The Dry Tortugas and Key West’s Other Civil War Monuments

Five years ago, Emerging Civil War’s Jon-Erik Gilot toured and documented Fort Zachary Taylor, In Key West, Florida. It was one of the handful of United States military fortifications in seceding states that never surrendered, and the position became a strong-point in establishing the early blockade of the Gulf of Mexico. This summer, I had the chance to make it out to Key West myself, but instead of touring the fort, I sent in search of some of the other Civil War sites.

After a day of driving, my wife Brittany and I stayed at a hotel in northern Key West near the marina. We saw the famed Key West buoy and walked Duval Street, finding some good food and seeing what we could find. We found a good spot to eat some top-notch Cuban food, all while being stared down by one of the many free-range chickens on the island. Sitting under red canopies, I had the strangest feeling that this loose chicken was the reincarnation of Robert E. Lee’s war chicken.

After dinner, I determined to look for some Civil War sites. Brittany chose instead to cool off in the hotel, so I set off alone. Zigzagging my way westward, I ended up on Greene Street. When I reached the corner of Greene and Whitehead, I saw a little park called Clinton Square. In the middle was what looked like a monument. Crossing the street, I walked up to it to see what it was for. Not only was it a Civil War monument, it was one of the oldest I had ever seen. The small obelisk’s front had two cannon barrels crossed over an anchor. The inscription at the bottom read: “Erected 1866 By the Navy Club of Key West. To the Memory of the Officers, Sailors, and Soldiers of the Army, Navy, & Marine Corps of the United States, who lost their lives in their Country’s service upon this station From 1861 to 1865.” Surrounding the monument was a small metal gate, added after the fact, with a small marker that said “Erected by J.V. Harris Confederate Veteran”

Across the street from Clinton Square was a shopping center in a historic building. The shops did not interest me, but the building did, as it had a sign on top noting it was where the Captain of the Port once worked. Before entering the building, I saw another historic marker noting that during the Civil War, this was the Naval Depot, where supplies were stored for the East Gulf Blockading Squadron and West India Squadron. In the 20th century the building became the headquarters for the local Coast Guard station.

Continuing north, I walked through the shops and past the Key West Shipwreck Museum before coming to the city’s sculpture garden. It contains a central monument surrounded by busts of leaders and critical figures through the city’s past. In it there were three Civil War-related sculptures. The first one I saw was for Asa Tift, who lived in Key West. Civil War enthusiasts do not remember him for living there, but for working with his brother Nelson to design Confederate ironclads in New Orleans and Charleston. There were also busts of Confederate Navy Secretary Stephen Mallory and his mother, Ellen Russell Mallory. After seeing the sculptures, I made my way back to the hotel by walking the marina.

The next morning, we took the ferry out to the Dry Tortugas National Park. (ECW’s Phil Greenwalt has previously written about his time there as well.) This was one of my bucket-list Civil War sites, as the position is just so difficult to get to. It was a boat ride of a couple of hours to get there, but as a naval historian it was important. Fort Jefferson was another of the handful of military posts in seceded states that remained under United States control throughout the Civil War, and this fort also helped in forming the initial blockade of the Gulf of Mexico. The fort later became famous as a location where Abraham Lincoln would send deserters to after commuting their death sentences, and where several of the Lincoln assassination conspirators were kept following their trials.

The ferry we took made daily trips to the fort. Besides it, the only other ways to get there were private charters and seaplanes, and as we docked there were many of them arriving as well. Additionally, there are no facilities for visitors, including formal bathrooms, electricity, water (hence the dry in the site’s name), or trash cans. Once there, we did a quick tour of the small museum and walked the grounds before returning to the ferry to eat lunch. After that, Brittany went snorkeling on the island’s beach while I walked the fortifications once again.

Fort Jefferson is a standard three-tiered antebellum coast-artillery brick fortification. The outer walls remain, and the fort’s interior still has remnants of officers’ quarters, its bombproof magazine, and a hot shot furnace. Walking the casemates with the sea air blowing through each porthole was quite refreshing. On the fort’s top tier is a lighthouse that is no longer active, a radar station still used by the Coast Guard today, and several 10-inch Parrot guns, and a few massive 15-inch Parrot guns that were put at the fort just after the Civil War.

For anyone making a trip to Key West, a trip to the Dry Tortugas is a must. Boat rides, snorkeling, and history all bound together in a day-trip make it worthwhile for any visitors, but the fort’s location makes it one of the Civil War’s sites that is most difficult to access. If you are ever in the Keys, check it out, as well as the many Civil War sites in Key West.