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==First hostilities==
[[Image:AjslemmerSlemmer.jpg|thumb|right|140px|Lt. [[Adam Jacoby Slemmer|Adam J. Slemmer]], commanding officer at [[Fort Barrancas]]]]In January 1861, the United States Army forces in Pensacola consisted of Company G, 1st United States Artillery, which was stationed at [[Barrancas Barracks]], near [[Fort Barrancas]]. The company's commanding officer, Captain [[Wikipedia:John H. Winder|John H. Winder]], as well as his executive officer, First Lieutenant A. R. Eddy, were absent on leave, which left only two relatively inexperienced Army officers in Pensacola: First Lieutenant [[Adam Jacoby Slemmer|Adam J. Slemmer]] commanding, and Second Lieutenant [[Jeremiah H. Gilman]].<ref name="Battleswithslemmer">Johnson, Robert Underwood and Clarence Clough BuelJ. H. Gilman. "With Slemmer in Pensacola Harbor. " ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=z-ESAAAAYAAJ Battles and Leaders of the Civil War]''. New York: The Century Co.Company, 1887.</ref>
[[Wikipedia:South Carolina|South Carolina]] became the first state to secede from the union on [[December 20]], [[1860]]. On [[January 8]], [[1861]], a small group of men attached to Colonel [[William H. Chase]]'s command approached [[Fort Barrancas]] but were repelled by gunfire.<ref name="Views">Parks, Virginia and Sandra Johnson. ''Civil War Views of Pensacola''. Pensacola: 1993.</ref> Lt. Gilman, second in command at Pensacola, recounts the scene:
{{cquote|About midnight a party of twenty men came to the fort, evidently with the intention of taking possession, expecting to find it unoccupied as usual. Being challenged and not answering nor halting when ordered, the party was fired upon by the guard and ran in the direction of Warrington, their footsteps resounding on the plank walk as the long roll ceased and our company started for the fort at double-quick. This, I believe, was the first gun in the war fired on our side.|20px|20px|Lieutenant J. H. Gilman, "With Slemmer in Pensacola Harbor."<ref name="Battleswithslemmer" />}}
On [[January 10]], Florida became the third state to secede. In February the seceding states would form the [[Wikipedia:Confederate States of America|Confederate States of America]]. Shortly after Florida's secession, Lieutenant Slemmer decided to abandon Forts Barrancas and [[Fort McRee|McRee]] and consolidate Union forces at [[Fort Pickens]]. Slemmer explained his decision as strategically necessary:
{{cquote|I called on Commodore [[James Armstrong|[James] Armstrong]] (Union Commanding Officer of the [[Navy Yard]]) ... He had received orders to cooperate with me. We decided that with our limited means of defense we could hold but one fort, and that should be [[Fort Pickens]], as it commanded completely the harbor and the forts and also the navy yard.|20px|20px|"Pensacola in the Civil War." ''Florida Historical Quarterly'', Vol. IX, No. 2, 1978.}}
Slemmer's men destroyed over 20,000 pounds of gunpowder at [[Fort McRee]], spiked the guns at [[Fort Barrancas]], and evacuated 51 soldiers and 30 sailors to [[Fort Pickens]].<ref name="PICW">"Pensacola in the Civil War." ''Florida Historical Quarterly, Vol. IX, No. 2, 1978.</ref> On [[January 12]], rebel troops from Alabama and Florida occupied the [[Navy Yard]] and [[Fort Forts Barrancas]]and McRee; [[William Conway]] famously refused to strike the Union colors. The two Union naval ships in the harbor, ''[[Wikipedia:USS Wyandotte (1853)|Wyandotte]]'' and ''[[Wikipedia:USS Supply (1846)|Supply]]'', were commanded by officers loyal to the Union and did not fall into rebel hands.
===Chase presses for surrender===
[[Image:Whchase.PNG|thumb|right|Colonel [[William H. Chase]] of Florida]]
On the evening of January, Colonel [[William H. Chase]] of the Florida state troops sent a party of four men to Fort Pickens, who "demanded a peaceable surrender of [the] fort." The party was turned away.
:''Lieutenant Slemmer:'' "I will give this letter due consideration, and as I wish to consult with the captains of the ''Supply'' and ''Wyandotte'' before replying, I will give you my answer to-morrow morning."
The next day the reply, refusing to surrender, was sent, Captain Berryman of the ''Wyandotte'' taking it to the yard.|20px|20px|Lieutenant J. H. Gilman, "With Slemmer in Pensacola Harbor."<ref name="Battleswithslemmer" />}}
Chase demanded surrender once more, by letter, on [[January 18]], at which point Slemmer again declined. Fort Pickens would remain in Union control for the duration of the war.