Ft. Pickens

[atlantis]

Looking at a map it seems IMHO that Pickens should have been a priority target for the confederates. I am not aware of any effort to capture it. Was it impossible or an oversight, what am I missing. If any of you have more knowledge of Ft Pickens during the war would like to hear it. Didn't Bragg have 10,000 troops near by in 1861, were they in no condition to carry out an assault.

 

[Miles Krisman]

In Alabama, many of the initial companies were not formed until mid-March 1861. These companies were called into service at Montgomery, Alabama, during the first week of May. As companies arrived in the city, they would be formed into regiments (ten companies) and then were rushed by rail to Pensacola, Florida, to face the Union troops that had been consolidated at Fort Pickens. It was mid-May before Bragg had a sizable force, but these men were mostly untrained and many, unarmed. It takes time to put together an Army. By the first week of June 1861, many leaders recognized that Richmond, Virginia, which had been made capital of the Confederacy on May 8, 1861, was likely to be the main scene of confrontation with Federal troops, and most troops were moved north to her defense.

Fort Pickens lost it's importance as things developed in Virginia. However, the fort would be attacked by a relatively small force of Confederates in October 1861.

 

[NFB22]

As Miles mentioned above, CS forces did try to attack the garrison at Fort Pickens in early October of 1861. That said, I'm fairly certain they knew they couldn't take the fort in an all out assault on its walls, at least without massive losses, so they tried to entice the garrison out into open battle which never really worked. You'd also need to take into account several US Navy ships were anchored off of Fort Pickens and also would have been able to assist in case of a major assault on the fort.

I also think had the Confederates commanded the fort, it could have been fairly easy for Union forces to take it back. Santa Rosa Island is a very long island and Union forces could have landed further down the coast and bombarded into submission much like they did Fort Pulaski or they could have just sailed into the bay much like they did in Mobile as I do not believe there were any naval threats in Pensacola to hold them up but you'd have to check with Mark to be sure. The only one I've read of is the suspected privateer Judah which was captured and burned by sailors and Marines from the USS Colorado.