Union Siege Battery No. 16/The Union First Parallel - Spanish Fort, AL
Posted by: 
Markerman62
N 30° 41.055 W 087° 54.499
16R E 413000 N 3394961
Located on Southern Way at Pirates Lane, Spanish Fort
Waymark Code: WM13F86
Location: Alabama, United States
Date Posted: 11/28/2020
Views: 2
Union Siege Battery No. 16
At 10:00am on March 27, 1865, the 21st Alabama Infantry ambushed the lead unit of Union Maj. Gen. Andrew Smith's XVI Army Corps, the 81st Illinois Infantry, on the hill overlooking the burned-out Bay Minette Creek bridge, one half mile east of this location. By 3:00pm, Brig. Gen. Eugene Carr's Division of Smith's Corps advanced to this ridge and entrenched. Staunch Confederate resistance inflicted 91 casualties on Smith's Corps on the opening day of battle. That evening. the 14th Indiana Light Artillery occupied this prominent site only 550 yards from Red Fort. Capt. Francis Morse commanded the battery, which was armed with two 12-pounder Napoleon cannons. The next morning, Confederate artillery from Red Fort scored a direct hit on the battery causing two fatalities. On April 3, 1865, Morse was repositioned to a bluff on the Union's extreme right, and Company L of the 1st Indiana Heavy Artillery, under the command of Capt. Isaac Hendricks, relieved this position. Hendricks’ men were armed with two 30-pounder Parrott rifles and two 8-inch smoothbore cannons.
The Union First Parallel
The main Union siege line during the Battle of Spanish Fort ran along this ridge. Brig. Gen. Eugene Carr's Division occupied the right flank of the Union line between here and Minette Bay. Carr's men initially faced Confederate Brig. Gen. Bryan Thomas' Brigade: the 21st AL Infantry, the 1st AL Reserve, and the 2nd AL Reserve Regiments, but on March 30, 1865, the battle-hardened Holtzclaw and Ector Brigades relieved the reserves. Col. Lyman Ward's Brigade of Carr's Division was posted adjacent to Battery No. 16. The 40th and 49th MO Infantry Regiments were on the front with the 14th WI Infantry to the rear in reserve. Occupying the center of Carr's Division was Colonel Jonathan Moore's Brigade, consisting of the 44th MO, 95th IL, 72nd IL, and the 33rd WI Infantry Regiments. Col. James Geddes' Brigade formed the right of Carr's Division. The 124th and 108th IL Infantry Regiments were on the front line, with the 81st IL Infantry and 8th IA infantry in reserve. On the evening of April 8, 1865, the 8th Iowa was moved to the front to conduct the decisive flanking attack that ended the battle.
Marker Name: Union Siege Battery No. 16/The Union First Parallel
Marker Type: Urban
Addtional Information::
Erected by the Sons of Confederate Veterans -Admiral Semmes Camp 11.
Date Dedicated / Placed: 2015
Marker Number: Not listed
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Visit Instructions:
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