Pensacola in Escambia County, Florida — The American South (South Atlantic)

Fort McRee

— Gulf Islands National Seashore —

Photographed by Connor Olson, July 28, 2024

1. Fort McRee Marker

Inscription. In front of you across Pensacola Bay once stood Fort McRee. The US Army built the fort at the end of Perdido Key in the early 1840s to help protect Pensacola Bay and ended up almost destroying it during the Civil War. In January 1861—three months before the war started at Fort Sumter in South Carolina—the US Army abandoned Barrancas and Fort McRee and consolidated its troops at Fort Pickens. The governors of Alabama and Florida quickly dispatched state militias to occupy the vacant military posts.

In a massive artillery exchange with the Confederates in November, cannon fire from two Union ships and Fort Pickens nearly demolished Fort McRee.

Considered obsolete by the end of the Civil War, Fort McRee was never repaired.

Simultaneous volleys raked [Fort McRee's] outer walls and parapets... the whole structure seemed to bulge and sink to earth in one general conflagration ...
"A History of the First Regiment Alabama Volunteer Infantry"

(captions)
Years after the Civil War battle the ruins of Fort McRee crumbled into the sand and the Gulf of Mexico.
Confederate soldiers stand in formation at Fort McRee.

Erected by National

Paid Advertisement

Click or scan to see
this page online

Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Forts and Castles • War, US Civil. A significant historical month for this entry is January 1861.

Location. 30° 20.881′ N, 87° 17.814′ W. Marker is in Pensacola, Florida, in Escambia County. It can be reached from Taylor Road 0.3 miles north of Radfprd Boulevard, on the right when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 3182 Taylor Rd, Pensacola FL 32508, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is on the Florida Panhandle.

It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Deep South,

and on the Gulf Coast.

Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

a Gulf of Mexico state,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Spanish Water Battery (here, next to

Fort McRee Marker in the middle image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Connor Olson, July 28, 2024

2. Fort McRee Marker in the middle

this marker); Barrancas in Coastal Defenses (here, next to this marker); Restoring a Fort (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Fort Barrancas Area (about 500 feet away); Spain to Pensacola (approx. 0.3 miles away); First Pensacola (approx. 0.3 miles away); Pathway to Early America (approx. 0.3 miles away); Barrancas Trench (approx. 0.3 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Pensacola.

Also see . . . Gulf Islands National Seashore - Fort McRee. National Park Service (Submitted on July 29, 2024.)

Credits. This page was last revised on July 29, 2024. It was originally submitted on July 28, 2024, by Connor Olson of Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. This page has been viewed 464 times since then and 66 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on July 28, 2024, by Connor Olson of Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.