A Place in Florida - First Shot in the Civil War? By Gene Ingle

There's a place in Florida where some historians say was the site of the first shot fired in the Civil War.

And you thought the first shot was fired at Charleston, SC, didn't you? That's what your high school history teacher taught you, wasn't it? Most historians agree with this prevailing wisdom:

That the Civil War started when artillery shells fired by Confederate Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard on Jan. 9, 1861, prevented a Union ship from re-supplying Ft. Sumter near Charleston.

The place in Florida that contests this view is near Pensacola. The real answer depends on how you define 'shot'.

There's little dispute that the shot fired near Pensacola happened the night before Ft. Sumter was shelled. But it was a rifle shot, not an artillery shot - fired at Ft. Barrancas at what now is Pensacola Naval Air Station when Union troops repelled a group of local men trying to take the fort.

What starts a war? Historians have argued about that since history was written on the walls of caves. And once the disagreement gets to the point of war, does it really matter where or when it started? Think about this: It did at Pearl Harbor.

Having flown five flags in its 450-year existence, Pensacola is no stranger to wars. It's been that way ever since 1513, when the Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon sailed into Pensacola Bay and proclaimed, 'I hereby claim this area for King Ferdinand,' or something like that (in Spanish, of course).

Then along came Panfilo de Narvaez (1528) and Hernando de Soto (1539). They explored Pensacola Bay because they recognized that King Ferdinand needed it if he intended to expand Spain's influence in the New World.

Wars have been such a dominant part of Pensacola's history perhaps because, early in the development of this nation, its location put it right in the middle of all the action of the European nations that wanted their piece of the New World. To the east was Spanish Florida, to the west French Louisiana and to the north the British influence was dominant.

A result of the Spanish explorers, Spain's flag was Pensacola's first, at a new settlement in 1559. Then came France (1719-1722), Spain again (1722-1763), Britain (1763-1781), Spain again (1781-1819). United States (1821-1861), The Confederacy (1861-1865), and finally the U.S. again (1865-present). To describe these periods would take volumes.
The big losers were the Panzacola Indians, for whom Pensacola is named. They greeted the Spanish in 1559, but are now extinct.

Three historic forts, as well as Barrancas National Cemetery, attest to the importance of this place in Florida in various wars:

• Ft. Barrancas and Pensacola were the site of the 1814 Battle of Pensacola, in which American Gen. Andrew Jackson drove the British from the city, leaving the Spanish in control.
• Ft. Pickens, at the entrance to Pensacola Bay on the western tip of Santa Rosa Island, was completed in 1834. Among its distinctions: (1) It was the only Southern fort to be held by the United States throughout the Civil War; and (2) from 1885-1887, the Apache Indian Chief Geronimo was imprisoned there.
• · Ft. McRee, at the eastern tip of Perdido Key across the bay's entrance from Ft. Pickens, was built 1834-1839.

A visitor to Pensacola today can visit Ft. Barrancas and Ft. Pickens, but little evidence is left of Ft. McRee's existence. Ft. Pickens, part of Gulf Islands National Seashore, was severely damaged by Hurricane Ivan in 2004. Check on the status of reconstruction before visiting.

Wherever you go in Pensacola today, the visitor is reminded of Pensacola's history of flying five flags. There's even a Five Flags Barber Shop, among many other businesses proud of their 450-year heritage.

By Gene Ingle

2009 Gene Ingle - You may reprint this article on your site, blog, autoresponder, etc., so long as you leave all the links in place, including the link to http://www.gipublications.com - and do not edit or modify the content.

Gene Ingle, an expert on places to see in Florida, is an award-winning writer-cartographer who has driven nearly a million miles in Florida researching places on maps you probably never heard of. This place in Florida is one of 213 featured in 'The Famous Florida Trivia Game' available at http://www.ebookserendipity.com - Test your knowledge. It's fun and it's free.