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About the book
The bloody two-week siege of Spanish Fort, Alabama (March 26-April 8, 1865) was one of the final battles of the Civil War. Despite its importance and fascinating history, surprisingly little has been written about it. The fall of the fort was considered by many the key to the surrender of the important seaport of Mobile, which fell to Maj. Gen. Edward R. S. Canby on April 12, 1865. Paul Brueske’s Digging all Night and Fighting All Day: The Civil War Siege of Spanish Fort and the Mobile Campaign, 1865 is the first full-length study of this subject.
General U. S. Grant had long had his eyes set on capturing Mobile. Its fall would eliminate the vital logistical center and put one of the final nails in the coffin of the Confederacy. On January 18, 1865, Grant ordered General Canby to move against Mobile, Montgomery, and Selma, and destroy anything useful to the enemy’s war effort. The reduction of Spanish Fort, along with Fort Blakeley—the primary obstacles to taking Mobile—was a prerequisite to capturing the city.
After the devastating battles of Franklin and Nashville in Tennessee in late 1864, many Federals believed Mobile’s garrison—which included a few battered brigades and most of the artillery units from the Army of Tennessee—did not have much fight left and would evacuate the city rather than fight. They did not. Despite being outnumbered about 10 to 1, 33-year-old Brig. Gen. Randall Lee Gibson mounted a skillful and spirited defense that “considerably astonished” his Union opponents. The siege and battle that unfolded on the rough and uneven bluffs of Mobile Bay’s eastern shore, fought mainly by veterans of the principal battles of the Western Theater, witnessed every offensive and defensive art known to war.
Paul Brueske, a graduate student of History at the University of South Alabama, marshaled scores of primary source materials, including letters, diaries, reports, and newspaper accounts, to produce an outstanding study of a little-known but astonishingly important event rife with acts of heroism that rivaled any battle of the war.
Advance Praise
“Despite being one of the two major clashes in the substantial combined-forces operations designed to capture the city of Mobile in 1865, the siege of Spanish Fort has long been a footnote in Civil War history because it took place during the last days of the conflict. Yet the fight there was a large affair, significant to regional history, and featured incredible stories of sacrifice and endurance as compelling as those of any well-known battle. Paul Brueske has resurrected the story of Spanish Fort in this engrossing account, giving careful attention to the perspectives of all involved. It is the first comprehensive account of this fight and will surely stand as the definitive one on the subject for years to come.” — Mike Bunn, Director of Historic Blakeley State Park, and author of The Assault on Fort Blakeley: The Thunder and Lightning of Battle
“‘Digging All Night and Fighting All Day’ is an exhaustive account of the efforts to eliminate the Confederate fortifications on the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay during the final tragic days of the Civil War. It is a comprehensive narrative, enriched by contemporary accounts and reminiscences that chronicle the plodding realities of siege warfare, endured by both defenders and assailants.” — Robert Bradley, Chief Curator, Alabama Department of Archives and History (Ret.)
“‘Digging All Night and Fighting All Day’ is Paul Brueske’s follow-up to The Last Siege: The Mobile Campaign, Alabama 1865. His latest is a comprehensive study of the last major battle of the Civil War, which is often overlooked because of epic events that occurred in other theaters during the same period. Through the extensive use of contemporary sources, good maps, and important images (some never published), Brueske introduces the reader to the campaign’s major players and tells the story of the monotony, danger, and significance of the war’s last siege.” — Michael Bailey, Senior Historian (Ret.), Fort Morgan State Historic Site and co-author of Fort Morgan
