Battery McIntosh, Mobile Bay

Civil War Field Fortifications

Magazines

Combined Magazines

Battery McIntosh, Mobile Bay

Mobile was a port city, second only to New Orleans in traffic arriving on the Gulf coast, as such it required the protection of batteries capable of resisting the destructive effects of heavy naval ordnance. While most Confederate ports were protected by land batteries the shallowness of the upper reaches of Mobile Bay allowed the Confederates to construct a series of strong batteries out in the bay itself. These batteries were really little more than man made sand islands, well buttressed with piles and obstructions to resist the erosive effects of waves. Battery McIntosh was one of the largest of these batteries.

Designed to receive an armament of seven pieces of heavy artillery mounted en barbette, Battery McIntosh was given parapets and traverses that had the capacity to absorb sustain enemy fire. A large and very well protected bomb proof structure in rear of the right half of the battery served the quadruple functions of a sheltered barrack, powder magazine, shell room, and filling room. Although this sort of combination was not ideal, space limitations imposed by the island form made it necessary. The 71 x 22 feet bomb proof chamber was sunken four feet below the level of the terre-plein with the floor just two feet above water level, and was buried under a covering mass that was about 24 feet thick. The chamber was divided into four distinct rooms. The shelter was 38 x 22 feet and had its own gallery leading toward the engaged side that emerged from the covering mass under a second bomb proof covering that was attached to a traverse. A heavy wall separated the shelter from the magazine itself which was 20 x 22 feet. Beyond the entrance to the magazine the chamber was divided into a three foot wide hallway with 13 x 8' 6" shell room and filling room on either side. The hallway led to the gallery which was three feet wide and turned twice under the covering mass before opening on to the terre-plein facing the battery's right epaulment.

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