Near this site was the location of the first of twenty-two artillery positions the Union army set up to bombard the Confederate fortifications of Spanish Fort. The Confederate forces were under the command of Brig Gen. Randall Gibson. Battery Tracy, Battery Huger, and Old Spanish Fort were built on the shores of the Blakeley River in order to block the Union navy from gaining access to the Mobile Delta. In addition, a two-mile long horseshoe shaped earthwork containing five artillery redoubts was built to protect the water batteries from a land invasion, On March 27, 1865, Maj. Gen. Edward Canby's Union Army of West Mississippi completely surrounded the Confederate garrison. Canby placed the XIII Army Corps, under the command of Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger, on his left during the thirteen-day siege. Battery No. 1 anchored Granger's Corps, which was composed of men from CT, IL, IN, IA, MI, MO, MA, NY, OH, VT, and WI. The 1st Indiana Heavy Artillery armed with four 8-inch howitzers and the 6th Michigan Heavy Artillery armed with four 10-inch siege mortars manned Battery No. 1.
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