The Battle of Tampa, also known as the "Yankee Outrage at Tampa", was a minor engagement of the American Civil War fought June 30 – July 1, 1862, between the United States Navy and a Confederate artillery company charged with "protecting" the village of Tampa, Florida. Although small, Tampa's port was a key hub of trade for Central Florida, and several blockade runners from Tampa regularly slipped past the Union naval blockade that extended down the Atlantic coast around to Florida's west coast. On June 30, 1862, the Union gunboat USS Sagamore steamed into Tampa Bay to demand the surrender of the small Confederate (CSA) garrison at Fort Brooke. This demand was rebuffed by Captain John William Pearson, to which Captain A.J. Drake of the Sagamore responded with a warning that his ship would open fire at 6:00pm that same day. The gunboat began a long-range bombardment of the fort and town that evening as scheduled, to which the fort responded by returning fire with its three larger canons. Neither side inflicted real damage or suffered any casualties, and after firing several more rounds the next morning from beyond the range of the fort's guns, the Sagamore returned to its blockade station near the mouth of Tampa Bay. Later, more aggressive Union attacks resulted in the destruction of several moored blockade runners during the Battle of Fort Brooke in October 1862 and a brief occupation of Fort Brooke by Union forces in May 1864. Background On April 13, 1862, at 11 a.m., the alarm went up when a Union schooner anchored behind an island two miles from Tampa. Confederate pickets were posted on all the roads into town to sound the alarm because it was feared the ship was a decoy. According to the diary of Robert Watson, a member of the “Key West Avengers” (Captain H. Mulrennan's company of Florida volunteers), “[W]e are of opinion that the Yankees have landed men below us and came in the schooner to draw our attention while they march up in our rear.” After an hour the schooner launched a boat under a flag of truce. It was met by two Confederate boats. The Federals demanded the surrender of Tampa. According to Watson, “Major Thomas told them that he would not surrender it. The Yankee officer then gave him twenty-four hours to take the women and children out of the town as they