Battle of Fort Bowyer
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The Battle of Fort Bowyer was the last engagement between British and American forces in the War of 1812. It was fought after the Treaty of Ghent had been signed but before the news reached that part of America.
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[edit] Move to engagement
Following their catastrophic defeat at the Battle of New Orleans, and unaware that the peace Treaty of Ghent had already been signed (though not yet ratified), British forces under General John Lambert decided to launch a new assault, this time on Mobile, Alabama. Mobile, a Spanish possession before the beginning of the war, had been declared part of American territory by Congress after commencement of the war.
The first target of the assault was the wooden Fort Bowyer, situated at the mouth of Mobile Bay. Completed in 1813 by Colonel John Bowyer, the fort had repelled a British attack in September 1814, after which American General Andrew Jackson, recognising its strategic importance, had ordered the fort strengthened, now garrisoned it with 370 officers and men of the 2nd Infantry Regiment, proclaiming "ten thousand men cannot take it".
[edit] The battle
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 British moved to within 200 yards of the fort and began to build their siege works. While constructing their artillery lines, the British forces endured constant American fire and took light casualties, but continued their work undeterred. When the siege guns were in place, the British were ready to launch a devastating artillery attack on the now vulnerable wooden fort.
On February 12 after a small barrage of artillery, Lambert, under a flag of truce, called on the fort to surrender. He asked the American commander, Major William Lawrence, to accept British terms and prevent the needless slaughter of his men. Lawrence reluctantly agreed to do so.
[edit] 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. However, the following day, February 13, a British dispatch ship arrived off Mobile Bay with news of the signing of the peace treaty ending the war.
Fort Bowyer was subsequently returned to U.S. control, and would later be replaced with the more heavily fortified Fort Morgan. The final attachment of Mobile to the United States was the only permanent exchange of territory during the War of 1812.
