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[[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 under Colonel [[William H. Chase]] approached [[Fort Barrancas]] but were repelled by gunfire.<ref name="Views">Parks, Virginia and Sandra Johnson. ''Civil War Views of Pensacola''. Pensacola: 1993.</ref> 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]].
When Florida seceded on [[January 10]], the commanding officer at [[Fort Barrancas]], Lieutenant [[Adam J. Slemmer]], decided to abandon Forts Barrancas and [[Fort McRee|McRee]] and consolidate Union forces at [[Fort Pickens]]. Slemmer explained his decision:
{{cquote|I called on Commodore 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.}}
