November 6, 1860. |
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| Fort Taylor in 1861.1 |
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the friends of the conspirators, and their owners did not wish to lose the revenue derived from their labor any sooner than would be absolutely necessary.
It was believed that the forts might be seized by the Floridians at any time.
There was an armed band of secessionists at Key West, headed by the clerk of Fort Taylor, whose second in command was the editor of a violent secessionist newspaper there.
Military officers connected with the forts were known to be secessionists, and these afterward abandoned their flag and joined its enemies; and some of the most respectable of the residents, holding office under the Government, had declared their intention to oppose Captain Brannan to the utmost, if he should attempt to take possession of and occupy Fort Taylor.
The disaffected were so numerous that Brannan was compelled to act with the greatest circumspection.
At one time it seemed impossible for him to be of any practical service to his country, so completely was he in the power of the secessionists, civil and military.
At that time the United States steamer Mohawk, Captain T. A. Craven, was cruising for slave-ships in the vicinity of the Florida Keys and the coast of Cuba; and at about the time of Mr. Lincoln's election,
Captain (afterward Quartermaster-General) M. C. Meigs arrived, to take charge of the works at the Tortugas.
He went by land, and was satisfied from what he heard on the way that an attempt would be made by the secessionists to seize the forts at the Keys, for their possession would be an immense advantage to the conspirators in the event of war.
It was determined to defeat their designs, and to this end Captain Meigs worked assiduously, with his accustomed energy and prudence in conjunction with Captain Brannan and the officers of the Navy at that station, whom he supposed he could trust.
Within a week after the arrival of Captain Meigs, a crisis seemed to be approaching, and
preparations were made to throw Captain Brannan's company into Fort Taylor, and strengthen both fortresses against all enemies A little
1 this Fort is near Key West, and, with Fort Jefferson, commands the northern entrance to the Gulf of Mexico. It is of great strength. It is calculated for an armament of one hundred and seventy-eight guns, arranged in three tiers. This picture is from a sketch made by one of the garrison, and published in Harper's Weekly in 1861.
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