A Compendium of Projectiles Recovered from The Battlefield of the Last Major Battle of the War Between the States: Relics from Spanish Fort, Alabama

Abstract

March, 1865 began in Spanish Fort, Alabama as did countless months of March before. A breeze coming off of the Gulf of Mexico and into Mobile Bay brought a respite from what might otherwise be an uncomfortably warm month in the area immediately east of Mobile, Alabama. For several weeks, incessant rains made every road a quagmire. Even though it had been sometime since Confederate Navy forces and their accompanying blockade runners had been foiled by the Union Navy in the Battle of Mobile Bay, life in Mobile had been largely unchecked by the war, the people unbowed, and the city remained a bastion of Confederate influence. Union forces recognized Mobile’s position of influence and its hopes to end the War Between the States centered largely on the defeat of the city and region. Many of Spanish Fort’s earthworks built to protect Mobile, still stand. Countless artifacts have been recovered and continue to be recovered. Some of those artifacts, a reminder of the grim, last major battle of the American Civil War, fought from March 27–April 8, 2023 are documented here.