View source for Fort Morgan (Alabama)

{{PageHeader|Morgan (Alabama)}}
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'''Fort Morgan''' (1819-1946) - Construction began in 1819 and continued until 1834 on this [[Third System]] Masonry fort designed by [[Simon Bernard]]. Named after [[Revolutionary War]] hero {{Wikipedia|Daniel_Morgan|Daniel Morgan}} in 1833. Abandoned after [[World War I]] and reactivated during [[World War II]], it was returned to the State of Alabama after the end of [[World War II]].

<gallery>
File:FortMorgan AL NARA 1864.jpg|Damage to Fort Morgan Citadel, 1864
File:FortMorgan Moat AL 1864.jpg|Fort Morgan Bastions & Ditch, 1864
File:Fort Morgan about 1911.jpg|Panorama taken from the Fort Morgan Water Tower circa 1911
</gallery>

==History ==
{{HDMobile}} Established to defend the narrow entrance to Mobile Bay, Alabama along with [[Fort Gaines (Alabama)]].
[[File:Fort Morgan Sallyport.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Fort Morgan Sallyport]]
[[File:Fort Morgan Walls - 3.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Fort Morgan Ditch]]
Fort Morgan was constructed of brick as a regular pentagon with bastions at each of the five corners and a large ten-sided citadel in the center. The three-tiered citadel housed the troops and was the largest of any [[:Category:Third System Forts|Third System]] fort. The seacoast batteries were mounted on the two primary and two secondary fronts of the fort. Other land batteries were placed to protect against assault from the landward side. The entrance to the fort was a tunnel under the gorge protected at both ends by large doors.
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For several months in 1837, the fort housed over 3000 Indians who were being relocated from the Montgomery area to the Indian Territory now known as Oklahoma. [[William T. Sherman]] was stationed at Fort Morgan in 1841-42 as a 1st Lt.
== [[U.S. Civil War]] (1861-1865) ==
<!--[[File:MobileHarborMap 1862.jpg|250px|thumb|left|Mobile Harbor, 1862]]-->
[[File:Fort Morgan Siege Plan (1).jpeg|800px|thumb|center|Fort Morgan Union Siege Plan 1864.]]
At the beginning of the [[U.S. Civil War]] in 1861, the Alabama State Militia seized both [[Fort Gaines (Alabama)|Fort Gaines]] and Fort Morgan from Federal troops. Fort Morgan's batteries "mounted in all about forty-five guns, from 8‑inch rifles down to 24‑pounders. Of these only about a dozen were heavy rifled cannon. The majority were old smooth-bores, 8 and 10‑inch Columbiads, and 32‑pounders. The garrison numbered 640 officers and men, who were under the command of Brigadier General {{Wikipedia|Richard_Lucian_Page|Richard L. Page}}, formerly an officer in the United States Navy." 

In August 1864 a federal flotilla of 18 ships under Adm. [[David Farragut]] arrived off the entrance to Mobile Bay determined to recapture both [[Fort Gaines (Alabama)|Fort Gaines]] and Fort Morgan, enter Mobile Bay, and capture Mobile itself. Farragut first reduced [[Fort Gaines (Alabama)|Fort Gaines]] and forced its surrender on 8 Aug 1864 during the {{Wikipedia|Battle_of_Mobile_Bay|Battle of Mobile Bay}}. On 9 Aug 1864 Union transport ships landed Union General [[Gordon Granger]] and his 2,000 troops at Navy Cove, east of the Fort Morgan. This move enabled Granger to establish a siege line at the rear of the fort and to cut off any escape route for the garrison. 
[[File:Fort Morgan Defense Plan.jpeg|thumb|center|800px|Fort Morgan Defense Plan 1864.]]
General Granger established two siege lines across the slip of land leading to the fort until he was within 200 yards of the glacis on the 21st of August. At this point, he had some 5,000 troops and a number of gun batteries, applying pressure from the land-side. The first gun battery emplaced mounted a pair of 30-pounder Parrott rifles and the last was a 10-gun battery named [[Battery Bailey (Alabama)|Battery Bailey]] mounting two 3" Ordnance rifles, two 12-pounder Napoleons, four 30-pounder Parrot Rifles, and two 10" Siege mortars. That battery was completed on 20 August. Most significant was the emplacement of a total of 14 mortars each able to drop large mortar shells directly into the fort.

