Fort Pickens

Yesterday we went to Fort Pickens. It was a pretty long drive. Fort Pickens was a civil war fort made to defend America’s coast. At one point Geronimo, the famous Apache medicine man and warrior was imprisoned there. It was built by enslaved people in 1829. Next to Fort Pickens there were two giant WW2 gun batteries. The fort was one of the only southern forts to not be used by the Confederates.    

In January, 1861, Lieutenant Adam J. Slemmer and 51 other Union soldiers retreated to Fort Pickens, deciding it was easier to defend than Fort Barrancas. They were later reinforced by Colonel Harvey Brown and the USS Brooklyn. Together, they repulsed an attack by over a thousand Confederate troopers with their superior artillery.

Fort Pickens was originally built of brick, but with the development of rifled (grooves that make the projectile spin and go much further) guns, which would annihilate brick, a large, concrete gun battery was built in the centre of the fort. My favourite part was running through the small, dark tunnels the soldiers would walk around in, scaring and being scared by my siblings/dad. After we had explored, we listened to a talk by a ranger about the history of the fort, which I mentioned earlier. Fort Pickens was really interesting, and definitely worth the scenic drive!  

  

Thanks for reading! And until next time, don’t go down a dark tunnel without knowing where your little brother is…