This morning the men went into camp in the sand. The region was sterile and uninteresting to the men. Fort Morgan had gained much notoriety from its engagement with Commodore Farragut's fleet the previous August. The fort showed marks of the bombardment, including crumbling walls and broken brick work.
Near the camp was a sand hill, twenty or thirty feet high. From there the men could see the vessels anchored in the gulf and Dauphin Island to the west across the mouth of Mobile Bay.
Over the next couple weeks the men remained in camp here on the beach at Fort Morgan. They often saw a school of porpoises playing in the waters of the bay. This was a first for most of the soldiers from Illinois.
Looking west from Ft. Morgan in the fall of 2014. You can see Dauphin Island in the distance.