While the land-side pressure focused on keeping gun crews inside the fort unable to fire their big guns, the Union flotilla surrounded the fort and began a bombardment on the 22nd to reduce the old brick fort. The fort was critically damaged and the central citadel was on fire.  The Citadel fire threatened the gunpowder stores and  General Page was forced to pour the gunpowder into the water cisterns to save the fort. General Page surrendered the Fort at 2 pm on 23 Aug 1864.

During the Battle of Mobile Bay, the Union monitor ''Tecumseh'' was sunk by a Confederate torpedo (mine).  The Tecumseh struck the mine in the narrow channel in front of the fort blocking the channel and causing the following ships to slow, making them vulnerable to Confederate fire from the fort. The increased danger was the occasion for Adm. Farragut's famous order, "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!", referring to the torpedoes (mines) strung across the channel into Mobile Bay. 

After the [[U.S. Civil War]] the federal garrison was withdrawn and the fort was placed in caretaker status on 31 Dec 1867.

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== [[Endicott Period]] (1890-1910) ==
[[File:Fort Morgan Post Buildings - 4.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Post buildings]]
In March of 1898, the fort was reactivated and garrisoned by Battery I, [[1st U.S. Artillery]] in anticipation of the [[Spanish American War]] and as a result of the explosion that sunk the Battleship Maine in Havana Harbor 15 Feb 1898. Construction began on the first [[Endicott Period]] battery, [[Battery Bowyer]] in 1898. A total of six [[Endicott Period]] batteries were built between 1898 and 1901. Only [[Battery Duportail]] was built inside the Fort Morgan walls. The [[Spanish American War]] was quickly over but the strengthening of coastal defenses continued.
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[[File:Fort Morgan Plan 1921.jpg|thumb|left|795px|Fort Morgan Plan 1921]]
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== [[World War I]] (1917-1918) ==
During [[World War I]] Fort Morgan was used as a training base. After [[World War I]] Fort Morgan was again deactivated and placed in caretaker status 1 Apr 1923. Subsequently abandoned 15 Oct 1931.

== [[World War II]] (1941-1945) ==
At the onset of World War II the fort was reactivated and manned in April 1942 by Battery F, 50th U.S. Coast Artillery Corps. In 1946, after the close of the War, the fort property was returned to the State of Alabama and became Fort Morgan State Park.
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== Current Status ==
[[File:Site of Post.jpg|thumb|left|795px|Current view of the Post Site]]
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Fort Morgan State Park operated by the Alabama Historical Commission.
* [[U.S. Civil War]] Armament on display (from the [http://www.cdsg.org/cdsgrep/morgan.htm CDSG Representative Site Report]):
** one 32-pounder Columbiad on a seacoast carriage
** two 24-pounder flank howitzers on carriages
** one 100-pounder Parrott on a concrete pedestal
** one 7” Brooke rifle on a concrete pedestal
** one fieldpiece in the ordnance casemate
** two 20-pounder Parrott rifles temporarily mounted on concrete blocks
* No [[Endicott Period]] weapons on display
* [[World War II]] armament on display
** 1918M1 155mm gun on a Model 1918 carriage.

==Context==

{{Location|Mobile Point, Baldwin County, Alabama.|30.228073|-88.022944|10}}
<!-- {{#display_map:
30.228221,-88.022547~ Fort Morgan ;
30.229352,-88.012086~ Battery Dearborn ;
30.228518,-88.017955~ Battery Bowyer ;
30.227906,-88.02304~ Battery Duportail ;
30.229009,-88.023577~ Battery Thomas ;
30.229529,-88.023459~ Battery Schenck (2) ;
30.2289631,-88.0012822~ Battery Experimental ;
30.227881,-88.023569~ Battery 155 - Fort Morgan }} -->
<br>
<!-- '''GPS Locations:'''
{{GPSLocation|Fort Morgan|30.228221|-88.022547}}
{{GPSLocation|[[Battery Dearborn]]|30.229352|-88.012086}}
{{GPSLocation|[[Battery Bowyer]]|30.228518|-88.017955}}
{{GPSLocation|[[Battery Duportail]]|30.227906|-88.023040}}
{{GPSLocation|[[Battery Thomas]]|30.229009|-88.023577}}
{{GPSLocation|[[Battery Schenck (2)]]|30.229529|-88.023459}}
{{GPSLocation|[[Battery 155 - Fort Morgan]]|30.227881|-88.0235697}} -->

