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| Brigadier-General W. N. Pendleton It is clear that these Confederate gunners at Pensacola are untried and undisciplined, but it is also evident that they are enthusiastic. They are manning the guns which are to open later on Fort Pickens, the first Fort on the Confederate coast seized by the Federals, and held by them throughout the war. This was due to the enterprise of Lieutenant Adam J. Slemmer, ably seconded by Lieutenant J. H. Gilman. Lieutenant Slemmer's report says of Lieutenant Gilman: “During the whole affair we have stood side by side, and if any credit is due for the course pursued, he is entitled to it equally with myself.” The demand was refused, and Fort Pickens never passed into the hands of the Confederates. The battery seen in this photograph was at Warrington, nearly opposite Fort Pickens. It commanded the entrance to the harbor. General Pendleton, who was a graduate of West Point in the class of 1830, was chief of artillery in Lee's army of Northern Virginia. He entered the war as captain in the artillery corps July 19, 1861, and became colonel and chief of artillery July 21, 1861. The mortar in this photograph is an old style piece dating from before the Mexican war. The new Confederate soldiers had at times to content themselves with very old guns. |
