January 10, 1861
- Florida becomes the third state to secede from the Union. They simply replace the term “United States” with “Confederate States” in their constitution
- Lieutenant Adam Slemmer moves his small federal garrison from Barrancas Barracks at Pensacola to Fort Pickens on Santa Rosa Island. Slemmer will refuse repeated surrender demands from Florida authorities, allowing Fort Pickens to remain in Union hands for the duration of the war.
Image: Front View of Fort Pickens, Pensacola, Showing the Sally-Port and Glacis (Harper’s Pictorial History of the Civil War)