Demanded Surrender Of His Own Design

On January 15^th 1861 Florida militia Colonel William Henry Chase demanded the surrender of Fort Pickens which was being used as a United States Army garrison.

Florida became the third state to secede on January 10^th 1861 and began right away to seize Union property.  On January 15^th 1861 on the behest of the Florida State Governor,  Florida Militia Colonel William Henry Chase demanded the surrender of Fort Pickens at Pensacola, Florida.  Chase had been a Captain in the United State Army Corps of Engineers, and had designed and oversaw the construction of the Fort.

The United States commander of the Fort was Lieutenant Adam J Slemmer, he refused to surrender.  Slemmer had 81 men under his command, who he had moved from the other local Forts of Barrancas and McRee over to Fort Pickens on Santa Rosa Island.  When Chase and his aide; Captain Ebenezer Farrand went to Fort Pickens to demand the surrender, they were met outside by Slemmer and his second in command; Second Lieutenant J H Gilman.  The Confederates were denied entrance to the Fort.  Chase had written the demand for surrender and gave it to Farrand to read, but he was without glasses, and so Gilman took it and read it out loud.

Gilman asked how many he faced and if Chase thought they could take the Fort by force.  Chase said that he could, but he would loose about half of his men.  Chase told Slemmer that Florida could not allow the Fort to be held and that he must know an attack would bring on a Civil War.

The next day Union Navy ships in the harbor moved closer to the Fort and Slemmer refused to surrender, and the Fort remained in Union hands throughout the war.

Died From Wounds

Babcock is standing center

Union Lieutenant Colonel Willoughby Babcock died October 6^th 1864 from wounds received during the Battle of Winchester 17 day earlier.

Willoughby Babcock was born in Scott, New York January 12^th 1832 the son of Samuel Babcock.  He graduated in 1857 from New York Central College, and then studied at the Albany Law School.  He had a law practice in Owego, New York.

When the Civil War started Babcock took a commission as First Lieutenant in the three month regiment of the 3^rd New York Infantry April 18^th 1861.  The 3^rd saw action at the Battle of Bethel on June 11^th 1861.  He moved to the 64^th New York Infantry in November and then with a promotion Babcock became the Major of the 75^th New York Infantry.  On December 6^th 1861 the 75^th was stationed at Santa Rosa Island, Florida, and while there they took part in the bombing of Forts McRae and Barrancas.  In the summer of 1862 Babcock was made Provost Marshal and the Military Governor of Pensacola, Florida.  In September 1862 the 75^th along with Babcock moved to New Orleans and the Department of the Gulf, where they were involved in several engagements.  On December 7^th 1862 Babcock was commissioned Lieutenant Colonel and took over command of the Regiment.  He led them at the Battle of Fort Bisland, and in the assault on Port Hudson.  Babcock was wounded in the thigh at Port Hudson, and when he returned to the Regiment he served as Provost Judge of New Orleans.  Because of a letter Babcock wrote which was published in a New York New Paper, he was brought up on a court martial August 22^nd 1863, and did not return to service until January 28^th 1864.  Babcock returned as Chief of Staff for Union General A L Lee in the Department of the Gulf.

On August 3^rd 1864 Babcock rejoined the 75^th at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia.  He took over command of the Regiment again.  While at the head of the 320 men of the 75^th New York during the Third Battle of Winchester he was shot in the leg and it shattered the bone on September 19^th 1864.  He was found on the field by Confederate Major Andrew L Pitzer, who did his best to make Babcock comfortable and offered to get Babcock’s things sent to his wife.  Shortly after the Union retook the field and Babcock was moved to a field hospital, where his leg was amputated. A couple of weeks after his wounding on October 6^th 1864 Babcock passed on at the Union General Hospital in Winchester, Virginia.  He is buried in the Glenwood Cemetery in Homer, New York.

Houses Trembled Ten Miles Off

Fort McRee located on the eastern tip of Perdido Key, Florida was continued to be fired on, on November 23^rd 1861 by Union batteries and the USS Niagara.

Fort McRee was a bent elliptical fort built on a barrier island.  At its widest points the fort was 450 feet by 150 feet wide.  The wall that faced the channel was 366 feet long and about 35 feet above the water line during low tide.  McRee held 128 cannons, including twenty-four 32 pounders.  The fort was built before 1839 by William Henry Chase who oversaw the construction of all the Pensacola area forts.

In early January 1861 Union troops located at Fort McRee destroyed about 20,000 pound of gunpowder and evacuated to Fort Pickens.  On January 12^th 1861 Confederate troops from Alabama and Florida occupied McRee.

On the morning of November 22^nd 1861 Union batteries located at Fort Pickens opened on some Confederate steamers docked at the Navy Yard.  The ships escaped with very little damage, while the Confederate guns located at Forts Barrancas and McRee returned fire on Fort Pickens.  The USS Richmond and USS Niagara moved in firing on Fort McRee, shooting the Fort’s flagstaffs off.  The Confederate fire was able to do some damage to the USS Richmond.  Confederate General Braxton Bragg said of that day's battle, that "the houses in Pensacola, ten miles off, trembled from the effect; and immense quantities of dead fish floated on the surface of the lagoon, stunned by the concussion."  At about 5 pm with the tide going out the two Union ships had to withdraw and the guns of McRee fell silent.

