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Battle of Spanish Fort

Battle of the American Civil War

Summary

Battle of the American Civil War

Field	Value
conflict	Battle of Spanish Fort
image	Military maps of the war of the Rebellion-miscellaneous, (1865-1879). LOC 2009581114-11.tif
partof	the American Civil War
date	March 27 –
()
place	Baldwin County, Alabama
result	Union victory
combatant1	USA United States (Union)
combatant2	CSA CSA (Confederacy)
commander1	E.R.S. Canby
commander2	Randall L. Gibson
units1	Army of West Mississippi
units2	Spanish Fort Garrison
strength1	30,000
strength2	2,000
casualties1	657
casualties2	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

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 Blakeley, 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 Blakeley 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 Blakeley, which eventually succumbed late on April 9 in the Battle of Fort Blakeley.

The fall of Spanish Fort and Fort Blakeley permitted Union troops to subsequently enter Mobile unopposed after the Army of Mobile evacuated the City, occupying it on April 12, 1865.

Defense plans

Map displaying line of works ordered by Major General Gardner:

Map of Spanish fort and vicinity, drawn under the direction of Lieutenant Colonel V. Sheliha

References

[https://archive.today/20141207123312/http://www.nps.gov/hps/abpp/battles/al005.htm National Park Service battle description]
"Map of Spanish fort and vicinity". University of North Carolina.

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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