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in our disclaimer.
This is a 3 stage Multi Cache and all stages are within walking distance of each other. There is no need to climb or go into restricted areas to find any of the 3 stages. This area is available 24/7. Beware of muggles. If you take something, leave something of equal or greater value.
The first stage will give part of the coordinates to the final stage. The final stage is located at N 30º 13.XXX' W088º 00.YYY'.
To figure out the final stage use the coordinates you find at the first stage and subtract 00.048' minutes from the North, and
add 00.069 minutes to the West. This is a temporary fix until I can fix the second stage.
Enjoy the area, the history and the great views. This cache has been placed with permission and the appropriate permit has been secured.
What: Fort Morgan
Where: 22 miles west of Gulf Shores on State Highway 180 West
When: Grounds and fort open 8-7 June through September; 8-5 October through February and 8-6 March through May. The museum is open weekdays 8-5, and Saturday and Sunday 9-5. Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day.
Cost: $5 adults, $3 children 6-12, free to younger children
Facilities: Picnic tables, seasonal concession stand, restrooms,
More: Living history program is conducted daily during the summer. Candlelight fort tours are Tuesday evenings in the summer. Civil War reenactments are staged every five years during the first weekend in August.
Information: 251-540-7125
Fort Morgan and the Battle of Mobile Bay
(Fort Morgan State Historic Site)
Under the early light of dawn, Union Adm. David Farragut began his attack on Mobile Bay, Alabama. Aware of the danger near Fort Morgan, Farragut ordered his captains to stay to the "eastward of the easternmost buoy" because it was "understood that there are torpedoes and other obstructions between the buoys."¹ Unfortunately, the lead ironclad, the USS Tecumseh, unable to avoid the danger, struck a mine and sank into the oceans depths. Yet, against all odds, the seasoned admiral said "DAMN THE TORPEDOES, FULL SPEED AHEAD" ordering his flagship, the Hartford, and his fleet to press forward through the underwater minefield and into Mobile Bay.
Although Farragut was a champion of the "wooden navy," he agreed to include four new ironclad ships modeled after the USS Monitor in his attack fleet. It was widely believed that these warships were unsinkable. But the Tecumseh indeed sank that summer morning, August 5, 1864, unexpectedly killing the majority of its crew and demonstrating the deadly effects of advances in technology such as the torpedo. For in the words of one Confederate soldier reminiscing on the ill-fated ship, "She careens, her bottom appears! Down, Down, Down she goes to the bottom of the channel, carrying 150 of her crew, confined within her ribs, to a watery grave."¹
¹Official Records. Navies, vol. 21, 398.
²"Fort Morgan in the Confederacy: Letter by Hurieosco Austill." Alabama Historical Quarterly, vol. 7, no. 2, (Summer 1945), 256.
The Ghosts of that dreadful War still watch over all who visit.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
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