The Battle of Fort Fisher, N.C.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

USS Sagamore Shells a Florida Cemetery

The HMdb, Historical Marker Data Base, recently had an account of a cemetery in Tampa in which a shell from the USS Sagamore landed during a bombardment of the city June 30-July 1, 1862.

An 8-inch shell landed in Oaklawn Cemetery, founded 1850, and a marker is in it today to commemorate the event. Tampa was just a very small town during the Civil War and several small skirmishes, usually of a naval nature, took place.

On July 2, 1862, the Confederate commander of Fort Brooke, John W. Pearson, wrote of the USS Sagamore's attempt to reoccupy Tampa. One of the shells landed in the cemetery, which he noted a being quite a bit north of the fort.

There was mention in the article that Pearson might have moved some of his supplies to a nearby area.

There was no mention as to whether the shell was recovered, but I imagine it was.

Just a Little Bit of Minor History. --Old B-Runner

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