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
Fort Jay players and regimental musicians. The army located its General Recruiting Service for infantry troops at Fort Columbus in November 1852, and many regiments in the army detailed officers to Fort Columbus on recruiting details. Twice, in December 1860 and April 1861, the Army "secretly" dispatched troops and provisions from Fort Columbus to relieve the besieged garrison at Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina. Outgoing President James Buchanan initiated the first effort, but a battery garrisoned by cadets from The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina fired on the Army-chartered New York-based steamship "Star of the West" on January 9,