Summary
30°41′3.4″N 87°54′58.95″W / 30.684278°N 87.9163750°W
| Battle of Spanish Fort | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the American Civil War | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 United States (Union) |
 CSA (Confederacy) | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| E.R.S. Canby | Randall L. Gibson[1] | ||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
| Army of West Mississippi | Spanish Fort Garrison | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 30,000 | 2,000 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 657 | 744 | ||||||
The Battle of Spanish Fort took place from March 27 to April 8, 1865, in Baldwin County, Alabama, as part of the Mobile Campaign of the Western Theater of the American Civil War.
After the Union victory in the Battle of Mobile Bay, Mobile nevertheless remained in Confederate hands. Spanish Fort was heavily fortified as an eastern defense to the city of Mobile. Fort Huger, Fort (Battery) Tracey, Fort (Battery) McDermott, Fort Alexis, Red Fort, and Old Spanish Fort were all part of the Mobile defenses at Spanish Fort.
Battle edit
Union forces embarked on a land campaign in early 1865 to take Mobile from the east. Maj. Gen. E.R.S. Canby's XIII and XVI corps crossed the Fish River at Marlow Ferry, and moved along the eastern shore of Mobile Bay forcing the Confederates back into their defenses. Union forces then concentrated on Spanish Fort and Fort Blakely, five miles to the north. On March 27, 1865, Canby’s forces rendezvoused at Danley's Ferry and immediately undertook a siege of Spanish Fort. The Union had enveloped the fort by April 1, and on April 8 captured it. Most of the Confederate forces, under the command of Brig. Gen. Randall L. Gibson, escaped and fled to Mobile, but Spanish Fort was no longer a threat.
Fort Blakely continued to fight after Spanish Fort's fall on April 8. However, as early as April 1, when Spanish Fort's fall became inevitable, Union forces had begun moving north in order to concentrate on Fort Blakely, which eventually succumbed late on April 9 in the Battle of Fort Blakely.
The fall of Spanish Fort and Fort Blakely permitted Union troops to subsequently enter Mobile unopposed after the Army of Mobile evacuated the City, occupying it on April 12, 1865.
Defense plans edit
Map displaying line of works ordered by Major General Gardner:[2]
- Map of Spanish fort and vicinity, drawn under the direction of Lieutenant Colonel V. Sheliha
See also edit
References edit
External links edit
- Jordan, Daniel W. III (2019). Operational Art and the Campaign for Mobile, 1864-1865: A Staff Ride Handbook (PDF). Fort Leavenworth, Kan.: Combat Studies Institute Press, US Army Combined Arms Center. ISBN 9781940804545. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
- National Park Service battle description
- Update to the Civil War Sites Advisory Commission Report on the Nation's Civil War Battlefields - State of Alabama
- Fort McDermott
- Conflicts around Mobile during the War Between the States