1861 January 13th

January 13 1861 Sunday

Go to January 14 1861

USA. US President James Buchanan received envoys sent by US Major Robert Anderson (2nd Lieutenant Norman J Hall, 5th US Artillery), and from the South Carolina Governor, Francis W Pickens, (J W Hayne), regarding the status of Fort Sumter in Charleston harbour. Buchanan sought to avoid a hostile reaction but emphasised that Fort Sumter could not and would not be turned over to the South Carolina state authorities and must remain Federal property.

Florida. Union troops under Captain John Milton Brannan and Company B, 1st US Artillery occupied Fort Taylor on Thompson Island at the southwestern tip of Key West. Fort Zachary Taylor was the southernmost fort at the time and formed part of the Third System of Defence Fortifications plan to command the Florida Straits, the major shipping lane between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. It was already one of the most strategically advantageous ports in the world for commercial and military purposes. The fort was named for President Zachary Taylor and construction began in 1845 but was not deemed complete until 1866.
It was a three-tier double casemated, trapezoid structure with space for 42 guns on each of its three levels, for a maximum total of 126 heavy pieces along its 255-foot long seaward walls. Modifications raised the potential artillery spaces to 140. The land face was 495 feet long. There were four bastions, three seaward-facing curtains and one land facing gorge. The landward side of the fort was to be protected by a large casemated cover face located on Key West itself, directly across from the fort with a drawbridge connecting them. The cover face was to have mounted 48 guns but was never built. Key West Barracks was built in 1831 and provided a support facility during the construction and for the garrison. Two Martello Towers were constructed along the eastern shore of Key West as additional defences for the fort itself. Each tower was fronted by a casemated battery with positions for 14 guns. The towers were square structures with a single tier of two-story casemates. On top of each tower was a barbette tier with four gun emplacements.
Unlike most US Army fortifications, at the outbreak of war it was effectively garrisoned and not just maintained by a caretaker crew. The fort remained in Federal hands throughout the entire conflict. Its main role was to serve as headquarters of the US Navy’s East Gulf Coast Blockading Squadron. As many as 299 captured Confederate ships were held in the Key West Harbor under the guns of the fort.

Union Organisation

Commander in Chief: President James Buchanan
Vice-President: John Cabell Breckinridge
Secretary of War: Joseph Holt
Secretary of the Navy: Isaac Toucey

African Squadron: William Inman
Brazil Squadron: Joshua Ratoon Sands
East Indian (Asiatic) Squadron: Cornelius Kinchiloe Stribling
European Squadron: vacant
Home Squadron: Garrett J Prendergast
Mediterranean Squadron: Charles H Bell
Pacific Squadron: John Berrien Montgomery

General–in-Chief: Winfield Scott

Department of California: Benjamin Lloyd Beall temporary

Department of the East: John Ellis Wool

Department of New Mexico: Thomas Turner Fauntleroy

Department of Oregon: George Wright

Department of Texas: David Emanuel Twiggs

Department of Utah: Philip St George Cooke

Department of the West: William Selby Harney

Union Generals

Major-General USA

Winfield Scott

Brigadier-General USA

John Ellis Wool
David Emanuel Twiggs
William Selby Harney

Brigadier-General USA (Staff)

Joseph Eggleston Johnston