The Battle took up again on November 23^rd 1861 where it had left off.  The Union side firing around 5,000 rounds of ammo into Fort McRee did extensive damage.  Fort McRee’s Confederate commander Colonel John B Villepique sent word to Bragg that the fort was exposed, half his guns had been dismounted and the powder was in danger.  The Confederate only returned about 1,000 shots, killing 2 and wounding 13 Union men.  Fort McRee would survive the bombardment, but large chunks of wall were blown away or collapsed, and one powder magazine caved in.  Six Confederate soldiers died in the action.

Struck Down By A fever

Confederate General John Bordenave Villepigue resigned his commission with the Union army on March 31^st 1861.

John Bordenave Villepigue was born July 2^nd 1830 in Camden, Kershaw, South Carolina.  He attended the South Carolina Military Academy in 1846, the Citadel in 1847 and finally graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1854, the 2^nd in his class.  Villepigue’s first duty as a Second Lieutenant was with the 2^nd United States Dragoons.  He saw action in Kansas and Nebraska against the Sioux, and was part of the Utah campaign in 1857.  Promoted to First Lieutenant he taught for a time at the Carlisle Cavalry School in Pennsylvania.

Villepigue was on duty in Utah when the Civil War started, he resigned his commission in the Union Army March 31^st 1861.  He took a commission in the Confederate Army of Captain of artillery.  In a short time Villepigue was promoted to Colonel in the 36^th Georgia Infantry, and he took command of Fort McRee in time for the bombing on November 22^nd 1861, where he was seriously wounded.  Serving under Confederate General Braxton Bragg; who praised him for his leadership, Bragg said Villepigue was "an educated soldier, possessing in an eminent degree the love and confidence of his officers and men, he had been specially selected for this important and perilous post."  He moved onto Mobile, Alabama and received an appointment to Brigadier General in 1862.  Villepigue commanded a brigade at the Second Battle of Corinth in October 1862, serving under Confederate Major General Earl van Dorn.

Villepigue caught a fever during the campaign.  He was sent to Port Hudson, Louisiana to recuperate, but developed pneumonia and died November 9^th 1862.  He is buried in the Old Quaker Cemetery in Camden, South Carolina.

One Of Three Forts

Confederate troops under Colonel William Henry Chase demanded the surrender of the Union held Fort Barrancas located near Pensacola, Florida January 8^th 1861.

Fort Barrancas was a hilltop fort built near Pensacola, Florida.   The fort was built of brick with a connected underground walkway to a battery located down the hill at sea level.  United States General Andrew Jackson fought two battles at Fort Barrancas against the Spanish one in 1814 and again in 1818.  The United State acquired Florida from Spain in 1821 and Fort Barrancas, along with Fort McRee and Fort Pickens were designed to defend Pensacola Bay.

At the start of the Civil War in 1861 Fort Barrancas was manned by 50 Union soldiers, under the command of Lieutenant Adam J Slemmer.  Florida militia under the command of Confederate Colonel William Henry Chase made a call for the surrender of the Union troops holding the Fort on January 8^th 1861.  Slemmer ordered that warning shots be made on the militia.  Knowing that he could hold Fort Pickens more easily, Slemmer had the guns of Fort Barrancas spiked, and the Fort’s supplies and ammo loaded on a flatboat.  He moved the Union company to Fort Pickens, which was held the rest of war by the Union.

A Battle In The Keys

Fort McRee, located in Florida was on the morning of November 22nd 1861 bomb by Union forces.

Located on the Perdido Key in Florida, Fort McRee was begun in 1834. It was a three tiered fort with a separated water battery. The fort was completed in 1839, but the 124 guns weren’t in place until around 1844. The fort was named in 1840 for Army Engineer Colonel William McRee. The first soldiers stationed at the fort were of Company I of the 3rd United States Artillery, and they began service there on May 2nd 1842.

At the outbreak of the Civil War there were less than 50 Federal troops in Pensacola. The senior officer, First Lieutenant Adam J Slemmer, moved them all to his most defendable location at Fort Pickens, across the bay from Fort McRee. The Union soldiers spiked the guns at Fort McRee on January 9th 1861, and the Confederate troops took over the evacuated fort on the 12th of the month.

Beginning on the morning of November 22nd 1861, Union troops at Fort Pickens along with the ships the “USS Niagara” and the “USS Richmond” laid in a heavey bombing. The Confederates in Fort McRee returned the fire and did damage to the “Richmond”. The combined effect of the ships and firing from Fort Pickens, overcame the Rebel artillery and the guns at Fort McRee fell silent around 5pm. The bombing by the Union forces resumed the next morning, but the guns at Fort McRee remained quite.

Fort McRee was badly damaged by the attack. Chunks of wall were blown away and one part of the wall had completely collapsed. A powder magazine caved in killing 6 Confederate soldiers. Confederates abandoned Pensacola in May 1862. When they left they burned the Fort.