San Marcos de Apalache Historic State Park (Fort Ward)

Fort Ward was named after Colonel George Taliaferro Ward of the 2nd FL infantry who was killed at the battle of Williamsburg where he is buried in the Bruton Parish Episcopal Church Cemetery in the heart of Colonial Williamsburg (201 West Duke of Gloucester Street).

The site on which the fort stood was originally a camp site of Spanish explorer Pánfilo de Narváez. By 1679 the Spanish began the construction on the first fort on the site named Fort San Marcos de Apalache built directly on the point where the Wakulla and St. Marks River join. The walls were made of logs coated with lime to give the appearance of stone. It stood until 1682 when it was burned by pirates. Plans exist for a second fort from 1685 constructed under the direction of Don Juan de Siscara. After the Spanish abandoned the area the fort fell into disrepair.

They returned in 1718 and constructed/reconstructed a small wooden fort under Captain Don Joseph Primo de Ribera. Work was begun on a stone fort in 1739 north of the wooden structure. It was still incomplete in 1758 when a hurricane flooded the wooden fort drowning 40 men. The fort was less than half completed when the Spanish ceded control of Florida to the English in 1763. They reoccupied it, naming it Fort St. Marks, plans for the stone fort are shown below.

The fort changed hands between the Spanish and British several times. In 1790 the Spanish made repairs to the fort which were sketched in the image shown below by Don Luis de Bertucat. This sketch is very different than the plan outlined in the previous image.

In 1818 in a dispute with the Spanish the US government sent Andrew Jackson and an army of 2000 men into Spanish Florida. They attacked several key locations including the St. Marks Fort. Captain Gadsden in his report diagramed the fort.

In 1821 the territory of Florida became part of the United States. It was garrisoned for a short period until 1824 and then abandoned. In 1857 a federal marine hospital was built there using stones from the Spanish fort that provided care for sick seamen and locals stricken with yellow fever. In 1861 the Confederates seized the fort renaming it Fort Ward. A drawing of the fort during the war appears in the Official records seen below.

In the image above the fort is drawn with five embrasures in the southern wall with the marine hospital in the background. The fort had no rear wall and was susceptible to a land based attack from behind. The Confederates had picket post stationed at the lighthouse, Shell Point, and Port Leon as an early warning system. Confederate engineer Captain Theodore Moreno also anticipated that a Union force coming ashore at the lighthouse would need to cross the wooden bridge across the St. Marks River at Newport an important industrial center just upstream of St. Marks on the St. Marks River, now a ghost town. Moreno constructed a line of earthworks west of the river on the St. Marks River side of Bay Street (Old Plank Road). Other defenses included an earthen battery on the east bank at the mouth of the river slightly northwest of the lighthouse and a sunken barge filled with stones in the river below Port Leon. In 1862 the earthen battery was destroyed by a Union raid. In 1865 the magazine was located at the east end of the fort. Constructed of logs it was 7 feet thick and exceeded the height of the parapet. A smaller magazine was located at the other end of the fort for the largest rifled gun. Earthworks were constructed to reinforce the Spanish walls. In anticipation of an attack during the Natural Bridge campaign additional cannon were removed from the small gunboat Spray and added to the fort. The fort now mounted two rifled 32-pounders, a rifled Parrot gun, one 12-pounder, and two smooth bore 32-pounders. Two additional smoothbore 32-pounders were added on a lighter. Union forces did attempt to attack the fort but could not navigate upriver (three of the steamers grounded). When the fort was surrendered on May 12, 1865, it was described as a strong fortification with an armament of eight heavy guns and well supplied with ammunition. It was the last coastal fort of the Confederacy to surrender.

The San Marcos de Apalache Historic State Park

The park has an 11 stop walking tour.

**Path to the Visitors Center (Stop #1). It was built on the foundation of the Marine Hospital**.

**In the center of the image, behind the circular cistern, one can see the foundation stones of the Marine Hospital upon which the Visitors Center was built**, **seen better in the next picture.**

Stop #11- The Military Cemetery is north of the Visitor Center.

Stop #2- Confederates earthworks- North Wall. The wall was made from loose debris and earth braced with rows of wooden posts. The embankment was high enough to hide soldiers while standing. The interior of the fort was leveled, and cannons mounted to defend both rivers.

In the next two images I am looking at the interior of the fort and earthworks from the top of the stairs

Stop #3- Confederate magazine- The large hill is the remnants of a large magazine, one of two in the fort. Soil was heaped in a protective mound around an interior storage space built of stone and wood. Most of Fort Ward’s gunpowder and explosives were stored here. A second smaller magazine served a battery along the Wakulla River.

**Stairs leading to the top of the magazine**

**Picture taken from the stairs looking to the left at the magazine**

**Picture taken from the stairs looking to the right at the wall at the bombproof**

**There was a grave at the top of the stairs**

The next five pictures were taken from the top of the bombproof looking at the fort.

Stop #4- Fort Ward gun position- Confederate troops mounted a battery here in the remains of the old Spanish bombproof. The earthworks provided additional protection for the guns and their crew. The main powder magazine was directly behind the battery.

**The old Spanish bombproof site of a Confederate battery**.

Stop #5- The next five images were taken from Luther Tucker Point the site of the original wooden Spanish forts. These early forts were placed directly on the point. The problem is that this area floods very easily.

Stop #6- The Bombproof Foundation. The images show the remains of the Spanish bombproof. It was made from limestone and consisted of four rooms with arched ceilings and strong doors. The roof was used as a firing position to defend the northern part of the fort. During the Civil War the Confederates located a battery here. The forward gun mount was located near the taller part of the wall.

**The stone foundation of the Spanish bombproof**

The north wall #7- Shown below are the remains of part of four small rooms that were just inside the north wall of the Spanish fort. They were made of limestone. On the opposite side of the north wall was the moat that connected the St. Marks and Wakulla Rivers. During the Civil War the Confederates filled in the moat.

**The small rooms were inside the fort wall seen better below**

**This area just outside the north wall was a moat**. **Filled in it was to the right of the tree in the center.**

**The wall looking out toward the river**

Stop #8- The Bastion of San Fernando. This bastion made of limestone projected from the corner of the fort and was located along the Wakulla River. The Confederates filled in its remains with soil and placed a battery here. A second small powder magazine was located near the battery.