Third and Final, I think.

Across Mobile Bay from Fort Morgan, the subject of an earlier post, is Fort Gaines and we may have enjoyed this one the most. WHY? you ask. Because it is the smallest and consequently less walking. Strange how your values change with age. Fort Gaines is in relatively good condition and, aside from one late 19th-century exterior artillery battery, everything is within the walls.

Everything is as you would expected it. The officer's quarters face the "parade." It was a three-story building but US Navy guns remodeled it as they damned the torpedoes and sailed into Mobile Bay.

Like Fort Morgan and Fort Pickens, the US Army coastal Artillery updated things a bit before the Spanish American War with the addition of "hidden batteries."

During the Civil War the artillerist was a tad more exposed.

Unique is not a term often associated with the military yet the "kitchen courtyard" behind the officer's quarters had this stone wall. The outdoor kitchen, outdoor being a climate adaptation in the south, was well equipped with a fireplace and oven.

This may be the end of the FORT SERIES. Perhaps we will swing into spring with some flower photos or something equally peaceful.