Fort Pickens

Fort Pickens (1829-1947) - Construction began in 1829 and was completed in 1934. Originally designed by Simon Bernard and named after Gen. Andrew Pickens. Decommissioned in 1947.

Fort Pickens History

Constructed to provide protection for the entrance to Pensacola Harbor along with Fort Barrancas, Fort McRee and the Advanced Redoubt.

Construction was supervised by Col. William Chase.

U.S. Civil War

Camp Brown with Fort Pickens in the Background, 1861

Florida left the Union 10 Jan 1861 and secessionists seized Fort Barrancas, Fort McRee and the Advanced Redoubt, only Fort Pickens remained in Union hands and it effectively blocked Confederate use of Pensacola Harbor.

The 6th New York Volunteer Infantry landed on Santa Rosa Island in Jun 1861 and encamped at Camp Brown, about one mile east of Fort Pickens. Camp Brown was attacked in Oct 1861 by Confederate forces who destroyed most of the camp before being driven off with help from Fort Pickens reinforcements. On 22-23 Nov 1861 and 1 Jan 1862 Fort Pickens and it's exterior batteries came under bombardment from Confederate held forts and batteries. By May 1862 Confederate forces had abandoned attempts to take Fort Pickens, withdrawn from the Pensacola area and all of the Pensacola Harbor defenses had been returned to Union control.

Fort Pickens was not attacked again during the remainder of the war and served as a prison for military and political prisoners.

Post U.S. Civil War

Apache Indian chief Geronimo and 50 Chiricahua Apache men, women and children were imprisoned in Fort Pickens Oct 1886 to May 1888.

Endicott Period

**Fort Pickens Endicott Period Battery** (edit list)
Battery Click on Battery links below	No.	Caliber	Type Mount	Service Years	Battery Cost	Notes
Battery Pensacola	2	12"	Disappearing	1898-1898-1899-1933	$ 128,707
Battery Worth (2)	8	12"	Mortar	1897-1899-1899-1942	$ 123,093
Battery Cullum	2	10"	Disappearing	1896-1898-1898-1933	$ 188,920	2-3" from Battery Trueman, 1942
Battery Sevier	2	10"	Disappearing	1896-1898-1898-1933	Included above
Battery Cooper	2	6"	Disappearing	1905-1906-1906-1917	$ 56,744	1 replaced 1976 (West Point)
Battery Van Swearingen	2	4.7"	Pedestal	1898-1898-1898-1921	$ 7,498
Battery Trueman	2	3"	Pedestal	1905-1905-1908-1942	$ 28,333	Guns to Battery Cullum, 1942
Battery Payne	2	3"	Pedestal	1904-1904-1908-1946	$ 28,103
Source: CDSG

World War II

**Fort Pickens World War II Battery** (edit list)
Battery Click on Battery links below	No.	Caliber	Type Mount	Service Years	Battery Cost	Notes
Battery 234	2	6"	Shielded Barbette (SBC)	1943-1943-1943-1947	$ 212,482	Gun tubes never received
Battery AMTB - Fort Pickens	2 2	90mm 90mm	Fixed Pedestal Mobile	1943-1943-1943-1946	$ 16,811
Battery 155 - Fort Pickens	4	155mm	Tractor-drawn Panama Mount	1942-1942-1942-1945	$ 26,652	Constructed around Battery Cooper
Source: CDSG

Current Status

Fort Pickens is part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore and is administered by the National Park Service. Access to the fort was made difficult by Hurricane Ivan in 2004 because the Fort Pickens Road was washed out. Reconstruction is planned for 2008 and scheduled to be complete in the spring of 2009.

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Location: Western tip of Santa Rosa Island, Pensacola, Florida.

Maps & Images

Lat: 30.327 Long: -87.2907

Multi Maps from ACME
Maps from Bing
Maps from Google
Elevation: '

Sources:

Roberts, Robert B., Encyclopedia of Historic Forts: The Military, Pioneer, and Trading Posts of the United States, Macmillan, New York, 1988, 10th printing, ISBN 0-02-926880-X, page 195-198
Weaver, John R. II, A Legacy in Brick and Stone: America Coastal Defense Forts of the Third System, Redoubt Press, McLean, 2001, First Printing, ISBN 1-57510-069-X, page 159-163
De Quesada, Alejandro M., A History of Florida Forts: Florida's Lonely Outposts, SC : History Press, Charleston, 2006, ISBN 1596291044, page 192-193

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