Not far from the beach house where we were staying on Dauphin Island was Fort Gaines, which played a key role in the Battle of Mobile Bay during the Civil War.
The Union fleet, under the command of Admiral David Farragut fought their way into Mobile Bay, which was defended by Fort Gaines and Fort Morgan and a torpedo field between them. This would be referred to as a “mine field” in today’s terminology. The USS Tecumseh, one four Union ironclads at the battle struck a mine and sunk. The Union fleet hesitated. Up to this point, Union forces had believed ironclads to be virtually unsinkable.
Farragut then ordered his flagship, the USS Hartford and the Union fleet to press on through the torpedo field and on into Mobile Bay with his famous order, “Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!”
The battle that followed mostly destroyed the small Confederate fleet and after a few weeks both forts fell to Union forces. The city of Mobile remained in Confederate hands, but the port of Mobile was closed to blockade running.
