Department of Florida, was the military administrative department established by the Union Army. The Department of Florida was established on April 13, 1861 to defend and administer the few remaining Federal installations remaining in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. Following the secession of Florida in January 1861, Florida troops seized most Federal property in the state with the exceptions of

Fort Zachary Taylor The Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park, also known simply as Fort Taylor, is a Florida State Park and National Historic Landmark centered on a Civil War-era fort located near the southern tip of Key West, Florida. History 1845–1900 C ...

Key West Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida, at the southern end of the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it con ...

and

Fort Pickens Fort Pickens is a historic pentagonal United States military fort on Santa Rosa Island in the Pensacola, Florida, area. It is named after American Revolutionary War hero Andrew Pickens. It is the largest of four forts built to defend Pensacol ...

Pensacola Pensacola ( ) is a city in the Florida panhandle in the United States. It is the county seat and only city in Escambia County. The population was 54,312 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Pensacola metropolitan area, which ha ...

. The Union Navy would use the port of Key West to establish a

blockade A blockade is the act of actively preventing a country or region from receiving or sending out food, supplies, weapons, or communications, and sometimes people, by military force. A blockade differs from an embargo or sanction, which are ...

of the Atlantic and Eastern Gulf coasts of the Confederacy, with the

South Atlantic Blockading Squadron The Atlantic Blockading Squadron was a unit of the United States Navy created in the early days of the American Civil War to enforce the Union blockade of the ports of the Confederate States. It was formed in 1861 and split up the same year for th ...

and the

East Gulf Blockading Squadron The Union blockade in the American Civil War was a naval strategy by the United States to prevent the Confederacy from trading. The blockade was proclaimed by President Abraham Lincoln in April 1861, and required the monitoring of of Atlantic ...

. On January 11, 1862, Key West and the coastline from

Cape Canaveral Cape Canaveral () is a cape (geography), cape in Brevard County, Florida, in the United States, near the center of the state's Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. Officially Cape Kennedy from 1963 to 1973, it lies east of Merritt Island, separated ...

to the

Apalachicola River The Apalachicola River is a river, approximately long, in the state of Florida. The river's large drainage basin, watershed, known as the ACF River Basin, Apalachicola, Chattahoochee and Flint (ACF) River Basin, drains an area of approximately ...

were detached from the Dept of Florida to form the Department of Key West under command of Brig. Gen. John M. Brannan,

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

. On March 15, 1862, the Department of Florida was merged into the

Department of the South The Department of the South was a military department of the United States Army that existed in several iterations in the 19th century during and after the American Civil War. 1862–65 After the first 11 months of the American Civil War, startin ...

Commanders

* Brevet Col. U.S. Army, Harvey Brown, April 13, 1861 - February 22, 1862. * Brigadier General, L. G. Arnold, February 22. 1862 - March 15, 1862.

Posts

* Post at

, FL, 1861-March 15, 1862 * Post at

Fort Taylor The Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park, also known simply as Fort Taylor, is a Florida State Park and National Historic Landmark centered on a Civil War-era fort located near the southern tip of Key West, Florida. History 1845–1900 Co ...

, FL, 1861-January 11, 1862

Department of Florida (1865-66)

At the end of the Civil War, a new Department of Florida, subordinate to the Military Division of the Gulf, (1865–66) was established by the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

on June 27, 1865. It remained until 1866 when it was merged into the Department of the Gulf, (1866–67).National Archives, Guide to Federal Records; Records of United States Army Continental Commands, 1821-1920

Notes

References

* Eicher, John H., & Eicher, David J., Civil War High Commands, Stanford University Press, 2001, .
National Archives, Guide to Federal Records; Records of United States Army Continental Commands, 1821-1920 (Record Group 393), 1817-1940 (bulk 1817-1920)

1861 establishments in the United States {{AmericanCivilWar-unit-stub