FORT MORGAN: A view from the 'murder ditch'

BATTLEFIELD BACKSTORY: If you were the enemy and fortunate enough to make it  through the outer defenses of Fort Morgan, the Rebel fortress that guarded the entrance to Mobile Bay in Alabama, you likely would face overwhelming fire from the embrasures -- the holes in the massive, thick walls. That's why this area here, just outside the fort's main walls, was called the "murder ditch." No Yankee was subjected to such treatment. On Aug. 9, 1864, Union troops that included the 2nd Connecticut Light Artillery landed on the east side of Fort Morgan to begin a siege that ended with the Rebels' surrender on Aug. 23, 1864. I enjoyed my first visit to the massive fort so much during our family vacation this summer that I went back for another visit two days later. If you go, be sure to check out the small museum, which even includes on display a partial dental plate of the fort's Rebel commander, who was decapitated in an artillery accident. (Click at upper right to enlarge and click here for all posts on this blog.)