{"id":20326,"date":"2024-03-11T12:58:25","date_gmt":"2024-03-11T17:58:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thetravellingfool.com\/?p=20326"},"modified":"2024-03-11T21:21:42","modified_gmt":"2024-03-12T02:21:42","slug":"battlefields-to-beachfronts-fort-gaines-and-fort-morgan-adventure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thetravellingfool.com\/battlefields-to-beachfronts-fort-gaines-and-fort-morgan-adventure\/","title":{"rendered":"Battlefields to Beachfronts: Fort Gaines and Fort Morgan Adventure"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Alabama has 53 miles of coastline and Gulf Shores\/Orange Beach has some of the most beautiful beaches on the Gulf Coast and in the United States. It is no wonder why so many people travel to the area to enjoy the waters, resorts and the many things to do. The Alabama coastline was a popular place 160 years ago as well, only for a different reason. Mobile Alabama is only 55 miles from the Gulf of Mexico and connected by Mobile Bay. Then, as it is now, the Port of Mobile was an important shipping destination and needed to be guarded. The solution at the time was to build two defensive coastal forts for the harbor defense at the mouth of Mobile Bay. Those historic forts, Fort Morgan and Fort Gaines, stand today and give visitors a glimpse of what life was like for the soldiers who were stationed there.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fort Gaines<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

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Fort Gaines is located on the eastern tip of Dauphin Island<\/a> at the west entrance to Mobile Bay. Named after General Edmund Pendleton Gaines, who is best known for capturing former Vice President Aaron Burr on treason charges. Established in 1821 by the United States as a defense for Mobile Bay, the fort was not completed until 1861 due to various problems. The tide water had a tendency to enter the fort during high tide, there were land disputes, cost overruns and various other issues.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

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Built in the shape of a pentagon, the original plans called for ten guns to be mounted on each of the five walls and each bastion had emplacements for four flank howitzers. While the majority of the work was finished in 1861, at the outbreak of the Civil War the Confederacy completed the finishing touches to the fort and it was completed in 1862.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

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There are brick arched tunnels connecting to the outer walls where gun ports are located and there were barracks and stores built outside the main gate for the soldiers. Walking through the fort, down the long tunnels, I could imagine what it must have been like on one of those hot, humid Alabama days in the summer being ordered to man the walls. Touring the fort, I could only imagine what was going through the soldiers minds when they looked out on Mobile Bay and saw enemy warships approaching and knowing the fact that they would soon be bombarded with cannon fire.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

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Fort Gaines saw action during the American Civil War when it became the site of one of the largest naval battles and the greatest Union naval victory of the war. Naval forces of the Union and Confederacy, including both gunboats and ironclads, along with land forces engaged in the Battle of Mobile Bay<\/a> from August 2 to Aug 23, 1864.<\/span><\/p>\n