Fort Barrancas mostly by enslaved African-American workers. January 8, 1861, more than three months before the American Civil War officially started at Fort Sumter, South Carolina, a company of 50 U.S. Army soldiers stationed at Fort Barrancas, under the command of John H. Winder fired upon a militia. This militia was Florida state troops under Colonel William Henry Chase demanding that the U.S. troops surrender the fort. Lieutenant Adam J. Slemmer, acting commander in Winder's absence, had the troops fire shots meant to repel the militia. Lt Slemmer knew that Fort Pickens was easier to defend, so he spiked the guns at
1st U.S. Light Artillery, Battery E Corps, to May 1863. 2nd Regular Brigade, Artillery Reserve, Army of the Potomac, to June 1863. 2nd Brigade, Horse Artillery, Artillery Reserve, Army of the Potomac, to June 1864. 3rd Brigade, DeRussy's Division, XXII Corps, to July 1864. 1st Brigade, DeRussy's Division, XXII Corps, to October 1865. Defense of Fort Sumter, Charleston Harbor, April 12-13, 1861. Evacuation of Fort Sumter April 13. Reached Fort Hamilton, N.Y. Harbor, April 19. Moved to Chambersburg, Pa., June 3. Ordered to Washington, D.C., August 26, 1861. Duty at the federal arsenal and at Camp Duncan, defenses of Washington, until March 1862. Moved to the