Battle of Spanish Fort site photos

(May 2013) Enlarge Siege of Spanish Fort, Alabama

This photograph was taken in the afternoon on May 26, 2013. The historical marker is at the entrance to a subdivision on Spanish Main Dr.

Maj. Gen. Canby led to within a half a mile of Spanish Fort, Alabama held by 1800 men under Confederate Gen. Randall Gibson the fort was unfinished and vulnerable on the left where the ground was flat.

At 3:30 AM Gibson threw out a strong skirmish line to gain time to improve his defenses. Surprised, union pickets retreated. Later that day Canby's Union forces advanced under fire and threw back the Confederates. Canby surrounded the fort after dark. Gibson launched several sorties against the forces of Union Major General E.R.S. Canby. He attacked the union line in front of Fort McDermott taking 23 prisoners but could not overcome and the Union superior strength.

Canby advanced his lines until on April 8, 1865, his 53 siege and 37 field guns began the final massive bombardment. Late on the eighth, with the federals only 30 yards from the Fort on his left, Gibson fired all of his 46 guns to test their capabilities. The union gunners quickly responded suppressing the defenders lighter guns. Under cover of their hellish cannonade, US Col. James Geddes of the eight Iowa broke through on Gibson's left and moved to flank the entire northern defenses. Gibson counterattacked, but under cover of night, spiked his guns and withdrew along a narrow tread way to Fort Huger.

Taken from brochure for the Campaigns for Mobile 1864-85

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(May 2010) Enlarge Battle of Spanish Fort, Alabama, March 26-April 8, 1865 This Naval Battery is located between two private homes on a dead-end street in a subdivision in Spanish Fort, Baldwin County, Alabama. I tried to be mindful of the privacy of the owners when taking the photos. The rise in the land made this site the obvious choice for an artillery battery. The photos were taken May 30, 2010.		(May 2010) Enlarge Site of Naval Battery Manned with sailors and commanded by Lt. Commander Gillis of the U.S.S. Milwaukee, which was sunk by Confederate torpedo in the Blakely River. Armed with two 4.2 inch Parrott rifled cannon firing projectiles weighing 30 lbs., these guns fired on Confederate Batteries Red Fort and Slocomb during the Battle of Spanish Fort, March 26-April 8, 1865. There are various interpretive signs of various styles throughout the town of Spanish Fort which relate to the battle. Heavy rains on May 30, 2010 precluded any more photos from Spanish Fort.