Interactive Fort Morgan

Adm. David G. Farragut , USN and Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger, USA
Adm. Franklin Buchanan, CSN and Brig. Gen. Richard L. Page, CSA

Farragut had a squadron of 14 wooden ships and 4 monitors; Granger had a brigade. Confederate fortifications were strong, but not heavily manned, and backed by a small flotilla of 3 gunboats and an ironclad.

Confederate losses were about 1,500 (including an ironclad boarded) against roughly 300 Union casualties.

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.

OTHER RESOURCES:

Official Reports

Farragut at Mobile Bay by Lieutenant John Coddington Kinney

The Ram 'Tennessee' at Mobile Bay by Commander James D. Johnston

The Lashing of Admiral Farragut in the Rigging by J. Crittenden Watson, Captain, U.S.N.

The Lashing of Admiral Farragut in the Rigging by Joseph Marthon, Lieutenant-Commander, U.S.N.

The Defense of Fort Morgan by R. L. Page, Brigadier General, C.S.A., Commander of the Fort

Land Operations Against Mobile by Richard B. Irwin, Lieutenant Colonel and Assistant Adjutant General, U.S.V.

Closing Operations in the Gulf and Western Waterways by Professor James Russel Soley, U.S.N.