On January 10, 1861, Florida became the third state to secede from the Union and join the newly formed Confederate States of America. Fort Pickens, one of three forts guarding the entrance to Pensacola Bay, was held by Federal troops and never captured by Confederate forces, a feat not duplicated by any other fort in a seceding state. In the Battle of Santa Rosa Island, the city of Pensacola and the two Confederate forts fought against an invading United States army and forces stationed at Fort Pickens. Pensacola surrendered to U.S. troops on May 10, 1862, and most of the city was burned. Almost all residents evacuated inland to Greenville, Alabama. The Confederate Secretary of the Navy, Stephen Mallory, was a Pensacolian and is buried in historic Saint Michael's Cemetery.
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