Fort Morgan, Alabama
| Fort Morgan | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| National Register of Historic Places | |||
| National Historic Landmark | |||
 Fort Morgan after the siege (1864) |
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| location | Mobile Bay , Baldwin County , Alabama | ||
| Coordinates | 30 ° 13 '40 " N , 88 ° 1' 22" W | ||
| Built | 1819-34 | ||
| NRHP number | 66000146 | ||
| Data | |||
| The NRHP added | October 15, 1966 | ||
| Declared as an NHL | December 19, 1960 | ||
Fort Morgan is a fortification on a headland at the entrance to Mobile Bay and thus to the port of Mobile (Alabama) in the southern United States . It was named after a participant in the American Revolutionary War , Daniel Morgan .
history
Construction began in 1819 and was completed at the beginning of 1834. Troops were then immediately occupied. After the secession of the southern states in 1860, the Union troops withdrew from the fortress , which was initially occupied by the Alabama militia. In the following years, the fort proved itself as a guard post at the busy port entrance, as the city of Mobile was the preferred port of call for blockade breakers and other supply ships.
On August 8, 1864, the Union troops began the siege with about 5,000 men as part of the battle in Mobile Bay , whose unusually strong artillery fire (from sea and land) caused severe damage to the encircled plant (the barracks burned out completely and became later not rebuilt). After the situation had become hopeless - the military commander of Mobile was unable to raise any relief troops - the Confederate fortress commander , General Richard L. Page, decided to surrender on August 23, 1864 .
The heavily damaged fort was rebuilt, structurally reinforced during the First World War (concrete reinforcements were added in various sections) and also used as a guard post for Mobile Bay during the Second World War . Land, sea and anti-aircraft guns were set up.
On December 19, 1960, the fort was declared a National Historic Landmark .
Since 2007, this fort, architecturally named one of the most beautiful in the New World, has been on the list of the Ten Most Endangered National Monuments in the United States.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Listing of National Historic Landmarks by State: Alabama. National Park Service , accessed July 19, 2019.
- ^ The Alabama Historical Association Historical Marker Program Baldwin County . In: Texts of historical markers placed by Alabama Historical Society . Alabama Department of Archives & History. Archived from the original on August 15, 2009. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved October 28, 2007.
literature
- William C. Davis & Bell I. Wiley: The Civil War - Vicksburg to Appomattox . Black Dog & Leventhal, New York 1994, ISBN 1-884822-09-6 .
Web links
- http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/73morgan/73morgan.htm (en)
- Friends of Fort Morgan (en)
- Forts Morgan and Gaines in the Encyclopedia of Alabama