Things really got hot in November. Fort Pickens began heavy shelling of Confederate Forts Barrancas and McRee along with warships USS Niagara and USS Richmond.
By Nov. 22nd, McRee had been silenced. By Nov. 23rd, the buildings at Warrenton, next to the Navy yard, were ablaze. Flames spread to the nearby village of Woolsey.
Bragg estimated the Federals fired 5,000 shots in the two day bombardment. His forces replied with 1,000.
LATER ON
Fort McRee exploded during a second artillery duel Jan. 1-2, 1862. After that, Bragg was ordered to evacuate Pensacola and left with his 10,000 troops. Before leaving, he spiked the guns, destroyed all machinery and broke up the railroads along with burning Forts McRee and Barrancas.
Goodbye Pensacola. And, Bragg Was There. --Old B-R'er
The Battle of Fort Fisher, N.C.
Showing posts with label fort Barrancas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fort Barrancas. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Pensacola Erupted in Shot, Shell-- Part 1
From the Nov. 11th Pensacola News Journal "Bowden: Pensacola erupted in shot, shell and despair."
Pensacola, Florida, Harbor had been in stalemate since the opening acts of the war for the most part, but things were about to heat up.
Forts Barrancas and Pickens exchanged shots.
General Braxton Bragg lost the Navy Yard dry dock when the tow-line broke and it floated into Union hands was burned September 2, 1861.
September 13-14, 100 Union raiders burned the Confederate schooner William H. Judah being outfitted as a privateer in the former US Navy Yard after a hand-to-hand 15-minute encounter.
In retaliation, Confederates launch a night landing east of Fort Pickens on Santa Rosa Island. Three US Marines were killed and 13 wounded. Three Confederates also died.
More to Come. --Old B-Runner
Pensacola, Florida, Harbor had been in stalemate since the opening acts of the war for the most part, but things were about to heat up.
Forts Barrancas and Pickens exchanged shots.
General Braxton Bragg lost the Navy Yard dry dock when the tow-line broke and it floated into Union hands was burned September 2, 1861.
September 13-14, 100 Union raiders burned the Confederate schooner William H. Judah being outfitted as a privateer in the former US Navy Yard after a hand-to-hand 15-minute encounter.
In retaliation, Confederates launch a night landing east of Fort Pickens on Santa Rosa Island. Three US Marines were killed and 13 wounded. Three Confederates also died.
More to Come. --Old B-Runner
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Was the First Shot of the War Fired at Fort Sumter?
From the April 13th Chicago Tribune.
A raid by Southern sympathizers on Fort Barrancas in today's Pensacola Naval Air Station in Florida was likely the result of an ill-planned, drunken misadventure that ended with a blank shot being fired on January 8, 1861.
Civil War historian Dale Cox considers this the first shot of the war, coming a few hours before the steamer Star of the West was fired on in Charleston Harbor. Fifty US soldiers under Lt. Adam J. Slemmer were stationed at Fort Barrancas, guarding Pensacola Bay.
With Confederate sentiment seething in the area, he had ordered the fort's drawbridge raised. Around midnight, a guard heard footsteps and challenged. One of the people lurking in the darkness fired a blank. Slemmer made no comment about shots being fired that night. In 1865, R.L. Sweetman, one of the unknowns that night, wrote that a blank shot was fired that night at the fort.
So, Was It? --Old B-R'er
A raid by Southern sympathizers on Fort Barrancas in today's Pensacola Naval Air Station in Florida was likely the result of an ill-planned, drunken misadventure that ended with a blank shot being fired on January 8, 1861.
Civil War historian Dale Cox considers this the first shot of the war, coming a few hours before the steamer Star of the West was fired on in Charleston Harbor. Fifty US soldiers under Lt. Adam J. Slemmer were stationed at Fort Barrancas, guarding Pensacola Bay.
With Confederate sentiment seething in the area, he had ordered the fort's drawbridge raised. Around midnight, a guard heard footsteps and challenged. One of the people lurking in the darkness fired a blank. Slemmer made no comment about shots being fired that night. In 1865, R.L. Sweetman, one of the unknowns that night, wrote that a blank shot was fired that night at the fort.
So, Was It? --Old B-R'er
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
And You Thought the First Shots of the War Were Fired at Fort Sumter?
From Dale Cox's April 20th Southern History Blog: http://southernhistory.blogspot.com
The night of Januray 6, 1861, Federal soldiers at Pensacola, Florida's Fort Barrancas saw several shadowy figures approaching and after challenging them, opened fire. The shadowy figures quickly skeedaddled.
Fort Barrancas was the only fortification to be occupied by troops at the time. Nearby Fort Pickens only had a caretaker and no one was at the other fort.
Official reports of January 3rd showed Fort Barrancas as well-armed with 44 seacoast and garrison cannons along with 20,244 pounds of gunpowder.
The "shadowy figures" were soldiers from Alabama who had heard that Fort Barrancas was unoccupied. The shots alerted them that it wasn't.
So, the first "victory" in the war went to Union forces.
The Great Skeedaddle. --Old B-Runner
The night of Januray 6, 1861, Federal soldiers at Pensacola, Florida's Fort Barrancas saw several shadowy figures approaching and after challenging them, opened fire. The shadowy figures quickly skeedaddled.
Fort Barrancas was the only fortification to be occupied by troops at the time. Nearby Fort Pickens only had a caretaker and no one was at the other fort.
Official reports of January 3rd showed Fort Barrancas as well-armed with 44 seacoast and garrison cannons along with 20,244 pounds of gunpowder.
The "shadowy figures" were soldiers from Alabama who had heard that Fort Barrancas was unoccupied. The shots alerted them that it wasn't.
So, the first "victory" in the war went to Union forces.
The Great Skeedaddle. --Old B-Runner
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