The Civil War on Pensacola Bay, 1861-1862
By John K. Driscoll

Illustrated, notes, bibliography, index, 234 pp., 2007. McFarland, Box 611, Jefferson, NC 28640, $55 plus shipping.

Reviewer: Joseph A. Derie
Joseph A. Derie is a VMI graduate and a long time Civil War buff and military book reviewer. A retired Coast Guard officer and licensed officer of the Merchant Marine, he is a Certified Marine Investigator and marine surveyor.

Review:
The Civil War on Pensacola Bay, 1861-1862 gives an exceptional retelling of the war in a remote section of Florida during the early days of the Civil War.

It explains the significance of the Pensacola Naval Shipyard and coast defense works on Pensacola Bay that the Union had begun constructing shortly after the purchase of Florida from Spain; why Ft. Pickens, located on Santa Rosa Island just off Pensacola, never fell to the Confederates; and why Pensacola was later abandoned to the Union.

Although for much of the time a determined assault would have carried the fort due to the lack of federal troops to man the works, the Confederacy figured Fort Pickens would succumb shortly so did not want any blood spilt over it. Meanwhile, unlike Fort Sumter, Fort Pickens could be (and was) resupplied from the sea without problems from the Confederate batteries on the mainland.

This volume also reminds us that the Civil War started off slowly. Most people didn’t want to rush in and start shooting and tearing things apart. A negotiated withdrawal was always the goal of the Confederate government with the seceded states allowed to go their separate ways.

Also slowing the pace of events was hidebound adherence to orders, as shown in the landing of troops on Santa Rosa Island to reinforce Fort Pickens. The U.S. Army had orders from the War Department to be landed. The U.S. Navy, having the troops embarked aboard their vessels, did not have orders to land the troops and refused to recognize the War Department orders.

The troops remained on the vessels off Fort Pickens for 64 days until new orders were received. Amazingly, those orders were delivered by a Union naval officer who had proceeded overland to Pensacola by train from Washington, D.C., and was then allowed by Confederate authorities to proceed across the bay to Fort Pickens.

In the end one company of U.S. Artillery assisted by 30 Navy seamen would hold Fort Pickens for 93 days before being reinforced. Reacting much too late, the Confederates would land troops and attempt a night assault on the camps and outer works of a much-reinforced Fort Pickens. That assault would accomplish little.

It would be followed by bombardment from Confederate siege guns, counter-bombardment by Union siege guns and Union forays by small boat against Confederate vessels and outposts. The result would be the destruction of the Pensacola Navy Yard by Union bombardment and few casualties on both sides until Pensacola was abandoned by the Confederates and the troops sent to other theaters.

The Civil War on Pensacola Bay, 1861-1862 is interesting and well written. It has some marvelous photographs and sketches. Unfortunately it lacks a good map of Pensacola Bay and its environs with the location of the forts and Navy Yard, making it difficult for the reader to keep track of places and events.

This book will be of interest to Civil War navy aficionados, those with an interest in the Civil War in Florida and the Gulf Coast and those who are interested in early Civil War events in an area other than Fort Sumter. It is highly recommended.