The Battle of Mobile Bay: A Joint Masterpiece

The United States and Confederate Navies saw the most action and glory in the first days of the Battle of Mobile Bay in 1864. It is therefore not surprising that historians paint the opening scenes of the battle with naval accounts such as Admiral David Glasgow Farragut shouting, “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!” as he sails into Mobile Bay. They mention little about the Army. In contrast, historians record little about the U.S. Navy’s role in the following three weeks while the Army laid siege to Fort Gaines and Fort Morgan. However, both services played critical and interdependent roles throughout the entire battle. It was a joint operation, and this jointness influenced Union victory. To be sure, at Mobile Bay, the selected regiments of the XIII Corps and the West Gulf Blockading Squadron overmatched the Confederates in logistics, economic strength, manpower, and equipment, but the Federals brought something more to the fight. They arrived with three years of joint experience and proficiency. No other force in the Union could boast as much. To appreciate the full effectiveness of this Union force, this study views the Battle of Mobile Bay not as a stand-alone event, but as a “point” along a storyline and a culmination of three years of Federal joint fighting. This methodology shows that President Abraham Lincoln, General Ulysses S. Grant, and Secretary Gideon Welles could not have chosen a better team to show up at the mouth of Mobile Bay on August 3, 1864.