Fort Barrancas Tour: Stop 4

Dry ditch in Fort Barrancas.

Quick Facts

Location:

Pensacola, Florida

Significance:

Civil War, Black History, Confederates, Network to Freedom

Amenities

1 listed

Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits

Dry Ditch

A dry ditch runs along the two landward sides of Fort Barrancas. Soldiers charging into the dry ditch would suffer heavy losses from muskets and cannon firing from the loopholes and embrasures.

Construction of Fort Barrancas began in June of 1840. No more than 60 enslaved people labored on the fort at any given time. They worked 10-hour days from spring to fall under the sweltering Florida sun. From fall to spring, they worked sunrise to sunset. They were allowed one hour for breakfast and dinner.

They began construction by digging this ditch into the bluff. They moved more than 16,000 tons of sand, or the equivalent of about 1,300 school buses.