Replies

"guards repelled a group of local civilians who intended to occupy the fort."

And where did you get that? I would guess it came from the people doing the shooting, and it may not accurately reflect what occurred.

On the night of Jan. 8, the men had raised a drawbridge around the fort, which dated to when Spain controlled Florida, because of growing tensions in the surrounding Naval yard, said historian David Ogden, a ranger at Gulf Islands National Seashore.
According to Slemmer's report, just after midnight, guards heard footsteps outside and challenged the intruders and heard no response, Ogden said. Slemmer made no mention of shots being fired.
...
Ogden and others said it's a stretch to say what happened at Fort Barrancas started the Civil War — the would-be attackers, a small group of drunken and rowdy locals, left as soon as the warning shot sounded — if there ever was one. The National Park Service has marked some anniversaries of the incident with candlelight tours of the fort.

http://www.salemnews.com/news/world_and_national_news/who-fired-first-civil-war-shot-a-dispute-in-fla/article_2eb7b067-1ba8-5245-9aca-3e179a86098b.html

FLT-bird post #244 regarding the January 8 incident at Fort Barrancas: "The fort sat on sovereign Florida territory and was being illegally held by federal troops....and they are the ones who fired first."

DiogenesLamp #286, quoting: "...the would-be attackers, a small group of drunken and rowdy locals, left as soon as the warning shot sounded — if there ever was one. "

So, "drunken and rowdy locals" was it?
That's fine, I have no problem with it, but then have we established that FLT-bird's ludicrous post is simply blind hatred speaking, unconnected to anything factual?

Thank you.