Meanwhile, the Fort….

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Oh, yeah, the fort itself. The fort was originally built in 1736 by the Spanish, who owned Florida at the time. (The failed Spanish attack on Fort Frederica that I mentioned the other day did not, however, originate from this fort; rather, from the famous Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine.) With the massive fort in St. Augustine, this was the “preliminary” line of defense from the British-held colonies. (Aside: I love the fort in St. Augustine, and I’m looking forward to going back to it next time I’m in Florida!) Fast forward a century and a few wars, and the U.S. Army occupied the land and named the fort for General Duncan Lamont Clinch, a leader during both of the Seminole Wars. (He may have started the First Seminole War by having his troops fire a shot into a Seminole stronghold and hitting the ammunition supplies, which caused an explosion that killed a number of people.) The Confederates took control when Florida seceded from the Union, a hold that lasted about a year. The poorest state in terms of resources, Florida was more of a burden than an asset to the Confederates. In early 1862 General Lee ordered the troops to abandon the fort and go to more significant areas that needed defense. That left the area wide open for the Union to procure the land in March 1862. Amid all of these occupations of the land the fort was hardly a completed stronghold the way you’d think of Castillo de San Marcos or any other major fort. Even during its use during the Spanish-American war it was functional but hardly complete. Then came the Great Depression. President Roosevelt developed the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) to provide jobs for the people suffering as well as to construct or reconstruct government property. Fort Clinch was one of the sites chosen to be preserved, and the CCC finally finished the job. The site had seen almost 150 years’ worth of use by Spanish, Seminole, U.S., and Confederate armies. It deserves to be preserved, and I’m glad it is. On the grounds there are plenty of items, including archeological finds from the various armies who’d been there. Most of the history is devoted to the Civil War, with a park ranger dressed in a Union outfit roaming the grounds to answer any questions. The photos I’m showing you include the track that cannons were on that enabled them to be fired in different directions instead of just one stationary aiming point; the parade grounds; the sleeping quarters for senior officers; and a view of where the moat had been, taken from the sallyport gate. It was a great “side trip” to see a place loaded with history. PHOTO COLLAGE: (Top left) The cannon track, marked with numbers for aiming at a target (Top right) A horse hitching post in the middle of the fort grounds, where musters and drills were held daily (Bottom left) Three-tier bunk in the officers’ quarters (Bottom right) Where a moat had been