Fort Barrancas stands on a site which has been the home for harbor fortifications since 1763, when the British built a fort. The Spanish captured Pensacola from the British in 1781, and constructed their own fortification, called San Carlos de Barranca on the site. The Spanish word barranca means bluff, which is an excellent description of the location of the fort.
The United States began constructing fortifications at Pensacola in the 1820's, when Pensacola Bay was chosen as the site for a navy yard. Fort Barrancas is one of four fortifications constructed to defend the navy yard. The others fortifications were Fort Pickens and Fort McRee, both located on islands at the entrance to the bay (the Third System Fort McRee has been completely destroyed by the shifting location of the barrier island it was located on). This Civil War era map shows the location of these forts. The Advance Redoubt is the other Third System fortification at Pensacola, located near Fort Barrancas. It acted as an infantry fort, designed to stop overland movement of enemy troops toward the naval yard.
Fort Barrancas was designed with two roles. It acts as a harbor defense fort, forming a rough triangle at the entrance to the bay with Fort McRee and Fort Pickens. It also acted together with the Advance Redoubt to prevent troop movement to the navy yard from the mainland side. It was designed by Joseph Totten, who designed many of the Third System fortification, and constructed from 1839-1843. It also incorporates a Spanish-built water battery as part of the fort.
Fort Barrancas is rougly triangular in shape, and is somewhat unusual in its mode of construction. Instead of having a hollow central area surrounded by brick scarp walls, the central area is filled with sand and soil, with the heavy cannon mounted en barbette at the parade ground level. The design takes advantage of the natural tendency of soil to maintain a mound of a given shape, and does not require massive walls to support the structure. (Plan by the National Park Service)
The main entrance, or sallyport, is located in the scarp wall of the landward side of the fort, and is accessed by crossing a drawbridge over the ditch. The drawbridge was operated from the guardroom, which is located next to the sallyport.
After crossing the drawbridge, you walk up a sloping passage way, which enters the parade ground where all the heavy cannon of the fort were mounted.Continue
Back to main page