Fort Morgan

Irishtom29

2nd Lieutenant
Joined
Jul 21, 2008
Location
Wheaton Illinois
Nice traditional bastioned artillery fort in decent shape as of my last visit about 4 years ago. The glacis, covered way and ditch are in nice shape. Note the unusual entrance which is a tunnel through the glacis rather than a cut.
128EEB95-9BDF-45EE-BC2D-D3DF806CF9C0.jpeg
3BC4E4E8-CC0A-4EA7-90D5-5B6C0247D5BE.jpeg

665F10B0-B7A6-4CA9-84F8-7472DAC3D36A.jpeg

F813F170-4AC6-425B-8DF6-BC16A42299CC.jpeg
8C7FB60F-CC77-4962-8A65-8F11388FC5F6.jpeg
 
Didn't know this one. Thanks for posting.
There's quite a bit of history down there, dating back to Fort Bowyer during the War of 1812.


But that area's history even goes back three hundred years earlier.

During the 1500's the Spanish Conquistadors were well aquatinted with that part of our Gulf Coast.

Panfilo de Narváez, just to name one.

There's some fantastic fishing down there as well, but that's a different thread.
 
Last edited:
I'm glad folks revived this thread today. Trying to learn more about Fort Morgan, I found this nice aerial shot. This, I guess, shows the tunnel entrance in @Irishtom29 's photo.

FortMorgan_1440px-FortMorgan02_Edibobb.jpg


Credit: Edibobb, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)

This is the original plan from 1817. Looks as if the tunnel entrance was part of the original structure.

Fort_Morgan_Plan_Pdomain.png


Drawn by Captain William Tell Paupin. Via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

Roy B.
 
Can you give some background as to this fort and its use during the Southern Revolution?

Briefly, ...

Fort Morgan is on the east side of the entrance to Mobile Bay. Fort Gaines is on Dauphine Island on the west. They are both pre-war stone / masonry forts. A smaller fort, Ft. Powell, guarded the narrow entrance to Mobile Bay north of Dauphine Island. Various things (like Vicksburg, operations against Texas, the Red River Campaign) kept delaying moves to close Mobile until August 1864, when Farragut led the Gulf Squadron into Mobile Bay, past the forts and the ironclad CSS Tennessee. That's where Farragut said, "**** the torpedoes, full speed ahead." (Or " “**** the torpedoes! Four Bells! Captain Drayton, go ahead! Jouett, full speed!” or whatever he really said.)

Fort Morgan surrendered shortly after, to land forces which had cut if off. It's surrender closed Mobile, which didn't actually fall until a few days after Lee surrendered at Appomattox.
 
Always thought it was a shame the extensive citadel located in the middle does not still exist. The original structure housed the garrison and was meant as a last line of defense had the outer defenses been breached. It caught fire during the Battle of Mobile Bay causing extensive damage. After the the war much of the damaged citadel was used to make repairs to the outer works of Fort Morgan and the rest of the structure was later razed in order to make a breakwater and additionally make room for the Endicott fortifications built a decade or so later.
800px-FortMorgan_AL_NARA_1864.jpg
 
Always thought it was a shame the extensive citadel located in the middle does not still exist. The original structure housed the garrison and was meant as a last line of defense had the outer defenses been breached. It caught fire during the Battle of Mobile Bay causing extensive damage. After the the war much of the damaged citadel was used to make repairs to the outer works of Fort Morgan and the rest of the structure was later razed in order to make a breakwater and additionally make room for the Endicott fortifications built a decade or so later.

As it happens, I was looking at this same historical photo earlier today and scratching my head over where this damaged structure might fit into the footprint of the fort as it is today. Looking at the original plan, though, I see that this must be the 10-sided citadel, as you say.

Roy B.
 
As it happens, I was looking at this same historical photo earlier today and scratching my head over where this damaged structure might fit into the footprint of the fort as it is today. Looking at the original plan, though, I see that this must be the 10-sided citadel, as you say.

Roy B.

Something that I've always been curious about, is the structure branching off the citadel nearest in the photo I posted. Any sketch I've ever seen of the third period system fort doesn't show that part which extends out from one of the ten sides and that photo is the only one from the period I remember seeing it in.

unnamed.jpg


1786805_orig.jpg
 
Something that I've always been curious about, is the structure branching off the citadel nearest in the photo I posted. Any sketch I've ever seen of the third period system fort doesn't show that part which extends out from one of the ten sides and that photo is the only one from the period I remember seeing it in.

Are you talking about this structure here with the rectangular footprint? Has kind of a tall open bay? It sure doesn't show up on the 1817 plan.

FtMorgan_Structure.png


Roy B.
 
Back
Top