The Battle of Mobile Bay
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Book Overview
On August 5, 1864, the waters of Mobile Bay became the stage for one of the Civil War's most dramatic naval battles. Guarded by Fort Morgan, Fort Gaines, Fort Powell, floating mines then known as torpedoes, and the powerful Confederate ironclad CSS Tennessee, the bay was one of the South's last major ports on the Gulf Coast. Union Admiral David Glasgow Farragut led a bold attack into the channel, where smoke, cannon fire, shallow water, and hidden explosives turned every movement into a life-or-death decision.
When the monitor USS Tecumseh struck a torpedo and sank, Farragut pressed forward with the order that would echo through American history: "Damn the torpedoes." His fleet broke past the forts, fought the Tennessee at close range, and helped close Mobile Bay to Confederate blockade runners.
Author Thomas R. Key brings this turning point to life through the ships, commanders, soldiers, sailors, and coastal defenses that shaped the battle. From Farragut's daring advance to the stubborn resistance of Admiral Franklin Buchanan and the Confederate defenders, this account explores how one fierce day on Alabama's coast changed the war in the Gulf.
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