Together the channel walls could mount 112 cannon. These cannon, and the artillerymen loading and firing them, received protection by a wall in front of them but had no overhead protection.įort Pickens’ two largest walls fronted the shipping channel. Guns, howitzers, and mortars on the barbette tier were more exposed. Guns and howitzers on the casemate tier were protect by vaulted ceilings. With five walls, cannon installed at Fort Pickens could fire in all points of the compass. The fort illustrated the growing power of the US, and as a part of the Third System, it helped make the nation virtually impregnable. It exhibited the latest theories in coastal defense design, construction, and weaponry. In October 1834, Chase and his enslaved laborers completed Fort Pickens.Īt the time of its completion, Fort Pickens was the largest brick structure on the Gulf of Mexico. The fort is named for Brigadier General Andrew Pickens, a Patriot who fought with distinction in South Carolina during the American Revolution. These enslaved men were supported by other enslaved men who Chase rented directly from slaveholders.Īs work on Fort Pickens neared completion, the War Department issued General Order 32 on April 18, 1833, naming Fort Pickens. Underhill and Strong owned about 100 enslaved men who had experience in building forts. Through a verbal “gentleman’s agreement,” Chase worked with Underhill and Strong of New Orleans to build Fort Pickens. Workers were skilled tradesmen and general laborers.
They used materials like lime, water, and sand to make mortar lumber to build a foundation, wharves, scaffolding, and support buildings lead sheets to waterproof casemate arches and for gutters and drains granite for steps and traverse stones copper sheeting, bars, and fixtures for use in powder magazines and bricks for the entire fort. While assistants scouted the construction site, Chase calculated the costs for building materials, listed the materials he needed, and prepared contracts for acquiring materials and workers. Chase, the senior engineer on the Gulf, was assigned to Pensacola and tasked with building Fort Pickens.Ĭhase began preparing for construction by outlining his needs. In May 1828, the federal government acquired about 998 acres on Santa Rosa Island to build Fort Pickens. During times of peace, a garrison of 60 soldiers could occupy Fort Pickens, increasing to 500 during times of war and up to 1,000 soldiers during a siege. As many as 200 more cannon could be installed in casemates or on the barbette tiers. From the bottom of the ditch, the fort’s walls rose about 40 feet.įort Pickens was designed to unleash a ring of fire from its five walls. If an attacking army reached the counterscarp, soldiers then had to pass through a dry ditch that wrapped around the fort.
To defend the main fort from an enemy’s land attack, a man-made hill called a glacis and an outer wall called a counterscarp were added to the fort’s defenses. Four of the five walls fronted water, while one wall fronted land.
The design called for a five-bastioned work, consisting of one ground level or casemate tier and a second level or barbette tier. From this location, Fort Pickens would command the approaches to the channel, control access into and out of the bay, work with forts built around the channel, and prevent an enemy force from using the island to launch attacks against the navy yard.įort Pickens had to be massive to look threatening. The fort would be built on the western end of Santa Rosa Island, a low-lying barrier island that provides natural protection to the bay and mainland Florida. Bernard’s changes to Fort Pickens saved money and allowed the nation to more quickly fortify Perdido Key.ĭifferent factors influenced Fort Pickens’s design. Bernard’s study of the channel entering the bay led him to recommend fortifying three places: the western end of Santa Rosa Island, the eastern end of Perdido Key, and the barrancas or bluffs north of the channel. Totten served as the primary designer, but Brigadier General Simon Bernard later made changes. The Board of Engineers for Coastal Fortifications (the Board), part of the US Army Corps of Engineers, created the plans to build Fort Pickens.
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