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| − | {{Infobox Military Structure
| + | [[Image:Fort George.jpg|thumb|right|Reconstruction of Fort George]] |
| − | |name=Fort George
| + | '''Fort George''' was a British fort at Pensacola, built in [[1778]] on [[Gage Hill]]. It was heavily damaged in [[1781]]'s [[Battle of Pensacola, 1781|Battle of Pensacola]], and eventually abandoned, but a portion of the fort was reconstructed, and the site is maintained as a park by the [[City of Pensacola]]. |
| − | |image=FortGeorgePlan.jpg
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| − | |caption=Plan of Fort George | |
| − | |location=[[Gage Hill]]
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| − | |type=
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| − | |built=
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| − | |builder=General [[John Campbell]]
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| − | |materials=Logs & sand, some bricks
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| − | |size=80 yards square
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| − | |used=1779-1781
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| − | |demolished=
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| − | |controlledby=Britain
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| − | |armament=20 embrasured guns on parapet
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| − | |garrison=1100 men between three Gage Hill forts
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| − | |currentcommander=
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| − | |commanders=General [[John Campbell]]
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| − | |occupants=
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| − | |battles=[[Siege of Pensacola]] ([[1781]])<br/>[[Battle of Pensacola (1814)]]
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| − | |events=
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| − | |status=
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| − | }}
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| − | '''Fort George''' was a [[British Pensacola|British]] fort at Pensacola, built in 1778{{date uncertain}} atop [[Gage Hill]]. The fort was the largest of a trio of fortifications on the hill, along with the [[Queen's Redoubt]] and the [[Prince of Wales Redoubt]]. It was surrendered to Spanish forces under [[Bernardo de Gálvez]] in the [[1781]] [[Siege of Pensacola]] and renamed '''Fort San Miguel'''. The Spanish government did not occupy the fort and it was allowed to deteriorate. | |
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| − | During the [[Civil War]], Union forces placed a small battery called [[Fort McClellan]] on the site, and several decades later, the [[Confederate]] memorial park [[Lee Square]] was established there. The site was added to the [[Wikipedia:National Register of Historic Places|National Register of Historic Places]] on [[July 8]], [[1974]]. In [[1976]], a nine-month archaeological excavation discovered remnants of both the British and Spanish forts, and a portion of the fort was reconstructed as a park maintained by the [[City of Pensacola]].
| + | The site was added to the [[Wikipedia:National Register of Historic Places|National Register of Historic Places]] on [[July 8]], [[1974]]. |
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| − | ==Construction== | + | ==Battle of Pensacola== |
| − | Richard Campbell, in his ''Historical Sketches of Colonial Florida'', describes the layout and build of Fort George:
| + | On [[March 9]], [[1781]], [[Bernardo de Gálvez]] began an [[Battle of Pensacola, 1781|amphibious siege]] of the British forces at Pensacola. The siege culminated on [[May 8]], when Spanish artillery fire caused the British powder magazine to explode. Spanish forces overran the remaining British contingent at Fort George and took Pensacola. |
| − | {{cquote|Fort George was a quadrangle with bastions at each comer. There were within the fort a powder magazine and barracks for the garrison, besides the chamber above mentioned. The woods north of it, for an eighth of a mile, and within a curve bending around it to the bay, were felled, in order to give play to its guns landward, whilst they could bear, upon an enemy in the bay by firing over the town. By a system of signals, intercommunication was kept up with Tartar Point and thence with Red Cliffs.|20px|20px|Richard Campbell, ''Historical Sketches of Colonial Florida''.<ref>Campbell, Richard L. [http://ia311206.us.archive.org/1/items/historicalsketch00camprich/historicalsketch00camprich.pdf "Historical Sketches of Colonial Florida"]. The Williams Publishing Co., Cleveland: 1892.</ref>}}
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| − | ==Siege of Pensacola==
| + | After taking Pensacola, the Spanish renamed the fort as '''Fort San Miguel'''. |
| − | [[Image:Spanish troops at Pensacola.jpg|thumb|right|Spanish forces pour into the detonated [[Queen's Redoubt]].]]
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| − | {{main|Siege of Pensacola}}
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| − | On [[March 9]], [[1781]], [[Bernardo de Gálvez]] began an [[Siege of Pensacola|amphibious siege]] of the British forces at Pensacola. The siege culminated on [[May 8]], when Spanish artillery fire caused the British powder magazine at the [[Queen's Redoubt]] to explode. After Spanish forces occupied the redoubt, the remaining British contingent at Fort George surrendered the city to Gálvez.
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| − | After taking Pensacola, the Spanish renamed the fort Fort San Miguel. | |
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| − | ==Civil War==
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| − | [[Image:GageHillAerial.jpg|thumb|right|The ruins of Forts George and McClellan atop [[Gage Hill]] circa 1870s]]
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| − | During the [[Civil War]], Union forces occupying Pensacola built a series of defenses along the perimeter of the city. One of these, [[Fort McClellan]], was erected in [[1862]] on the Fort George site, but never saw battle.
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| − | The site became known as Florida Square and was renamed [[Lee Square]] in [[1889]], becoming home to a [[Confederate]] memorial two years later.
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| | ==Reconstruction== | | ==Reconstruction== |
| − | [[Image:Fort George.jpg|thumb|right|Partial reconstruction of Fort George built in [[1976]]]]
| + | In [[1981]], on the two hundredth anniversary of the Battle of Pensacola, a bust of Bernardo de Gálvez, a gift from the Spanish government, was dedicated at the Fort George site. |
| − | During the [[1976]] bicentennial, an archaeological team spent nine months excavating areas of [[Gage Hill]]. They unearthed elements of the British and Spanish forts, including a section of the moat, a powder magazine and several vaulted rooms believed to be latrines. Using the findings, a partial reconstruction of the fort was constructed lower on the hill. It is currently maintained by the [[City of Pensacola]].
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| − | In [[1981]], on the two hundredth anniversary of the [[Siege of Pensacola]], a bust of [[Bernardo de Gálvez]], a gift from the Spanish government, was dedicated at the Fort George site. At the base of the sculpture is the Spanish phrase "Yo Solo" ("I alone"). | |
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| − | ==References== | + | ==Other images== |
| − | {{refbegin}}
| + | <gallery> |
| − | *Alejandro M. de Quesada. ''A History of Florida Forts''. The History Press, 2006.
| + | Image:GageHillAerial.jpg|The ruins of Fort George atop [[Gage Hill]] circa 1870s |
| − | *James C. and Irene S. Coleman. ''Guardians on the Gulf: Pensacola Fortifications, 1698-1980''. Pensacola Historical Society, 1982.
| + | </gallery> |
| − | {{refend}}
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| − | {{reflist}}
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| | [[Category:Forts]] [[Category:City of Pensacola parks]] [[Category:National Register of Historic Places]] | | [[Category:Forts]] [[Category:City of Pensacola parks]] [[Category:National Register of Historic Places]] |
