Battle of Spanish Fort

Other Names: None

Location: Baldwin County, Alabama

Campaign: Mobile Campaign (1865)

Date: March 27-April 8, 1865

Principal Commanders: Maj. Gen. E.R.S. Canby [US]; Brig. Gen. Randall L. Gibson [CS]

Forces Engaged: XVI and XIII Corps [US]; Spanish Fort Garrison [CS]

Casualties and losses: 1,401 (US 657; CS 744)

Result(s): Union victory

Brief Description:

Maj. Gen. E.R.S. Canby's XIII and XVI corps moved along the eastern shore of Mobile Bay forcing the Confederates back into their defenses. Union forces then concentrated on Spanish Fort and Fort Blakely. On March 27, 1865, Canby's forces rendezvoused at Danley's Ferry and immediately undertook a siege of Spanish Fort. The Union had enveloped the fort by April 1, and on April 8 captured it. Most of the Confederate forces, under the command of Brig. Gen. Randall L. Gibson, escaped and fled to Mobile, but Spanish Fort was no longer a threat. Union forces had begun moving north in order to concentrate on Fort Blakeley, which eventually succumbed late on April 9 in the Battle of Fort Blakeley. The fall of Spanish Fort and Fort Blakeley permitted Union troops to subsequently enter Mobile unopposed after the Army of Mobile evacuated the City, occupying it on April 12, 1865.