Mobile Bay, Battle of, was an important naval battle of the American Civil War (1861-1865). It took place on Aug. 5, 1864. The battle is named after the bay in southwestern Alabama where it was fought. A union fleet led by Admiral David G. Farragut defeated the Confederate ships of Admiral Franklin Buchanan. This victory allowed the North to close one of the South’s major ports.
At the beginning of the Civil War, the Union proclaimed a naval blockade on Southern ports. During the war, Union forces worked steadily to seize the main ports still used by ships that slipped through the blockade. By the second half of 1864, the Confederates had only one major port—Mobile, Alabama—open on the Gulf of Mexico.
The main entrance to Mobile Bay, the bay that led to Mobile, was 3 miles (5 kilometers) wide. The entrance was guarded by two forts—Fort Gaines to the west, on Dauphin Island, and Fort Morgan to the east. The bay was also defended by mines—then called torpedoes—between the two forts and by four Confederate ships inside the bay. The Confederate fleet consisted of one ironclad ship, the Tennessee, and three wooden gunboats, the Gaines, Morgan, and Selma.
By August 5, Admiral Farragut had collected a fleet of 18 Union ships. The Union fleet consisted of 4 ironclads—the Chickasaw, Manhattan, Tecumseh, and _Winnebago—_and 14 wooden ships. To assist Farragut, the Union army landed troops on Dauphin Island to fire on Fort Gaines. These troops were commanded by General Gordon Granger.
To get past the defenses at Mobile Bay, Farragut had to sail his ships close to Fort Morgan. Farragut positioned the four ironclads closest to the fort to serve as a buffer between the fort and the wooden ships. The 14 wooden ships were tied together in pairs so that if the engines were shot out on one ship, the other ship could bring it into the bay. Once inside the bay, the ships would be untied. The column of wooden ships was led by the Brooklyn, with Farragut’s flagship, the Hartford, next in line.
The ironclads were slow and forced the wooden ships to slow down so that they would not move ahead. The Confederate fort and ships pounded the slowed Union fleet.
The leading ironclad, the Tecumseh, struck a torpedo and sunk. When the Brooklyn hesitated to go forward, Farragut, who had climbed his ship’s mast, reportedly shouted, “Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!” He then ordered his ship, the Hartford, to take the lead into the minefield. All of the other ships followed the Hartford and made it through the minefield safely.
Once inside the bay, the Union fleet attacked the Confederate ships. The Selma was cornered and forced to surrender. The Gaines was disabled and destroyed by the Confederates before it could be captured. The Morgan escaped from Mobile Bay. Despite being outnumbered 17 to 1, Admiral Buchanan decided to have the Tennessee fight the Union fleet. The Union fleet surrounded the Tennessee, rammed and pounded it until it was disabled, and forced it to surrender.
During the course of the battle, the Union suffered about 320 casualties (people killed, wounded, or captured), about a quarter of which were deaths from the sinking of the Tecumseh. The Confederates suffered about 300 casualties, only 32 of which were killed or wounded. After defeating the Confederate fleet, Farragut’s ships and Granger’s troops attacked the two forts. Fort Gaines surrendered on August 8 and Fort Morgan on August 23. In April 1865, Union forces took the city of Mobile.
