Fort Barrancas

Infobox nrhp2
name = Fort San Carlos De Barrancas
nhl = yes


caption = Aerial view of Fort Barrancas. The water battery is the white section.
location = Warrington, Florida, USA
nearest_city = Pensacola
lat_degrees = 30
lat_minutes = 20
lat_seconds = 52.22
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 87
long_minutes = 17
long_seconds = 51.22
long_direction = W
area =
built = 1787
architect =
architecture =
designated_nhl = October 9, 1960cite web |url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=162&ResourceType=Site |title=Fort San Carlos De Barrancas |accessdate=2008-06-21 |work=National Historic Landmark summary listing |publisher=National Park Service]
added = October 15, 1966cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2008-06-21|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]
visitation_num =
visitation_year =
refnum = 66000263
governing_body = Federal government

Fort Barrancas (1839) or Fort San Carlos de Barrancas (from 1787) is the name of a historic United States military fort in the Warrington area of Pensacola, Florida, located physically on Naval Air Station Pensacola. "The Forts of Pensacola Bay" (history), Visit Florida Online, 2006, webpage: [http://www.visitfloridaonline.com/article_pensacola_forts.htm VFO-Forts] .] "Fort San Carlos de Barrancas" (history), National Park Service (NPS), webpage: [http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/founders/sitea7.htm NPS-fort2] .]

The hill-top fort, connected to a sea-level water battery, [ The Spanish names of the wooden fort and downhill water battery were "Fuerte San Carlos de Barrancas" and "Baterie de San Antonio", with Spanish words "fuerte" (meaning "fort") and "baterie" (meaning "battery").] overlooks Pensacola Bay, from what is now Naval Air Station Pensacola.cite web|url=PDFlink| [http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NRHP/Text/66000263.pdf "Ft. Barrancas Historical District", by Anne Castellina-Dudley] |title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination|date=|publisher=National Park Service] Because the hill-top fort was rebuilt of brick (1839-1844), becoming "Fort Barrancas", the older, water battery downhill ("Baterie de San Antonio", 1787) has also been called "Fort San Carlos", separately, "Fort Barrancas" (history), National Park Service, 2006, "nps.gov" webpage: [http://www.nps.gov/guis/planyourvisit/fort-barrancas.htm NPSft] .] being a remnant from the time the hilltop was the wooden ( _es. Fuerte) "Fort San Carlos de Barrancas".

Spanning a multi-century history, the U.S. Army deactivated Fort Barrancas on April 15, 1947. Designated a National Historic Site (NHL) in 1960, control of the site was transferred to the National Park Service in 1971. After extensive restoration during 1971-1980, Fort Barrancas was opened to the public ("see below: Timeline").

Construction

Fort Barrancas was built on the site of numerous previous forts, including from 1698, Fort "San Carlos de Austria", destroyed in 1719 (See below: "Timeline", for a condensed history of the site).

The site was used as a harbor fortification by the British, building the "Royal Navy Redoubt" in 1763. The Spanish captured Pensacola in 1781, and completed the fort "San Carlos de Barrancas" in 1797. "Barranca" is a Spanish word for "bluff", the natural terrain feature that makes this location ideal for the fortress.

When Florida was acquired from Spain in 1821, Pensacola was selected as a navy yard, and harbor fortifications were constructed to protect its deepwater bay. After 1829, Fort Pickens and Fort McRee were built to defend the pass to Pensacola Bay.

Fort Barrancas, expanded with brick between 1839-1844, is on the mainland. It was built to defend against both sailing ships entering the harbor and attack across land. The "Advanced Redoubt" was built north of the fort, and a trenchline connected them. This system protected the navy yard to the east from infantry attacks. Fort Barrancas was designed by Joseph Gilbert Totten, and connected to the Spanish-built water-battery by an underground walkway tunnel. Major William Henry Chase supervised the construction, done mostly by slave labor.

Civil War

In 1861, during the American Civil War, there was a company of 50 U.S. soldiers stationed at Fort Barrancas, under the command of John H. Winder. On January 8th, Florida state troops under Colonel William Henry Chase demanded that the federal troops surrender the fort. As Winder was not present (and would later be promoted to General in the Confederate Army), Lieutenant Adam J. Slemmer was in charge. LT Slemmer knew that Fort Pickens was easier to defend, so he spiked the guns at Barrancas and loaded ammunition and supplies on a flatboat. He moved his company across the bay to Fort Pickens, and held that fort for the Union throughout the Civil War.

