Rebel Battery at Pensacola?

Joshism

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Apr 30, 2012
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Jupiter, FL
I saw this posted to a Facebook group. The photo is allegedly a Confederate battery at Pensacola. There does appear to be a lighthouse in the left background. I don't know how far the Confederate batteries extended west of the Pensacola Lighthouse and Fort Barrancas in 1861-1862.

Do you think the photo is accurately identified, or is it from some other Confederate fortification?

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Joshism, there were several batteries there at the Warrington Naval Yard and Pensacola Bay up until 9 May 1862 when both was abandoned and put under the torch by the Confederates (and mostly burned) leaving the Federal army / navy to occupy what remained on the following day of 10 May 1862. Then a few Confederate batteries were soon established just east of Pensacola along the coast to protect the Confederate salt works where salt was mined and produced for the Confederate army, who badly needed it. Those salt works were located along the Florida coastline between Choctawhatchee Bay (now Fort Walton and Destin) and Tampa Bay. The largest was at St. Andrews Bay which was just east of Choctawhatchee Bay and this area was constantly raided by the Federal navy then positioned at Pensacola (Fort Barrancas), to destroy those salt works throughout 1863 and 1864. These actions were referred to as the "Great Salt Raids." Some of those Confederate batteries were located along the coast in somewhat plain sight and others were hidden in the wood line.

A letter written by Melvin Tibbetts of Company K, 15th Maine, on 26 Mar 1863, describes the extent of the Confederate fortifications and batteries which still remained just east of Pensacola Bay (Santa Rosa Inlet), below he wrote:

“it seems as though there was no end to the rebels fortifying the shore for two or three miles are lined with sand batteries and back in the woods out of sight are mask(ed) batteries, and there are lots of seats made up in the tops of trees probably for lookouts.”

The above photo could be of one of those batteries or one of the batteries located at Pensacola around the Warrington Naval Yard before the Confederates evacuated and abandoned Pensacola on the night of 9 May 1862. After the Confederate evacuation, the 2nd Regiment Alabama Cavalry and Capt. Thomas J. Myers` 3rd Battalion Florida Cavalry were left behind in the Florida Panhandle for some months to contain and confine the Federals to Pensacola and its immediate environs, and early in 1863 the 6th Alabama Cavalry was positioned along the Yellow River to protect the salt works. The batteries that were there were either Florida State Troops or Flying Artillery attached to the 2nd and 6th Alabama Cavalries with a few pieces of artillery. On 5 April 1863, the 2nd Regiment Alabama Cavalry was issued movement orders from the Florida Panhandle to northern Mississippi to help oppose Grierson`s Raid from LaGrange to Baton Rouge and did not return to Florida leaving the 6th Regiment Alabama Cavalry to continue in their operations along with what Florida State Troops remained throughout 1863 and early 1864.

After stating all of the above, if that is indeed the lighthouse of Pensacola in the background of the photo, then this battery would have to be located at the Warrington Naval Yard near Fort Barrancas, which would be about the right distance and position, and the photo would have been taken before 10 May 1862. The 2nd Regiment Alabama Cavalry and Capt. Thomas J. Myers` 3rd Battalion Florida Cavalry destroyed the Warrington Naval Yard, put a torch to Forts McRee and Barrancas (which damaged Barrancas but did not entirely destroy it and the Federals later repaired the damage) and burned much of the town of Pensacola on the night of 9 May 1862, leaving the Federals to take possession of what remained the following day of 10 May 1862, while the Confederates were ripping up the rails and destroying the Alabama & Florida Railroad from Pensacola to Pollard and tearing down the Telegraph cables along the same route.
 
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The photo is reversed. These were what was known as the Water Batteries at Warrington. You can see Santa Rosa Island in the background.
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Here is the CS battery that was at the lighthouse. Most of these places are on NAS Pensacola. The second one of the camp is across the street from the Senior Chief's club on the base.
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Members of the 9th Mississippi Infantry at Camp Stevens near Fort Barrancas. The 29th Alabama Infantry shared that camp with them until Bragg`s pull out in April 1862 and the evacuation of Pensacola on the night of 9 May 1862.
I have pictures of the Falconer brothers and their father, all of whom are in that photo. I believe all died in the yellow fever outbreak of 1878. They were from Holly Springs.
 
Can you identify them for us?
The only remaining one is Howard Falconer, seated with the shovel.
 
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