join correspondent Tom Wilmer reporting from Fort Gaines situated on Dauphin Island in Mobile Bay, Alabama.
Fort Gaines, captured by Confederate troops early in the Civil War in January 1861, was a crucial site for the South throughout the civil war.
The Fort stands at the eastern tip of Dauphin Island where it commands panoramic views of the bay and the Gulf of Mexico.
Fort Gaines was recently designated as one of the eleven most endangered historic sites in America due to on-going, destructive shoreline erosion.
The siege of Fort Gaines, Alabama, occurred between August 3 and 8, 1864, as part of the larger battle of Mobile Bay, and resulted in the surrender of the fort and its defenders.
The Battle of Mobile Bay is where Civil War Union Admiral Farragut shouted his now-famous order, “Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!”
The fort has original cannons, a blacksmith shop, kitchens, a museum, gift shop, and tunnels.
Come along and join correspondent Tom Wilmer for a visit at the fort where we visit with a historic recreator blacksmith followed by a park ranger who dons Confederate Civil War garb and wows the kids with his working mountain howitzer cannon.
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