FTJ, Entry 62: Go Admiral Farragut

As promised, here are photos of our foray to Fort Morgan, located right at the entrance to Mobile Bay. First, a map showing its location.

Basically the gatekeeper for the bay, the fort was completed in 1834. Built in a star shape and very isolated, it is famous mainly for the Battle of Mobile Bay in 1864, during the Civil War. In August of that year, the Union fleet, commanded by Admiral D.G. Farragut, approached Mobile Bay. The Confederates opened fire. The lead Union monitor, the Tecumseh, struck a mine (known as a "torpedo" back then) and sank within a minute, taking most of the crew with it. This disastrous event caused the Union fleet to hesitate, still taking wicked fire from Confederate guns. At this critical juncture, Farragut gave his famous order, "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!" 

Whether he actually said these words has been debated over the years, however. I like to think he did.

Here are some pictures of what is left of the fort today.

The main gate

Behind Beau is the postern, a tunnel through the glacis (cleared
ground that slopes upward toward the fort, which protected it from shelling from the land side.).

Fort Morgan was surrendered to Union forces a few weeks after the Battle of Mobile Bay. It was dormant until the Spanish-American War in 1898, and was used as a training base during WWI. Deactivated in 1923, it was again reactivated in 1941 and manned by the Navy and Coast Guard during WWII. Right after the war, the fort was deactivated again and turned over to the state of Alabama.

Very cool.

Two more things: One, this darling video of "Speed Racer" in action:

And two, this photo of Beau celebrating the gray (sink and shower water) tank lights finally indicating "empty" on the control panel. First time we have had the gray water lights go into the green since we started our trip. Victory is his at last!  

Only other RVers may understand the significance of this major, major event. (Hey, it's the little things that can make us happiest.)

Tanks, Panky