Today in Florida During the Civil War …

January 7

1861 Federal soldiers guarding Fort Marion (Castillo de San Marcos) in St. Augustine surrenders the post to a company of local volunteers. In Tallahassee, the Secession Convention, after hearing appeals from Edmund Ruffin of Virginia, E.C. Bullock of Alabama, and L.S. Spratt of South Carolina, approves the McIntosh resolution by a vote of 62-5 for immediate secession. A committee of 13 was appointed to prepare the official secession ordinance.