Jan. 7, 1861: Ft. Marion in St. Augustine was seized by Florida soldiers

A tweet from  CivilWar150 DPW 

 

"150 years ago today, Monday Jan. 7, 1861: Ft. Marion in St. Augustine was seized by Florida soldiers."

From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castillo_de_San_Marcos

"The Castillo de San Marcos site is the oldest masonry fort in the United States. It is located in the city of St. Augustine, Florida. Construction was begun in 1672 by the Spanish when Florida was a Spanish possession. During the twenty year period of British occupation from 1763 until 1784, the fort was renamed Fort St. Mark , and after Florida became a U.S. territory in 1821 the fort was again renamed Fort Marion, in honor of revolutionary war hero Francis Marion. In 1942 the original name Castillo de San Marcos was restored by Congress."

"In January 1861, Florida seceded from the United States in the opening months of the American Civil War. Union troops had withdrawn from the fort, leaving only one man behind as caretaker. In January 1861, Confederate troops marched on the fort. The Union soldier manning the fort refused to surrender it unless he was given a receipt for it from the Confederacy. He was given the receipt and the fort was taken by the Confederacy without a shot. Most of the artillery in the fort was sent to other forts, leaving the fort nearly defenseless. "

This beautiful model was done by Sketchycat

See it Google Earth Here