Confederate soldiers from Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi were then stationed at Fort Barrancas. While a small company of soldiers could man the fort successfully, additional sand batteries were constructed along the coast, and operated by these soldiers.

General Braxton Bragg took command of Confederate Pensacola on March 11, 1861, and continued work on the batteries. On October 9, a Confederate force of 1000 troops landed east of Fort Pickens, but was repelled by Union forces. Fort McRee and Fort Barrancas exchanged heavy cannon fire with Fort Pickens on November 22-23, 1861 and January 1, 1862. In May 1862, after hearing that the Union Army had taken New Orleans, Confederate troops abandoned Pensacola.

Aftermath

Stronger cannon and ironclad ships developed during the Civil War made masonry forts like Fort Barrancas outmoded. The fort was used as a signal station, small arms range, and storage area by the Army until 1946, when newer weapon technology made coastal defense an obsolete concept. On April 15, 1947, Fort Barrancas was deactivated, and the U.S. Navy incorporated the site into Naval Air Station Pensacola. At the same time, local leaders, Congress, and the National Park Service were working to designate the harbor defenses of Pensacola as a national monument. In 1971, Congress authorized the establishment of the Gulf Islands National Seashore, as part of the National Park Service, and after a $1.2 million restoration, Fort Barrancas was opened to the public in 1980.

Fort Barrancas and the nearby Advance Redoubt are located abaord Naval Air Station Penscola and are managed by the National Park Service. Access to Naval Air Station Pensacola by non-Department of Defense affiliated personnel may be subject to homeland security concerns.

Timeline

The site of Fort Barrancas has been involved in numerous events over the past five centuries:

* 1559-1561: when Spanish Pensacola is first settled on Santa Rosa Island, the site is just a hilltop that looks across the water to the island;

* 1698: the site becomes "Fort San Carlos de Austria";
* 1719: "Fort San Carlos de Austria" is completely destroyed by the French;

* 1763: under British rule, the site becomes the "Royal Navy Redoubt" built of earth & logs;

* 1787: under Spanish rule (from 1781), the sea-level battery is built of masonry, becoming the "Bateria de San Antonio";

* 1787-1797: under Spanish rule, a wooden and earthen structure is added on the hill-top bluff, overlooking the battery, as "Fort San Carlos de Barrancas";

* 1814: "Fort San Carlos de Barrancas" is blown up by the evacuating British, as Andrew Jackson approaches;

* 1817: under Spanish rule, fort "San Carlos de Barrancas" is rebuilt;

* 1839-1844: under U.S. rule (from 1821), the woooden hill-top structure is replaced with a massive brick fortress connected via tunnel to the battery (remodeled 1838), becoming "Fort Barrancas";

* 1845-1869: the "Advanced Redoubt" is built 1400 ft (427 m) north of the fort;

* 1861: under Confederate rule, "Fort Barrancas" is bombarded from Union-held Fort Pickens on Santa Rosa Island, with heaviest attacks on November 22-23 and January 7, 1862;
* 1862: in May, the site and Pensacola are abandoned to the Union troops (after the fall of New Orleans);

* 1941-1947: Fort Barrancas is used by the U.S. Army as a signal station and small arms range; the fort is deactivated April 15, 1947;

* 1960: on October 9, "Fort San Carlos de Barrancas" becomes an NHL landmark.
* 1966: Fort Barrancas Historical District (640 acres) enters the National Register of Historical Places, as district #66000263. [ "National Register of Historical Places" (list), webpage: [http://ww.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/fl/Escambia/state.html NRfl] .]
* 1971: Fort Barrancas becomes part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore managed by the U.S. National Park Service;

* 1978-1980: Fort Barrancas is restored during an 18-month project and opened to the public as a National Historic Landmark.

During the past 450 years, the site has changed names several times, depending on which country ruled in the region.

Notes

External links

*http://www.nps.gov/guis
*http://www.forttours.com/pages/fortbarrancas.asp
*http://www.civilwaralbum.com/misc/ftbarrancas_npsguide.htm
*http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/guis/pensacola_harbor.pdf
* [http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/38pickens/38pickens.htm "Fort Pickens and the Outbreak of the Civil War", a National Park Service Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) lesson plan]