Fort Barrancas

While Florida’s secession convention was meeting in early January 1861 at the state capitol in Tallahassee its state militia was busy seizing forts and arsenals across the state. The Apalachicola Arsenal in Chattahoochee was occupied on the 6th, Fort Marion in St. Augustine on the 7th, followed by Fort Clinch on Amelia Island and Fort Brooke on Tampa Bay. These were all surrendered without incident by the token Union forces guarding them. There was only one Union soldier present at Fort Marion and Forts Clinch and Brooke were unoccupied. Fort Taylor in Key West and Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas would remain in Union hands for the duration of the war (see map of coastal forts in Florida (below).

Only in the Pensacola area would the state militia meet resistance. Pensacola was regarded as the best deep water harbor in the Gulf. It was also home to a naval yard and ship building facility. As a result, the entrance to Pensacola Bay was heavily guarded by three installations, Forts Barrancas and McRee on the mainland and Fort Pickens on Santa Rosa Island (see map of the harbor below).

**Pensacola** **Harbor Defenses- the Naval Yard was off the left side of the image east of Fort Barrancas**, **the bottom of the image is north and the top is south- from a sign in the Fort Barrancas visitor center**

First Lieutenant Adam Slemmer posted guards at Fort Barrancas. On the evening of January 8th about 20 men from the state militia attempted to take the fort but fled when fired upon. Orders arrived the next day for the small Union force to hold the three forts to the best of their ability. Slemmer realizing that he and his 81 men could not hold all three facilities decided to destroy the cannons and excess ammunition at Forts Barrancas and McRee on the mainland and sail to Fort Pickens on Santa Rosa Island with the USS Supply under the command of Lieutenant Henry Erban and the USS Wyandotte. Of the three forts Slemmer felt Pickens was easiest to defend because there was only one approach by land and the Union Navy could provide support from the Gulf. The militia from Florida and Alabama now occupied the naval yard and both mainland forts but could not control the entrance to the harbor without taking Fort Pickens (covered in the next post).

The history of Fort Barrancas- The British built the first redoubt on the barrancas (bluffs) when they acquired Pensacola in 1763. Spanish troops captured it from the British during the Revolutionary War in 1782 and built new forts there- San Carlos de Barrancas and Bateria de San Antonio (the water battery). After Florida became part of the United States in 1821 the Navy constructed the Warrington Navy Yard in Pensacola. The US Army using enslaved laborers then built Fort Barrancas on the ruins of San Carlos de Barrancas and improved the Spanish water battery between 1839 and 1844.

The Visitor Center provides the entrance to the fort which is located on Naval Air Station Pensacola.

Exhibits inside the Visitor Center

**Major William Henry Chase superintended construction of the fort using over 6,000,000 bricks**

The National Park Service has published a 10-stop walking tour the link to the brochure and map are shown below. The descriptions are edited from the brochure.

**Map of the fort** **and link to the walking tour brochure**

Stop 1. Glacis: The earthen slope hid the fort from land-based artillery.

**Glacis- the hill on the path leading to the overlook and Sally Port**

The overlook on the path to the fort

**View toward Fort McRee from the overlook**

**The area where Fort McRee was located**

Stop 2. Scarp and Counterscarp: The main walls (scarp) supported the barbette which provided defense against both ships and infantry. The outer walls (counterscarp) supported the glacis and provided cannon sites to fire down the ditch. Pictures taken from the drawbridge.

**Counterscarp to the left- the signs on the overlook are visible on the upper left**

Stop 3. Ditch: A dry moat covered two sides of the fort. Assaulting infantry entering the ditch would suffer heavy casualties from muskets and cannon fire through windows in the walls.

**Ditch**– **counterscarp to the left. Signs on the overlook more easily seen at the far end of the counterscarp**

Stop 4. Drawbridge: Operated by a counterweight and winch, it pivoted at the center. It could be raised to prevent a surprise attack.

Stop 5. Sally Port: The entrance to the fort was guarded by heavy oak doors. A small wicket gate allowed entry without opening the main doors.

Stop 6. Guard Room: This room had four bunks for a six-man guard detail. They rotated with two men on guard duty (2-hours on, 4-hours off, for 24-hours) while four men rested. The main barracks were to the east of the fort. The guard room is to the right just after entering the sally port.

The signs below are in the guard room

7. Scarp Gallery: A series of arches supported the sand fill and allowed access to the loopholes for muskets. Vents at the top allowed smoke from the guns to escape.

**Powder magazine**– **next door to the guard room**

Stop 8. Counterscarp Gallery: A tunnel under the ditch leads to this wall, containing loopholes, cannon emplacements, and powder magazines. Some visitors have reported the ghost image of a confederate soldier in this gallery. The entrance to the counterscarp is opposite the entrance to the guard room.

Stop 9. Parade: The center of the fort held a hot shot furnace where cannonballs were heated for firing at wooden sailing ships. In 1845 the armament of Fort Barrancas was: ten 24-pounders, two 8-inch howitzers, five 18-pounders, three 12-pounders, one 8-inch mortar, two coehorn mortars, two 6-pounders, a 12-pounder on a field carriage, plus eight 24-pounder flank howitzers in the couterscarp. In the water battery there were eleven 32-pounders, two 8-inch seacoast howitzers, and two 10-inch mortars.

The parapet and view of Pensacola Bay- Fort Pickens and Fort McRee

10. Water Battery: The tunnel from the parade leads to the water battery, originally constructed by the Spanish and named Bateria de San Antonio. Cannon fire from the Battery skipped over the surface of the bay to hit ships at the waterline.