The Civil War Bluejackets Project has benefited greatly from the dedication and commitment of our two Zooniverse moderators, R. Roberts (@GROBSTER) and Robert Croke (@SandyCycler). Their efforts in guiding new users through the transcription process and their enthusiastic engagement with comments and queries on “Talk” are impressive enough, but both are also dedicated researchers of the wartime naval experience. Reflecting that, they have collaborated together for our latest Bluejacket Community Discoveries post, the first of three to examine the story behind a list of U.S. sailors at Fort Pickens, Florida in 1861. Part One, written by Robert Croke with contributions from R. Roberts, explores the fascinating story behind the creation of list; Parts Two and Three will reveal some of the very exciting new information R. Roberts uncovered while researching the individual sailors’ lives in detail. We hope you enjoy the read!

The unusual list of sailors aboard USS Brooklyn shown above prompted this post in our Community Discovery series. The paper is damaged, but we can read that it lists “Fort Pickens Men”, described as sailors who’d been assigned to Pensacola Navy Yard and were being “turned over to Lt. Slemmer, Fort Pickens, to aid in the defence of that Fort.” After reinforcement of the fort, these men went aboard Brooklyn and resumed their customary naval duties.

Further piquing our curiosity is the note under the list. It reads “These men look for and are deservedly entitled to an honorable discharge,” followed by a description of their sudden transfer to army duties, the loss of their clothing (the government docked their pay for the replacements!) and the severe hardship they experienced in defense of the fort. Seeking to learn more, we contacted the historians at Gulf Islands National Seashore, the modern custodian of Fort Pickens. Casimer Rosiecki, Supervisory Park Ranger there, responded with information and excellent links, allowing us to reconstruct events.

January 1861 was extremely tense throughout the United States. Abraham Lincoln had been elected president in November 1860, and would be inaugurated in March 1861. Southern states were seceding from the Union. Army and Navy installations in those states were in turmoil, their personnel deciding whether to side with the rebels or to continue allegiance to the Federal government, and if the latter, how to protect Federal arms, equipment and buildings from seizure by the Confederacy.

Pensacola Bay was a valuable deep-water port in the far west of the Florida Panhandle, near the Alabama border. The US Navy established a yard there in 1825 and the Army built four fortifications in subsequent years.

At the time of Florida’s secession on 10 January 1861, the forts were commanded by First Lieutenant Adam J. Slemmer, who remained loyal to the Union. Slemmer and Second Lieutenant Jeremiah H. Gilman recognized the likelihood of trouble from secessionists and the difficulty of defending the several forts. They chose to consolidate men and arms at Fort Pickens on Santa Rosa Island. It was best suited to defend itself, to be reinforced from the sea, and to control the entrance to the bay.

The commandant of the Pensacola Navy Yard provided boats and sailors to move soldiers and their equipment from the mainland forts to the island. Lt. Slemmer recorded that during the move the Navy “…turned over to me thirty ordinary seamen from the yard, without arms or equipments [sic] of any kind.” It appears that those sailors stepped onto the boats expecting a few hours work and found themselves on indefinite assignment to the army.

Five days later, on 15th January, Floridian officers approached Ft. Pickens and spoke with Slemmer and Gilman, asking for their surrender (the navy yard had already done so). William Chase, commanding the Florida Militia, stated that he did not want bloodshed. Slemmer responded that blood would be shed only if Chase initiated an attack. Thus began a tacit truce, later made explicit by a message from the new government of the Confederate States of America to lame duck president Buchanan: if the fort were not reinforced by the Union, they would not attack.

The thirty seamen and the soldiers did indeed endure extreme hardship for three months. The fort had not been maintained, requiring extensive manual labor to make it even minimally defensible. There was no lumber to construct shelter from cold and rain, nor bunks for sleep. They had about 80 men in a fort designed to be defended by 800. They worked and stood guard all day; only half could sleep at night, on the brick pavements.

On 4th March Lincoln took office. In early April he ordered that Fort Pickens and Fort Sumter in Charleston be reinforced and supplied. Each fleet arrived at its destination on 11th April 1861. The Confederates at Charleston opened fire on the 12th. Those at Pensacola did not. Thus, the Civil War is recorded as starting at Charleston.

During the night of the 12th April USS Brooklyn and other ships were able to land soldiers and supplies adequate to relieve Ft. Pickens. After three months of severe hardship, and with their navy yard now in Confederate hands, the 30 sailors on our list boarded Brooklyn and served on her for the remainder of her cruise- we will have more on them in Part 2 of this post.

In October 1861 rebel troops finally attacked the fort, but were repelled. Fort Pickens remained in Union hands for the remainder of the war. The Union gradually recovered land including the navy yard by measured offensive actions. Thus, the Confederacy was denied Pensacola as a repair site for its ships and an import/export site and the threat of a major offensive kept the Rebel forces tied up there despite the need for them elsewhere. These factors, among many others, helped the Union towards securing ultimate victory in the naval war.

• Special thanks to thanks to National Park Service Ranger Rosiecki of Gulf Islands National Seashore for his assistance in uncovering more about this story.

References

Reports of Lieut. Adam J. Slemmer, First U. S. Artillery, of the transfer of his command from Barrancas Barracks to Fort Pickens, and subsequent events (to February 5,1861) in Pensacola Harbor. In The War of the Rebellion: a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate armies. / Pub. under the direction of the … Secretary of War ser.1:v.1. Pages in the original, 333-342.

Gilman, J.H. With Slemmer in Pensacola Harbor. In Robert Underwood Johnson, Clarence Clough Buell, Battles and Leaders of the Civil War: The Opening Battles. Volume 1. 1887.

Pearce, George F. Pensacola During the Civil War: A Thorn in the Side of the Confederacy. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 2000.

National Park Service Gulf Islands National Seashore. The Fort Pickens Parley.