Battle of Mobile Bay - Battle and Siege

Battle and Siege

The army landing force, under Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger, was ready to launch the attack on August 3, but Farragut wanted to await the arrival of the fourth of his monitors, USS Tecumseh, expected almost momentarily but delayed at Pensacola. The admiral almost decided to proceed with only three monitors and the army, acting under a misapprehension of naval intentions, went ashore on Dauphin Island. The fleet was not ready to move yet, so the defenders were able to rush additional forces to Fort Gaines. After the battle, Farragut concluded that the delay had actually worked to the advantage of the Federal forces, as the reinforcements were not great enough to have any effect on the battle, but they were included in the surrender.

While the army was going ashore, Tecumseh made her belated appearance and Farragut made his final dispositions for the fleet. The 14 wooden-hulled vessels would be lashed together in pairs, in a reprise of a tactic that the admiral had used earlier at Port Hudson, Louisiana. The intent was that, if a ship were to be disabled by battle damage to her engines, her partner would be able to keep her moving.

The monitors would form a column and lead the way into the bay, moving in close to Fort Morgan, on the right side of the channel as they went in. The other ships would form a separate double column and pass on the port side of the monitors, so the armored ships would shield their wooden sisters from the guns of the fort. When the Confederate fleet made its expected appearance, the monitors would move to attack the armored CSS Tennessee, while the rest of the fleet would fight the faster gunboats.