32 pound cannon -- Fort Gaines SHS, Dauphin Island AL - Static Artillery Displays on Waymarking.com

This cannon points out menacingly from the southeast bastion of Fort Gaines on the West entrance to Mobile Bay. For Gaines was also outfitted with modern artillery around the time of the Spanish-American war, continuing its mission to protect Mobile Bay and Gulf Coast shipping.

The waymarked cannon is a 32 pound center-pintle bastion gun, which is one of the cannon that were here at the time of the battle of Mobile Bay. Blasterz are not artillery experts, so we thank the Seacoast Artillery Co. for their website, which helped us identify this gun. (visit link)

Fort Gaines was decommissioned in 1935 and turned over to the state, which has been operating it as a State Historic Site ever since. Today you can tour magazines for the different weapons you can see how soldiers lived and fought, and get up close and personal with big cannons that were firing at the union Navy during the Battle of Mobile.

Sharp eyed visitors will see an indentation in the brick wall on the west side of the Fort made by a shell from the USS CHICKASHAW during the Battle of Mobile Bay.

More history about Fort Gaines can be found here: (visit link)

"Fort Gaines

Fort Gaines was named after Gen. Edmund Pendleton Gaines, a hero of the War of 1812. The fort is located on the eastern tip of Dauphin Island, at the western approach to Mobile Bay. Originally designed in 1818 as the identical twin to Fort Morgan, work on the Dauphin Island fort was suspended in 1821 when Congress cancelled funding. Although Congress again authorized funding for the fort in 1846, construction did not begin until 1857. Army chief engineer Joseph Totten then scrapped the original 1819 plans and designed the pentagonal-shaped Fort Gaines using the latest French fortification theory of the 1850s to guard the seaward approaches to Mobile Bay and the eastern entrance of the Mississippi Sound.

Whereas construction on Fort Gaines was resumed in 1857, the fort was incomplete when Alabama state militia seized it on January 5, 1861, in anticipation of the state seceding from the Union, which it did January 11. Confederate engineers completed the fort over the next several years. It remained in Confederate hands until August 1864, when it fell in the same Union attack that brought down Fort Morgan. As with Fort Morgan, engineers quickly repaired Fort Gaines, but it also languished in the years after the Civil War.

The Endicott Board recommended two modern gun batteries for Fort Gaines. Built between 1901 and 1904, these batteries housed six guns that complemented the modernizations at nearby Fort Morgan. With the exception of basic preservation, however, Fort Gaines received no additional improvements. As with Fort Morgan and other fortifications, its role in harbor defense waned as its guns were outmatched by those guns on foreign battleships.

At the end of World War I, the War Department sold Fort Gaines to the state of Alabama. It was activated briefly during World War II and then returned to the state, which opened Fort Gaines as a state park in 1955. Fort Gaines is currently under the management of the Dauphin Island Park and Beach Board and events are scheduled throughout the year. The Battle of Mobile Commemorative Day is held in August, followed by "Colonial Isle Dauphine" in October, and "Christmas at the Fort" in December. Fort Gaines's museum contains Civil War-era historical documents and photographs of the fort's role as a coastal artillery post. Fort Gaines also retains on display eight original artillery pieces from the fort's Civil War days."

Another good website is here: (visit link)

What type of artillery is this?: Cannon Where is this artillery located?: Park What military of the world used this device?: United States Army Date artillery was in use: 06/21/1864 Date artillery was placed on display: 01/01/1935 Cost?: 6.00 (listed in local currency) Artillery is no longer operational: yes Still may work: no Are there any geocaches at this location?: There is a virtual geocache here Parking location to view this Waymark: Not Listed

Visit Instructions:
Two pictures are required for this Waymark. Please take a close up picture of the artillery. Take a second with the artillery in the distance and capture as much of the surroundings as possible. Name the Waymark with first the name of the area and second what the artillery is. An example would be if it were a cannon in front of the Montgomery Armory you would name the Waymark: Montgomery Armory Cannon.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   01/01/2015 Benchmark Blasterz visited it