Tampa Bay History Volume 10 Issue 2 Article 5 12-1-1988 War Comes to Tampa Bay: The Civil War Diary of Robert Watson Ronald N. Prouty Manatee Memorial Hospital, Bradenton Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/tampabayhistory Recommended Citation Prouty, Ronald N. (1988) "War Comes to Tampa Bay: The Civil War Diary of Robert Watson," Tampa Bay History: Vol. 10 : Iss. 2 , Article 5. Available at: https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/tampabayhistory/vol10/iss2/5 This Notes and Documents is brought to you for free and open access by the Open Access Journals at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Tampa Bay History by an authorized editor of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Prouty: War Comes to Tampa Bay: The Civil War Diary of Robert Watson This drawing of “The Great Naval Expedition to Port Royal, South Carolina,” shows some of the many ships that manned the Union blockade of the Confederacy. Photograph from Harper’s Weekly, December, 1861. WAR COMES TO TAMPA BAY: THE CIVIL WAR DIARY OF ROBERT WATSON by Ronald N. Prouty* In the early days of the Civil War, Florida felt little effect of the conflict waging to the north, but this soon changed. On April 16, 1861, just six days after the surrender of Fort Sumter, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a naval blockade of the Confederacy. The intent was not- to invade, but rather to hold key positions along the coast, break up supply routes and generally disrupt the Confederate economy. The Union blockade was at first ridiculed by the South, but by the end of 1861 the acquisition of 200 ships by the U.S.