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A Short Visit to the 8-inch Battery
at St. John's Buff, Florida
George Kushma
Amid the panic of the Spanish-American War, the army built a number of batteries for 8-inch breech-loading cannon. More gun barrels were
available than carriages, so guns were mounted on modified carriages originally designed for 15-inch muzzle-loading guns. I took a day in
October 2000 to see the two-gun battery at St. John's Buff in Jacksonville, FL. Fellow members had told me that the battery was well preserved
and unaltered. They were right, plus the site was also easy to get to. All you need is a map of Jacksonville. You can get one off the Internet on any
one of the sites that find addresses for you. With map in hand, find out where Fort Caroline Park is and drive to the park, which is on Fort Caroline
Rd. The St. John's Buff battery is less then a mile past the entrance of Fort Caroline Park. You will pass the Ribault Monument on your left and the
home located at 12457 Fort Caroline Rd. will be just a few houses down. This is a private home but down their long driveway there is a parking
space set aside to park two cars with a big sign right in front.
This sign has a map on it of all the forts located in and around St. John's Buff, from Fort Caroline to the Spanish-American War battery. All of this is
right next to the battery, about 15 feet from the entrance of the magazine. The battery looks great; it is all cleaned up. There were no plants nor
graffiti, and big trees supply shade from the Florida sun. Either people from the home or an outside group look after this site. The 8-inch battery
consists essentially of two barbette emplacements, with no traverse between them, and a magazine on the left flank. It is not that big and even for
concrete lovers 30 minutes is enough time to photograph all of it. So if at any time you are near Jacksonville, try to visit the 8-inch Battery at St.
John's Buff. You will not be disappointed.
Note: The owners are remarkably hospitable. Please make sure you do nothing that might possibly abuse their trust.
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