The ocean face of Fort Pickens had both barbette (the upper level), and casemate (the lower level, inside the arches) mounted guns. The cannon on the barbette level is an 8-inch Rodman, similar to the type of weapon mounted in the fort late in the Civil War, and a similar weapon was still emplaced there until 1901.
This view shows the western bastion from inside the fort. The cannon emplaced on the bastion is a 15-inch Rodman, similar to a weapon emplaced there in 1868. In the foreground are more casemates, modified when the Endicott period Battery Pensacola was installed within the walls of Fort Pickens.
A gun casemate, along the seaward wall of the fort. Note the slots under the gunport to allow attachment of the gun carriage.
The difficulty of building on sand provided a challenge for the military engineers who were attempting to build Fort Pickens. One feature designed to prevent it from sinking into the sand was the use of a reverse arch as the foundation for the walls of the casemates. This view shows a reverse arch, which has been excavated to illustrate this structure.Continue to the Endicott batteries at Pensacola
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