Battle of Tampa

About

The Battle of Tampa, also known as the "Yankee Outrage at Tampa", was a minor engagement of the American Civil War fought June 30 – July 1, 1862, between the United States Navy and a Confederate artillery company charged with "protecting" the village of Tampa, Florida. Although small, Tampa's port was a key hub of trade for Central Florida, and several blockade runners from Tampa regularly slipped past the Union naval blockade that extended down the Atlantic coast around to Florida's west coast.

On June 30, 1862, the Union gunboat USS Sagamore steamed into Tampa Bay to demand the surrender of the small Confederate (CSA) garrison at Fort Brooke. This demand was rebuffed by Captain John William Pearson, to which Captain A.J. Drake of the Sagamore responded with a warning that his ship would open fire at 6:00 p.m. that same day. The gunboat began a long-range bombardment of the fort and town that evening as scheduled, to which the fort responded by returning fire with its three larger canons. Neither side inflicted real damage or suffered any casualties, and after firing several more rounds the next morning from beyond the range of the fort's guns, the Sagamore returned to its blockade station near the mouth of Tampa Bay.