ORDER OF BATTLE // August 2, 1864
Battle of Mobile Bay
Estimated force strength by side, with confidence labels per surviving record.
Forces engaged
2 sides catalogued · combined 7,000 estimated
United States
5,500
Medium-confidence figure
Confederate States
1,500
Medium-confidence figure
Battle context
The Battle of Mobile Bay closed one of the Confederacy's last significant Gulf Coast ports to blockade runners, tightening the Union naval stranglehold on Southern commerce and supply. Farragut's fleet overcame a Confederate squadron under Admiral Franklin Buchanan and three defensive forts — Morgan, Gaines, and Powell — despite the hazard of submerged mines (then called torpedoes) guarding the bay's entrance. The engagement removed Mobile Bay as a viable Confederate logistics corridor and demonstrated that coordinated naval and land forces under Farragut and General Gordon Granger could reduce heavily fortified positions. The battle also produced one of the Civil War's most quoted commands, Farragut's "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead," which entered American military memory as a byword for aggressive action under fire.
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