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==At Pensacola==
In January 1861, Slemmerat the onset of the [[Civil War]], at that time a then-First Lieutenant, Slemmer was stationed with Company G, 1st United States Artillery 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, leaving First Lieutenant Slemmer in command.<ref name="withslemmer">J. H. Gilman. "With Slemmer in Pensacola Harbor." ''Battles and Leaders of the Civil War''. Century Company, 1887.</ref> On [[January 10]], Florida became the third state to secede from the Union. Shortly thereafter, 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.}}
