay, Mississippi Sound and the Gulf of Mexico.

 

 

Land Operations-Mobile Campaign: March 17-April 12, 1865

CONFEDERATE FORCES
(Approximately 12,000 troops.)

Maj. Gen. Dabney H. Maury
(Commanding District of the Gulf)

Thomas's Brigade
Brig. Gen. Bryan M. Thomas

1st Alabama Reserves-Col. Daniel E. Huger
2nd Alabama Reserves-Lt. Col. Junius A. Law
21st Alabama Infantry-Lt. Col. James M. Williams

Gibson's Brigade
Brig. Gen. Randall L. Gibson

1st, 16th & 20th Louisiana Infantry-Lt. Col. Robert H. Lindsay
4th Louisiana (battalion) & 25th Louisiana Infantry-Col. Francis C. Zacharie
19th Louisiana Infantry-Maj. Camp Flourney
4th, 13th, 30th Louisiana Infantry- --- ---
Battalion Sharpshooters-Col. Francis L. Campbell

Taylor's Command
Col. Thomas H. Taylor

City Battalion & Special Service (4 Cos.)-Maj. William Hartwell
Pelham Cadets Battalion-Capt. P. Williams, Jr.

Holtzclaw's Brigade
Brig. Gen. James T. Holtzclaw

18th Alabama Infantry-Capt. A. C. Greene
32nd & 58th Alabama Infantry-Col. Bushrod Jones
36th Alabama Infantry-Col. Thomas H. Herndon
38th Alabama Infantry-Capt. Charles E. Bussey

Sappers & Miners
Capt. L. Hutchinson

Hutchinson's company-Lt. R. Middleton
Vernon's company-Lt. J. Armstrong

French's Division
Brig. Gen. Francis M. Cockrell

Cockrell's Brigade
Col. James McCown

1st & 3rd Missouri Cavalry (dismounted)- Capt. Joseph H. Neal
1st & 4th Missouri Infantry-Capt. Charles L. Edmondson
2nd and 6th Missouri Infantry-Lt. Col. Stephen Cooper
3rd & 5th Missouri Infantry-Capt. Benjamin E. Guthrie
Steede's (Mississippi) Cavalry battalion-Maj. Abner C. Steede
Abbay's battery-Capt. George F. Abbay

Ector's Brigade
Col. David Coleman

29th North Carolina Infantry-Capt. John W. Gudger
39th North Carolina Infantry-Maj. Paschal C. Hughes
9th Texas Infantry-Col. Miles A. Dillard
10th Texas Cavalry (dismounted)-Capt. Jacob Ziegler
14th Texas Cavalry (dismounted)-Lt. Col. Abram Harris
32nd Texas Cavalry (dismounted)-Capt. Nathan Anderson

Sears's Brigade
Col. Thomas N. Adaire

4th Mississippi Infantry-Maj. Thomas P. Nelson
7th Mississippi Infantry (battalion)-Capt. Samuel D. Harris
35th Mississippi Infantry-Capt. George W. Oden
36th Mississippi Infantry-Lt. Col. Edward Brown
39th Mississippi Infantry-Capt. C. W. Gallaher
46th Mississippi Infantry-Capt. J. A. Barwick

Clanton's Brigade
Brig. Gen. James H. Clanton

3rd Alabama Reserves-Major Strickland
6th Alabama Cavalry-Lt. Col. Washington T. Lary
8th Alabama Cavalry-Lt. Col. Thomas L. Faulkner
Keyser's detachment-Capt. Joseph C. Keyser

Armistead's Cavalry Brigade
Col. Charles G. Armistead

8th Alabama Cavalry-Col. Charles P. Ball
16th Confederate-Lt. Col. Philip B. Spence
Lewis's battalion-Maj. William V. Harrell

Maury's Command
Col. Henry Maury

15th Confederate-Col. Henry Maury
Tobin's battery-Capt. Thomas F. Tobin

ARTILLERY RESERVES, ETC.

Left Wing, Defenses of Mobile
Col. Charles A. Fuller

Artillery
Maj. Henry A. Clinch

1st Louisiana (Co. C)-Capt. John H. Lamon
1st Louisiana (Co. I)-Capt. Edward G. Butler
Coffin's (Virginia) battery-Lt. J. B> Humphreys
State Reserves-Capt. William H. Homer
State Reserves-Lt. R. H. Bush
Barry's battery-Lt. Richard L. Watkins
Young's battery-Capt. Alfred J. Young

Batteries
Lt. Col. L. Hoxton

Dent's battery-Capt. Staunton H. Dent
Douglas's battery-Lt. Ben Hardin
Eufaula battery-Lt. William H. Woods
Fenner's battery-Lt. W. T. Cluverius
Garrity's battery-Capt. James Garrity
Rice's battery-Capt. T. W. Rice
Thrall's battery-Capt. James C. Thrall

Right Wing, Defenses of Mobile
Col. Melancthon Smith

Trueheart's Battalion
Capt. Charles L. Lumsden

Lovelace's battery-Lt. William M. Selden
Lumsden's battery-Lt. A. C. Hargrove

Cobb's Battalion
Capt. Cuthbert H. Slocomb

Phillip's battery-Capt. J. W. Phillips
Ritter's battery-Capt. William L. Ritter
Slocomb's battery-Lt. J. Ad. Chalaron

Gee's Battalion
Maj. James T. Gee

Perry's battery-Capt. Thomas J. Perry
Phelan's battery-Capt. John Phelan
Turner's battery-Capt. William B. Turner
1st Alabama Artillery (detachment)-Lt. P. Lee Hammond

Grayson's Battalion
Capt. John B. Grayson

Cowan's battery-Capt. James J. Cowan
Culpeper's battery-Lt. J. L. Moses
Tarrant's battery-Capt. Edward Tarrant
Winston's battery-Capt. William C. Winston

BATTERIES, ETC.
Col. William E. Burnet

Battery McIntosh
Maj. W. C. Capers

1st Louisiana Artillery (Co. A & D)
1st Mississippi Artillery (Co. L)

Battery Gladden
Capt. Richard C. Bond

2nd Alabama Artillery (Co. C & E)
1st Louisiana Artillery (Co. B & G)

Battery Tilghman

Green's (Kentucky) battery-Lt. H. S. Quisenberry

Battery Missouri
Capt. James Gibney

22nd Louisiana Regiment (Co. E & K)
Holmes's light battery

Picket Fleet

1st Mississippi Artillery (4 Cos.)-Maj. Jeff. L. Wofford

Battery Buchanan

Crew-Gun Boat Gaines-Capt. P. U. Murphy, C.S. Navy
3rd Missouri Light Artillery-Lt. T. B. Catron.