'''See Also:'''
* [[:Category:Civil War Defenses of Mobile|Civil War Defenses of Mobile]]
* [[Spanish Fort (Alabama 1)]]
* [[Fort Blakely]]
* [[Fort Huger (Alabama)]]
* [[Fort Tracy (Alabama)]]
* [[Fort Gaines (Alabama)]] 
* [[Fort Powell (Alabama)]]

'''Sources:''' 
* {{Weaver}}, page 171-175
* {{Roberts}}, page 10-12
* {{GNIS2|ID=2491977}}
* War of the Rebellion Atlas. Volume I. Plate LXIII (Plate No. 63), Baylor University - The Texas Collection, United States, War Department, 1895, Washington, Government Printing Office, [https://digitalcollections-baylor.quartexcollections.com/Documents/Detail/war-of-the-rebellion-atlas.-volume-i.-plate-lxiii-plate-no.-63/208134?item=208135 Pdf]

'''Links: '''
* [http://www.fort-morgan.org Official Site]
* [http://www.northamericanforts.com/East/almobile.html#mobilebay North American Forts - Mobile Bay]
* [https://armyhistory.org/a-tale-of-two-forts/ U.S. Army History-A tale of Two Forts]
* [http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/73morgan/73morgan.htm NPS - Fort Morgan]
* {{CDSGMainLink}}

<gallery>
File:Fort Morgan Postern - 1.jpg|Fort Morgan Postern
File:Fort Morgan Postern - 2.jpg|Fort Morgan Postern
File:Fort Morgan Walls - 1.jpg|Fort Morgan Ditch
File:Fort Morgan Walls - 4.jpg|Fort Morgan Ditch
File:Fort Morgan - 097.jpg|Fort Morgan Stairs
File:73covercl.jpg|Fort Morgan
File:Fort Morgan Interior (w).jpg|View of Main Entrance to Fort Morgan from inside the fort.
File:32lb Cannon.jpg| 32-pound gun mounted on a Barbette carriage
File:Peace mag.jpg|The remains of the peace magazine used to store power during peacetime conditions at Fort Morgan Al. Time and hurricanes have not been kind to this building.
File:Post building 4.jpg|The Hospital Stewards Quarters, at the far east end of Fort Morgan Al. just to the west was the site of the old hospital and to the south was the morgue and hospital storeroom.
File:Post building 3.jpg|Looking east from the troops' barracks area (the foundation in the foreground was the 39th Company quarters, built in about 1910) in the center distance is the post bakery with Battery Bowyer in the far distance.
File:Post building 2.jpg|Looking east down the old Officers row at Fort Morgan Al. in the foreground is the cooking/mess area of the destroyed Senior Officers Quarters, to the east in the distance is the surviving Seniors Officers Quarter)
File:Post building 1.jpg|Looking south at the Senior Officers Quarters, towards the right center is the mess area and foundation of the second Senior Officers Quarters (the bakery can be seen in the distance)
File:Cable exit from inside.jpg|Exit point for cables used for the mine operations from Battery Thomas viewed from the interior
File:Cable exit from exterior.jpg|Exit point for cables used for the mine operations from Battery Thomas viewed from the exterior
File:Inside Fort Morgan.jpg|View of the inside of Fort Morgan Al
File:Fort Morgan from gulf 1.jpg|Fort Morgan viewed from the southwest gulf side
File:Fort Morgan from gulf.jpg|Fort Morgan view from the southeast gulf side
</gallery>

[[Category:Alabama Forts]]
[[Category:Third System Forts]]
[[Category:Endicott Period Forts]]
[[Category:Coastal Sites]]
[[Category:Civil War Defenses of Mobile]]
[[Category:CDSG Conference 2013]]
[[Category:U.S. Civil War]]
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