Today in History

History & Celebrations Today – January 10

Celebrations Today – January 10

Holidays and observances

Celebrations Today – USA: January 10

National Oysters Rockefeller Day
National Bittersweet Chocolate Day
National Cut Your Energy Costs Day
National Save The Eagles Day
National Houseplant Appreciation Day
National Peculiar People Day
National Save the Eagles Day

Today in US History: January 10

Florida Secedes!


Private Walter Miles Parker,
1st Florida Cavalry, C.S.A.
,
between 1860 and 1865.
Selected Civil War Photographs

On January 10, 1861, delegates to the Florida Convention in Tallahassee voted to secede from the United States of America. The following month, Florida was one of six Deep South states to form the Confederate States of America.

The least populous state below the Mason-Dixon line, Florida played an active role in the Civil War.  At least 17,000 Floridians fought in the conflict (the great majority on the Confederate side), and the state’s coastline provided safe harbor to blockade runners. Florida products—such as sugar, pork, molasses and salt—proved essential in feeding Southern soldiers.

Just a year into the conflict, Confederate forces abandoned Fort Marion in St. Augustine. On March 11, 1862, the Union gunboat USS Wabash took the fort without firing a shot. Local officials agreed to surrender the historic city, founded by the Spanish in 1565, in an attempt to save it from destruction. The garrison, built by the Spanish and initially completed in 1695, is preserved as the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument.

Compared to many other Southern states, Florida saw little military action. Strategically important coastal cities, such as Jacksonville and Saint Augustine, switched hands between the North and South but the interior of the state remained under Confederate control. When Lee surrendered in 1865, Tallahassee was the only Southern capital east of the Mississippi that was still held by rebel forces.


Signal Tower,
Jacksonville, Florida,
between 1860 and 1865.
Selected Civil War Photographs


Bastions of Fort Marion,
Saint Augustine, Florida,
Sam A. Cooley, photographer,
between 1860 and 1865.
Selected Civil War Photographs

Today in History – January 10-External Links

Today’s Weather in History
Today in Earthquake History
This Day in Naval History
Today’s Document from the National Archives
Today’s Events, Births & Deaths –Wikipedia
Today in History by AP
On this Day -1950 to 2005 – Today’s Story–BBC
On This Day: The New York Times
This Day in History –History.com
Today in Canadian History – Canada Channel
History of Britain that took place On This Day
Russia in History –Russiapedia

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