Fort Pickens

• 1. Third System Design And Construction

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  Construction of Fort Pickens began in 1829 and concluded in 1834. French engineer Simon Bernard designed the structure as part of the Third System of Fortifications. The fort features a pentagonal shape with broader western walls to cover the bay with fire. Workers laid 21.5 million bricks to build the massive defensive walls. Enslaved persons performed much of this heavy labor during the five-year project. Colonel William H. Chase supervised the entire construction effort for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. A counterscarp on the east side created a defensive moat against land invasions from the west. Mine chambers equipped the westernmost bastions for last-ditch defense efforts.

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• 2. Civil War Strategic Defense

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  Lieutenant Adam J. Slemmer commanded Union forces at Fort Barrancas by early 1861. He determined Fort Pickens was the most defensible position in the Pensacola area. Around midnight on the 8th of January 1861, his guards repelled local civilians trying to occupy the fort. Some historians claim these were the first shots fired in the Civil War. On the 10th of January 1861, Florida declared its secession from the Union. Slemmer destroyed over 20,000 pounds of gunpowder at Fort McRee before moving his force. His small group included 51 soldiers and 30 sailors who escaped the Confederate takeover nearby. He refused surrender demands from Colonel William Henry Chase on January 15 and the 18th of January 1861. An informal truce kept the North from reinforcing the fort while the South avoided attacking it. Union troops finally landed on the 12th of April 1861, after bureaucratic delays resolved themselves. The Confederates attacked the western edge of Santa Rosa Island on the 9th of October 1861. Over a thousand men launched the assault but retreated with 90 casualties.

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• 3. Geronimo Imprisonment Era

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  Captives from Indian Wars in the West traveled east to be held as prisoners. Apache war chief Geronimo arrived at Fort Pickens in October 1886. He remained imprisoned there until May 1887 along with several of his warriors. Their families stayed at Fort Marion in St. Augustine during this period. This incarceration occurred following the conclusion of major conflicts in the American Indian Wars. The facility served as a holding site for high-profile Native American leaders captured by U.S. forces.

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• 4. Endicott Program Modernization

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  The Army constructed new gun batteries at Fort Pickens during the late 1890s. These installations were part of a program initiated by Secretary of War William C. Endicott. Battery Pensacola sat within the walls of the original fort while other concrete batteries spread out nearby. Concrete parapets concealed these weapons flush with the surrounding terrain. On the 20th of June 1899, a fire reached Bastion D's powder magazine containing tons of explosive material. The resulting explosion killed one soldier and obliterated Bastion D completely. Bricks from the destroyed bastion landed across the bay at Fort Barrancas more than 1.5 miles away. Foundations were torn away to allow easier access for mechanical equipment needed for Battery Pensacola. The parapet on the south wall was demolished to clear firing arcs for 12-inch guns.

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• 5. World War II Coastal Defenses

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  Fort Pickens faced renewed threats from German U-boats operating in the Gulf of Mexico during World War II. Battery Langdon received casemated protection in 1943 to counter dive bomber attacks. Seventeen feet of concrete covered the existing 12-inch barbette guns to create bomb-proof bunkers. An artificial hill formed over the bunker using sand and dirt for additional shielding. Battery 234 functioned alongside Battery 233 across the bay on Perdido Key. Both batteries housed two 6-Inch M1905 guns inside cast-steel casemates. The command center sat buried underneath an artificial hill to protect against air attacks. These guns never saw active service during the war but remain today as historical artifacts.

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