Garrisons of these three installations were nominal at best, and the Alabama companies sent to take them were well-armed, well-trained and far outnumbered U.S. military personnel in the Mobile area. In contrast, far fewer Florida state troops were available, and troops from the U.S. Army and Navy outnumbered them at Pensacola signifcantly. Governors of neighboring states received a call for help from Governor Madison S. Perry. Governor Moore ordered AVC companies numbering roughy five hundred officers and men to Pensacola, but it took time to have them transported by rail to the Gulf Coast.
Of course movement of militia over state lines contravened laws governing the militia, and Governor Moore had to explain to the state legislature what he had done and why.