Ft. Morgan, on the western end of the Alabama peninsula which shelters Mobile Bay, and Ft. Gaines, on the eastern end of Dauphin Island, were Confederate strongholds which guarded the entrance to Mobile Bay. On August 5th, 1864, the Union fleet, led by Admiral David Farragut, sailed between them in the greatest naval battle of the Civil War. During the battle, Farragut issued his famous order: "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead."