As many as 200 more cannon could be installed in casemates or on the barbette tiers. From the bottom of the ditch, the fort’s walls rose about 40 feet.įort Pickens was designed to unleash a ring of fire from its five walls. If an attacking army reached the counterscarp, soldiers then had to pass through a dry ditch that wrapped around the fort. To defend the main fort from an enemy’s land attack, a man-made hill called a glacis and an outer wall called a counterscarp were added to the fort’s defenses. Four of the five walls fronted water, while one wall fronted land. The design called for a five-bastioned work, consisting of one ground level or casemate tier and a second level or barbette tier. From this location, Fort Pickens would command the approaches to the channel, control access into and out of the bay, work with forts built around the channel, and prevent an enemy force from using the island to launch attacks against the navy yard.įort Pickens had to be massive to look threatening.

The fort would be built on the western end of Santa Rosa Island, a low-lying barrier island that provides natural protection to the bay and mainland Florida. Bernard’s changes to Fort Pickens saved money and allowed the nation to more quickly fortify Perdido Key.ĭifferent factors influenced Fort Pickens’s design. Bernard’s study of the channel entering the bay led him to recommend fortifying three places: the western end of Santa Rosa Island, the eastern end of Perdido Key, and the barrancas or bluffs north of the channel. Totten served as the primary designer, but Brigadier General Simon Bernard later made changes.

The Board of Engineers for Coastal Fortifications (the Board), part of the US Army Corps of Engineers, created the plans to build Fort Pickens.

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