Battery Bailey (2)
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Battery Bailey (2) (1864-1864) - A U.S. Civil War Union Gun Battery established in 1864 in front of Fort Morgan on Mobile Point, Baldwin County, Alabama. Established in August 1864 during the Union siege of Fort Morgan. Removed in 1864 after the surrender of Fort Morgan.
HistoryThe construction of Battery Bailey was begun on 19 Aug 1864 at the southern end of the Union siege lines in front of Fort Morgan, Alabama. The battery was listed as armed with two 3" Ordnance Rifles, two 12-Pounder Napoleons, four 30-Pounder Parrots, and two 10" Siege Mortars. The battery was completed on 20 Aug 1864 and four of the guns were transported across Mobile Bay from Fort Gaines. The guns were manned by the 2nd Connecticut Light Artillery Battery.  At sunrise, on 22 August the final bombardment began with the land-based siege guns and the naval guns bombarded the fort until 8 O'clock when the naval bombardment ceased. The siege mortars continued to fire at a rapid pace. That evening, exploding shells from the siege batteries ignited the wooden roof of the central citadel of the fort about 10 pm. The massive fire silhouetted the fort and the flames threatened the magazines. Confederate General Richard L. Page, the fort commander, ordered the final 60,000 pounds of powder dumped into the cisterns, some of the guns were spiked and he unconditionally surrendered the fort on the morning of 23 Aug 1864. In all, some 3,000 shells were thrown at the fort in the 12 hours preceding the surrender. The Union Army suffered only 1 man killed and 7 wounded. On 19 Feb 1864, the 2nd Connecticut Light Artillery Battery broke camp at Greenville, Louisiana and the next morning was at Hickock's Landing on Lake Pontchartrain, where the Battery was dismounted and transported to Fort Morgan, arriving there on the 22 Aug 1864. After participating in the siege and the subsequent surrender of Fort Morgan, it sailed for Fort Barrancas on the 26th and remained there until the 11th of March when it marched to Pensacola. The Battery was commanded by Captain John W. Sterling and the total strength of the battery was some 229 men enrolled. Current Status Union Battery Bailey originally occupied five positions along the left side of the Union siege line closest to the fort. The current replica re-creates two of those positions but only the first position is furnished with period guns. A readerboard explains the two replica positions but does not identify the other three positions. See the map above, positions E, N, M, O, and P.
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Visited: 5 Oct 2021
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