Today in History:

473 Series I Volume VI- Serial 6 - Fort Pulaski - New Orleans

Page 473 Chapter XVI. BOMBARDMENT AT PENSACOLA, FLA.

Scott, Lincoln, Cameron, Totten, and the battery at the old Spanish Fort, and the operations of the troops engaged in the bombardment of the 22nd and 23rd of November, 1861, specially under my command, per Special Orders, Numbers 208, headquarters Fort Pickens, Fla. The guns in the fort proper wer divided into seven distinct batteries, each battery having a separate commander. A one-gun battery in the covered way, 10-inch columbiad en barbette, manned by a detachment from Company C, Second Artillery, commanded by Lieutenant McFarland, Engineer Corps; the battery manned by Company A, First Artillery, commanded by Captain Chalfin, Fifth Artillery, assisted by Lieutenant Taylor, First Artillery, consisted o one 10-inch columbiad, one 42-pounder rifled gun and seven 32-pounders en barbette, and one 42-pounder rifled gun and two 8-inch columbiads in casemates; the battery manned by Company L, First Artillery, commanded by Lieutenant Jackson, First Artillery, consisted of one 10-inch columbiad and five 32-pounder en barbetter, one 42-pounder rifled gun, one 8-inch columbiad (encumbered), and two 42-pounders (smooth bore) in casemates; the battery manned by Company K, Second Artillery, commanded by Captain Allen, Second Artillery, consisted of 10-inch columbiad and one 42-pounder rifled gun en barbette and two 8-inch columbiads (one chambered and one encumbered) in casemates; the battery manned by Company C, Third Infantry, commanded by Lieutenant Shipley, Third Infantry, consisted of one 10-inch columbiad en barbette and two 42-pounder rifled guns and one 8-inch columbiad (encumbered) in casemates; the mortar battery in the ditch, curtain A to B, manned by detachments from the command commanded by Lieutenant Langdon, Fifth Artillery, consisted of four 10-inch sea-coast mortars; Battery Scott, manned by Company F, First Artillery, commanded by Captain Duryea, First Artillery, assisted by Lieutenant Closson, First Artillery, consisted of two 10-inch sea-coast mortars; Battery Lincoln, manned by Company H, Second Artillery, commanded by Captain Robertson, Second Artillery, consisted of four 8-inch sea-coast howitzers and one 42-pounder rifled gun en barbette and two 10-inch se-coast mortars; Battery Totten, manned by Company C, Second Artillery, commanded by Captain Blunt Twelfth Infantry, consisted of one 13-inch and one 12-inch sea-coast mortars; Battery Cameron, manned by Company I, Sixth Regiment New York Volunteers, the gunners and purveyors from Company H, Second Artillery, commanded by Lieutenant Pennington, Second Artillery, consisted of two 10-inch columbiads en barbette and one 10-pounder Parrott rifled gun (the second day); the battery at the old Spanish Fort, manned by a detachment detailed from the command commanded by Lieutenant Seeley, consisted of one 10-pounder Parrott rifled gun (the first day). The guns fired from the fort and the batteries, including the town of Warrington and the navy-yard, were ten 10-inch columbiads, six 8-inch columbiads, eleven 42-pounder James rifled guns, and two 42-pounder smooth bore, four 8-inch sea-coast howitzers, eight 10-inch sea-coast mortars, one 13-inch and one 12-inch sea-coast mortars, and twelve 32-pounders en barbette.

The bombardment opened at 10 o'clock a. m., November 22, 1861, when a signal gun at the flag-staff was fired under your personal direction. I ordered those guns that could conveniently be brought to bear


Page 473 Chapter XVI. BOMBARDMENT AT PENSACOLA, FLA.