Fort Barrancas sits on a bluff overlooking the entrance to Pensacola Bay. The natural advantages of this location have inspired engineers of three nations to build forts. The British built the first fort on this site, the Royal Navy Redoubt, in 1763. A Spanish fleet under Bernardo de Galvez sailed past it in 1781 to capture Pensacola. The Spanish built a stronger fort, completed in 1797, called San Carlos de Barrancas.  Barranca is a Spanish word for a bluff. 

The United States began constructing fortifications at Pensacola in the 1820's, when Pensacola Bay was chosen as the site for a navy yard. Fort Barrancas is one of four fortifications constructed to defend the navy yard. The others fortifications were Fort Pickens and Fort McRee, both located on islands at the entrance to the bay (the Third System Fort McRee has been completely destroyed by the shifting location of the barrier island it was located on). The Advance Redoubt is the other Third System fortification at Pensacola, located 700 yards north of Fort Barrancas. It acted as an infantry fort, designed to stop overland movement of enemy troops toward the naval yard. 

The American fort used the old Spanish water battery as a base, strengthening the walls and adding a rifle gallery on top. The old wooden fort on the bluff was replaced with a much stronger brick design by Joseph Totten. Major W. H. Chase supervised the work, done by contracted slaves. Six million bricks were purchased locally. Built from 1839 to 1844, the most unique feature is found in the interior walls, which are supported by sand filling open-ended arches against curved retaining walls in the galleries. This system uses the natural slope of the sand to relieve pressure on the outer walls. 

Fort Barrancas was designed with two roles. It acts as a harbor defense fort, forming a rough triangle at the entrance to the bay with Fort McRee and Fort Pickens. It also acted together with the Advance Redoubt to prevent troop movement to the navy yard from the mainland side. 

Fort Barrancas is roughly triangular in shape, and is somewhat unusual in its mode of construction. Instead of having a hollow central area surrounded by brick scarp walls, the central area is filled with sand and soil, with the heavy cannon mounted en barbette at the parade ground level. The design takes advantage of the natural tendency of soil to maintain a mound of a given shape, and does not require massive walls to support the structure. 

The main entrance, or sally port, is located in the scarp wall of the landward side of the fort, and is accessed by crossing a drawbridge over the ditch. The drawbridge was operated from the guardroom, which is located next to the sally port After crossing the drawbridge, you walk up a sloping passage way, which enters the parade ground where all the heavy cannon of the fort were mounted. The cannons mounted on the parade level of the fort are similar to the weapons which would have originally been mounted at the fort. The fort was designed for 19 such cannon as the primary weapons. The parade ground area of the fort is quite small and originally contained a well and a hotshot furnace in addition to the cannon. The hotshot furnace no longer exists, but the well can be seen in the center of this picture. Passages, called scarp galleries, are located below the top, or parade level of the fort. These were built to provide firing areas for infantry to defend the ditch surrounding the fort. These are accessed by walking back toward the sally port to the guardroom, next to the drawbridge of the fort. If you continue across the parade ground toward the bay, you can see the water battery, which is located below Fort Barrancas itself, and is accessed by an underground passage. It was originally known as Bateria de San Antonio, and is essentially a small self-contained fort of its own. Its proximity to the water level allowed it to used the tactic of "skipping" the cannonballs across the water to hit ships at the water line. In addition to the scarp gallery, Fort Barrancas also has counterscarp galleries. The counterscarp is the wall on the opposite side of the ditch, and is present on the landward side of the fort. The counterscarp gallery is located in the wall. The counterscarp wall supports the glacis, a mound of earth which protects the scarp wall of the fort from direct cannon fire. It was reached by an underground passage from the main body of the fort, located near the guardroom. Fort Barrancas was involved in some of the Civil War battles around Pensacola. In 1861, only one company of artillery was assigned to the forts at Pensacola. When civil war threatened, these 50 men, under Lt. Adam Slemmer, moved from Fort Barrancas to Fort Pickens. State troops occupied Barrancas. Union and Confederate forces engaged in an artillery duel between the harbor forts exchanging heavy gunfire in November of 1861 and January of 1862. However, the ranges were extreme for the smoothbore weapons, and little damage was done by either side. Pensacola was abandoned by Confederate troops in May of 1862, and Fort Barrancas saw no further combat.

1. Glacis.
The earthen slope hides the fort from land-based artillery. Masonry forts were only effective against ships. An army conducting a siege could capture a fort in two weeks.

2. Scarp and Counterscarp.
The main walls (scarp) are 20 feet high and 4 feet thick, providing defense against both ships and infantry. The outer walls (counterscarp) support the glacis, and contain cannon sighted to fire down the ditch.

3. Ditch.
A dry moat surrounds the fort. Assaulting infantry entering the ditch would suffer heavy casualties from muskets and cannon firing through windows in the walls.

4. Drawbridge.
Operated by counterweight and winch, it pivots at the center. It could be raised to prevent a surprise attack, which saved Lt. Slemmer's men in 1861.

5. Sally Port.
The entrance is guarded by heavy oak doors. A small wicket gate allowed entry without opening the main doors.

6. Guard Room.

Normally, only a guard detail of six men stayed in the fort. The main barracks were to the east of the fort.

7. Scarp Gallery.
A series of arches support the sand fill and allow access to loopholes for muskets. Vents at the top allow smoke from the guns to escape.

8. Counterscarp Gallery.
A tunnel under the ditch leads to this wall, containing loopholes, cannon emplacements, and powder magazines.

9. Parade.
The center of the fort held a shot furnace for heating cannonballs, marked by a brick foundation. The well is in the northeast corner. The rampart once mounted 19 cannon. The tunnel under the flagpole leads to the water battery.

10. Water Battery.
First built by the Spanish, guns here could ricochet shot off the water to hit ships near the waterline.

Original	Enhancement