Fort Morgan in 1861 - An Eyewitness Account

Fort Morgan

Even before Alabama seceded from the Union on January 11, 1861, state militia forces began moving against U.S. military installations in the state. Fort Morgan at the mouth of Mobile Bay, for example, was occupied by Alabama troops on January 5, 1861.

Built on Mobile Point in 1819-1833, the massive brick fortress was designed - along with Fort Gaines across the channel - to turn back any attempt to invade Mobile Bay by a foreign enemy. The fort was in caretaker status when Alabama troops moved in, but that situation soon changed. As the month of January 1861 progressed, state forces worked non-stop to mount cannon and prepare the huge fort for battle.

The following account originally appeared in a Mobile newspaper, but was republished by the Richmond Daily Appeal on January 29, 1861:

Casemates of Fort Morgan

Marks of industry and system were visible everywhere about the fort, which is now occupied by about 480 troops, besides upwards of 150 laborers. To accommodate this increased force, a suitable number of the casemates have been planked up and converted into very comfortable quarters. The ramparts on the channel side have been sodded to a considerable extent with sand bags, and the work will be completed in the same style. Sods have been cut from the fosse to be applied to other faces of the works. Trenches have been cut at the foot of the scarp in necessary places, which have filled with the water percolating through the soil, thus converting the fosse into something like a wet ditch, and adding to the security of the works. All the guns for which there are carriages have been mounted, and some attention has been paid to artillery practice, in which the boys show increased proficiency. The garrison are in excellent spirits, and good health prevails, except that most of the newly arrived troops have to go through a course of seasoning which generally attacks them after the first twenty-four hours and leaves them after about the same length of time. The cisterns, by-the-bye, have been thoroughly cleansed, and the rains have since filled them with excellent water, and the health of the garrison has greatly improved in consequence. Tenders of the services of negro laborers by planters in the interior have been accepted, and some four hundred hands are expected to arrive in a few days.- Richmond Daily Appeal, January 29, 1861.

 If you would like to learn more about Fort Morgan, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/fortmorgan.

Fort Conde - Mobile, Alabama

The early French settlers of Mobile were quick to learn what other early settlers of the Gulf Coast had already discovered, that wooden forts and defenses quickly deteriorated in the humid conditions and heavy rains.

It is a little known fact that the Mobile Bay area of Alabama usually receives more rain each year than famously rainy places such as Seattle, Washington. It is not uncommon for a summer hurricane or tropical storm to bring 8 to 10 inches of rain in a single event, sometimes more. These heavy tropical rains washed away earthworks and rotted the log stockades erected by the French to defend their toehold on Mobile Bay.

As a result, in 1723, the French started construction of a solid masonry fort on Mobile's waterfront. Built of brick on a foundation of stone, the square bastioned fort was the strongest erected on the Gulf Coast to that point. Armed with numerous cannon, the work was named Fort Conde after the Prince of Conde and was surrounded with a dry moat and additional defensive earthworks.

Fort Conde served as the primary protector of French Mobile until the city was surrendered to England in 1763 at the end of the French and Indian War. The British took over the fort and renamed it Fort Charlotte. It became an important post during the American Revolution and one of Alabama's two little known Revolutionary War battles took place there on May 10-13, 1780, when Allied forces led by the Spanish General Bernardo de Galvez laid siege to the fort.

Fort Charlotte was surrendered to Galvez's overwhelming force and remained in Spanish hands until it was seized by the United States in 1813. The fort was in bad condition then and was not held for much longer. It was dismantled during the 1820s.

Fort Conde's history, however, was far from over. Now partially reconstructed, it serves as a welcome center that greets visitors to Mobile. To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/fortconde.