Fort Bowyer Fort Bowyer was a short - lived earthen and stockade 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 , 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 . Construction . Mobile had been a Spanish possession before the beginning of the Patriot War , but Congress had declared it part of 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 , but the Americans abandoned it about a year later . The fort was made of sand and logs , and fan - shaped , with the curved face facing the ship channel into Mobile Bay , and initially had 14 guns . 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 it commanded the narrow entrance to Mobile Bay . Then in August 1814 , the Americans again garrisoned the fort with 160 men from the 2nd U . S . Infantry under the command of Major William Lawrence . First battle . The First Battle of Fort Bowyer took place in mid - September , 1814 . Captain William Percy of the Royal Navy decided to attack the fort in preparation for an assault on Mobile . He believed Bowyer to be a low , wooden battery mounting some six to 14 small caliber guns . Background . Capturing the fort would enable the British to move on Mobile and thereby block Louisiana ' s trade . From Mobile , the British could move overland to Natchez to cut off New Orleans from the north . Percy took with him ( 22 guns ) , ( 18 guns ) , ( 20 guns ; Captain Robert Cavendish Spencer ) , and a fourth vessel , ( 18 guns ; Capt . Umfreville ) . American sources often mis - attributed the fourth vessel as , of 18 guns . Lieutenant Colonel Edward Nicolls volunteered to proceed with diversionary forces on land . On the morning of 12 September , Percy landed Nicolls ' s motley force of 60 Royal Marines , about 60 Indians , together with a 5½ - inch howitzer , about 9 miles to the eastward . The British land force then marched against the fort and Lawrence ' s 160 men . A further sixty Indians , under First Lieutenant James Cassell , had been detached to secure the pass of Bon Secour 27 miles to the east of the fort , but they played no active part in the attack itself . Battle . The battle began with the Americans repulsing the British land attack on 14 September . Nicolls , ill at the time , was observing on " Hermes " . On 15 September , after contrary winds had died down , Percy crossed the bar with " Hermes " , " Sophie " , " Carron " , and " Childers " . The fort opened fire at 3 : 20 p . m . and at 3 : 30 " Hermes " opened fire . The U . S . fort and " Hermes " were at musket - shot range . At 3 : 40 , " Sophie " opened fire also , but the other two vessels were not able to get into a firing position . During the battle , a wooden splinter wounded Nicolls in the eye . The British naval attack was unsuccessful . After two hours of fruitless bombardment , " Hermes " ran aground and lay helpless under the fire from the fort . " Sophie ' s " boats took off " Hermes " crew and Percy set her on fire ; she subsequently blew up after the fire reached her magazine . The remaining ships anchored for the night some one and half miles from the fort . Aftermath . The next morning they re - crossed the bar and sailed away . " Hermes " had lost 17 killed in action , 5 mortally wounded and 19 wounded , while " Sophie " had 6 killed in action , 4 mortally wounded and 12 wounded . In all , including the Marine killed on shore ( Charles Butcher ) , the British lost 33 killed and 40 wounded in the land and naval attacks , while the Americans lost only 4 killed and 4 wounded . Percy ' s court - martial for the loss of " Hermes " concluded that the circumstances had warranted the attack . The defeat at Fort Bowyer led the British to decide to attack New Orleans instead . However , after their defeat at the Battle of New Orleans , the British decided to try again to take Mobile . Second battle . The Second Battle of Fort Bowyer was the first step in a British campaign against Mobile , but turned out to be the last land engagement between British and American forces in the War of 1812 . Background . After the unsuccessful British attack in September 1814 , American General Andrew Jackson , recognizing Fort Bowyer ' s strategic importance , ordered the fort strengthened . Now its garrison comprised 370 officers and men of the 2nd Infantry Regiment , and Jackson proclaimed " ten thousand men cannot take it " . British General John Lambert decided to attack Mobile again . The commander of the naval forces was Captain T . R . Rickets of the 74 - gun third - rate , . The British troops came from the 4th Foot , the 44th Foot , and the 21st ( Royal North British Fusiliers ) Regiment of Foot , who had fought at New Orleans . When they captured the fort , the British discovered that it mounted three long 32 - pounders , eight 24s , six 12s , five 9s and a mortar and a howitzer . However , Fort Bowyer ' s weakness was its vulnerability to an attack from the landward side . Battle . The British campaign began with an investiture of Fort Bowyer . Lambert landed a force of around 1 , 400 men east of the fort to block any reinforcements by land . Judging they would need a line of artillery to successfully reduce the fort , the troops brought with them four 18 - pounder cannons , two 8 - inch howitzers , three 5½ - inch and two 4 . 4 - inch mortars . In addition to these eleven conventional artillery pieces , landed Lieutenant John Lawrence ' s 25 - man detachment of Royal Marine Artillery with several Congreve rocket launchers , two 6 - pounder rockets , and a hundred 12 - pounder rockets . The British moved to within 200 yards of the fort and began to build their siege works . While they were constructing their siege works , the British forces endured constant American fire and took light casualties , but continued undeterred . Once their guns were in place , the British were ready to launch a devastating artillery attack on the now vulnerable fort . On February 12 after a barrage of artillery , Lambert , under a flag of truce , called on the fort to surrender . He demanded that Major Lawrence accept British terms to prevent the needless slaughter of his men . Lawrence acquiesced , surrendering Fort Bowyer after having withheld the siege for five days . Aftermath . With Mobile Bay secured by British warships and Fort Bowyer now under British control , the remaining American forces in the area hurried to Mobile to prepare for the expected onslaught there . The British postponed the attack on Mobile itself when arrived some two days later , carrying news that the Treaty of Ghent , ending the war , had been signed on the previous Christmas Eve . When news of ratification of the Treaty arrived , the British withdrew . The final attachment of Mobile to the United States was the only permanent exchange of territory during the War of 1812 . Fort Bowyer subsequently reverted to U . S . control . The War Department would later replace it with the more heavily fortified Fort Morgan . Two active battalions of the Regular Army ( 1 - 1 Inf and 2 - 1 Inf ) perpetuate the lineage of elements of the old 2nd Infantry that was present at Fort Bowyer in both 1814 and 1815 .