Qualla: Battle of Fort Brooke https://qualla.com/battle-of-fort-brooke en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:13 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/d/h/v/r/battle-of-fort-brooke-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Battle of Fort Brooke https://qualla.com/battle-of-fort-brooke Battle of Fort Brooke: Introduction https://qualla.com/battle-of-fort-brooke/ Photo credit American Battlefield Protection Program, Public domain. The gunships opened fire on the morning of October 16, 1863, their shells arcing toward Fort Brooke from just beyond the reach of its cannons. To the small Confederate garrison defending Tampa, it looked like another naval bombardment, the kind of blunt-force attack they had already repelled once before. But the shelling was a feint. While the defenders kept their eyes on Tampa Bay, a hundred Union soldiers were slipping ashore at Ballast Point, about to begin a 14-mile march through dense Florida wilderness toward a prize hidden upstream on the Hillsborough River.

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]]> Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/h/v/r/battle-of-fort-brooke-wp/dhvr-battle-of-fort-brooke-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Battle of Fort Brooke: A Cattle Port Under Siege https://qualla.com/battle-of-fort-brooke/ Photo credit American Battlefield Protection Program, Public domain. Before the Civil War, Tampa was a small but strategically useful port. Ranchers and farmers from the interior of central Florida shipped cattle and crops through its harbor, and when the Confederacy formed, that supply chain became a lifeline. Fast blockade runners based in Tampa...

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]]> Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/h/v/r/battle-of-fort-brooke-wp/dhvr-battle-of-fort-brooke-a-cattle-port-under-siege.mp3 0:06 2 full Battle of Fort Brooke: The First Shots at Tampa https://qualla.com/battle-of-fort-brooke/ Photo credit American Battlefield Protection Program, Public domain. The Union had tested Tampa's defenses once before. In June 1862, the gunboat USS Sagamore steamed into Tampa Bay and demanded Fort Brooke's surrender. The Confederate garrison refused, and the Sagamore fired several volleys at the town. The fort answered with its own guns, and af...

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]]> Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/h/v/r/battle-of-fort-brooke-wp/dhvr-battle-of-fort-brooke-the-first-shots-at-tampa.mp3 0:06 3 full Battle of Fort Brooke: The Overland March https://qualla.com/battle-of-fort-brooke/ Photo credit American Battlefield Protection Program, Public domain. On October 16, 1863, the Union gunships USS Tahoma and USS Adela sailed into Tampa Bay and began a slow, deliberate bombardment of Fort Brooke, carefully positioning themselves just beyond the range of the fort's batteries. The bombardment was theater. The real strike force came ...

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]]> Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/h/v/r/battle-of-fort-brooke-wp/dhvr-battle-of-fort-brooke-the-overland-march.mp3 0:06 4 full Battle of Fort Brooke: Fire on the River https://qualla.com/battle-of-fort-brooke/ Photo credit American Battlefield Protection Program, Public domain. The raiding party reached the shipyard on October 18 and moved fast. They seized and burned the Scottish Chief and the Kate Dale along with other vessels moored at the dock. The destruction was thorough. The Kate Dale sank near her mooring and her remains still lie at the bottom ...

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]]> Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/h/v/r/battle-of-fort-brooke-wp/dhvr-battle-of-fort-brooke-fire-on-the-river.mp3 0:06 5 full Battle of Fort Brooke: A War Won at the Docks https://qualla.com/battle-of-fort-brooke/ Photo credit American Battlefield Protection Program, Public domain. The Battle of Fort Brooke was classified as a minor engagement, but its consequences were anything but minor. The destruction of the Scottish Chief and the Kate Dale effectively ended blockade running out of Tampa for the remainder of the war. Shipping from the port came to a vir...

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]]> Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/h/v/r/battle-of-fort-brooke-wp/dhvr-battle-of-fort-brooke-a-war-won-at-the-docks.mp3 0:06 6 full