Fort Brooke was a Civil War engagement fought in Florida, 1863. It was a Union victory.
Two Union ships bombarded Fort Brooke on October 16 as a diversion, while a landing party under Acting Master T.R. Harris disembarked at Ballast Point and marched 14 miles to the Hillsborough River to capture several steamers. Harris and his men surprised and captured the blockade running steamer Scottish Chief and sloop Kate Dale. The Rebels destroyed the steamer A.B. Noyes to preclude her capture. On its way back to the ship, Harris's force was surprised by a detachment of the garrison, causing casualties.
During October 16-18, 1863, a small military action took place in Tampa, Florida and its surrounding area. This encounter proved significant primarily because of what was destroyed rather than the scale of fighting itself. Two Confederate vessels designed to break through the Union blockade had been concealed upstream along the Hillsborough River, and their destruction became the battle's most consequential result. The engagement occurred within the broader context of the American Civil War.
A critical element of Union military planning throughout the Civil War involved the Anaconda Plan, establishing a blockade across much of the Confederate coastline. Before the conflict began, Tampa functioned as a modest yet vital port, facilitating the export of livestock and agricultural products from central Florida's interior ranches and farms. By 1862, Union Navy vessels patrolling near Tampa Bay's entrance had effectively halted most local commercial activity. Nevertheless, swift blockade runners operating from Tampa managed to escape repeatedly, transporting cattle and cotton to Spanish Cuba and returning with supplies and gold.
In June 1862, the Union gunboat USS Sagamore entered Tampa Bay and issued an ultimatum demanding that the small Confederate force at Fort Brooke surrender. The garrison refused the demand, prompting the gunboat to unleash several cannon salvos toward the town. Fort Brooke responded with its own artillery fire. The brief bombardment inflicted no damage to either side and produced no casualties. After approximately 24 hours, the Sagamore withdrew to resume blockade duty at Tampa Bay's mouth. Though the skirmish left the fort, town, and blockade-running operations unaffected, it provided valuable intelligence to Union commanders regarding the effective range of Confederate artillery positions in the region.
Captain A.A. Semmes commanded Union naval forces stationed along Florida's west coast during autumn 1862, and he sought to disrupt the blockade running operations that persisted from Tampa. On October 16, 1863, two gunships under his command-the USS Tahoma and USS Adela-entered Tampa Bay and commenced bombardment of Fort Brooke at a safe distance from the fort's defensive weapons.
Two days passed before Acting Master T.R. Harris led Union raiders ashore. On October 18, this party landed covertly at Ballast Point, establishing a foothold near where Bayshore Boulevard and Gandy Boulevard would later intersect. While naval guns continued their diversionary attack on the fort, approximately 100 troops undertook a difficult march across 14 miles (23 km) of dense woods stretching northward. The route ran through terrain that would subsequently become known as Palma Ceia, West Tampa, and Seminole Heights.
The Union objective lay at the Jean Street Shipyard situated on the Hillsborough River close to present-day Sligh Avenue. Upon arrival, the soldiers moved with speed to destroy vessels tied at the docks. They burned several ships, among them the notorious blockade runners Scottish Chief, a steamship, and the sloop Kate Dale.
James McKay, who had served and would serve again as Tampa's mayor, owned both the vessels and the shipyard. He managed to flee the assault with some crew members and hurried into town to alert Confederate troops at Fort Brooke of both the raid and his losses. The 2nd Florida Infantry Battalion, the Oklawaha Rangers cavalry, and several townspeople pursued the Union detachment. Near the landing site at Tampa Bay, Confederate forces intercepted the raiders in a brief but intense fight called the Battle of Ballast Point. Union soldiers fought their way to the dinghies with artillery support from Tahoma and Adelia providing fire against shore positions. The raiding party sustained 16 casualties but successfully returned to their vessels, departing Tampa Bay afterward.
After the engagement, the blockade running steamer Scottish Chief sustained considerable damage yet stayed seaworthy. Following a fire, it was drawn back down the river toward the location of today's Blake High School, where salvageable components were removed before its destruction. The A.B. Noyes, likewise harmed in the action, underwent the same dismantling process to prevent Union seizure. The Kate Dale went down at its moorings and now lies submerged in the Hillsborough River near the current site of ZooTampa.
The operation succeeded in achieving its strategic goals. Tampa's capacity to export goods diminished substantially throughout the conflict, weakening Confederate logistics and devastating the regional commercial system. Upon returning in May 1864, Union forces discovered Fort Brooke undefended and the settlement largely deserted. The fort's remaining artillery and materiel were demolished, and following a brief military presence, the troops withdrew from the region.
This page covers Fort Brooke. A full Aubrey report for the area pulls together this battle alongside historic sites, land records, and everything else the record holds within a few miles:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
The account on this page is written by Aubrey Research from cited sources. Wikipedia is cited as a reference; its text is not reproduced.
Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any location in the US, drawing on NRHP records, battlefield archives, census history and geological data to tell the full story of a place.