A defensive work on
Santa Rosa Island, commanding the entrance to the harbor of
Pensacola Bay.
At the beginning of the
Civil War, nearly opposite, but a little farther seaward, on a low sand-pit, was
Fort McRae.
Across from
Fort Pickens, on the main, was
Fort Barrancas, built by the Spaniards, and taken from them by
General Jackson.
Nearly a mile eastward of the Barrancas was the navy-yard, then in command of
Commodore Armstrong.
Before the
Florida ordinance of secession was passed (Jan. 10, 1861) the governor (
Perry) made secret preparations with the governor of
Alabama to seize all the national property within the domain of Floridanamely,
Fort Jefferson, at the
Garden Key,
Tortugas;
Fort Taylor, at
Key West;
Forts Pickens,
McRae, and
Barrancas, and the navy-yard near
Pensacola.
Early in January the commander of
Fort Pickens (
Lieut. Adam J. Slemmer), a brave Pennsylvanian, heard rumors that the fort was to be attacked, and he took immediate measures to save it and the other forts near.
He called on
Commodore Armstrong (Jan. 7) and asked his co-operation, but having no special order to do so, he declined.
On the 9th
Slemmer received instructions from his government to use all diligence for the protection of the forts, and
Armstrong was ordered to co-operate with
Slemmer.
It was feared that the small garrison could not hold more than one fort, and it was resolved that it should be
Pickens.
It was arranged for
Armstrong to send the little garrison at the Barrancas on a vessel to
Fort Pickens.
Armstrong failed to do his part, but
Slemmer, with great exertions, had the troops of
Barrancas carried over to
Pickens, with their families and much of the ammunition.
The guns bearing upon
Pensacola Bay at the Barrancas were spiked; but the arrangement for the vessels of war
Wyandotte and
Supply to anchor near
Fort Pickens was not carried out. To
Slemmer's astonishment, these vessels were ordered away to carry coal and stores to the home squadron on the
Mexican coast.
On the 10th the navy-yard near
Pensacola was surrendered to
Florida and
Alabama troops, and these prepared to
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bring guns to bear upon
Pickens and
Fort Barrancas.
Slemmer was now left to his own resources.
His was the strongest fort in the
Gulf, but his garrison consisted of only eighty-one officers and men. These labored unceasingly to put everything in working
order.
Among the workers were the heroic wives of
Lieutenants Slemmer and
Gilmore, refined and cultivated women, whose labors at this crisis form a part of the history of
Fort Pickens.
On the 12th
Captain Randolph,
Major Marks, and
Lieutenant Rutledge appeared, and, in the name of the governor of
Florida, demanded a peaceable surrender of the fort.
It was refused.
“I recognize no right of any governor to demand the surrender of
United States property,” said
Slemmer.
On the 15th
Col. William H. Chase, a native of
Massachusetts, in command of all the insurgent troops in
Florida, accompanied by
Farrand, of the navy-yard near
Pensacola, appeared, and, in friendly terms, begged
Slemmer to surrender, and not be “guilty of allowing fraternal blood to flow.”
On the 18th
Chase demanded the surrender of the fort, and it was refused.
Then began the siege.
When
President Lincoln's administration came into power (March 4, 1861) a new line of policy was adopted.
The government resolved to reinforce with men and supplies both
Sumter and
Pickens.
Between April 6 and 9 the steamers
Atlantic and
Illinois and the
United States steam frigate
Powhatan left New York for
Fort Pickens with troops and supplies.
Lieut. John L. Worden (q. v.) was sent by land with an order to
Captain Adams, of the
Sabine, then in command of a little squadron off Port Pickens, to throw reinforcements into that work at once.
Braxton Bragg was then in command of all the Confederate forces in the vicinity, with the commission of brigadier-general; and
Captain Ingraham, late of the United States navy, was in command of the navy-yard near
Pensacola.
Bragg had arranged with a sergeant of the garrison to betray the fort on the night of April 11, for which service he was to be rewarded with a large sum of money and a commission in the Confederate army.
He had seduced a few of his companions into complicity in his scheme.
A company of 1,000 Confederates were to cross over in a steamboat and escalade the fort when the sergeant and his companions would be on guard.
The plot was revealed to
Slemmer by a loyal
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200]
man in the
Confederate camp named
Richard Wilcox, and the catastrophe was averted by the timely reinforcement of the fort by marines and artillerymen under
Captain Vogdes.
A few days afterwards the
Atlantic and
Illinois arrived with several hundred troops under the command of
Col. Henry Brown, with ample supplies of food and munitions of war; and
Lieutenant Slemmer and his almost exhausted little garrison were sent to
Fort Hamilton, New York, to rest.
By May 1 there was a formidable force of insurgents menacing
Fort Pickens, numbering nearly 7,000, arranged in three divisions.
The first, on the right, was composed of Mississippians, under
Col. J. R. Chalmers; the second was composed of Alabamians and a Georgia regiment, under
Colonel Clayton; and the third was made up of Louisianians, Georgians, and a Florida regiment— the whole commanded by
Colonel Gladdin.
There were also 500 troops at
Pensacola, and
General Bragg was commander-inchief.
Reinforcements continued to be sent to
Fort Pickens, and in June
Wilson's Zouaves, from New York, were encamped on
Santa Rosa Island, on which Fort
Pickens stands.
During the ensuing summer nothing of great importance occurred in connection with Fort.
Pickens, and other efforts afterwards made by the
Confederates to capture it failed.
