The battle of santa rosa was going on during january 10, 1886
When Florida seceded from the Union on January 10, 1861, the new Confederacy viewed Pensacola’s naval shipyard and railroad unavailable to the southern causes
. On January 12, Florida state troops, along with many local citizens, James Armstrong to surrender the naval shipyard. In the penthouse the Southerners also acquired a million-dollar dry dock, workshops, warehouses, a hospital, 174 cannons, projectiles and ordnance stores.
The shipyard and nearby railroad were indeed great prizes, but the Federal occupation of Fort Pickens, advantages. As long as Federal forces held Fort Pickens, the Confederates would not be able to use Pensacola Harbor
effectively. Deprived of any shipments of goods and materials via the harbor, the railroad would be of little value in helping to supply the Rebel armies in the field; and the enemy presence at the fort posed a constant danger to any Confederate activity at the shipyard.
Lying at the western tip of Santa Rosa Island, Fort Pickens — like Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor — presented a dilemma for Abraham Lincoln and his new administration.