Well that's sort of like stacking the deck. It was gonna happen one way/place or another. The gunports were painted to try to hide them from the reports I've read. Like really, early camo? Honest Abe was a bit less honest than advertised.

The Head of our Archives at UWF told us a story about when one of the Union ships arrived. There was a Catholic priest aboard and he recorded his observations. The crew and the soldiers were a bit ready to get off the ship so they were allowed to go swimming around Ft Pickens, (probably more in the Gulf). They were on the beach after the swim when the ship off loaded some mules. The mules bolted onto the beach and ran at the soldiers. They ran like the devils was after them. Now I do not have a copy of that story, but Dean DeBolt does. Somewhere in the bowels of the UWF basement.

Pam