The site of the Battle of Santa Rosa Island lies within Gulf Islands National Seashore just east of Fort Pickens.
One of the first significant large scale encounters of the war, the battle took place on October 9, 1861, when General Braxton Bragg ordered Brigadier General Richard "Dick" Anderson to cross Pensacola Bay with 1,200 men for a surprise attack on the Union troops camped in the sand dunes around Fort Pickens. The raid was a retaliatory strike for the destruction of the Confederate privateer Judah off the Navy Yard wharf in September.
Anderson came ashore on the island and formed his men in three columns for the advance west through the dunes to Fort Pickens. The initial attack went well, but the inexperienced Confederates became confused following the night attack on the Union camps. Under heavy fire from Federal reinforcements, they fell back down the island and returned to their boats.
Union casualties during the battle were reported at 14 killed and 29 wounded. Confederate casualties were 17 killed and 39 wounded.
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