Fort Pickens

Fort Pickens (1829-1947) - A Third System brick fort with seven Endicott Period batteries and three World War II batteries installed in and around the fort. Construction of the original brick fort began in 1829 and was completed in 1934. Originally designed by Simon Bernard and Joseph G. Totten. Named after Gen. Andrew Pickens. Decommissioned in 1947.

Map of Fort Pickens 1861	Fort Pickens 1861

Fort Pickens History

Part of the Harbor Defense of Pensacola.

Constructed to provide protection for the entrance to Pensacola Harbor along with Fort Barrancas, Fort McRee and the Advanced Redoubt. Fort Pickens was the largest of the fortifications guarding Pensacola Harbor and was designed as the Headquarters for Gulf Coast defenses.

The original design by Joseph G. Totten was modified by his superior Simon Bernard so that the two seacoast fronts reflect the Totten design while the other three sides reflect the simpler Bernard design. As built, the fort had two, 1000' long seacoast fronts with dual gun casemates and a barbette tier on top. The two secondary fronts were shorter with casemates that served as gun rooms and crew quarters. A backfilled wall and gorge with massive bastions protected the landward side from attack down the island. The seacoast fronts had modified demibastions at each end and a small tower bastion at the center. Armament was to have been 252 guns of different types and caliber. The Peacetime garrison was designed for 100 troops with a wartime capacity of 1,260 troops. Construction was supervised by Col. William Chase.

U.S. Civil War (1861-1865)

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.

Bombardment of Fort Pickens Nov 1861
Camp Brown, Fort Pickens in Background, 1861
Battle of Santa Rosa Island, 9 Nov 1861
Map of Santa Rosa Island, 1861

The 6th New York Volunteer Infantry landed on Santa Rosa Island 26 Jun 1861 from the side-wheel steamship Vanderbilt and encamped at Camp Brown, about one mile east of Fort Pickens. Camp brown was attacked on the night of 9 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 U.S. Civil War Battery** (edit list)
Battery Click on Battery links below	No.	Caliber	Type Mount	Service Years	Notes
Battery Scott (1)	1	42 pounder	Rifled	1861-1862	Co. F, 1st U.S. Artillery
Battery Scott (1)	2	10"	Columbiad	1861-1862	" "
Battery Scott (1)	2	10"	Seacoast Mortars	1861-1862	" "
Battery Scott (1)	1	10"	Siege Mortar	1861-1862	" "
Battery Totten	1	12"	Mortar	1861-1862
Battery Totten	1	13"	Mortar	1861-1862
Battery Cameron	2	10"	Columbiad	1861-1862	Co. H, 2nd U.S. Artillery Co. I, 6th New York Volunteer Infantry
Battery Cameron	1	10 pounder	Parrott Rifled Gun	1861-1862	" "
Battery Lincoln (2)	1	42 pounder	Rifled	1861-1862	Co. H, 2nd U.S. Artillery Co. G, 6th New York Volunteer Infantry
Battery Lincoln (2)	4	8"	Seacoast Howitzers	1861-1862	" "
Battery Lincoln (2)	2	10"	Seacoast Mortars	1861-1862	" "
Source: CDSG

Fort Pickens was not attacked again during the remainder of the war and served as a prison for military and political prisoners. Apache Indian chief Geronimo and 50 Chiricahua Apache men, women and children were imprisoned in Fort Pickens Oct 1886 to May 1888.

Endicott Period (1890-1910)

Construction of seven Endicott Period gun batteries began in 1896 with Battery Cullum and continued through 1906 with the last batteries accepted for service in 1908. Two disasters slowed things down and caused some major rework of structures already completed and accepted.

Early in the morning of 20 Jun 1899 a fire broke out in the second or third casemated west of the sally port in the old Fort Pickens. A detachment of troops turned out to fight the fire but heat from the fire and a lack of equipment prevented them from controlling the blaze. As the blaze advanced toward the northwest bastion magazine the detachment was forced to withdraw to escape the anticipated explosion of the magazine. The fire reached the magazine at 5:20 am and 8,000 pounds of powder blew up in an explosion that was heard for miles. The explosion brought additional help and the fire was extinguished. One man had been killed and another seriously injured by falling debris. The blast had destroyed the northwest bastion and a line of mining structures along the northwest side. The damage to that side of the old fort can still be seen today and a large gap is all that is left of the northwest bastion. Battery Pensacola, which is built into the parade of the old fort, received only minor damage.

On 26 Sep 1906, the eye of a killer hurricane struck the Pensacola area causing ten feet of water above the normal high tide to wash over the Fort Pickens cantonment area. The detachment on the island fled their frame dwellings for the safety of the old brick fort and lashed themselves together as they crossed over to the old fort. Fort McRee suffered an even higher surge of twelve feet and several military and dependents were swept away. The immediate damage was estimated at $ 87,000 but that did not take into account the seawalls that would eventually be required. The seawalls at Fort Pickens and Fort McRee were later estimated to cost $ 907,100. Major repairs were required on some of the Endicott Period gun batteries.

**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 I (1917-1918)

**Fort Pickens World War I Battery** (edit list)
Battery Click on Battery links below	No.	Caliber	Type Mount	Service Years	Battery Cost	Notes
Battery Langdon	2	12"	Casemated Barbette (CBC)	1917-1923-1923-1947	$ 309,486	Casemated 1942-1943
Source: CDSG

World War II (1941-1945)

**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. Several display guns from the U.S. Civil War era are on display in the old fort including a 15" Rodman cannon. One 6" Endicott Period disappearing gun is on display in Battery Cooper.

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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
Historic Structure Report and Resource Study, Pensacola Harbor Defense Project 1890-1947, Florida Unit, National Park service, March 1982
De Quesada, Alejandro M., A History of Florida Forts: Florida's Lonely Outposts, SC : History Press, Charleston, 2006, ISBN 1596291044, page 192-193
Morris, Gouverneur, The History of a Volunteer Regiment: Being a Succinct Account of the Organization, Services and Adventures of the Sixth Regiment New York Volunteers Infantry Known as Wilson Zouaves, Veteran Volunteer Publishing Company, New York, 1891

Links:

Visited: 16 Dec 2009

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