Battle of Mobile Bay

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Battle of Mobile Bay
Part of the American Civil War
Battle of Mobile Bay, by Louis Prang. At left foreground is the CSS Tennessee; at the right the USS Tecumseh is sinking.
Date August 2, 1864 (1864-08-02) – August 23, 1864 (1864-08-23)[1][a] Location Mobile Bay, Alabama Result Union victory Mobile Bay occupied by Union. Fall of Fort Morgan to Union Forces in August 23, 1864
Belligerents
United States (Union)	Confederate States (Confederacy)
Commanders and leaders
David Farragut Gordon Granger	Franklin Buchanan Richard L. Page
Strength
12 wooden ships 2 gunboats 4 ironclad monitors 5,500 men	3 gunboats 1 ironclad 1,500 men
Casualties and losses
151 killed 177 wounded 1 ironclad sunk 1 patrol/dispatch vessel destroyed	13 killed 22 wounded 1,587 captured 1 gunboat captured 1 gunboat destroyed 1 ironclad captured

The Battle of Mobile Bay of August 5, 1864, was a naval and land engagement of the American Civil War in which a Union fleet commanded by Rear Admiral David G. Farragut, assisted by a contingent of soldiers, attacked a smaller Confederate fleet led by Admiral Franklin Buchanan and three forts that guarded the entrance to Mobile Bay: Morgan, Gaines and Powell. Farragut's perhaps apocryphal order of "Damn the torpedoes! Four bells. Captain Drayton, go ahead! Jouett, full speed!" became famous in paraphrase, as "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!"

The battle was marked by Farragut's seemingly-rash but successful run through a minefield that had just claimed one of his ironclad monitors, enabling his fleet to get beyond the range of the shore-based guns. This was followed by a reduction of the Confederate fleet to a single vessel, ironclad CSS Tennessee. Tennessee proceeded to engage the entire Northern fleet. Tennessee's armor enabled her to inflict more injury than she received, but she could not overcome the imbalance in numbers. She was eventually reduced to a motionless hulk and surrendered, ending the battle. With no navy to support them, the three forts also surrendered within days. Complete control of lower Mobile Bay thus passed to the Union forces.

Mobile had been the last important port on the Gulf of Mexico east of the Mississippi River remaining in Confederate possession, so its closure was the final step in completing the blockade in that region. This Union victory, together with the capture of Atlanta, was extensively covered by Union newspapers and was a significant boost for Abraham Lincoln's bid for re-election three months after the battle. This battle concluded as being the last naval engagement in the state of Alabama in the war. It would also be Admiral Farragut's last engagement.

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