Fort Bowyer

Fort Bowyer
Location of Fort Bowyer in Alabama
Location	Western terminus of AL 180 Gasque, Alabama
Coordinates	30°13′41″N 88°1′23″W / 30.22806°N 88.02306°W / 30.22806; -88.02306Coordinates: 30°13′41″N 88°1′23″W / 30.22806°N 88.02306°W / 30.22806; -88.02306
Built	1813

First Battle of Fort Bowyer
Part of War of 1812
Date September 14–16, 1814 Location Fort Bowyer, Alabama Result American victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom	United States
Commanders and leaders
William Percy	William T. Lawrence
Strength
British: 60 Royal Marines, 1 artillery piece, 2 sixth-rates, 2 brig-sloops Native Americans: ~60 warriors Total: ~120 troops	160 infantry, 6-14 artillery pieces (disputed), Fort Bowyer
Casualties and losses
34 killed, 35 wounded 1 sixth-rate scuttled, 1 brig-sloop severely damaged	4 killed, 5+ wounded

Second Battle of Fort Bowyer
Part of War of 1812
Date February 7–12, 1815 Location Fort Bowyer, Alabama Result British victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom	United States
Commanders and leaders
John Lambert	William T. Lawrence  (POW)
Strength
1,400 infantry, 11 artillery pieces, 3 (estimated) Rocket frames	375 infantry, 22 artillery pieces, Fort Bowyer
Casualties and losses
13 killed, 18 wounded	1 killed, 10 wounded, 374 captured.

Fort Bowyer was a short-lived earthen and fortification that the United States Army erected in 1813 on Mobile Point, near the mouth of Mobile Bay in Baldwin County, Alabama. The British twice attacked the fort during the War of 1812. The first, unsuccessful attack, took place in September 1814 and led to the British changing their strategy and attacking New Orleans. The second attack, following their defeat at the Battle of New Orleans, was successful. However, it took place in February 1815, after the Treaty of Ghent had been signed but before the news had reached that part of America. Between 1819 and 1834 the United States built a new masonry fortification, Fort Morgan, on the site of Fort Bowyer.

Mobile had been a Spanish possession before the beginning of the Patriot War, but Congress had declared it American territory after commencement of the War of 1812. After Spanish forces evacuated Mobile in April 1813, the Americans built a redoubt on Mobile Point.

In June 1813, Colonel John Bowyer completed the fort. The fort, which initially had 14 guns, was made of sand and logs and fan-shaped, with the curved face facing the ship channel into Mobile Bay. On the landward side there was a bastion, flanked by two demi-bastions. The fort's purpose was to impede any British invasion at this point on the Gulf Coast, as the fort commanded the narrow entrance to Mobile Bay. About a year after the fort's construction the Americans abandoned it, but in August 1814, Major William Lawrence and 160 men from the 2nd U.S. Infantry re-garrisoned it.